Dictionary / Bisexual Encouragement
Fantasy and Presentation

Bisexual Encouragement

Bisexual encouragement uses dialogue about attraction to more than one gender. This entry also explains the combined gay bisexual encouragement label.

Bisexual encouragement is an adult-media theme in which dialogue encourages someone to consider or express attraction to more than one gender. It may take the form of affirmation, exploration or a fictional roleplay premise.

The subject is attraction. The format is a performed conversation. Those two facts explain more than claims that a recording can reveal or change the sexuality of whoever watches it.

What bisexual means

Bisexuality refers to the potential for attraction to more than one gender. The attraction doesn’t have to be evenly divided, simultaneous or demonstrated through a particular relationship history.

A person doesn’t need an equal number of experiences with different genders for the word to apply. Nor does bisexuality have to be presented as a temporary stop between other identities. It can describe the person’s orientation in its own right.

What “encouragement” adds

The defining element is dialogue that invites the fictional participant or audience to consider that attraction. A speaker may use a supportive tone, a teasing persona or a more directive role. Those are choices about presentation; none is required by the word bisexual.

Direct address can make the format resemble Jerk Off Instruction, but the subject is different. One theme discusses attraction or exploration. The other centers on directions associated with masturbation. A production may combine them, but they aren't synonyms.

Gay bisexual encouragement: why the combined label appears

Some adult catalogs use gay bisexual encouragement as a broader heading for material about same-gender attraction, bisexual exploration, or both. It’s an informal grouping rather than a precise third orientation.

The wording can be confusing because gay and bisexual mean different things. Gay commonly describes same-gender attraction; bisexuality includes the potential for attraction to more than one gender. Putting the words side by side doesn’t remove that distinction.

Under the combined heading, one production might emphasize a character discussing same-gender attraction. Another might focus on attraction across genders. The actual description needs to say which premise is involved.

Fictional dialogue and personal identity

A narrator can assign a role to a fictional participant. That doesn’t give the narrator authority to assign an identity to the viewer. Watching a genre is also not a reliable way for someone else to diagnose that viewer’s orientation.

This is where exaggerated promotional claims stop being useful. A performance can explore an idea without claiming to convert anyone, uncover a hidden truth or provide psychological treatment.

The straightforward description is enough: dialogue about attraction and exploration, delivered through a particular persona. The person watching still gets to describe their own identity.

Sources and context

GLAAD: Bisexual people — background on bisexual identity and terminology.