Bisexuality

For the past two generations, extensive research has been conducted on the determinants of homosexuality. But, until now, scant attention has been paid to what is perhaps the most mysterious--and potentially illuminating--variation of human sexual expression, bisexuality. Today, as ignorance and fear of AIDS makes greater awareness of all forms of sexual behavior an urgent matter of private and public consequence, leading sex researchers Martin Weinberg, Colin Williams, and Douglas Pryor provide us with the first major study of bisexuality. Weinberg, Williams, and Pryor explore the riddle of dual attraction in their study of 800 residents of San Francisco. Fieldwork, intensive interviews, and surveys provided a wealth of data about the nature of bisexual attraction, the steps that lead people to become bisexual, and how sexual preference can change over time. They found that heterosexuals, more often than homosexuals, become bisexual; that bisexual men and women differ markedly in their sexual behavior and romantic feelings; that most bisexuals ultimately settle into long-term relationships while continuing sexual activity outside those relationships; and they also explain why transsexuals often become bisexual. Moreover, the authors discovered that as the AIDS crisis unfolded, many bisexual men entered into monogamous relationships with women, and bisexual women into more lesbian relationships. Recent media accounts attest that a growing number of researchers and writers are narrowing the fundamental cause of sexual preference to a single factor, biology. But if, as this study shows, learning plays a significant part in helping people traverse the boundaries of gender, if past and present intimate relationships influence their changing preferences, and if bisexual activity is inseparable from a social environment which provides distinctive sexual opportunities, then a mosaic of factors far more complex than those previously considered must be entertained in explaining the fuller spectrum of sexual preferences. Dual Attraction is one of the most significant contributions to our understanding of sexuality since the original Kinsey reports and Bell and Weinberg's 1978 international bestseller, Homosexualities. It is must reading for all those interested in the study of sexual behavior--especially now, since the onset of AIDS.

To promote a better understanding of bisexual orientation, the author presents interviews with 30 men and women. Each describes his or her sexual pathway from birth to adulthood portraying the construction of a life style that incorporates a bisexual perspective. The outcome of the gender and sexual orientation wars is a broader and more tolerant view of human nature.

Designed for both the undergraduate and graduate classroom, this selection of important articles provides a comprehensive overview of current thought about the psychological issues affecting lesbians, bisexuals, and gay men. The editors have revised and updated the introduction and included a new set of articles for the second edition, most of which have been published since the release of the first edition of Psychological Perspectives. The book is divided into eight sections that deal with the meaning of sexual orientation; the psychological dimensions of prejudice, discrimination, and violence; identity development; diversity; relationships and families; adolescence, midlife, and aging; mental health; and the status of practice, research, and public policy bearing on homosexuality and bisexuality in American psychology.

Breaking through long-held presumptions about family relationships, this volume acknowledges that lesbian, gay and bisexual identities are an important facet of life in many families, and for the first time examines the entire rich experience of such relationships, in contrast to studies which have looked exclusively at the lives and origins of lesbian and gay couples. Taking advantage of a wealth of new research -- which however up to now has been scattered in multiple, hard-to-locate sources -- the authors present the first authoritative examination of the many different kinds of family relationships sustained by lesbian, gay, and bisexual people.

The authors examine the forms that bisexuality takes in various cultures, what it means to the men concerned, and whether or not such behaviour poses special risks. The implications of such enquiry for HIV prevention efforts are totally explored.

This handbook is intended for faculty and administrators who wish to create a welcoming and safe environment for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students on our campuses. It will help readers, even those who may struggle personally with understanding non-heterosexual identities, gain a clearer understanding of the important issues facing these students. While some students arrive on campus with full clarity about their sexual identities, others may just be discovering their orientations while in our institutions. It is difficult to provide the attention LGBT students need if we do not understand the crises affecting them or how to address them. Each chapter analyzes specific issues affecting these students and offers recommendations or suggestions for change. Some of the areas discussed include: identity development theories, residence halls, career planning, health and counseling centers, HIV/AIDS, and student leadership and organizational development. Non-heterosexual faculty and staff may also find this work useful as they attempt to discover themselves in academic and educational literature.

Queerly Phrased is a groundbreaking collection of previously unpublished essays that examine the relationship between language and the construction of gender and sexuality. Bridging the gap between sociolinguistics and gay studies, the contributors draw on traditional models of language anaylsis of well as recent developments in gender theory to show how language plays a crucial role in the creation of culture and its representation.