Historical context is important, so it’s critical to note that, similar to “homosexuality” and “lesbianism,” “bisexuality” is a word reclaimed by the bisexual movement from the medical institution (specifically the DSM III which pronounced it a mental disease). The bi community itself had little to no influence over the formation and structure of the word, and simply did what gays and lesbians did: empowered their communities by claiming the word for themselves.
“Way Beyond the Binary” at the Bisexual Resource Center
This is a really important fact about the history of the term “bisexual” that people are seriously overlooking.
(via brizzenda)
ah, for about a century before it even had this meaning and a century and half before it was in common usage, bisexual was used to mean ‘having both sexes in one being’ – so something we’d now consider an intersex condition (though we’d also no longer word it like this hopefully)
The formation and structure was already there when its meaning was changed, it wasn’t coined with sexuality in mind