Oh Tyra... It Ain't Easy Being Bi
To paraphrase this guy on Tyra, “being bi is an easy stepping stone to coming out and saying hey I’m gay” … this is his advice to a guy in the audience who was questioning his sexual orientation. The audience member was saying that he could see himself in a relationship and having children with either a man or a woman yet this gay man felt perfectly comfortable just jumping into the audience and telling him that he was really on his way to being gay. Just because that was his path, doesn’t mean it is everyones.
Let me just say this… there are very little things about being bi that one can consider “easy” … Also, no one should tell anyone else what their sexual orientation “really” is. There is no way for them to know that. Who is to say that this gay man offering shallow advice isn’t the one in denial? Who is to say that perhaps he chose to be homosexual because his mannerisms were more effeminate and he found a homosexual community more accepting of him as a gay man than any other option. Who is to say that perhaps that man didn’t have the balls to admit that he was bisexual and stick by it in the face of criticism and pressure.
My point is that I can’t say that about him any more than he can say what he did about the fella from the audience. It is an exercise in futility. Yet how many times since ‘coming out’ have I heard that story? Why is it that homosexuals are given so much more legitimacy. Is it because they are seen as truly coming out whereas little credence is given to my acknowledgment and acceptance of my sexual orientation?
But then again it is the Tyra show. Hardly the pinnacle of intellectual discourse on this or any other subject. One of the things I hate most about Tyra’s talk show is how often she leaves things unresolved or how often statements that should be corrected or clarified… aren’t. To me that is just irresponsible. To be fair she does try to present a diverse panel and examine issues from various different viewpoints. She just happens to come up short most of the time. The above statement would have been fine if she had herself, or allowed the visiting psychologist to refute/correct/clarify it. However, instead it was just left at that and the show concluded on a disappointingly weak note.
… now the real question is why the hell am I even watching Tyra to begin with???
PS: Its interesting to read other women’s impressions of the show in response to this post on OurChart.com.
Let me just say this… there are very little things about being bi that one can consider “easy” … Also, no one should tell anyone else what their sexual orientation “really” is. There is no way for them to know that. Who is to say that this gay man offering shallow advice isn’t the one in denial? Who is to say that perhaps he chose to be homosexual because his mannerisms were more effeminate and he found a homosexual community more accepting of him as a gay man than any other option. Who is to say that perhaps that man didn’t have the balls to admit that he was bisexual and stick by it in the face of criticism and pressure.
My point is that I can’t say that about him any more than he can say what he did about the fella from the audience. It is an exercise in futility. Yet how many times since ‘coming out’ have I heard that story? Why is it that homosexuals are given so much more legitimacy. Is it because they are seen as truly coming out whereas little credence is given to my acknowledgment and acceptance of my sexual orientation?
But then again it is the Tyra show. Hardly the pinnacle of intellectual discourse on this or any other subject. One of the things I hate most about Tyra’s talk show is how often she leaves things unresolved or how often statements that should be corrected or clarified… aren’t. To me that is just irresponsible. To be fair she does try to present a diverse panel and examine issues from various different viewpoints. She just happens to come up short most of the time. The above statement would have been fine if she had herself, or allowed the visiting psychologist to refute/correct/clarify it. However, instead it was just left at that and the show concluded on a disappointingly weak note.
… now the real question is why the hell am I even watching Tyra to begin with???
PS: Its interesting to read other women’s impressions of the show in response to this post on OurChart.com.