Bisexual Women, Non-Monogamy and Differentialist Anti-Promiscuity Discourses

Abstract

Popular discourses on bisexuality assume a peculiar interrelation between bisexuality and non-monogamy. Drawing upon qualitative research in gay male and bisexual non-monogamies in the UK, this article explores bisexual women’s accounts on the effects of promiscuity allegations on non-monogamous sexual and relationship practice. Due to the prominence of gender as a differentializing factor in the discourses on promiscuity, to be publicly known as bisexual and non-monogamous tends to have particularly stigmatizing effects on women. The issue is further complicated by the intersection of promiscuity discourses with discourses on race/ethnicity and class. The regimes of violence that go hand in hand with the stigmatization through promiscuity allegations police women’s sexual behaviour making it more risky for women of certain positioning to come out or move and socialize in certain cultural contexts.

Cohort Effect on the Coming Out Experiences of Bisexual Men

“…They have been undermined primarily through the prevalence of negative stereotypes, including beliefs that bisexuals are unable to admit to having a homosexual orientation (Burleson, 2005), and that bisexuality is a transitory experiment with same-sex intimacy or a transitional stage before fully coming out as gay (MacDonald, 1981). Research has also documented the prevalence of sexual stigma regarding promiscuity and non-monogamous relationships (Klesse, 2005;McLean, 2004). Eliason's (1997) findings that stereotypes about bisexuals are more focussed on sexual acts 4 than those about gays and lesbians supports the notion that prejudice against bisexuals is linked with a particular form of conservative sexual morality (Hemmings, 2002); one situated within a monogamous norm that bisexuals are seen to transgress by nature of their desires (Paul, 1984).…”

Introduction to the Special Issue: EuroBiReCon: (Inter)National Research Frontiers

“…The number of studies has shown a sharp increase since the 2000s and deal with a plethora of topics such as identification, stereotyping, negotiating compulsory coupledom, and more. The Journal of Bisexuality in particular has been an important outlet for studies on bisexuality and relationships (e.g., Anderson, Scoats, & McCormack 2015;Armstrong & Reissing, 2014;Gustavson, 2009;Kangasvuo, 2011;Klesse, 2011;McLean, 2004;Pennington, 2009), but several studies were published in other journals such as Christian Klesse's twin publications on polyamory and nonmonogamies in bisexual people (Klesse, 2005(Klesse, , 2006, Annukka Lahti's (2015) article on Finnish bisexual women's negotiations of discourses on romantic love and sameness to heterosexual couples, and Renate Baumgartner's (2017) recent article on Austrian bisexual women's internalized binegativity regarding relationship options and stereotypes.…”

‘A Real Lesbian Wouldn't Touch a Bisexual With a Bargepole'

“…Bisexuality in these terms is thus derogated as an illegitimate sexuality (McLean, 2008) and is imagined as an alternation between two separate worlds, for which promiscuity is a necessary condition (even in positive appraisals of bisexuality, Welzer-Lang's, 2008, participants largely describe a sexual identity premised on multiple relationships; see also Klesse, 2005). Both like and unlike 'us', the bisexual woman is able to move in either realm, an 'amphibian' (Babcock-Abrahams, 1975) whose transgression between categories threatens boundaries and the identities constructed and maintained within -an 'awkward reminder' (Baker, 2008, p. 145) of internal difference and potential inter-group similarities where (the illusion of) the opposite offers comfort and validation (Taylor, 1998).…”