Every Woman Is Bi. You Just Need To Find Out If It's Polar Or Sexual

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About

Every Woman Is Bi. You Just Need To Find Out If It's Polar Or Sexual is a catchphrase used online that started in memes on Facebook in 2018, however, it's also rumored to be a joke from stand-up comedian Owen Benjamin. Going into the early 2020s, it became a phrasal template on Twitter due to a retweet from Washington Post writer David Weigel that sparked a viral debate involving fellow staffer Felicia Sonmez who was let go from the publication after a week-long controversy in 2022.

Origin

On June 5th, 2018, Facebook^[1] user Antone Pacman Shields made a post that read, "Every Woman Is Bi 🤞🏾 / Some Are Bilingual 🗣️ / Some Are Bisexual 👯‍♀️ / But All Of Them Are Bipolar 🎭." Over the course of four years, the post earned over 30 reactions (shown below). Although this is the first known post using some form of the catchphrase, its origin is said to be a joke created by stand-up comedian Owen Benjamin in the 1990s. This is according to multiple Twitter^[2] users who reiterated this information in mid-2022 during the WaPo controversy.

Spread

Throughout 2018, the catchphrase was used by multiple Facebook^[3] users in their individual posts. On May 26th, 2019, the Facebook^[4] page Baller Alert posted a version of the phrase that earned roughly 2,400 reactions in three years (shown below). The exact origin of this specific Facebook post is currently unknown.

On April 8th, 2020, Twitter^[5] user gazpachomachine posted a tweet that read, "every woman is bi. it's your job to find out if it's sexual, polar, or onicle," earning roughly 293,900 likes in two years (shown below). This tweet was reposted to multiple platforms in 2020, such as Facebook.^[6]

On June 1st, 2022, Twitter^[7] user hamcarless tweeted, "Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual," earning roughly 13,600 likes in eight days (shown below, left). In the days following, hamcarless' tweet was retweeted by Washington Post writer David Weigel. The retweet sparked a reaction from fellow Washington Post writer Felicia Sonmez, who on June 3rd, 2022, posted a tweet^[8] that included a screenshot of the retweet, captioning it, "Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed!" The tweet received roughly 18,900 likes over the course of six days (shown below, right).

The backlash levied at Weigel regarding the retweet prompted him to delete the retweet. He then tweeted^[9] a formal apology on June 3rd, stating, "I just removed a retweet of an offensive joke. I apologize and did not mean to cause any harm," receiving roughly 1,900 likes. Multiple reactions surfaced regarding the entire event, with people taking the sides of both Weigel and Sonmez.

The tweet was even discussed on Fox News' show Tucker Carlson Tonight, when the comedian Cam Harless, the original poster of the Dave Weigel retweet, was a guest on the show. Cam Harless posted a tweet^[10] on June 7th, 2022, that included a screenshot from the segment, earning roughly 1,600 likes in two days (shown below).

The controversy over Weigel's retweet inspired multiple Twitter^[11] users to exploit the catchphrase as a phrasal template going into the remainder of June 2022.