Article Title
THE ROLES OF LANGUAGE AND SPACE IN BISEXUAL AMBIGUITY**
Abstract
Dominant cultural concepts of sexuality in the United States struggle to grapple with individuals who stray from the heteronormative foundations. Individuals who identify as bisexual have encountered particular challenges as outliers, as they do not ascribe to one sexual preference. People who identify as bisexual often feel discriminated against even within their own community who claim they are “too straight to be queer” or “too queer to be straight”. In addition, academic researchers in human sexuality have a history of making claims that these individuals do not exist, and are simply lying to themselves or incapable of interpreting their own desires. These professional definitions have greatly impacted the media’s portrayal of bisexuality, and it has led to poor representation to the public. The public discrimination and marginalization towards these individuals has led bisexuals to search for safe spaces to express themselves in, coded language in order to safely communicate, and an attempt at reclaiming their identity and mental health. In order to combat the trend of marginalization and erasure resulting from humanity’s tendency to avoid what can’t be comprehended, this study inspired by the words of Margaret Mead, will study the diversity of bisexuality in a holistic fashion through interviews and discourse analysis. The goal is to help all individuals ‘weave a less arbitrary social fabric’ and giving a fitting place, for all humans.