Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Beth Ditto: biphobic or blinkered?

We're not actually sure if Beth Ditto is biphobic, or if she just hasn't quite got the capacity to understand what "bisexuality" means. But she's had a pop at Angelina Jolie:

Gay singer BETH DITTO has hit out at actress ANGELINA JOLIE's claims she's bisexual, insisting she wouldn't be dating BRAD PITT if she was.

Eh? What on earth does that mean, Beth?
"If she were actually a lesbian she'd be with a woman."

Uh... yes. That's why she's always said she's bisexual, Beth. You have to hope that she's not one of what we'd hoped were an almost-extinct type of homosexual, the sort who believes that there's no such thing as bisexuality and believe that all bisexuals are either gay people who are too scared to "properly" come out or straight people who are trying to make themselves more interesting.

If Beth Ditto were actually as feminist and sassy as she's supposed to be, she wouldn't come out with such monosexist cant.


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree. There are many bisexual people out there who do not say anything because of the standard that you have to be either or. I happen to be one of them. There is no gray area for people like Beth.

Mikey said...

Plus, she's a big fatty and no-one seems to notice that

Anonymous said...

As someone who worked for the LLGS, (look it up), I can confirm that "monosexism" is not just a Beth issue and probably comes down to either fear or jealousy.

Anonymous said...

i really admired beth, until i read that comment
now i've lost respect

Anonymous said...

*sigh* Oh how you've missed the point. Judging from your previous anti-Beth blogs, it's easy to see why you would immediately choose to take her comments with a negative connotation.

Perhaps she hasn't put it that eloquently, but I don't think she's trying to be "biphobic" whatsoever.

Rather, she's simply pointing out how condescending it is for a movie star to say that they're bisexual, despite having no evidence to the fact (i.e. she's never has a relationship with a female), in the name of shameless self-promotion and for the purpose of ingraciating herself with a "gay/bi/trans" audience.

It's transparent marketing on Angelina's part, and that is all that Beth Ditto is trying to point out here.

As a gay man, I find it offensive when people claim to be bisexual because they think it enhances their credibly - sexuality is not a fashion accessory.

That's not to say that there aren't genuine bisexuals out there.

eyetie said...

So if Brad's AJ (not to be confused with The Soprano's AJ) did show off her ex-girlfriends, would this be anymore or less convincing than Elton John showing off a marriage certificate?

I personally don't give a flying one if she's bi or not. I think it takes no small modicum of courage these days for anyone (male or female) to admit to not being 100% straight, esp. celebs who will then be viewed in terms of their sexuality rather than their talent and success.

Now that Eleanor Roosevelt, she WAS bi...

Jen said...

I don't buy it being a marketing thing with Angelina. If it were she'd wander on and off from using it as a label, but she's really consistent on that. You don't have to be "50-50" to be bi, and even if you are the world is like 90-10 in terms of straight-queer so most of your partners would be likely to be opposite sex just because of who is or isn't interested in you.

Anonymous said...

Uh...I don't think they missed the point... I don't even know who the fuck Beth Ditto is, but that quote tells me she doesn't know the difference between bisexual and lesbian or she chooses not to believe it exists. Or maybe she heard AJ claiming to be a lesbian instead of bi. It is a fact that AJ has had relationships with women. And men. So she's bi. Not gay. That chick didn't get it, or she chose to act stupid. Or this quote was taken EXTREMELY out of context. Cept that it doesn't look like it. At all. Plus I don't think AJ claiming she's bi is giving her as much girls who like girls media as the part where she actually kisses chicks in movies, but that's just me.

Anonymous said...

Angelina Jolie lived with lesbian model & actress Jenny Shimizu for about a year circa 1994-95, & they were regularly seen out on dates together again around 1999-2000. Neither Angelina or Jenny have ever tried to conceal this.

Angelina is bisexual. It's not a media hype/spin thing.

Beth Ditto however used to identify as bisexual. Her identifying now as lesbian may well be motivated by the desire to be as controversial as possible. Don't be surprised if Ditto fades into obscurity soon only to be discovered in 10 years time or so to be living a new life married to a man & raising kids.

Anonymous said...

Agreeing with Geri re the Jolie/Shimizu thing, and I'm surprised that this doesn't seem to be as commonly known as I'd previously thought...

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