Intimacy negotiated: The management of relationships and the construction of personal communities in the lives of bisexual women and men
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Bringing into dialogue conceptual literature on bisexuality, intimacy, and personal community, this article illuminates the lived experiences of 80 bisexual women and men in the UK. The data were collected through questionnaire and individual interview. The article discusses two empirical themes, beginning with the participants’ narratives on their engagement with the dominant sexual and gender order – which hegemonizes ‘monosexuality’ and ‘compulsory monogamy’ – in their negotiation of relational intimacy. This is followed by an exploration of the features and functions of their personal communities, especially the significance of friendships. The article argues that, despite the ambivalence and misperception surrounding bisexuality, the participants enacted creative agency in negotiating intimacy and social support in their everyday lives.
Source: Sexualities
Authors: Alex Toft, Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip
Institutions: Coventry University, University of Nottingham
Language: English
Topic: Gender and Feminist Studies
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2596931964