#Biguys and #Biboys: The Discursive Production of Bisexual Men through Instagram’s Homonormative Visual Culture

Abstract

Bisexual men operate within a paradox of social stereotypes and public invisibility. Despite the prevalence of bi-erasure and the difficulties surrounding bisexual visualization, men’s bisexuality (at least as a term) has a strong digital presence on Instagram. Using visual content analysis of Instagram photos tagged with #biguy(s) and/or #biboy(s), this study investigates the discursive production of bisexual men on the platform and describes its entanglements with homonormative visual culture. Contrary to previous ethnographic research, the results of this study indicate that men’s bisexual display on Instagram do not use traditional bi symbols. Additionally, acts of bi visibility often conflate themselves with homonormative visual culture through the use of gay-affiliated hashtags and a visual focus on men’s bodies. However, these findings also suggest that homonormative visual culture on Instagram does not closely align with past literature on the topic. Implications for the study of bisexual visual identities in the era of image-based social media are also discussed.

Keywords:

• Bisexual men
• bisexual display
• homonormative visual culture
• visual content analysis
• visual identity

Notes

1 While bisexuality is sometimes used as a placeholder to connote a person’s sexual uncertainty or exploration, many bi people latch onto their bisexual identity as a part of their sense of self and subject position.

2 There is a strong relationship between young age (fetishization) and ‘twink’ aesthetics. As Mercer (2017) notes, “The physicality of the twink speaks emphatically of youth, and specifically, more often than not, describes a particularly Caucasian, Anglo-American, or European iteration of youth: smooth, hairless, boyish bodies (often devoid of the overdetermined muscular definition that characterizes the partners that they are sometimes paired with), fair skin, boyish looks and blond hair are characteristics that recur” (81–82). The #biboy then can either be a younger person (boy) or emphasize those “boyish” features.

3 Bi Health Awareness month is hosted by the Bisexual Resource Center every year to draw attention to the health disparities faced by the bi + community.

4 Although Instagram’s community guidelines don’t allow photos that “show sexual intercourse, genitals, and close-ups of fully nude buttocks,” a handful of photos managed to elude these restrictions by strategically placing a rotary phone or bong in front of genitalia, showing mid-ranged shots of nude buttocks, or making their ‘bulge’ a focal point for the image even if it was thinly shrouded by underwear or a towel (Instagram, 2020).

5 Nudity in these photos sometimes appeared contextually such as when people were shirtless at the beach or the pool; however, this context does not detract from the “fact—the brute and often brutal fact—that it is said [or posted], that this and not rather something else is inscribed” (Wellerby, 1990, p. xii). These specific instances might not intend to emphasize sexuality, but when combined with other similar displays they aid in the construction of a certain visual identity (Rose, 2016).

6 BiNet USA’s twitter then went dark for more than 3 weeks.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brandon Rogers

Brandon Rogers is a doctoral candidate in Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media at North Carolina State University. His research combines insights from feminist technoscience and materialist media studies to investigate how sexual identities and sexual citizenship emerge alongside contemporary media and technologies. His dissertation explores how bisexual men have come to matter for US health policy since the 1980s through transformations in epidemiology, sexology, public health surveillance, and LGBT health activism.