{"id":2047,"date":"2018-06-08T07:00:42","date_gmt":"2018-06-08T12:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=2047"},"modified":"2018-10-10T22:54:02","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T03:54:02","slug":"bisexuality-breaks-categories-but-faces-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2018\/06\/08\/bisexuality-breaks-categories-but-faces-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Bisexuality Breaks Categories, But Faces Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_2056\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2056\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/taedc\/34997019670\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2056 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/06\/2626737533_19dec2cc3e_z-600x399.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"399\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/06\/2626737533_19dec2cc3e_z-600x399.jpg 600w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/06\/2626737533_19dec2cc3e_z-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/06\/2626737533_19dec2cc3e_z.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2056\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Francisco Pride Parade, Photo by Caitlin Childs, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/broadly.vice.com\/en_us\/article\/qvexbx\/janelle-monae-bisexual-lighting\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a favorite lighting trope<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/features\/cover-story-janelle-monae-prince-new-lp-her-sexuality-w519523\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">album premiere<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the season, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bisexual.org\/?qna=what-is-the-difference-between-bisexual-and-terms-like-pansexual-polysexual-omnisexual-ambisexual-and-fluid\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bisexuality and pansexuality<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are having a major cultural moment. According to recent social surveys, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2017\/06\/12\/23rds-of-sexual-minorities-now-identify-as-bisexual-but-it-depends\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the number of people who identify as bisexual is on the rise<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Social science research studying bisexuality shows us how a more fluid look at sexual identity brings both benefits and challenges. <\/span><\/p>\n<h5>For many people, identification with a particular sexual orientation is not a clear and consistent process. Some bisexual people come out later in life, or choose different labels for it. \u00a0And how \u201cout\u201d you are can depend on the gender and number of partners you have. Today, more young people are embracing this fluidity as &#8220;something other than straight.&#8221;<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/faculty.webster.edu\/woolflm\/paularust.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Paula C Rust.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 1993. \u201c\u2018<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/089124393007001004\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coming Out\u2019 in the Age of Social Constructionism: Sexual Identity Formation among Lesbian and Bisexual Women<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gender &amp; Society<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 7(1): 50-77.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/as.nyu.edu\/faculty\/paula-england.html\">Paula England<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/emmamishel.com\/\">Emma Mishel<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/caudillomonica.com\/\">Mo\u0301nica L. Caudillo<\/a>. 2016. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sociologicalscience.com\/articles-v3-42-951\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increases in Sex with Same-Sex Partners and Bisexual Identity Across Cohorts of Women (but Not Men)<\/span><\/a>.<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sociological Science <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3(42): 951-970.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ssw.umich.edu\/phdstudents\/profiles\/sociology\/scherrek\">Kristin S. Scherrer<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/soc.unl.edu\/emily-kazyak\">Emily Kazyak<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rachelmschmitz.com\/\">Rachel Schmitz<\/a>. 2015. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1111\/jomf.12190\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Getting \u2018Bi\u2019 in the Family: Bisexual People\u2019s Disclosure Experiences<\/span><\/a>.<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Journal of Marriage and Family <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">77(3): <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">680-696.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>But this fluidity can also have consequences. Bisexuals face unequal health outcomes and wage disparities, and additional social stigma in both straight identified and queer identified spaces.<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.trentonmize.com\/\">Trenton D Mize<\/a>. 2016. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/0003122416674025\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sexual Orientation in the Labor Market.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">American Sociological Review<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 81(6): 1132-1160.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.rice.edu\/bridget-gorman\">Bridget K. Gorman<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/soc.wsu.edu\/denney-justin\/\">Justin T. Denney<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/hilary-dowdy-60690681\">Hilary Dowdy<\/a>, and Rose Anne Medeiros. 2015. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s13524-015-0406-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A New Piece of the Puzzle: Sexual Orientation, Gender, and Physical Health Status<\/span><\/a>.<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Demography. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">52(4): 1357\u20131382.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dlsph.utoronto.ca\/faculty-profile\/ross-lori-e\/\">Lori E.Ross,<\/a> Laurel O&#8217;Gorman, Melissa A.MacLeod, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.schulich.uwo.ca\/epibio\/people\/core_faculty\/dr_greta_bauer.html\">Greta R.Bauer<\/a>, Jenna MacKay, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dal.ca\/faculty\/arts\/sociology-social-anthropology\/faculty-staff\/our-faculty\/margaret-robinson.html\">Margaret Robinson<\/a>. 2016. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi-org.ezp1.lib.umn.edu\/10.1016\/j.socscimed.2016.03.009\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bisexuality, Poverty, and Mental Health: A Mixed Methods Analysis.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social Science &amp; Medicine <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">156: 64-72. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>But wait, there\u2019s some good news! The way researchers study bisexual behavior &#8212; often comparing bisexual individuals with two or more partners to straight or gay individuals with only one or more partners &#8212; means that some of the differences in health may be exaggerated. Despite greater attention to bisexual individuals in popular culture, we must not forget the challenges faced by this population. In a world that likes clear labels, it is easy for people who don&#8217;t fit those categories to fall through the cracks.<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.schulich.uwo.ca\/epibio\/people\/core_faculty\/dr_greta_bauer.html\">Greta R.Bauer<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/socialwork.utoronto.ca\/profiles\/david-brennan\/\">David J. Brennan<\/a>. 2013. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1080\/15299716.2013.782260\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Problem with \u2018Behavioral Bisexuality\u2019: Assessing Sexual Orientation in Survey Research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Journal of Bisexuality <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">13(2): 148-165.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From a favorite lighting trope to the album premiere of the season, bisexuality and pansexuality are having a major cultural moment. According to recent social surveys, the number of people who identify as bisexual is on the rise. Social science research studying bisexuality shows us how a more fluid look at sexual identity brings both [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2020,"featured_media":2056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,55,33,13],"tags":[9981,18895,29,105250,38543,1005,38545,38544,38541,4208,565,38,32502,119,13317,103481,1936,54,176],"class_list":["post-2047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-gender","category-health","category-inequality","tag-bisexual","tag-bisexuality","tag-class","tag-coming-out","tag-culture","tag-employment","tag-gender","tag-health","tag-inequality","tag-labor-market","tag-mental-health","tag-methods","tag-pansexuality","tag-poverty","tag-same-sex","tag-sexual-behavior","tag-sexual-identity","tag-sexual-orientation","tag-sexuality"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/06\/2626737533_19dec2cc3e_z.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2020"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2047"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2229,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2047\/revisions\/2229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}