Lesbians and Bisexual Fiction Writers

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EDITOR: Harold Bloom
PUBLISHER: Chelsea House Publishers
LANGUAGE: English
DATE: 1997
PAGES: 167
ISBN: 0791044947

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Lesbians and Bisexual Fiction Writers

edited by Harold Bloom

Lesbians and Bisexual Fiction Writers covers 200 of the most important women writers of English, grouping authors culturally and by genre, from 18th-century diarists to new writers of experimental prose. Each volume covers approximately 15 authors and includes a concise biography, a selection of critical extracts, and a complete and up-to-date bibliography of the author’s publications 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality

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The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality

AUTHOR: Julie Sondra Decker
PUBLISHER: Carrel Books 
LANGUAGE: English
DATE: 2014
PAGES: 216
ISBN: 1631440020

Publisher’s Description

What if you weren’t sexually attracted to anyone?

A growing number of people are identifying as asexual. They aren’t sexually attracted to anyone, and they consider it a sexual orientation—like gay, straight, or bisexual.

Asexuality is the invisible orientation. Most people believe that “everyone” wants sex, that “everyone” understands what it means to be attracted to other people, and that “everyone” wants to date and mate. But that’s where asexual people are left out—they don’t find other people sexually attractive, and if and when they say so, they are very rarely treated as though that’s okay.

When an asexual person comes out, alarming reactions regularly follow; loved ones fear that an asexual person is sick, or psychologically warped, or suffering from abuse. Critics confront asexual people with accusations of following a fad, hiding homosexuality, or making excuses for romantic failures. And all of this contributes to a discouraging master narrative: there is no such thing as “asexual.” Being an asexual person is a lie or an illness, and it needs to be fixed.

In The Invisible Orientation, Julie Sondra Decker outlines what asexuality is, counters misconceptions, provides resources, and puts asexual people’s experiences in context as they move through a very sexualized world. It includes information for asexual people to help understand their orientation and what it means for their relationships, as well as tips and facts for those who want to understand their asexual friends and loved ones. 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
My Story
What is this book about?
Who is this book for?
Why was this book written?
PART ONE: ASEXUALITY 101
The Basics
Asexuality is a Sexual Orientation
Asexuality is a Mature State
Asexuality is a Description
Asexuality is a Healthy Status
Asexuality is a Reasonable Possibility
PART TWO: ASEXUAL EXPERIENCES
Romantic Orientation
— Romanticism
— Aromanticism
— Grayromanticism
— Demiromanticism
Libido and Masturbation
Intimate and Sexual Activity
— Polyamory and Non-Monogamy
— Kink, Fetish Play, and BDSM
Gray Areas
— Graysexuality
— Demisexuality
Asexual Relationships
Society, Descrimination, and Queer Communities
Asexual Community
—Young and Asexual
— Older and Asexual
— Asexual Women, Asexual Men
— Asexual People of Color
— Gay / Queer and Asexual
— Other Non-Cisgender / Non-Binary Identities and Asexuality
— Autistic and Asexual
— Disability, Illness, Mental Illness, Disorders, and Asexuality
— Asexual Survivors of Abuse
— Asexual People and Entertainment
— Asexual Community Insiders
— Non-Asexual People
— The Asexual Experience
PART THREE: THE MANY MYTHS OF ASEXUALITY
Bingo!
Arent They Using the Word Asexual Incorrectly?
Is Asexuality Base on Fear of or Anger Toward Other Genders?
Do People Become Asexual Because They Fail at Dating?
Do People Become Asexual Because They’re Physically Unattractive?
Do Asexual People Have a Physical or Hormonal Problem?
Are Asexual People Too Distracted by Their Busy Lives to Be Sexual?
Did Asexual People Have a Bad Sexual Experience and Swear Off Sex?
Could Asexual People Be Suffering From Trauma Brought on by Sexual Abuse?
Could Asexual People Be Secrety Gay?
Have Asexual People Just Not Met the Right Person?
Is Asexuality a Religious Statement?
Are Asexual People Going Through a Phase or Seeking Attention by Being Different?
Wouldn’t Asexual People Be Lonely All the Time?
Are AsexualPeople Repressed, Boring, or Dispassionate?
Aren’t Asexual People Being Awfully Selfish? Isn’t an Asexual Person a Tease?
Don’t Asexual People Need to Procreate?
Do Asexual People Hate Sex or People Who Have Sex?
Should Asexual People Get Therapy to Be Fixed?
Aren’t Asexual People So Lucky to Have Simple, Uncomplicated Lives Without Sex?
Shouldn’t Asexual People Let an Experienced Sexual Partner Change Their Minds?
PART FOUR: IF YOU’RE ASEXUAL (OR THINK YOU MIGHT BE)
Am I Asexual?
But This Changes Everything!
Should I Come Out?
How Should I Handle the Criticism?
What If I’m a Teenager? Everyone Keeps Calling Me a “Late Bloomer”
What If I’m Already in a Relationship, or Want to Be? What Do I Tell My Partner(s)?
So Where Do I Go From Here?
PART FIVE: IF SOMEONE YOU KNOW IS ASEXUAL (OR MIGHT BE)
A Message for Non-Asexual People
What Does It All Mean?
What Do Asexual People Want? How Can I Make Them Feel Accepted?
So How Can I Acknowledge Their Existence?
Is There Anything I Should Avoid Saying or Doing?
Somebody Just Told Me They’re Asexual! What Do I Do?
Can I Ask Questions?
What Questions Can I Ask, Without Making Someone Uncomfortable?
Anything I Should Avoid Assuming?
PART SIX: OTHER RESOURCES
Basic Information, Introductions, Organizations, and FAQs
Discussion Groups, Networking, and Forums
Academic Resources and Research Collectives
Brochures and Educational Materials
Published Papers and Book Chapters on Asexuality
Published Articles and Interviews on Asexuality
Asexuality-Related Professional Video Media
Asexuality-Related Interviews, Presentations, and Podcasts
Internet Videos and Channels on Asexuality
Asexuality-Related Blogs
“Asexual Perspectives” Contributors
Bibliography
Index

Library Notes

Purchased new by the library. Hardback.

Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex

AUTHOR: Angela Chen
PUBLISHER: Beacon Press
LANGUAGE: English
DATE: 2020
PRINTING: First
PAGES: 210
ISBN: 080701379X

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Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex

by Angela Chen

Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex is an engaging exploration of what it means to be asexual in a world that’s obsessed with sexual attraction, and what we can all learn about desire and identity by using an ace lens to see the world

What exactly is sexual attraction and what is it like to go through the world not experiencing it? What does asexuality reveal about consent, about compromise, about the structures of society? This exceedingly accessible guide to asexuality shows that the issues that aces face—confusion around sexual activity, the intersection of sexuality and identity, navigating different needs in relationships—are conflicts that all of us need to address as we move through the world.

Through interviews, cultural criticism, and memoir, ACE invites all readers to consider big-picture issues through the lens of asexuality, because every place that sexuality touches our world, asexuality does too.

Journalist Angela Chen uses her own journey of self-discovery as an asexual person to unpretentiously educate and vulnerably connect with readers, effortlessly weaving analysis of sexuality and societally imposed norms with interviews of ace people. Among those included are the woman who had blood tests done because she was convinced that “not wanting sex” was a sign of serious illness, and the man who grew up in an evangelical household and did everything “right,” only to realize after marriage that his experience of sexuality had never been the same as that of others. Also represented are disabled aces, aces of color, non-gender-conforming aces questioning whether their asexuality is a reaction against stereotypes, and aces who don’t want romantic relationships asking how our society can make room for them. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS
  • Author’s Note
  • Part I: Self
    • Prologue
    • Chapter 1: Arriving at Asexuality
    • Chapter 2: Explanation Via Negativa
    • Chapter 3: Compulsory Sexuality and (Male) Asexual Existence
  • Part II: Variations on a Theme
    • Chapter 4: Just Let Me Liberate You
    • Chapter 5: Whitewashed
    • Chapter 6: In Sickness and in Health
  • Part III: Others
    • Chapter 7: Romance, Reconsidered
    • Chapter 8: The Good-Enough Reason
    • Chapter 9: Playing with Others
    • Chapter 10: Anna
    • Chapter 11: Where Are We Going, Where Have We Been?
  • Thank You
  • Further Reading
  • Notes
  • Index
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Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex

Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution

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Bisexuality: Making the Invisible Visible in Faith Communities

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AUTHOR: Marie Alford-Harkey & Debra W. Haffner
PUBLISHER: Religious Institute
LANGUAGE: English
DATE: 2014
PAGES: 93
ISBN: 9780985594923

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Bisexuality: Making the Invisible Visible in Faith Communities

by Marie Alford-Harkey & Debra W. Haffner

Is your faith community open to people whose sexuality does not fit into the categories of gay/lesbian or straight? Does your faith community have access to resources about bisexuality and bisexual people? This guidebook is designed to help congregations understand bisexuality and to encourage faith communities to “make the invisible visible.”

Religious leaders and congregations can use this guidebook to inspire theological reflection and action in their faith communities. Bisexuality is often invisible in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organizations, society as a whole, and in faith communities and denominations. Although many mainline denominations and congregations have made great strides in welcoming and affirming lesbian and gay people, and some have even begun to respond to the specific needs and concerns of transgender people, the “B” in the LGBT acronym is still largely ignored. When a congregation welcomes and recognizes people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, it contributes to a positive image of religion among people who may have rejected religion as intolerant or irrelevant. Such congregations become safe spaces for youth who are exploring their sexuality and have questions. In addition, embracing bisexual persons makes it possible for those persons to be open about their identity and helps create a more open atmosphere in the faith community, encouraging authenticity and community among members. Congregations that embrace bisexual persons can also help heal the suffering caused by the invisibility of bisexual people in society.

This guidebook is written to address the broad spectrum of American congregations. The information it contains will be relevant or adaptable to Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist, and Islamic faith communities.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
Part One: Bisexuality Basics
— Definitions and Models of Seuxal Orientation
— Myths and Facts about Bisexuality
— Prevalence of Bisexuality in the United States
— Healing the Suffering
— Research on Bisexuality
Part Two: Sacred Texts and Religious Traditions
— Theological Connections
— Hebrew and Christian Scriptures
— Perspectives from Religious Traditions
— Denominational Statemnts on Bisexuality
Part Three: Creating a Bisexually Healthy Congregation
— Welcoming and Affirming Bisexual People in Congregations
— Bisexually Healthy Religious Professionals
— Worship and Preaching
— Pastoral Care and Counseling
— Youth
— Social Action
— A Call to Action
Part Four: Resources

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Bi: Notes for a Bisexual RevolutionLife Isn’t Binary: On Being Both, Beyond, and In-Between book

Male Bisexuality in Current Cinema: Images of Growth, Rebellion, and Survival

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AUTHOR: Justin Vicari
PUBLISHER: McFarland
LANGUAGE: English
DATE: 2011
PAGES: 247 
ISBN: 9780786461608

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Male Bisexuality in Current Cinema: Images of Growth, Rebellion, and Survival

by Justin Vicari

In recent decades, male bisexuality has become a recurring topic in international cinema, as filmmakers and their works challenge our ideas about sexual freedom and identity. In all of these films, more than a dozen of which are covered here, bisexuality is treated both as an actual practice and a complex metaphor for a number of things, including the need to adapt to changing environments, the questioning of rigidly traditional male roles and identities, the breakdown and regeneration of the structures of families, the limitations of monogamy, and the stubborn affirmation of romantic love.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
  • Preface
  • Introduction: Searching for Bob Elkin
  • Part 1. Personal Visions
    • 1. Fifteen Minutes of the Future: François Ozon’s A Summer Dress
    • 2. To Bend Without Breaking: Bisexuality and Adaptation in the Films of André Téchiné
    • 3. Tentative, Tender… and Trendy? Gregg Araki’s Teen Trilogy
    • 4. Rock Star Bisexuality in Todd Haynes’ Velvet Goldmind
  • Part 2. Matters of Love and Death
    • 6. Making the Man: the Bisexual Hero
    • 7. Illegible Patriarchies: Bisexualizing the Family
    • 8. Fazes and Mazes: Inside the Triangle
    • Part 3. Matters of Love and Death
    • 9. The Schoolboy Crush and its Ambiguous Object
    • 10. Turning It On and Off: “Bi for Pay”
    • 11. Allegories of AIDS
    • 12. In His Wake: The Strange Power of the Dead Bisexual
    • 13. At the Limits of Heterosexuality: The Woman’s Viewpoint in Anatomy of Hell
  • Conclusion: “It’s All Good”
  • Chapter Notes
  • Works Cited
  • Index
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Bisexuality in the United States: A Social Science Reader

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AUTHOR: Paula C. Rodriguez
PUBLISHER: Columbia University Press
LANGUAGE: English
DATE: 2000
PAGES: 659
ISBN: 0231102275

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Bisexuality in the United States: A Social Science Reader

by Paula C. Rodriguez

For years bisexuality was considered merely a transitional stage between a person’s presumed heterosexuality and “true” homosexuality, or vice versa, and was thereby regarded with suspicion by the lesbian and gay community and contempt by the “straight” world. The study and understanding of bisexuality has surpassed the stereotyped representations of previous eras (e.g., Basic Instinct), but few books attempt to seriously engage the subject as a whole. Paula Rust at last rectifies this absence in the literature by presenting the first interdisciplinary and comprehensive review of social scientific research and theory about bisexuality.

With contributions by sociologists, psychologists, historians, political theorists, and others, the book yields an overall picture of what we know, and what we don’t know, about the subject. The book provides a wealth of information about the lives and experiences of bisexual people. Articles cover early research in which bisexuality was conceptualized as “situational homosexuality,” pioneering research on bisexuality as an authentic sexual orientation, scholarship on bisexuality in the context of AIDS research, the phenomena of “bisexual chic” and biphobia, queer theory, and the contemporary relationship between academia and political activism. Selections include theoretical and empirical studies from social science perspectives as well as popular writings about the growth of the bisexual movement in the 1980s and 1990s. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS
  • Preface
  • Acknowledgements
  • PART ONE: Paving the Way for Research on Bisexuality
    • Section 1: Wherefore Art Thou, Bisexuality?
    • 1. Criticisms of the Scholarly Literature on Sexuality for Its Neglect of Bisexuality by Paula C. Rodriguez Rust
    • 2. Bisexuality: Reassessing Our Paradigms of Sexuality by Jay P Paul
    • 3. A Little Bit of Lavender Goes a Long Way: A Critique of Research on Sexual Orientation by A. P. MacDonald, Jr
    • Section 2: Now You Don’t See It, Now You Do
    • 4. Alternatives to Binary Sexuality: Modeling Bisexuality by Paula Rodriguez Rust
    • 5. Identity Conflict or Adaptive Flexibility? Bisexuality Reconsidered by Gary Zinik
    • 6. A Critical Examination of the Concept of Gender by Marilyn J. Freimuth and Gail A. Hornstein
    • 7. The Periodic Table Model of the Gender Transpositions: Part II.Limerent and lusty Sexual Attractions and the Nature of Bisexuality by James D. Weinrich
    • 8. Beyond Gender: The Basis of Sexual Attraction in Bisexual Men and Women by Michael W. Ross and Jay P Paul
    • 9. From Sexual Identity to Sexual Relationships: A Contextual Shift by John P. De Cecco and Michael G. Shively
    • 10. Gender Identity and Sexual Behavior by Harry Brierley
    • Section 3: How Many Bisexuals Are There?
    • 11. Review of Statistical Findings About Bisexual Behavior, Feelings, and Identities by Paula C. Rodriguez Rust
    • 12. Behavior Patterns and Sexual Identities of Bisexual Males by Janet Lever, David E Kanouse, William H. Rogers, Sally Carson, and Rosanna Hertz
    • 13. On the Diversity of Love Objects Orientations Among Women by Sophie Freud Loewenstein
  • PART TWO: From Lesbian Strippers and Prison Punks to Bisexual Subjects: The History of a Research Literature
    • Section 4: Looking at the Past Through Bi-Colored Glasses
    • 14. Academic Literature on Situational Homosexuality in the 1960s and 1970s by Paula C. Rodriguez Rust
    • 15. Homosexuality in Prison by George L. Kirkham
    • 16. Lesbian Behavior as an Adaptation to the Occupation of Stripping by Charles H. McCaghy and James K. Skipper Jr.
    • Section 5: Bisexuality by Another Name
    • 17. Heterosexual Gays, Heterosexual Lesbians, and Homosexual Straights by Paula C. Rodríguez Rust
    • 18. Bisexual and Gay Men in Heterosexual Marriage: Conflicts andResolutions in Therapy by Eli Coleman
    • 19. The Commencement of Bisexual Activity in Swinging MarriedWomen Over Age Thirty by Joan K. Dixon
    • Section 6: A Topic in Its Own Right
    • 20. Pioneers in Contemporary Research on Bisexuality by Paula C. Rodríguez Rust
    • 21. Bisexuality: Some Social Psychological Issues by Philip W. Blumstein and Pepper Schwartz
    • Section 7: Attention for All the Wrong, and All the Right, Reasons
    • 22. Bisexuality in HIV Research by Paula C. Rodríguez Rust
    • Section 8: Coming Out and Coming of Age
    • 23. The Biology, Psychology, Sociology, and Sexuality of Bisexuality by Paula C. Rodríguez Rust
    • 24. Neutralizing the Political Threat of the Marginal Woman: Lesbians’ Beliefs About Bisexual Women by Paula C. Rust
    • 25. Effects of Sexual Orientation on Interpersonal Judgment by Joseph Istvan
    • 26. “Coming Out” in the Age of Social Constructionism: SexualIdentity Formation Among Lesbian and Bisexual Women by Paula C. Rust
    • Section 9: From Bisexual Chic to Bisexual Activism
    • 27. Popular Images and the Growth of Bisexual Communityand Visibility by Paula C. Rodríguez Rust
    • 28.Bisexual Chic: Anyone Goes by Newsweek
    • 29. A Perilous Double Love Life by David Gelman with Lisa Drew, Mary Hager, Monroe Anderson, George Raine, and Sue Hutchison
    • 30. Bisexuality Emerges as a New Sexual Identity by John Leland with Steve Rhodes, Peter Katel, Claudia Kalb, Marc Peyser, Nadine Joseph, and Martha Brant
  • Bibliography
  • Name Index
  • Subject Index
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Life Isn’t Binary: On Being Both, Beyond, and In-Between book

Pansexuality: A Panoply of Co-Constructed Narratives

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AUTHOR: Karen Morgaine
PUBLISHER: Cognella Academic Publishing
LANGUAGE: English
DATE: 2020
PAGES: 227
ISBN: 9781516548101

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Pansexuality: A Panoply of Co-Constructed Narratives

by Karen Morgaine

Pansexuality: A Panopoly of Co-Constructed Narratives expertly weaves contemporary research on sexual and gender identity with personal narratives of individuals who have navigated social norms and constructs to carve out an understanding of their own sexuality. The text provides readers with an innovative and intimate lens through which they can begin to understand the dynamic nature of sexuality. 

The text begins by providing readers with theoretical and historical context regarding nonbinary sexualities. The following chapters outline the methodologies the author used to support and generate new research on pansexuality—including one-on-one interviews, collage, transcript poetry, and a qualitative survey—and the results of that research. Eleven chapters highlight the personal stories of individuals who identify as pansexual and other nonbinary sexualities, summarizing important experiences, defining moments, the meanings they attach to sexuality and gender, and observations they have made over the years, testimony gleaned from the author’s interviews with them. 

Embodying modern research that explores the fluidity of gender and sexual identity, Pansexuality is an illuminating text that is well suited for courses in gender studies, human sexuality, and sociology.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
  • Acknowledgements
  • Snippets (A Love Letter)
    • Chapter 1: Plurisexuality in Theory
    • Chapter 2: Methodological Musings
    • Chapter 3: Survey Results: A Jumping Off Point
    • Chapter 4: A Brief Foray into the Tumultuous World of Tumblr (with Jen Marony)
  • Interlude (The Stories)
    • Chapter 5: August: Queer Enough, Trans Enough?
    • Chapter 6: Orion: Death by a Thousand Cuts
    • Chapter 7: Janet: Becoming Visible and Breaking Boundaries
    • Chapter 8: Maggie: Authentically Fierce, Ideologically on Fire
    • Chapter 9: Karen: Quietly Fighting Invisibility
    • Chapter 10: Margot: Rainbows Forever
    • Chapter 11: Keith: Anxiously Re-Emerging
    • Chapter 12: N: Slowly Chipping Away
    • Chapter 13: Sonder: Trying on Pansexuality and Growing My Hair
    • Chapter 14: Stef: Metamorphosis
    • Chapter 15: Rowan: Fluid Sex-Toy Creator Extraordinaire
  • Postscript
  • Appendix 1: Exploring Pansexual and Polysexual Identities
  • Appendix 2: Additional Study Information for Potential Participants
  • Appendix 3: Exploring Pansexual and Polysexual Identities: Interview Schedule Prompts
  • Appendix 4: The Experiences of Pansexual and Polysexual Identified Individuals
  • Notes
  • Index
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Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution

Life Isn’t Binary: On Being Both, Beyond, and In-Between book