Bisexual theory

Bisexual theory is a field of critical theory, inspired by queer theory and bisexual politics, that foregrounds bisexuality as both a theoretical focus and as an epistemology. Bisexual theory emerged most prominently in the 1990s, in response to the burgeoning queer studies movement, employing a similar post-structuralist approach but redressing queer theory’s tendency towards bisexual erasure.

In their critique of the frequent elision of bisexuality in queer studies, Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio and Jonathan Alexander write, "a queer theory that misses bisexuality's querying of normative sexualities is itself too mastered by the very normative and normalizing binaries it seeks to unsettle."

Noted scholars who have been discussed in relation to bisexual theory include Marjorie Garber, Clare Hemmings, Jo Eadie, Merl Storr, Phoebe Davidson, Maria Pramaggiore, Ann Kaloski, Lani Ka'ahumanu, Jonathan Alexander, Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio, Ibrahim Abdurrahman Farajajé, Steven Angelides, and Shiri Eisner.

History of Bisexual Theory

Bisexual theory emerged in the 1990s, inspired by and responding to the emergence of queer theory. Elisabeth Däumer's 1992 article, "Queer Ethics; or, the Challenge of Bisexuality to Lesbian Ethics" was the first major publication to theorise bisexuality in relation to queer and feminist theory.

In 1993, at the 11^th National Bisexual Conference in the UK, a group of bisexual scholars formed Bi Academic Intervention. The same group published a volume of bisexual theory in 1997, entitled The Bisexual Imaginary: Representation, Identity and Desire. In 1995, Marjorie Garber released Vice Versa, a monograph that aimed to reveal a 'bi-erotics' observable across disparate cultural locations. In 1996, Maria Pramaggiore and Donald E. Hall edited the collection RePresenting Bisexualities: Subjects and Cultures of Fluid Desire, which turned a bisexual theoretical lens to questions of representation. Chapters of bisexual theory also appeared in Activating Theory: Lesbian, Gay Bisexual Politics (1993) and Queer Studies: A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Anthology (1996).

The Journal of Bisexuality was first published in 2000 by the Taylor & Francis Group under the Routledge imprint, and its editors-in-chief have included Fritz Klein, Jonathan Alexander, Brian Zamboni, James D. Weinrich, and M. Paz Galupo.

In 2000, law scholar Kenji Yoshino published the influential article "The Epistemic Contract of Bisexual Erasure," which argues that "Straights and gays have an investment in stabilizing sexual orientation categories. The shared aspect of this investment is the security that all individuals draw from rigid social orderings." In 2001, Steven Angelides published A History of Bisexuality, in which he argues that bisexuality has operated historically as a structural other to sexual identity itself. In 2002, Clare Hemmings published Bisexual Spaces: A Geography of Sexuality and Gender in which she explores bisexuality's functions in geographical, political, theoretical, and cultural spaces.

In 2004, Jonathan Alexander and Karen Yescavage co-edited Bisexuality and Transgenderism: Intersexions of the Others, which considers the intersections of bisexual and transgender identities.

Shiri Eisner's Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution was released in 2013. This radical manifesto combines feminist, transgender, queer, and bisexual activism with theoretical work to establish a blueprint for bisexual revolution.

Further Reading

• Anderlini-D'Onofrio, Serena; Alexander, Jonathan (2011). Bisexuality and Queer Theory: Intersections, Connections and Challenges. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415686716.
• Alexander, Jonathan; Yescavage, Karen (2003). Bisexuality and Transgenderism: InterSEXions of the Others. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1560232872.
• Bi Academic Intervention (1997). The Bisexual Imaginary: Representation, Identity and Desire. London and Washington, Cassel. ISBN 978-0304337453.
• Däumer, Elisabeth. "Queer Ethics; or, The Challenge of Bisexuality to Lesbian Ethics." Hypatia 7.4: pp. 91-105. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3810080
• Eisner, Shiri (2013). Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press. ISBN 978-1580054744.
• George, Sue (1993). Women and Bisexuality. London: Scarlett Press. ISBN 9781857270716.
• Hall, Donald E.; Pramaggiore, Maria (1996). RePresenting Bisexualities: Subjects and Cultures of Fluid Desire. New York, NY and London: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0814766347.
• Hemmings, Clare (2002). Bisexual Spaces: A Geography of Sexuality and Gender. New York, NY and London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415930833.
• Ronan, Joseph Anthony (2014). "'Sometimes I fear that the whole world is queer': What bisexual theories, identities and representations can still offer queer studies." PhD thesis: University of Sussex. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/54271/
• Storr, Merl (1999). Bisexuality: A Critical Reader. London and New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415166607.
• Tucker, Naomi; Highleyman, Liz; Kaplan, Rebecca (1995). Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries & Visions. Binghampton, NY: Harrington Park Press. ISBN 9781560238690.
• Yoshino, Kenji (2000). "The Epistemic Contract of Bisexual Erasure." Stanford Law Review. 52.2: 353-461. doi:10.2307/1229482.

References

Category:Bisexuality Category:Queer theory