TLDR: Are some men being pressured to identify as bisexual?
I was chatting the other day with a straight male friend about LGB issues. I brought up the prevalent "everyone is bisexual" message that I used to hear during college (and which is all over the internet, of course).
He told me that more recently, he has heard a lot of his acquaintance, especially other men, self-describe as bisexual or suggest to him that he ought to describe himself as bisexual as well. Their reasoning: "Well, if you could hypothetically have a crush on a guy, even if you never have, then you are bisexual." For context, my friend and I are both in our 20s and live in very liberal areas. We are not super old, but these are all grown adults saying these things.
(My friend also speculated that perhaps a couple of these men might have been quick to identify as bisexual because in the area he lives, people often casually suggest that bisexual/gay men are more empathetic than straight men and straight women want to date empathetic men, therefore it is benefits a guy to say he is bisexual even if he has never been attracted to a guy.)
My question is: has anyone else heard of this being a pattern among straight men? I guess I'm surprised because I thought only women were pressured to be bisexual, not men.
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