There is a need for summarizing and discuss research in bisexuality in general, and bisexual men in particular. This blog will be updated with annotations of new academic/scholarly/scientific research on bisexuality, and potentially any “non-monosexual” or “plurisexual” identity (e.g. pansexuality, omnisexuality, polysexuality, etc.), and behaviorally bisexual (e.g., hetero-flexible, open-minded, etc.) behaviors. Based on the current volume of research, I expect there to somewhat of focus on bi+ men in particular, as the research output on bisexuality in general (and bisexual women) has grown in scale to where it may be useful to highlight the most interesting research.
I am an academic librarian (I’ve been working in college/university libraries since 1988) who has attempted to use standard research tools to identify research on bisexuals and bi men for decades. Early on, searching for research that mentioned bisexual men usually retrieved research focused on gay men but included some bi-identifying men were part of the studied population. While results were marginally better for bisexuals in general, and bisexual women in particular, the overall amount research focused on bisexuals was very small. Even as bisexuals outnumber gay men and lesbians and make up a majority of the LGBT population, and bisexual women are considered the largest single LGBT group, research only has really picked up in the last decade. (Indeed, as the AIDS crisis was receding, a key research study cast doubt on the reality of bisexual attraction in men, and the resulting discussion about the existence of bisexual men was not fully settled for some researchers until 2020.)
Since the documentation of conditions for bisexuals much worse than for straight, gay, and lesbian populations in the early 2010’s, research focused on bisexuality has begun to increase significantly. While there is still a paucity of research on bisexual men, there are enough scientific studies being released to merit identifying particularly new and/or interesting results.
It is hoped this blog may be a tool to identify and comment on new research on bisexuals and bi men, as well as highlight some key studies, developments, and controversies from the past several decades of scholarship on the bi+ spectrum.
As the historic literature is tied to terms used in the studies at the time the research was conducted, most discussions center on bisexuals/bisexuality, bisexual women, and bisexual men. As scholars catch up with the constant evolution in the communities of “non-monosexual”/bisexual+ spectrum individuals, there may be more research on specific aspects of plurisexual identities and behaviors. An even more important development should and no doubt will be examining how non-cisgender/trans identities introduce the importance of understanding how intersectionality might apply in bi+ research populations.
About the blog author: I am a bi+/pan male who has identified as bisexual since 1986 (and have felt relatively equal attractions to male and female back through at least early adolescence). As part of the earliest GenX generation (as of this writing I’m late middle age and can see retirement a few years down the line), I live through the worst of negativity and biphobia regarding bisexual men, including plenty of societal derision during the AIDS epidemic as well as plenty of phobic/erasing from gay men. As part of a male/female marriage, my wife and I have seen plenty of exclusion and push back from lesbian and gay members of the LGBT+ community, and discrimination, stereotyping, and erasure of bi negativity and biphobia influence us to this day. However, as a librarian and academic, I also try to be as objective as possible. I hope my comments on studies will reflect a background striving for scholarly objectivity as well as be informed by my lived truth relating to bisexuality in late 20th and early 21st century society.
For more information, see the “About” page for this blog.