The Six Tribes of Bisexuality: An Illustrated Guide

We all know that finding your place in the queer community can be a difficult process—all the more so if you are sexually fluid. Sometimes it seems like there are endless identities to choose from. With so many options, how can you find your authentic voice? 

Well, Unicorn wants to let you into a little secret…it’s an empirical fact that there are only six types of bi. 

So take a look at our exhaustive (exhaustive!) list below and work out which tribe you and everyone you know fits into. 

Should you leave it to a magazine to tell you who you are and how to be queer? Yes, you definitely should. These tribes—locked in a constant jostle for domination of the sexually fluid landscape—encompass the entirety of our community. Pick yours with care! 

The Bi Activist is Identifiable by their purple hair. Currently identifying as a panromantic asexual, but they’re not really into labels. Had their sexual awakening during a Studio Ghibli marathon at their BFF’s house. Leads an online support group for people affected by the ongoing straight-washing of the MCU.

House party games of ‘cock or ball’ regularly escalate into him sucking off his two best friends. Considers himself 100% hetero. Sometimes calls out the name ‘Dave’ when shagging his girlfriend. Wet shaves his chest. Vers bottom on Grindr.

The International Assassin is an amoral bi villainess. They have passionless sex with disposable playthings; usually two at a time. If your name’s on her list she’ll murder you without blinking. If she could feel love, it would be for a rival foreign agent played by Jennifer Lawrence, but after years in espionage, she feels nothing at all…

No hnh. No femmes. DL. Can’t accom. 
Height: 178cm
Weight:76kg
Ethnicity: White
Body Type: Average
Position: Top 
Tribes: Discreet
Accepts NSFW pics: Yes please 
Looking for: right now 
(Behind every DL Grindr profile is a 40 something father who has an ‘understanding’ with his wife..).

M/F couple looking for a third (or more!) for chilled fun. No drama. Regularly attend parties. Experienced on the scene and enjoy the lifestyle. F is bi and also plays solo with other women (ladies to the front please!) Total wannabe ropebunny. (If you know, you know.) M is heteroflexible and a natural dom (but happy to watch.) 5’10 and 5’4- if it matters. No face pics cause of work reasons, but you won’t be disappointed, promise. Be fit and clean. No smokers.

Politically, a committed lesbian.
Really actually just a lesbian. 
Doesn’t have any interest in cishet guys. That’s for sure. Not at all. 
Probably should just call herself a lesbian. 
A lesbian. A proper lesbian…
…but Harry Styles though…

All the editors at Unicorn—Lev (“it’s not gay if you top” Jock) Lucy (Bi Activist) Maddie (International Assassin) and Joe (Sex Person)—invite you to get in touch on Twitter or Instagram with your own suggestions for bi tribes we might have missed. Because as exhaustive (exhaustive!) as we think our list is, we recognise that we are a diverse, multifaceted community that is almost impossible to pigeonhole. And in truth, that’s the way we like it. 


Written by Joe Von Malachowski
Illustration by Anya Perepelkina

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