Framework & Key Texts:
For my framework, I will be writing an autoethnography of my own experiences with biphobia and the impact it has had on the journey of my queerness while also using two of my friends’ experiences as well. I then plan to weave them in with already existing queer theory regarding bisexuality and other published accounts of people’s experiences with bisexuality and biphobia to fully examine how much of a detrimental impact biphobia has on specifically bisexual women. One of the key texts I will be using is by Cipriano, Holland, and Nguyen, which conducted a qualitative look at the external and internalized pressures to prove one’s bisexual identity. I will also be using the Bi: Notes for Bisexual Revolution by Shiri Eisner, Greedy: Notes from A Bisexual Who Wants Too Much by Jen Winston, and Bisexuality: From margin to center by T. Israel. I plan to flush out my key texts further and welcome recommendations for more texts.
My position as a researcher:
My position as a researcher is that the topic is obviously very personal to me due to the fact that I am writing about my and my friends’ own experiences. I plan to remain partially objective when interviewing my two friends. I also have past experience with writing about bisexuality in courses in college as well as I used my shorter project to touch on the subject, which led me to realize how large of a conversation this really is. It can’t be summed up in 400 words, so I am hoping 4000 will do it justice.
Why does it matter:
It matters because I think a large part of the experience of being bisexual is having to almost prove the identity. There are thousands of jokes in the world that always poke fun at bisexuality as if it’s a fad for the person. At least for myself and those around me, it has caused a lot of insecurity in our sexual identities because individuals from not only the heterosexual community but also the LGBTQ+ will often invalidate it by saying things like ‘pick a side.’ This is a topic that, by writing it, I hope to gain some reasoning for why that is and to what extent this sentiment is shared by bisexual women.
Research Question:
How has biphobia impacted the experiences of bisexual women and their relationship to their own queerness?
