- "Images of lesbian or bisexual females in the mainstream
media have played a part... 'Obviously if you are seeing pop icons or role
models doing this, and they are OK with it, then you will feel more comfortable
with it yourself.'"
-
- MIAMI -- Some see it as the
latest cool trend among girls in America's high schools. Others claim it
is just teenagers doing what they do best - being rebellious. Either way,
a wave of 'bisexual chic' is sweeping the United States.
-
- Emboldened by such images as Madonna kissing Britney
Spears and Christina Aguilera on a TV awards show, girls are proudly declaring
their alternative sexualities at a younger age than ever before.
-
- 'It's a countrywide thing,' said Jessie Gilliam, a project
manager for the Washington-based gay and lesbian support group Youth Resource.
-
- Denise Pell, president of BiNet USA, a network for bisexuals,
says it has become more acceptable for younger girls to experiment with
their sexual identities well before their college years. 'I don't think
it's possible statistically to say it's increasing, but it seems more girls
are comfortable to identify themselves as bisexual,' she said.
-
- 'For some, it may be what they really feel; others may
be questioning themselves and their sexualities; and it's possible that
some are doing it because they think it's chic. It doesn't necessarily
mean these kids are sexually active, but they are learning about themselves,
not just in their sexualities but in their lives in general. And that should
only be encouraged.'
-
- The 'chic chick on chick' phenomenon seems to be particularly
prevalent at teenage and college parties, where it is common to find two
or more girls kissing each other, often egged on by a rowdy, supportive
group of males.
-
- 'Girls go for the whole mystery thing,' said David Sternberg,
a senior high school student in Boca Raton, Florida. 'And guys usually
think it's a turn-on. It's more of a teasing thing. At parties, girls randomly
kiss and guys think, "Oh, that's awesome".'
-
- A recent study by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel revealed
that many girls think this way. 'I liked the attention,' declared one 17-year-old,
who admitted 'experimenting' with another girl because she liked the way
her boyfriend reacted. 'He thinks it's fun.'
-
- The parties emulate scenes captured on commercially available
videos, such as the best-selling Girls Gone Wild series, in which soft-porn
actresses pose as college students and are paid to kiss, fondle and stroke
each other and flash their breasts at gathered male students, who are often
drinking heavily.
-
- 'It's a bisexuality that's focused on heterosexuality,
in that it's still focused on pleasing a man, and in that sense it's not
progressive,' Gilliam said.
-
- Images of lesbian or bisexual females in the mainstream
media have played a part, some experts say. The Madonna-Britney clinch
at last year's MTV Music Awards was constantly replayed, and the music
of openly gay artists such as kd lang and the Russian duo Tatu can help
to influence young people's minds.
-
- 'Obviously if you are seeing pop icons or role models
doing this, and they are OK with it, then you will feel more comfortable
with it yourself. I don't think girls will emulate that behaviour if it
makes them feel uncomfortable, but they see that it's OK to do so,' said
Pell. 'It's important to take bisexuality as a serious identity. It's a
myth that it is just a phase.'
-
- One difficulty, others say, is that girls who declare
themselves to be bisexual to be trendy or impress boys may harm the cause
of those who genuinely are. Oregon student Toby Hill-Meyer, who is researching
how people define their sexuality, said that, because of the so-called
bisexual chic, genuine bisexuals are turning away from the word. 'They
don't want to be associated with that trendiness,' he told the Sun-Sentinel.
Many US schools have set up support groups for gay or bisexual students,
supporting the theory this is more than a fad.
-
- 'Ten or 15 years ago, these sort of groups didn't exist,
so that's progress,' said Pell. 'There have always been bisexuals in high
schools, but many girls have been forced to identify as lesbians. People
like to categorise so they can frame their own thinking about us.'
-
- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/gayrights/story/0,12592,1115656,00.html
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