• MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
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      4 months ago

      That user said they’re not lesbians. Because they believe in excluding bi women from the lesbian label. That’s what bi exclusionism is, excluding bi people. Just like trans exclusionism (as in TERFs) is excluding trans women.

      • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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        4 months ago

        Generally I’d consider calling someone who identifies as bisexual a lesbian to be bi erasure since lesbian is generally understood to mean a woman attracted to women so it would be erasing the fact that they’re attracted to other genders.

        • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Yeah as a lesbian, I assume homosexuality when someone says they’re a lesbian. It’s what I mean when I say it. Bi women are gladly welcomed in all sapphic contexts except the ones where nonattraction to men is relevant but I’m not going to erase their bisexuality by implying homosexuality in them

        • MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
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          4 months ago

          If saying that those women are attracted to women were bi erasure, it would be bi erasure to call them wives.

      • ClockworkOtter@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Ah, so lesbianism includes gay women and bi women - at least for some people (like the couple in the OP).

        I’ve got a couple of bi friends in same sex relationships, but hadn’t ever asked if they identify as lesbians. TMYK

          • Susaga@sh.itjust.works
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            4 months ago

            It actually doesn’t. They identify as bisexual. While their bio has them claim the term “sword lesbian wives”, this is likely because that name got applied to them outside of their control, which is why they clarify they’re “actually bisexual” immediately after. They never identify as lesbian outside of this phrase, but frequently identify as bisexual.

            Honestly, applying the term “lesbian” to a couple that identify as bi feels like bi erasure, so you can see why people want to correct that asap.

            • ClockworkOtter@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              Maybe some people are happy to identify as bi lesbians and others aren’t? If they didn’t like being called lesbians then they probably wouldn’t continue to advertise themselves as such.

              • Susaga@sh.itjust.works
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                4 months ago

                Some people are happy to, sure. Why not? But we have no reason to believe they are. And they don’t actually claim to be lesbian, they just claim that the term “lesbian sword wives” (a name someone else came up with) refers to them. They more explicitly advertise themselves as bisexual.

                It’s like how Iron Man’s suit isn’t made of Iron. He also didn’t come up with the name, but he knows it refers to him.