Ive seen this term a few times, but never an explanation. As a person that (mostly) associates themselves with being Bi, ive never experienced any sort of “cycle”. Its it just an internet injoke (cause it sounds like bicycle).
In my opinion, trying to put titles and classifications on yourself can usually do more harm than good, and this is a good example why. For a little while I was scared that I wasnt “really bisexual” cause I slightly preferred feminine to masculine people. Then I realized that I shouldnt think about it too much and get stressed over things we all just made up, so now I just do what I want. It sucks that people use that “just a phase” argument, just let people live their lives.
Although titles and classifications can feel restricting and gatekeep-y, I think it’s also important to acknowledge their value when it comes to relating and communicating with other people that might be in the same situation. Even in this post, there are people who have mentioned going through the bi-cycle. It can be a lot less scary and confusing for someone dealing with it if they go online, say “is it normal to flip between what genders you’re attracted to?” and then getting a veritable chorus of people saying that it’s not only normal, but also has a name.
Of course, then you might also wind up stuck wondering if you really are bisexual because you’ve never had that experience (which I’ve also seen and tried to help someone through), so it’s definitely a double-edged sword… In the end, gender and sexuality are messy and hardly ever as easy as some crowds want to claim, but that’s a realization that I think each individual needs to get to themselves. Trying to force it on others just threatens defensiveness and shutting down communication.
Perfectly stated. Having this new list of identities is extremely useful and helped me out a lot, but of course its gonna have problems. Trying to sort and categorize human beings is always a problem.
Definitely! Humans are a bunch of individuals with one of a nigh-infinite combination of thoughts and experiences, so even if people can come to an agreement on what an abstract term means, there’s still a high chance that there is some minor aspect where they have a slightly different understanding on the matter. Admittedly, I don’t know for sure what it’s like for vampires and Barovian nobility, but I have a feeling it’s a similar case ;)
