Bisexual Men‘s Identities: (Re)Defining What It Means to Be Bi By Lisa Dianne Poole B.A., Simon Fraser University, 2007 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the Department of Sociology © Lisa Dianne Poole, 2011 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Bisexual Men‘s Meaning(s): (Re)Defining What It Means to Be Bi by Lisa Dianne Poole B.A., Simon Fraser University, 2007 Supervisory Committee Dr. Aaron Devor, (Department of Sociology) Supervisor Dr. Steve Garlick, (Department of Sociology) Departmental Member Dr. Heather Tapley, (Department of Women‘s Studies) Outside Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Aaron Devor, (Department of Sociology) Supervisor Dr. Steve Garlick, (Department of Sociology) Departmental Member Dr. Heather Tapley, (Department of Women‘s Studies) Outside Member Bisexual identity is formed within the constraints of a heteronormative framework which is infused with power, promotes stability and alignment of apparently binary sex, gender identity, and gender roles, as well as promoting procreation, monosexuality and monogamy. Heteronormative models of sexuality fail to capture the complexity, ambiguity, multiplicity, and fluidity of bisexual experience. Using data collected through interviews with twelve self-identified bisexual men this research explores questions of how bisexual men make sense of what it means to be bisexual within a heteronormative framework of sexuality and if they disrupt or reproduce dominant understandings of sexuality. I found these bisexual men sometimes conformed to a dominant framework; however, as an example of how identity can be unstable in both meaning and expression they also took up a provisional bisexual identity and disrupted dominant discourses by redefining bisexual meanings – offering alternatives to the binary, gender based definitions of sexuality, and monosexuality. iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee ................................................................................................... ii Abstract .......................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................... iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................. vi Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................... vii Dedication ...................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Heteronormativity, Stigma and Sexual Identity .............................................. 7 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 7 Self, Identity, and Self-Identity ................................................................................ 8 Structures of Power and Oppression .........................................................................10 Heteronormativity and Homonormativity ................................................................10 Components of Stigma ..........................................................................................14 Changing Stigma ...................................................................................................17 Stigma Management ..............................................................................................19 Queer Constructions of Sexual Identity ......................................................................21 Symbolic Interactionism .........................................................................................23 Social Constructionism ..........................................................................................23 Social Constructionism and Stigma........................................................................25 Poststructuralism, Foucault & Power .....................................................................25 Queer Theory ........................................................................................................27 Bisexuality (Il)luminated .........................................................................................28 Queer Sociology ....................................................................................................30 Conclusion .................................................................................................................31 Chapter 3: Sexual Minority Identity Formation Models ...................................................33 Introduction ................................................................................................................33 Homosexual Identity Formation Models .....................................................................36 Components of Homosexual Identity Formation.....................................................39 Bisexual Identity Formation........................................................................................42 Components of Bisexual Identity Formation ...........................................................45 Rust‘s Non-Linear Model ...........................................................................................47 Components of Rust‘s Non-Linear Model of Bisexual Identity Formation ...............50 Summary and Critique of Sexual Minority Identity Formation Models ........................51 Homosexual Identity Formation Models Review.....................................................51 Bisexual Identity Formation Model Review .............................................................54 Differences Between Homosexual and Bisexual Models ........................................57 Conclusion .............................................................................................................59 Summary ...................................................................................................................60 Chapter 4: Methodology ................................................................................................62 Situating the Research Question ...............................................................................62 Scope of the Research ..............................................................................................63 Recruitment and Respondents ..................................................................................64 Interviews ..................................................................................................................67 Data Analysis.............................................................................................................72 Insider/Outsider Status and Reflexivity ......................................................................73 Conclusion .................................................................................................................75 Chapter 5: Findings and Discussion ..............................................................................76 v Introduction ................................................................................................................76 Description of Participants .........................................................................................76 Discussion of Intersectionality ................................................................................79 Heterosexuality as a Default Identity ......................................................................81 Bisexual Men‘s Perspectives on Dominant Discourses of Bisexuality ........................82 Desires Men and Women Equally ..........................................................................83 ―Anything That Moves‖ – Bisexuals as Sexually Depraved ....................................85 ―Society Doesn‘t Do Bisexual‖ ................................................................................87 Rejection and Exclusion of Bisexual Men by Gay Men...........................................92 Discussion of Participants‘ Understandings of Dominant Discourses of Bisexuality ...95 Fifty-Fifty Doesn‘t Add Up ......................................................................................95 Bisexual Equals Gay ..............................................................................................98 Negative Stereotypes and Stigma ........................................................................ 101 Bisexuality as an Emergent Other ........................................................................ 102 Bisexual Men‘s Meanings of Bisexuality .................................................................. 104 Community .......................................................................................................... 104 Alternative Bisexual Meaning(s) ........................................................................... 109 Gender Challenges .............................................................................................. 114 Multiple Sexual Identities ....................................................................................