Dr Shaun Cole, associate professor in fashion at the University of Southampton, says that “as members of a marginalised community, recognisable aesthetics are and always have been important to queer people”. Queer folk in general though have a long history of signalling identity via personal aesthetics. In the slipstream of femme and tomboy, the bi bob (ironically) defies categorisation – reflecting back that same duality of identity which so many bisexuals inhabit. For Jordan at least, it’s “straight-up ambiguous with femme energy”. Whether it’s the liminal length or nondescript style, there is something about the haircut that appears to signal sexual fluidity. While she says her hair often ends up “more like a stubby ponytail”, there’s no denying that the bisexual bob is something of a phenomenon, as seen on everyone from Brooke Candy, to Tessa Thompson, to Eleanor (Kristen Bell) in The Good Place, with Joan of Arc as its apparent originator (at least according to Twitter). The haircut, which grows anywhere between chin and shoulder-length, has, of late, become one of the most identifiable tropes of bisexual culture. “Once I had it, though, I thought it might at least convey the fact that I fancy women”, she tells us. It was by complete accident and split ends that Jordan, a writer from London, got her first ‘bisexual bob’.
Not every lesbian has an undercut and not every gay guy has bleached his hair blonde, but they do appear to form part of the new queer semiotics. "To achieve this, they needed an even number of stripes, so the turquoise stripe was dropped, which resulted in a six stripe version of the flag we know today - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet," the website adds.Hairstyles are not prescriptive to sexual identity (of course). The flag was modified in 1979 by the organizers of the 1979 San Francisco Pride parade, who wanted to "split the flag into two in order to decorate the two sides of the parade route," according to Virginia's Old Dominion University website. "In the original eight-color version, pink stood for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony and violet for the soul," the website of Amherst College in Massachusetts explains. The rainbow flag, seen first in the gallery above, was designed by Gilbert Baker for the 1978 San Francisco's Gay Freedom Celebration. Cameron Whimsey via Wikimedia Commons The demisexual pride flag. KiwiNeko14 via Wikimedia Commons The aromantic pride flag. McLennonSon via Wikimedia Commons The pansexual pride flag. Calcavorix via Wikimedia Commons The polysexual pride flag. Marilyn Roxie, McLennonSon via Wikimedia Commons The gender fluid pride flag. Jim Evans via Wikimedia Commons The genderqueer pride flag. Kye Rowan via Wikimedia Commons The polyamorous pride flag. Britrek87 via Wikimedia Commons A non-binary pride flag. Michael Page via Wikimedia Commons The asexual pride flag.
Dlloyd based on Monica Helms design via Wikimedia Commons The bisexual pride flag.
L ke in Inkscape via Wikimedia Commons The transgender pride flag. Guanaco via Wikimedia Commons The lesbian pride flag designed in 2018.