Abstract
Books on bisexuality in social science are rare and introductions to bisexual studies and bisexual theorizing are virtually absent. Surya Monro has succeeded in writing a clear and stimulating introduction to bisexual theorizing and bisexual studies. Her international approach and her discussions about a variety of social and political theories in relation to bisexual theorizing are particularly refreshing and necessary to discuss the realities of bisexuals from the body to the globe.
Bisexuality: Identities, Politics, and Theories is mainly based on empirical research in the UK and Colombia and further analyses of web content and research literature from the USA, UK, and India. While the vast majority of data were collected in the UK, the case studies on India and Colombia are important features which help to critically reflect upon the western system of sex, gender and sexuality, as well as the presence of ‘alternative framings of gender and sexualities’. For instance, the analysis of Indian (bi)sexualities suggests that ancient Indian sex and gender roles are more fluid as compared to those roles associated with the rigid (and binary) western system of sex, gender, and sexualities.
The introduction of this book sometimes reads like an encyclopaedia of bisexual studies, but one with guidance, which triggers the reader to explore the key literature in more depth. Monro clearly positions contemporary bisexuality – as a sexual identity – along three main axes: (1) capitalism, (2) imperialism, colonialism, and racial inequalities, and (3) discourses of sexual science. This positioning is helpful for understanding how these interlinked phenomena contributed, and still contribute, to rendering bisexuality invisible, and to reinforcing the binary divisions of sex, gender, and sexualities in western countries and their former colonies.
In the first three chapters, Monro discusses various social and political theories such as interactionism, queer theory, materialism, and intersectionality theory. The chapter on intersectionality is particularly refreshing, as is its lengthy discussion, inspired by an intracategorical approach, on race, ethnicity, and faith as categories that lead to bisexual people of colour feeling and being excluded from UK bisexual communities. Intersectionality theory is further discussed in a case study on (bi)sexualities in India, which are mainly shaped by socio-economic class, work pressures, and spatial factors.
Monro vividly illustrates how interactionism and materialist approaches help us to understand the lived experiences of bisexuals. She, for instance, argues that ‘a materialist turn is important in theorizing bisexuality, and it will include a concern with lived and socially situated experience, power dynamics and inequalities, economic factors, and biological diversities’ (pp. 50–51). Materialism offers a macro perspective on the lived experiences of bisexuals and the understanding of how structures such as capitalism and the regulation of gender and sexuality impact the mundane experiences. With a focus on interpersonal and intrapsychic negotiations, power relations, perceptions, and scripting, interactionism offers a more micro perspective on the lived experiences. Materialist and interactionist approaches are combined to create a holistic view of bisexual realities without favouring one approach over the other. This choice proves to be very useful for understanding lived experiences. For example, in understanding the agency of the bisexual subjects to cope with the rigid western system of sex, gender, and sexualities.
The majority of the UK study participants are involved in organized bisexual communities, which provides the excellent opportunity to discuss bisexual communities at length. Inspired by Bourdieu, Monro discusses how bisexual communities are made up of ‘fields’, ‘doxa’, and ‘habitus’. The concept of ‘habitus’ is especially useful, as it emphasizes the ‘historically grounded set of cultural and social practices (including norms and values) which the individual takes for granted and then, by default, reproduces, in interaction with other people and the wider environment’ (p. 95). Of course, the overrepresentation of bisexuals who are involved in (political and cultural) bisexual communities also has a downside: a thorough exploration of the everyday realities of bisexuals outside bisexual communities cannot be found in Monro’s book.
Capitalism – shortly discussed in the introduction when positioning contemporary bisexuality – occupies a central place in the book. The fifth chapter addresses, amongst other things, performative bisexuality: bisexuality as expressed for a certain gaze. According to Monro, ‘it typically involves women being sexual with each other for the pleasure of men, or to attract men’ (p. 120). Performative bisexuality is linked with the hypersexualization and commodification of bisexual women. There is little mention of the commodification of bisexual men. The commodification of bisexuals is strongly debated within bisexual communities: this is no surprise as bisexual communities often have a non-commercial character. Monro does not avoid the complex discussions on this phenomenon, nor the ambivalent stances of bisexuals towards the hypersexualization of bisexuality.
The last two chapters focus on bisexual citizenship, activism, and engagements with the state. The chapter on bisexual citizenship not only makes it painfully clear that bisexual political science is virtually absent, it also raises questions on the particularist versus universalist approaches towards sexual citizenship, and different approaches to challenge traditional (i.e. heteronormative) notions of citizenship. Particularly useful is how Monro analyses (bi)sexual citizenship by connecting it with a broader, human rights based approach.
On multiple levels, Bisexuality: Identities, Politics, and Theories is a valuable addition to the slowly growing body of literature on bisexuality in social sciences, and to the broader social research into sexualities. Monro’s book provides an excellent opportunity for students and researchers to become acquainted with bisexual theorizing, explore theoretical and empirical knowledge gaps, and discover (inter)national research frontiers.