Customer Reviews

Current Research on Bisexuality

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The book presents a good overview of some bisexuals' development, choices, and common experiences as they continue to examine the definition of themselves and their relationships.

This is a readable volume on data gathered from bisexual subjects. There is not much in the way of proving assertions; rather, data is presented and the various researchers make general observations.

Ronald Fox's expansive booklist on bisexuality and related topics, which is listed in the back of this book, is worth the purchase price.

Highlights I enjoyed: "The participants who chose non-monogamous relationship (25%) had an especially dificult time with the cultural bias against non-monogamy, which was described as an issue even more difficult and taboo than bisexuality."

"It's very stressful when being true to yourself means challenging the culture," "You're only a second class citizen," and "I haven't ever had a strong sense of community anywhere" were comments made by bisexuals.

"Despite the stereotypes that claim that bisexuals are deceitful, unfaithful and untrustworthy in relationships, most of the bisexual men and women I interviewed demonstrated a significant commitment to the principles of trust, honesty and communication in the intimate relationship and made considerable effort to ensure both theirs and their partner's needs and desires were catered for within the relationship . . . They discussed the issue of monogamy early on in their relationships, and were committed to communicating with partners about any jealousies, insecurities or other issues that arose . . . Equally important, the findings of this study strongly confirm that bisexual men and women can and do participate in healthy, committed intimate relationships"

What do you do when you are strongly drawn to something that is a cultural taboo? These people live with those conflicts everyday. And defining "trust" in a world of non-monogamy is probably a complex challenge.

Some bisexuals appear to choose to become a part of a hated and discriminated-against minority - a never-ending difficult and delicate choice. Some of them negotiate and re-negotiate the terms of their long term relationships. Love is sometimes a driving force that creates solutions for complex motivations.