The Politics of Bisexual/Biracial Identity: A study of bisexual and mixed race women of Asian/Pacific Islander Descent Beverly Yuen Thompson, Ph.D. v First Published 1999 SDSU thesis Reprint 2006 Copyright 2006 by Beverly Yuen Thompson All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher or copyright holder, except for reviewers who may quote brief passages in a review; nor may any part of this book be transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or other, without prior written permission from the publisher or copyright holder. Snakegirl Press (702) 577-7666 http://www.snakegirl.net [email protected] Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ISBN 1-23456-789-0 (e-book/paperback) Cover Art: Beverly Yuen Thompson vii Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 Historical Review of Homosexuality and Asian Americans ...................... 2 Asian Americans......................................................................................... 3 Homosexuality............................................................................................ 6 Hapa and Bisexual Identities ...................................................................... 8 TOWARDS A MULTIRACIAL/BISEXUAL THEORY .......................................... 12 Bisexual Theory........................................................................................ 12 Erasure of Race......................................................................................... 15 Adding Race.............................................................................................. 20 Multiracial Theory .................................................................................... 20 Queer Asian/Pacific Islander Theory........................................................ 24 “Queering Multiracial Theory and Racializing Queer Theory” ............... 28 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 31 METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................... 34 Qualitative Methods and the Bisexual-Biracial Subject........................... 34 Recruitment Methods for the Study.......................................................... 36 Background of the Participants................................................................. 38 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 40 LANGUAGE, IDENTITY, AND COMMUNITY..................................................... 42 Language................................................................................................... 43 Summary............................................................................................. 54 Identity...................................................................................................... 55 Bisexuality .......................................................................................... 58 Multiracial Identity ............................................................................. 63 Racial and Sexual Identity Interplay................................................... 70 Summary............................................................................................. 78 Community ............................................................................................... 79 Bisexual-Biracial Women in Identity Based Communities................ 82 Biracial-Bisexual Women Construct Their Communities .................. 89 New Models for Community Building ............................................... 95 Summary............................................................................................. 99 Chapter Conclusion................................................................................. 100 WORKS CITED ....................................................................................................... 103 QUESTIONNAIRE ...................................................................................................111 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The construction of certain behaviors and physical characteristics into an acceptable and recognized "identity" is a phenomenon that is meaningful to the specific location and historical moment. "Identities" may not travel well across certain places and historical epochs because of the intricate cultural meanings associated with them. The United States in the late twentieth century is one location in which certain identities are constructed and understood in relation to national history and to political and social issues of the historical era that created such locations. "Identities" in the U.S. have largely been based on membership in groups and classes in which people experience oppression or are denied opportunity because of that membership. For an identity to be understood as such, two factors are typically present: (1) the identity is forced upon the group in a manner which often reduces the group to stereotype and homogeneity for certain reasons such as to justify their (marginal) position in society; (2) the group members more or less accept the identity or label as significant to their self-understanding (and their position in society), although they may or may not accept the meanings that come along with the identity. Identities, therefore, are understood by both group members and non-group members as a legitimate self-label, though the ways in which either view the identity may diverge. Identities based on hegemonic cultural membership, such as white, male, heterosexual, or middle class, are often not employed as self descriptive terms unless one is differentiating one's self from members of oppressed groups. Identities have largely been constructed in American society based on membership in recognized oppressed groups. Identities also have been constructed in a dichotomous relation to the hegemonic center. Mary Eaton describes the use of dichotomy and the function it serves in the language of identity politics when she suggests that "reduction is inherent in any dichotomy: unless the domain of the relevant is confined to two mutually exclusive and opposed categories, a dichotomy, by definition, does not exist" (67). The dichotomous identity construction in the U.S. is evidenced by the racialization and sexualization of the nation into mutually exclusive categories: black and white / gay and straight. It is apparent that these four categorizations do not describe the racial and sexual diversity of society, yet they form the basis of our conceptions of racial and sexual identity. Moreover, the language employed in discussions of racial and sexual identity rest upon dichotomous language and comparative analogies to these primary groupings. Therefore identities that do not rely on clearly demarcated boundaries and a dichotomous relation to the hegemonic center are often marginalized or redefined. Bisexuality and biraciality are two such identities that are often excluded from discussions of racial and sexual identity. Bisexuality (also known as pansexuality or ambisexuality), broadly defined, refers to a desire, need, or possibility of having actual or fantasized sexual relationships with both men and women. These may occur over a lifetime or during a specific segment of one's life; the term implies a sexual and romantic continuum within which an individual's sexual and intimate desires, longings, or interests may not be directed toward a single gender object choice. Bisexual identity refers to those who believe that bisexuality is a defining characteristic of their personal self- understanding and express this by using this label to describe themselves (either openly or discretely) or their sexual orientation. This definition challenges the rigid binary of heterosexuality and homosexuality by positioning itself outside of these categories. Biracial identity challenges the construction of mutually exclusive racial categorizations by incorporating an understanding of miscegenation and racial mixing that produces individuals who have a diverse background of racial and ethnic characteristics. This racial mixing may stem from parents or grandparents from different racial and/or ethnic groups or from a cultural history in which racial intermixing was a common occurrence, such as the Caribbean or Hawaii. Biracial identity implies that individuals have an understanding of their diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and believe that this is an important aspect of their identity and use this concept to describe their racial makeup. Bisexuality and biraciality as occurrences and concepts involve more than our current construction and indeed it has been argued that they have been present throughout human history (e.g., Stonequist; Haeberle & Gindorf). However, our understanding of bisexuality and multiraciality is relatively recent and the construction of them as identities is arguably quite unique. In order to understand bisexual and biracial identities in their present construction, it is crucial to review briefly the historical, legal, political, economic and social processes that influenced their treatment and embodiment. Therefore in the remainder of this introduction I will review the historical construction of Asian American experiences within the U.S. I will also give an overview of the treatment