Women and Bisexuality

A Global Perspective

Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781560232711
• eBook ISBN: 9781317992455
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Gender Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

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.

Index

ABIGALE (Association of Bisexuals, Gays and Lesbians), 38, 41

Achmat, Zackie, 39

African countries

bisexuality in, 44–50

gay activism in, 36–39

homophobia in, 35–38

homosexuality explored in, 44–50

lesbian and bisexual women in, 37

AIDS, bisexual men and, 3, 40, 57, 63–64, 67–68

Aimee & Jaguar (film), 121–22

Anderlini-D’Onofrio, Serena, 1-8, 89–114

Anzaldúa, Gloria, 4, 35, 50

Apostles of civilized vice (Achmat), 39

appearance standards

of bisexual women, 11–22

effect of feminism on, 3, 5, 12–16, 20–21

effect of women’s communities on, 12, 16–21

heterosexual, 11

lesbian, 11–12, 16–17

societal, 14, 15

Arab culture, bisexuality in, 47–48

Ardener, Edwin, 48

Association of Bisexuals, Gays and Lesbians (ABIGALE), 38, 41

Atwood, Margaret, 42

Ault, Amber, 45

Bankhead, Tallulah, 129

Beach, F.A., 47

beauty standards

of bisexual women, 11–22

effect of feminism on, 3, 5, 12–16, 20–21

effect of women’s communities on, 12, 16–21

heterosexual, 11

lesbian, 11–12, 16–17

societal, 14, 15

Behind the mask (Website), 40

berdache, 29, 43

Berman, K., 38

bi communities

See also women’s communities

effect of, on beauty and appearance standards, 12, 16–21

weight acceptance in, 19–20

binary oppositions, 3, 4, 42–44, 46–47, 60

bisexuality

in African countries, 44–50

ambiguous nature of, 26, 28–29

in Arab culture, 47–48

gender egalitarianism and, 131–132

as an identity, 108, 128–1...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• About the Editor
• About the Contributors
• Women and Bisexuality: A Global Perspective: Introduction
• What Should I Wear? A Qualitative Look at the Impact of Feminism and Women's Communities on Bisexual Women's Appearance
• In Defense of Ambiguity Understanding Bisexuality's Invisibility Through Cognitive psychology
• Reading Bisexualities from a South African Perspective
• “Outside Belonging” Multi-Sexual Relationships as Border Existence
• The Live with the Ounce of Truth Lillian Hellman's Bisexual Fantasies
• Poems
• Bi Film-Video World Aimee & Jaguar
• Bi Books Lines of Flight: A Review of Identity Without Selfhood: Simone De Beauvoir and Bisexuality
• Index