Interpreting the invisibility of male bisexuality : theories, interactions, politics

E. Steinman

Bisexuality has come to be a contentious, openly-hidden identity amidst evolving sexual identities and contested sexual politics. A number of specific dynamics characterize engagements involving bisexuality, including definitional controversies, border disputes among gay, lesbian, and bisexual communities, and debates over minority group rites that have both reflected and produced gay and lesbian investments in identity. This article draws on these themes and addresses sexual identity and gay-bi male relations through an examination of bisexual men's relative invisibility in comparison to bisexual women. The author brings together social scientific "constructionist" theory and humanities-based "queer theory" to develop an explanation of howdiscomfort shared by many gays and lesbians regarding bisexuals may generate dissimilar levels of conflict among men than among women.