Bi Progress
Most of the moving and shaking I did in the early 1990s was bi activism, but it's something I hardly think about these days. Part of the reason is that I've fallen quite low on the Kinsey scale, even though I definitely feel more at home in queer circles than Straightsville. But another big reason is just how bi-friendly the world I live in is, ( Read more... )
Great post. Just wanted to say, you do have to be mindful that a large part of you 'not copping shit' in public from others about your sexuality, may come from being the big tall strapping lad that you are. Not to say that big tall strapping lads don't get grief, but as a lesbian, a Dyke and especially a Femme Dyke that dates/loves BUTCH women, I can tell you, we still cop the grief on a daily basis and for us things have become worse. Butch Dykes sadly cop it from all angles; from the straight community AND the GLBT as well as the Queers. If they are not told to 'femme it up', asked ‘not to be a stereotype’, they are asked 'when are you going to transition to an FTM/transman?' Seems that after all these years of 'progress' we still see the women on the edges of our communities treated like sub-human beings for not conforming to either a straight ideal of what a woman should look like or a queer ideal of what a 'butch' should be.
Have to say of all my connections, Bi activists are far more supportive of Butch women than the lesbians, gay men and trans put together because first and foremost you see Butch Dykes as women.
One thing I loved about my history with Bi politics in the 90’s (and my continued support) is that it is an in-your-face politics and identity that forces people to see the sex and sexuality. Much the same as Lesbian politics, Bi politics harnesses the power of the sexual and the genders it represents to say to the world - Yep! This is US and THIS is what we do. Queer has taken all of the individual meanings and significance of the political movements and identities and white-washed it to the point that they have virtually been erased. Queer was meant to be about collective unity but sadly I think it has become something else entirely and worked to mute the voices of those that continue to challenge oppressive, hegemony.
Never loose your voice and never let it be muted.
Your friend,
Maree.
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I don't know you, but...
I think queer was whitewashed precisely to take its radical possibility from it. At the same time, I would argue that "identity politics" is enormously problematic... I think queer was meant not to be collective unity but unity in diversity and it has become that to some extent. In the early 90s, the genderqueer stuff that goes on now in Australia with drag kings, trannie cop activists (a hilarious comedy group of drag kings who use police drag to protest at anti-capitalist demonstrations) and more would simply not have been possible. I'm more in the poly/queer community than in the "women's" community so I don't know what sort of attitudes are going on there these days, but I do want to reserve an option for queer/pan/poly to be radical and in-your-face too.
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