Today is Bi+ Visibility Day, a day to celebrate the strength and resilience of bisexual and multi-gender-attracted people, and we’re proud to present a showcase of our research on the health and wellbeing of bi+ folks.
Bisexual mental health: Findings from the ‘Who I Am’ study
Julia Taylor, Jennifer Power, Elizabeth Smith, Mark Rathbone
Bisexual people have consistently been found to have poorer mental health than their gay, lesbian or heterosexual counterparts. Our ‘Who I Am’ study set out to find out why.
We found that several things were associated with poor mental health in bisexual people:
- Biphobia - bisexual people’s experiences of poor treatment and discrimination based on sexuality, from both heterosexual and LGBTIQ+ communities, as well as internally through lack of self-acceptance
- Invisibility - the tendency for people to assume that bisexual people in hetero relationships are straight, and those in same-sex relationships are purely same-sex attracted
- Bi erasure - the denial and de-legitimisation of bisexuality as a ‘valid’ sexual orientation
- Being in the closet
- Being in a heterosexual relationship - especially for bi+ women, and especially when the relationship was unsupportive of a person’s bi+ identity
These last findings are in direct opposition to the commonly held idea that bi+ people in heterosexual relationships benefit from ‘heterosexual privilege’.
“Not queer enough”: A systematic review of the literature exploring experiences of bi-erasure
Amy R. McCole, Joel R. Anderson
This review examined all the available evidence on bi erasure, and found nine main themes:
- Bi + sexuality as unintelligible and unrepresented (‘I don’t get it’)
- The myth of bi+ sexuality as a ‘temporary phase’
- Normative assumptions of monosexuality as default
- Beliefs that bi+ sexuality is not a legitimate or valid identity
- Feeling excluded from both queer and straight communities
- Beliefs that bi+ women are attention seekers
- Policing of bi+ identities
- Stereotypes of insatiability, sexual irresponsibility and promiscuity
- Fetishization of bi+ women and non-binary and trans people
This study lays out both the types of bi erasure experienced by bi+ women, men and trans/NB folks, and the sources they experienced these forms of erasure from.
These forms of erasure came from a wide range of sources, including both heterosexual and lesbian/gay communities, partners, families, and healthcare providers.
More hostile themes were generally directed towards bi+ women, including fetishisation and slut-shaming.
The study also found that the more a bi+ person was exposed to these forms of erasure, the more likely they were to internalise them. It also found that for bi+ BIPOC people, their experiences of erasure were complicated by feelings of alienation from cultural communities as well as LGBTQ+ communities, and by an additional layer of fetishisation.
Despite all this, this review notes that despite this, many bi+ people find affirmation, community connection, and pride.
“An extra set of bits for your fantasy”: A qualitative exploration of bi+ women’s fetishization experiences
Amy R. McCole, Michael Thai, Joel R. Anderson
This qualitative study interviewed bi+ women in Victoria, exploring the many ways their identities are often eroticised and objectified, including:
- Desirability to heterosexual men
- ‘Different’ to lesbian attraction
- An ‘exception’ to monogamy
- Dehumanisation and hypersexualisation
- Internalised fetishisation
The study found that women have to navigate these themes in terms of their emotional impact, of alertness and vigilance, and in addition to intersectional identities.
It underscores the strength and insight these women show in navigating, resisting, and reframing these experiences, reclaiming their sexuality and boundaries on their own terms.
But it’s not all bad news!
Social connection moderates the relationship between concealment motivation and identity affirmation in sexual minority adults
Rebecca Cavarra, Joel Anderson, Christopher A. Pepping
This study found that, for bi+ people who had to conceal their bi+ identity, strong social connections and support cushioned the negative mental health impact of being ‘in the closet’.
Self-compassion as a mediator of the relationship between social support and identity affirmation in sexual minority adults
Rebecca Cavarra, Joel Anderson, Christopher Pepping
This study found that strong social support helps increase self-compassion and therefore affirmation - being supported by friends, family, relationships and community helped bi+ people feel better about themselves, and feel affirmed in their bi+ identity.
How social support affirms identity in LGBQ adults: A qualitative exploration
Rebecca Cavarra, Christopher Pepping, Joel Anderson
We found that social support affirms identity by fostering acceptance, comfort, and confidence. Support from friends, family, and the LGBTQIA+ community helped reduce shame and isolation, enabling bi+ people to explore, embrace, and feel proud of their identities.
These three papers show the power of community, friendship, and supportive relationships in helping bi+ people feel proud and affirmed. They highlight the value of kindness, acceptance, and care - from others and from ourselves - in strengthening bi+ identity pride, happiness, confidence and pride.
A systematic review on differences in sexual satisfaction of women as a function of sexual identity
Alena Bondarchuk-Mclaughlin, Joel R. Anderson In this paper, we found that bisexual women often report rich, diverse sexual practices and relatively high sexual satisfaction on some dimensions (e.g., orgasm frequency) when compared to their heterosexual counterparts. It offers a celebratory perspective on the pleasure, creativity, and sexual agency of bi+ women.
Our research shows that while bi+ people face unique challenges and difficulties in navigating their identities in a world that often erases or judges them, that supportive, affirming communities, increased understanding and kindness, and care from friends, family and partners make all the difference.
For more facts and figures on the health and wellbeing of bi+ people, check out Rainbow Health’s Research Matters: Bisexuality, health and wellbeing.
