1996
DOI: 10.1111/j.1533-8525.1996.tb00748.x
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Ambiguous Identity in an Unambiguous Sex/Gender Structure: The Case of Bisexual Women

Abstract: This article explores bisexual identity as an ambiguous social category within the dominant dualistic sex/gender structure. The article documents the stigmatization of the bisexual category in the discourse of both the Religious Right and lesbian feminist communities, then examines the impact of dual stigmatization on bisexual women, who often see bi identity as disrupting the dominant sexual binary. Drawing from interviews with bisexual women, the article argues that bisexual women's discourse on sexual subje… Show more

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Cited by 80 publications
(48 citation statements)
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References 16 publications
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“…However, it still seems, from the focus group discussion, that a main challenge bisexual people face is to articulate and perform a bisexual identity which resists the dominant binary constructions of gender and sexuality. In common with participants in United States of America and Canadian research into bisexual women's subjectivities (Ault, 1999;Berenson, 2002;Bower, Gurevich & Mathieson, 2002), participants in the BiCon survey and discussion group employed a range of discursive strategies to resist these dominant discourses. Yet, as Ault notes, "despite bi women's conscious objections to the binary structures of sex, gender, and sexuality, their own discourse on sexual subjectivity is inescapably marked by these discourses" (Ault, 1999, p. 173).…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
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“…However, it still seems, from the focus group discussion, that a main challenge bisexual people face is to articulate and perform a bisexual identity which resists the dominant binary constructions of gender and sexuality. In common with participants in United States of America and Canadian research into bisexual women's subjectivities (Ault, 1999;Berenson, 2002;Bower, Gurevich & Mathieson, 2002), participants in the BiCon survey and discussion group employed a range of discursive strategies to resist these dominant discourses. Yet, as Ault notes, "despite bi women's conscious objections to the binary structures of sex, gender, and sexuality, their own discourse on sexual subjectivity is inescapably marked by these discourses" (Ault, 1999, p. 173).…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The difficulty of articulating and performing bisexual identity in the context of dominant dichotomous constructions of sexuality and negative stereotypes of bisexuality is well documented in activist and academic literature on both sides of the Atlantic (Ault 1999;George 1993, Rust 2000aUdis-Kessler 1996). Participants in the BiCon discussion group (all referred to by their chosen pseudonyms here) argued that bisexuals are perceived as "greedy" (Vicky) or as "gigantic hos [whores]" (Georgina).…”
Section: Bicon Discussion Groupmentioning
confidence: 99%
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“…Many of these ideas have been circulating since the 1970s but continue to find currency and relevance in some gay communities. In the mid-1990s, Ault (1994Ault ( , 1996 and Rust (1992Rust ( , 1993) encountered negative attitudes towards bisexuals among US lesbian interviewees, and more recently such attitudes were found still to be at work in lesbian contexts in both the USA (e.g. Hartman, 2006;McLean, 2008;Thorne, 2013;Yost & Thomas, 2012) and Europe (e.g.…”
Section: Drawing Boundariesmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The only way that bisexuality can be rendered intelligible is through co-option into one or other of the two legitimate sexual categories such that bisexuals are "really gay," or "really straight." People are rarely deemed "really bisexual" (Ault, 1996;Eadie, 1993;Esterberg, 2007;Hemmings, 1993Hemmings, , 2002. As a result, bisexuality becomes an abstract theoretical concept that does not, and cannot, exist in the here and now (Angelides, 2001;Esterberg, 2007;Hemmings, 1993Hemmings, , 1995Hemmings, , 2007Rust, 2000a).…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%