Selling to bisexuals

Selling to bisexuals

The first (that I have seen) market research about the buying habits of bisexuals has been published in the USA. In the fine traditional comedic trope, I hereby present the next 12 months' bi news.


October.  With polls still close in the Presidential election, and polling showing bis split 12:1 in his favour, Barack Obama railroads the "Bis Vote Twice" bill through Congress.  The plan comes unstuck in November when bisexuals with a preference are nonetheless allowed to vote both ways.

November.  Prof Debunked of the Dodgy Research University publishes his latest findings about bisexuality.  He explains that subjects were shown gay and straight porn on different smartphones while sensors attached to their genitalia recorded whether that type of phone was doing it for them.

December.  The New York Times retracts its "iPhoneite, Androidite or lying" headline admitting the findings related more to how attractive the research assistant looked in a white lab coat.

January.  Apple announce their response to the findings that bisexuals are more likely to buy £100 android phones than functionally-similar £400 iPhones. "Clearly the problem is in our marketing feeling excluding to bi people," says a spokesPad, "and so we will be updating our rainbow striped apple logo to include a pink stripe next to the purple and blue ones."  The new biPhone will cost just £75 extra, and is available in five shades of purple.

February.  Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne slaps 20% VAT on valentines cards purchased by bisexuals, thus milking the Purple Pound for all it is worth.  "Woody Allen told me the bisexuals have twice the chance of a date on Friday night, and that means they must be buying twice as many valentines cards" he explains in an emergency budget statement. 

Stung by Apple's cornering of the bi market, Google releases a customised version of its phone operating system called pandroid.

March.  Not to be outdone by cheap pandroids, Apple launch the new biPhone2, with an extra button that speed-dials the complaints department at Stonewall. A new app for smartphones lets biphobic people automatically block calls from biPhones.

April.  After the quarterly economic figures reveal the valentines card ruse failed to raise a single extra penny, on account of the bis all being far too busy playing on their biPhones to remember to send one another cards, George Osborne goes on television to admit he's not the real Chancellor, just to be a schoolboy on a really long Jim'll Fix It.

May.  Apple takes Google to court over pandroid phones, claiming they are a blatant rip-off of the biPhone.  Google's lawyers defend the clear and vast difference between the two: "it is not just another word for the same thing. The pandroid phones are a touchscreen with a suffusion of purple, whereas biPhones are a suffusion of purple with a touchscreen".  The judge listens carefully and throws the case out of court on the grounds that everyone knows there is no such thing as a bisexual.

June.  Concerned that it is missing out on the purple pound and that the bi- and pan- prefixes have already been snapped up, Microsoft launches Windows Mobile Omnishambles.  Following the flop of a youtube 'viral' ad campaign where Gerald Ratner observes "people ask me how Microsoft can sell a phone this cheap, and I say: it's because it's total ...er, totally purple" it is reviewed as both completely unusable and the best implementation of Windows yet.

July.  At a star-studded television awards ceremony, the heads of Sky, BBC and Virgin make a joint statement on the findings that 73% of bi women and 44% of bi men regularly see biphobia in the mainstream media. They pledge to make the negative portrayal of bi men that bit more obvious to help the boys catch up.

August.  Despite the market research claims of a year earlier, sales figures of biPhone, pandroid and omnishambles handsets reveal the purple pound to be as yet a myth and the bisexual community resolves to go back to taking all research about itself with a pinch of salt.

September.  Market research work begins to find out what kind of salt bisexuals find most reassuring.
Impressario?

Impressario?

There are a few bisexual projects that I think would be good for other people, but aren't for me. I'll give some examples later.I have some capability to help with contacts, possibly money, infrastructure, possibly advice etc. and I know others in comm...
bisofcolour:

Bi’s of Colour at Black Pride UK 2012.
This year’s…

bisofcolour: Bi’s of Colour at Black Pride UK 2012. This year’s…


The two Co-Founders of Bi's of Colour


I want those shoes


I want those shoes and that jewellery


Terrence Higgins Trust


Jacqui with Lester the Lion


The lollipops were a real draw

bisofcolour:

Bi’s of Colour at Black Pride UK 2012.

This year’s event was held at the World-famous club, Ministry of Sound.  The co-founders of Bi’s Of Colour had a stall in the indoor space.  We were all surprised at the numbers of people who wanted us to come and do a presentation at their workplace; it was positive to hear so many say that they wanted to improve the way bisexuals were treated in their organisations.

Of course, with this being a Pride event, there were a few folks who had strange ideas about bisexuality.  We received comments such as “All bi women are basically submissive!” and “People who say they’re bi-curious are really gay.”  We point those poor dears to the Bisexual Index who can put them straight, so to speak…

Overall we had a very good event, and enjoyed meeting new people who were keen to know more about bisexuality in general.  We both were glad to be at UK Black Pride, but since the weather was blisteringly hot, we were also glad to leave at six so we could have a relax and enjoy the rest of the day.

Brittany Pierce: a positive portrayal of teen bisexuality

Brittany Pierce: a positive portrayal of teen bisexuality

To start off with, one thing needs to be said: Brittany Pierce in Glee is an out and proud bisexual. Not convinced? OK, let's hear it from her: 
  • During I Am Unicorn, when talking to Kurt about her running as a candidate for class president, she says she realised she was a unicorn too (with Santana's help!), and followed this with "maybe a bicorn".
  • During The Spanish Teacher, she joked that she was "bilingual".
  • In Props, after Santana told a teacher in the teachers' lounge that they were both gay, Brittany pointed out that she was bi, but that this didn't make a huge difference to Santana's point. 
      Right, on to why I think Brittany is one of the most positive portrayals of bisexuality on TV. First of all, the show acknowledges she's bi even though she's currently in long term a relationship with someone of the same sex (Santana). Contrast this with Willow, who despite having been in a serious relationship with Oz from season 2 until the start of season 4 of Buffy, was labelled as gay during and after her relationship with Tara. Also contrast this with Marissa Cooper of The OC, who was labelled as gay when she was in a relationship with Alex, but went back to being straight when Alex left. 

      Second of all, she's never had a problem with her own sexuality and she's also been very open about it. There hasn't been any big coming out moment for her because she didn't hide it in the first place:
      • During Bad Reputation, after Artie finds her in the choir room after she "forgot how to leave", she bemoans being so low on the Glist despite the fact she's made out with everyone, clarifying she meant with girls as well as boys.
      • During Born This Way, after Santana says Brittany doesn't love her back, Brittany retorts "I do love you, clearly you don't love you as much as I do or you'd put this shirt on and you'd dance with me". This indicates Brittany has no qualms about being seen to dance romantically with a girl (a girl declaring her sexuality, no less).
      • During Rumours, after Santana sings 'Songbird' to her, Brittany offers to "go first", by asking Santana to go to the prom with her on Fondue For Two.
      Now, since I wrote a post about Santana's sexuality and how it makes the most sense for her to be a lesbian, I have had a few objections to my stating Britt is a good portrayal of a bisexual, I will address these in turn.
      1. Her sexuality is associated with her stupidity.
        I don't know where this comes from because when it comes to her personal relationship with Santana Brittany has often been very smart:
        • In Born This Way Brittany makes Santana a 'Lebanese' T-shirt because she knew that Santana wouldn't be strong enough to do it herself.
        • During New York, when Santana said to Brittany "you're my best friend", she replied "I do too", indicating Brittany knew Santana actually meant "I love you".
        • During Mash Off, she's able to calm down Santana when she was on the warpath by singing "stop the violence".
        • In Saturday Night Glee-ver when Santana says she wants be famous by any means necessary Brittany shows her exactly what that means: by releasing a sex tape and fetching her a testicle to chew on.
      2. Her character plays into the stereotype of bisexuals being sluts.
        Yes, Brittany has slept with a lot of people, but then so has Santana. It's a phase which some teenagers go through and then get over. She hasn't slept with anyone other than Artie or Santana since early on in season 2, so I'd say she's grown out of it.
      3. There's not been a big story about her sexuality.
        She's never denied her sexuality, so that rules out a big coming out story. If anyone had offered to straighten her out like they did Santana then she'd have brushed it off. This also wouldn't have made it a big story. So I don't really know how they'd make a big story centred around her sexuality.
      Another positive thing about the portrayal of Brittany's sexuality is that during Sexy, when Brittany realised that Santana was in love with her, and therefore asking for a serious commitment, she decided she couldn't continue seeing Artie and Santana at the same time. Because of this, she committed herself to Artie as she was already in a relationship with him, therefore belying the stereotype that bisexuals can't commit. Since breaking up with Artie at the end of season 2, she is now in a relationship with Santana

      Now that Brittany will be retaking senior year without Santana around, I'd be interested to see how the other students interact with her. It's possible that without Santana to scare them off, Brittany may start to get bullied, and it'd be interesting to see how she handles this, particularly if it includes jibes about her sexuality.
      Brittany Pierce: a positive portrayal of teen bisexuality

      Brittany Pierce: a positive portrayal of teen bisexuality

      To start off with, one thing needs to be said: Brittany Pierce in Glee is an out and proud bisexual. Not convinced? OK, let's hear it from her: 
      • During I Am Unicorn, when talking to Kurt about her running as a candidate for class president, she says she realised she was a unicorn too (with Santana's help!), and followed this with "maybe a bicorn".
      • During The Spanish Teacher, she joked that she was "bilingual".
      • In Props, after Santana told a teacher in the teachers' lounge that they were both gay, Brittany pointed out that she was bi, but that this didn't make a huge difference to Santana's point. 
          Right, on to why I think Brittany is one of the most positive portrayals of bisexuality on TV. First of all, the show acknowledges she's bi even though she's currently in long term a relationship with someone of the same sex (Santana). Contrast this with Willow, who despite having been in a serious relationship with Oz from season 2 until the start of season 4 of Buffy, was labelled as gay during and after her relationship with Tara. Also contrast this with Marissa Cooper of The OC, who was labelled as gay when she was in a relationship with Alex, but went back to being straight when Alex left. 

          Second of all, she's never had a problem with her own sexuality and she's also been very open about it. There hasn't been any big coming out moment for her because she didn't hide it in the first place:
          • During Bad Reputation, after Artie finds her in the choir room after she "forgot how to leave", she bemoans being so low on the Glist despite the fact she's made out with everyone, clarifying she meant with girls as well as boys.
          • During Born This Way, after Santana says Brittany doesn't love her back, Brittany retorts "I do love you, clearly you don't love you as much as I do or you'd put this shirt on and you'd dance with me". This indicates Brittany has no qualms about being seen to dance romantically with a girl (a girl declaring her sexuality, no less).
          • During Rumours, after Santana sings 'Songbird' to her, Brittany offers to "go first", by asking Santana to go to the prom with her on Fondue For Two.
          Now, since I wrote a post about Santana's sexuality and how it makes the most sense for her to be a lesbian, I have had a few objections to my stating Britt is a good portrayal of a bisexual, I will address these in turn.
          1. Her sexuality is associated with her stupidity.
            I don't know where this comes from because when it comes to her personal relationship with Santana Brittany has often been very smart:
            • In Born This Way Brittany makes Santana a 'Lebanese' T-shirt because she knew that Santana wouldn't be strong enough to do it herself.
            • During New York, when Santana said to Brittany "you're my best friend", she replied "I do too", indicating Brittany knew Santana actually meant "I love you".
            • During Mash Off, she's able to calm down Santana when she was on the warpath by singing "stop the violence".
            • In Saturday Night Glee-ver when Santana says she wants be famous by any means necessary Brittany shows her exactly what that means: by releasing a sex tape and fetching her a testicle to chew on.
          2. Her character plays into the stereotype of bisexuals being sluts.
            Yes, Brittany has slept with a lot of people, but then so has Santana. It's a phase which some teenagers go through and then get over. She hasn't slept with anyone other than Artie or Santana since early on in season 2, so I'd say she's grown out of it.
          3. There's not been a big story about her sexuality.
            She's never denied her sexuality, so that rules out a big coming out story. If anyone had offered to straighten her out like they did Santana then she'd have brushed it off. This also wouldn't have made it a big story. So I don't really know how they'd make a big story centred around her sexuality.
          Another positive thing about the portrayal of Brittany's sexuality is that during Sexy, when Brittany realised that Santana was in love with her, and therefore asking for a serious commitment, she decided she couldn't continue seeing Artie and Santana at the same time. Because of this, she committed herself to Artie as she was already in a relationship with him, therefore belying the stereotype that bisexuals can't commit. Since breaking up with Artie at the end of season 2, she is now in a relationship with Santana

          Now that Brittany will be retaking senior year without Santana around, I'd be interested to see how the other students interact with her. It's possible that without Santana to scare them off, Brittany may start to get bullied, and it'd be interesting to see how she handles this, particularly if it includes jibes about her sexuality.
          Inspiration from Bicon 2012

          Inspiration from Bicon 2012

          So, I just spent the last 5 days at BiCon 2012 in Bradford. It inspired me to do various things, one of which is to blog more. It also made me decide to start posting everything in the one blog rather than keeping this just for music, TV and film and using my other blog for the more serious things. 

          With this in mind, as this is the blog that gets the most traffic, I'm going to make this my one and only blog after a name change and repost everything from 'Analysis and Geekery' here, with the original dates so it doesn't look like I wrote them recently.

          Also, I'm going to use this for personal posts as well, which is what I used my Livejournal for, back when I had one. On that note, I will post about other aspects of my time at BiCon in a few days. :-D

          Other things I was inspired to do from going to BiCon 2012:
          I'm sure there were more but I can't remember what they were right now!
          Inspiration from Bicon 2012

          Inspiration from Bicon 2012

          So, I just spent the last 5 days at BiCon 2012 in Bradford. It inspired me to do various things, one of which is to blog more. It also made me decide to start posting everything in the one blog rather than keeping this just for music, TV and film and using my other blog for the more serious things. 

          With this in mind, as this is the blog that gets the most traffic, I'm going to make this my one and only blog after a name change and repost everything from 'Analysis and Geekery' here, with the original dates so it doesn't look like I wrote them recently.

          Also, I'm going to use this for personal posts as well, which is what I used my Livejournal for, back when I had one. On that note, I will post about other aspects of my time at BiCon in a few days. :-D

          I'm going to keep my Tumblr going separately though, as no one needs to see all that content here. ;-). If anyone wants to see me post lots of photos of pretty men and women (mostly women) and fangirl about Warehouse 13, Glee, Pretty Little Liars, Once Upon a Time and LOTS of other shows, you're very welcome to follow me there!

          Other things I was inspired to do from going to BiCon 2012:
          I'm sure there were more but I can't remember what they were right now!
          bisofcolour:

Bi’s of Colour at BiCon 2012
All the bisexuals of…

          bisofcolour: Bi’s of Colour at BiCon 2012 All the bisexuals of…


          Our wonderful bisexuals of colour


          It was fantastic to have a safe space to retreat to, if we needed

          bisofcolour:

          Bi’s of Colour at BiCon 2012

          All the bisexuals of colour who came to our session posed for this wonderful photo.  We shared an hour of talking about our experiences, good and bad of the bisexual convention.  There was a consensus that things were slowly improving for us, but there was still plenty of work to be done before BiCon became a trully welcoming  and supportive place for all bisexuals of colour.

          This year there was a Bi’s of Colour flat just for us and our invited guests.  There were many shared meals in the lovely kitchen, great music on the stereo, and most importantly, a safe atmosphere free of racism, sexism, transphobia and biphobia.  Thank you to all the bisexuals of colour and our allies who helped make this weekend a blast for us!

          Next year’s BiCon 2013 will be in Edinburgh

          fatpeopleofcolor:

A fat black, British woman standing beside a…

          fatpeopleofcolor: A fat black, British woman standing beside a…



          fatpeopleofcolor:

          A fat black, British woman standing beside a Dalek. Woman wears black jeans, a black shirt and a blue headscarf.

          The whole Dr Who and Torchwood universe is loved by many bisexual people, and I’m no exception. I saw the Dalek after leaving a meeting of a Christian Kink group which was being held in a bookshop in central London.  The acceptance I’ve found of various genders, races, faiths and sexualities in both the fictional and real world is something that gives me hope.  It isn’t always depressing to be so different.

          Whoo! That’s me!!! Glad so many of you like it.