Women And Bisexuality

Get a global perspective on bisexuality from a women's viewpoint! Women and Bisexuality: A Global Perspective reflects the growing contribution bisexuals, and especially bisexual women, make to queer culture on an international level. This unique book presents a collection of thoughtful essays, studies, and reviews that combine to help develop a language that reflects the reality of bisexuality from a feminine/feminist viewpoint. Authors map the inroads made by bisexual studies into conventional disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, health, literature, film, history, and biography, and analyze the situations of bisexual women in areas as diverse as France, North America, Germany, Australia, and Africa. The rich and varied contributions to Women and Bisexuality: A Global Perspective track the spread of bisexuality from the urban and metropolitan centers of gay culture to more peripheral areas as the movement becomes more and more hospitable to transnational and transcultural people. The book's main themesbisexuality's ability to disrupt categories and the resulting feeling of alienation many bisexuals experienceare manifested in approaches that include critical theory, deconstruction, textual analysis, cognitive psychology, personal essay, review essay, reportage, and qualitative study. Topics addressed include: the impact of feminism and women's communities on the appearance of bisexual women multi-sexual relationships as border existence in Australia a South African perspective on bisexuality understanding bisexuality's invisibility Lillian Hellmann's bisexual fantasies and much more! Women and Bisexuality: A Global Perspective follows bisexuality to the crossroads of academics and activism, presenting a wide scope of refreshing and insightful thought that reflects more than an identity or practice. The diverse mix of ideas is an essential read for anyone interested in literature on sexuality.

Framed by a comprehensive review of international research, literature, and film, this book is an intimate journey into the experiences and insights of 79 Australian women in relationships with bisexual men. It takes us into the daily lives, sexual intimacies, and families of MOREs (mixed-orientation relationships) that span the gamut from extremely oppressive experiences with bi-misogynist men to extremely liberating with bi-profeminist men. Aged 19 to 65, the women are in monogamous, open, and polyamorous relationships with bisexual-identifying and/or bisexual-behaving men. The women themselves are bisexual, lesbian, heterosexual, while others refuse to categorize their own sexualities. The book addresses the discovery or disclosure of the man's bisexuality, how the relationships work and where they flounder, how the partners negotiate and establish 'new rules' and boundaries to maintain their relationship, and the impact of class, rural/urban setting, ethnicity, indigeneity, race, religion, and education on these relationships. But this book isn’t only about MOREs. The research, revelations and reflections in this book tell us much about current and shifting global constructions and understandings of intimate relationships, sexual desires and love, and the socio-cultural representations and labeling of genders and sexualities.

At first glance, Barbara Kalish fit the stereotype of a 1950s wife and mother. Married at eighteen, Barbara lived with her husband and two daughters in a California suburb, where she was president of the Parent-Teacher Association. At a PTA training conference in San Francisco, Barbara met Pearl, another PTA president who also had two children and happened to live only a few blocks away from her. To Barbara, Pearl was "the most gorgeous woman in the world," and the two began an affair that lasted over a decade. Through interviews, diaries, memoirs, and letters, Her Neighbor's Wife traces the stories of hundreds of women, like Barbara Kalish, who struggled to balance marriage and same-sex desire in the postwar United States. In doing so, Lauren Jae Gutterman draws our attention away from the postwar landscape of urban gay bars and into the homes of married women, who tended to engage in affairs with wives and mothers they met in the context of their daily lives: through work, at church, or in their neighborhoods. In the late 1960s and 1970s, the lesbian feminist movement and the no-fault divorce revolution transformed the lives of wives who desired women. Women could now choose to divorce their husbands in order to lead openly lesbian or bisexual lives; increasingly, however, these women were confronted by hostile state discrimination, typically in legal battles over child custody. Well into the 1980s, many women remained ambivalent about divorce and resistant to labeling themselves as lesbian, therefore complicating a simple interpretation of their lives and relationship choices. By revealing the extent to which marriage has historically permitted space for wives' relationships with other women, Her Neighbor's Wife calls into question the presumed straightness of traditional American marriage.

This pathbreaking volume brings together a diverse body of sexual, behavioral, and social science research on bisexuality. Arguing for a clear, evidence-based definition of bisexuality and standardized measures for assessing sexual orientation, it spotlights challenges that need to be addressed toward attaining these goals. The book’s deep trove of findings illuminates the experiences of bisexual men and women in key aspects of life, as well as common mental health issues in the face of stigma, prejudice, and outright denial from the heterosexual and homosexual communities. Throughout, contributors examine the paradoxical invisibility of bisexuality even as society and science have become more inclusive of lesbians and gay men, and emphasize the critical role of thoughtful, respectful support across societal and mental health domains. Among the topics covered: Defining bisexuality: challenges and importance of and toward a unifying definition. Plurisexual identity labels and the marking of bisexual desire. Binegativity: attitudes toward and stereotypes about bisexuals. Female bisexuality: identity, fluidity, and cultural expectations. Romantic and sexual relationship experiences among bisexual individuals. Bisexuality is a substantial reference for psychologists, scholars and graduate students in LGBTQIA+ studies, and clinicians seeking both theoretical and applied perspectives on the research into bisexuality. It also offers instructors a supplemental research-based textbook option for teaching courses related to sexuality and bisexuality.

Get a global perspective on bisexuality from a women's viewpoint! Women and Bisexuality: A Global Perspective reflects the growing contribution bisexuals, and especially bisexual women, make to queer culture on an international level. This unique book presents a collection of thoughtful essays, studies, and reviews that combine to help develop a language that reflects the reality of bisexuality from a feminine/feminist viewpoint. Authors map the inroads made by bisexual studies into conventional disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, health, literature, film, history, and biography, and analyze the situations of bisexual women in areas as diverse as France, North America, Germany, Australia, and Africa. The rich and varied contributions to Women and Bisexuality: A Global Perspective track the spread of bisexuality from the urban and metropolitan centers of gay culture to more peripheral areas as the movement becomes more and more hospitable to transnational and transcultural people. The book's main themes—bisexuality's ability to disrupt categories and the resulting feeling of alienation many bisexuals experience—are manifested in approaches that include critical theory, deconstruction, textual analysis, cognitive psychology, personal essay, review essay, reportage, and qualitative study. Topics addressed include: the impact of feminism and women's communities on the appearance of bisexual women multi-sexual relationships as border existence in Australia a South African perspective on bisexuality understanding bisexuality's invisibility Lillian Hellmann's bisexual fantasies and much more! Women and Bisexuality: A Global Perspective follows bisexuality to the crossroads of academics and activism, presenting a wide scope of refreshing and insightful thought that reflects more than an identity or practice. The diverse mix of ideas is an essential read for anyone interested in literature on sexuality.

A collection of 18 in-depth interviews with a wide range of bisexual women of different races, ages, and economic classes involved in a very wide variety of lifestyles.

How do bisexual women lead their lives? Are they monogamous, celibate, involved in multiple relationships? Are they young, old, black, white, married, single, living as lesbians? How their partners feel about their sexuality? How open can they be with their children, colleagues, friends and families? And what has led them to identify in this way? In Sue George's pioneering study - the first full-length book on bisexual women to have appeared in the UK - 150 women from a range of backgrounds and age groups tell what it's like to be bisexual. Their experiences, including seven long and frank interviews, are placed against an examination of the theories developed about bisexuality from the late nineteenth century to the present day, a discussion of the often fraught relationship between bisexuality and feminism, and an analysis of why it has suited society to ignore bisexuality and to pigeonhole everyone into the categories of heterosexual or homosexual. A valuable contribution to our knowledge about sexuality, Women and Bisexuality paints a vivid picture of how bisexual women live today and asks how bisexuality as a political and social identity might be constructed in the future.

Bisexual Women in the Twenty-First Century reflects the “brave new world” of bisexual women's lives through an eclectic collection of articles that typifies an ongoing feminist process of theory grounded in life experience. The book's broad scope addresses a “world” created in response to lesbian-feminism, homophobia within the mainstream women’s movement, and sexism within the gay rights movement. The book includes Carol Queen's memoirs of the swinging lesbian scene in the 1970s, a critical examination of Alice Walker's novel The Temple of My Familiar, and a look back at the controversy surrounding bisexual inclusion in the Northampton Lesbian and Gay Pride March in Massachusetts in the early 90s. Previous groundbreaking work on bisexuality had to focus on breaking the silence around bisexual invisibility. This collection works from that foundation to explore the complexities and histories of bisexual women's lives. Bisexual Women in the Twenty-First Century examines: tensions between lesbians and bisexual women the shifting place of bisexual women in society the use of skin color as a charged metaphor the inclusion of bisexuality into queer theory groundbreaking new work on bisexual youth the creative use of the “sacred whore” archetype Bisexual Women in the Twenty-First Century is an essential source of social and political critique, and a vital resource for anyone interested in the complex dynamics of human sexuality, regardless of sexual orientation.

Learn the latest practicaland bisexually affirmativeapproaches to helping bisexual clients Clinical work with bisexual clients has conceptually shifted beyond the exclusive emphasis on either straight or lesbian and gay issues. There are still, however, too few psychotherapists who provide affirmative psychotherapy specific to bisexual concerns. Affirmative Psychotherapy with Bisexual Women and Bisexual Men addresses the issues of bisexuals with an accepting and affirmative perspective, providing therapists with the latest viewpoints, strategies, and research to effectively treat bisexual clients. Leading authorities with affirmative-to-bisexuals perspectives discuss problems specific to bisexuals and their lifestyles, with an eye toward providing practical, effective therapy. Unique bisexual lifestyle concerns are examined, such as transgender issues, polyamory, older bisexual women and men, and cultural differences, while providing an emphasis on cultivating well-being and a sense of community in bisexual clients. Affirmative Psychotherapy with Bisexual Women and Bisexual Men sensitively avoids the double standard long held by therapists clinically treating heterosexual or lesbian and gay individuals, showing that an affirmative viewpoint is valid and crucial for the effective treatment of bisexuals. This source clearly explains practical strategies and discusses the latest research on bisexual issues such as age, culture, heterosexual and bisexual mixed couples, and the polyamorous lifestyle with appropriate acceptance and understanding. The book also explores useful ways to develop successful health and support services specific to bisexual needs. Topics in Affirmative Psychotherapy with Bisexual Women and Bisexual Men include: affirmative psychotherapy techniques specific to bisexual women and bisexual men need for validation of bisexuality ways for clients to come to terms with their bisexuality practical valueand shortcomingsof the main therapeutic schools in providing effective psychotherapy transgender bisexuality, with illustrative case studies needs and issues of African-American bisexual clients bisexual aging issues counseling heterosexual spouses of bisexual women and men therapy approaches for clients who are bisexual and polyamorous recognizing and addressing the specific needs of different sub-groups of bisexual people and more! Affirmative Psychotherapy with Bisexual Women and Bisexual Men is a crucial addition to the literature of bisexual psychotherapy and is invaluable to counselors, psychotherapists, marriage and family therapists, social workers, psychiatrists, sex therapists, researchers, and educators in the fields of psychology, sociology, anthropology, sexuality, sex education, adolescent and adult development, and community mental health.