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A review by saifighter
Bi: The Hidden Culture, History, and Science of Bisexuality by Julia Shaw
2.0
Hi I’m Sai. Here are my credentials (not that you need them). I identify as bisexual and homoromantic. I’ve had sex with men and woman. I’m in a monogamist marriage with an asexual woman. And I have been the target of unicorn hunters many, many times.
Anyway
The Good
I want to start off with saying that I enjoyed the discussion of the history of scientific and social scientific efforts to measure (?) or define bisexuality. The conversation around the Kinsey scale, Klein grid, and Henry Havelock Ellis was really interesting.
I also liked that the book talked about the struggled of being out at work. This is something I definitely relate to as I am also not out as bi at work, I'm out as a lesbian. Since I am married to a woman, it just feels easier to say I'm gay/a lesbian (stolen lesbian valor? lol joking). Being out as bisexual but homo romantic sounds like so much when I can just say "MY WIFE." Something I definitely will be thinking about. Chapter 4 was probably the chapter I got the most out of.
The Bad
I liked when the book talked about activist Brenda Howard but I was frustrated by the lack of (or very little discussion) of other historical bisexual persons outside of science and social science. For a book with “hidden culture” in its subtitle, it doesn’t really talk a lot about bisexuals of cultural significant. Lord Byron, Frida Kahlo, June Jordan, Josephine Baker, Freddie Mercury, Oscar Wilde are just a few that are excluded.
Instead of, IDK, doing a modicum of research on bisexual culture, Shaw equates non-monogamy and threesomes as the ultimate way to show you are bisexual. This woman has never heard of gay signaling. Not a mention of lemon bars, bob haircuts, finger guns, or cuffed jeans! (joking) But seriously, chapter 7 was horrible. I have never felt any desire to be in a sexual relationship with two people or felt a desire to cheat because I was "missing out on the other sex." I feel like this chapter was pushing this idea that most bisexuals don't crave monogamy. This chapter focuses so much on sex it was insane to me. Where is the boring section about the bisexuals that just want to be monogamist but still show that they are bisexual. We got to stand up for our alt girlies and their sad gamer boyfriends! (light hearted / joking)
However, despite calling all bisexuals sexually frustrated deviants who will never be happy in monogamy, I think Shaw’s biggest offence is her saying “bi is an umbrella term” to get away with not discussing pansexuality, omnisexuality, and polysexuals. Shaw kind of just assumes you already know all about the “Pan vs Bi” discussion and just sweeps it all under the rug. This is such a disservice to those other sexualities. Not everyone agrees that bisexuality is an umbrella term that catches all these other labels. Shaw not wanting to talk about those nuances in depth feels a coward move.
Conclusion
This book isn’t for beginners and I’m honestly disappointed to see that this book is the first thing that pops up when you Google “bisexual non-fiction.” It’s not for beginners because it barely gives you anything and honestly feeds the reader some pretty harmful false ideas about bisexuality. Julia Shaw is a criminal psychologist and I’m going to go ahead and say that after reading her book, I don’t think she was qualified to write this.
Anyway
The Good
I want to start off with saying that I enjoyed the discussion of the history of scientific and social scientific efforts to measure (?) or define bisexuality. The conversation around the Kinsey scale, Klein grid, and Henry Havelock Ellis was really interesting.
I also liked that the book talked about the struggled of being out at work. This is something I definitely relate to as I am also not out as bi at work, I'm out as a lesbian. Since I am married to a woman, it just feels easier to say I'm gay/a lesbian (stolen lesbian valor? lol joking). Being out as bisexual but homo romantic sounds like so much when I can just say "MY WIFE." Something I definitely will be thinking about. Chapter 4 was probably the chapter I got the most out of.
The Bad
I liked when the book talked about activist Brenda Howard but I was frustrated by the lack of (or very little discussion) of other historical bisexual persons outside of science and social science. For a book with “hidden culture” in its subtitle, it doesn’t really talk a lot about bisexuals of cultural significant. Lord Byron, Frida Kahlo, June Jordan, Josephine Baker, Freddie Mercury, Oscar Wilde are just a few that are excluded.
Instead of, IDK, doing a modicum of research on bisexual culture, Shaw equates non-monogamy and threesomes as the ultimate way to show you are bisexual. This woman has never heard of gay signaling. Not a mention of lemon bars, bob haircuts, finger guns, or cuffed jeans! (joking) But seriously, chapter 7 was horrible. I have never felt any desire to be in a sexual relationship with two people or felt a desire to cheat because I was "missing out on the other sex." I feel like this chapter was pushing this idea that most bisexuals don't crave monogamy. This chapter focuses so much on sex it was insane to me. Where is the boring section about the bisexuals that just want to be monogamist but still show that they are bisexual. We got to stand up for our alt girlies and their sad gamer boyfriends! (light hearted / joking)
However, despite calling all bisexuals sexually frustrated deviants who will never be happy in monogamy, I think Shaw’s biggest offence is her saying “bi is an umbrella term” to get away with not discussing pansexuality, omnisexuality, and polysexuals. Shaw kind of just assumes you already know all about the “Pan vs Bi” discussion and just sweeps it all under the rug. This is such a disservice to those other sexualities. Not everyone agrees that bisexuality is an umbrella term that catches all these other labels. Shaw not wanting to talk about those nuances in depth feels a coward move.
Conclusion
This book isn’t for beginners and I’m honestly disappointed to see that this book is the first thing that pops up when you Google “bisexual non-fiction.” It’s not for beginners because it barely gives you anything and honestly feeds the reader some pretty harmful false ideas about bisexuality. Julia Shaw is a criminal psychologist and I’m going to go ahead and say that after reading her book, I don’t think she was qualified to write this.