Monogamous Bisexuals
Sakura Byrne on monogamy, mental health, and bi identity
Sakura Byrne is completing her PhD at The Open University, researching the experience of monogamous bisexuals in relation to mental wellbeing and bi identity. Sakura is part of the Bisexual Research Group.
3 things you wish everyone knew about bisexuality?
Bisexuality doesn't just go away because you're in a monogamous relationship
Bisexuality doesn't exist purely for the enjoyment of a heterosexual male gaze
Negative stereotypes around bisexuality can have a dangerous impact on bisexual people's mental welleing
Why are you interested in research on bisexuality?
As a bisexual person myself, and someone with many bisexual friends, many of whom seemed to share similar experiences to me, I thought it would be worthwhile to further research bi+ people's experiences with monogamy and mental wellbeing.
There seems to be scant research in this area, but the connection between bi invisibility and mental wellbeing seemed as though it would be a particularly significant topic among bisexual people who are potentially further invisibilised by their partners' gender, and assumptions made based on partner gender.
What does your research explore?
My PhD research provides an exploration into mental wellbeing, bisexuality, and monogamy.
“Rather than taking a polarised, either/or approach, the goal of the research is to recognise multiple positions – bisexual monogamy as radical/transgressive, bisexual monogamy as conformity, and bisexual monogamy as an invisibilised category - and the ways in which monogamous bisexuals oscillate between them”
The research takes its cue from the experiences of monogamous bisexuals themselves, with a view to informing mental health practitioners of the specific needs of monogamous bisexuals, thereby acting to ameliorate the significant mental distress experienced within this group.
How do you define bisexuality?
Attraction to more than one gender. For myself, someone's gender doesn't play much of a role in my attraction to them.
What do you think are the most pressing concerns within the bisexual community in 2020?
Bisexual people have high rates of mental ill health compared with people of other sexual identities, and I think this is in no small part because people still struggle to understand what bisexuality actually is.
There are still a lot of negative stereotypes around bisexuality, or many people still think it simply doesn't exist. And this can have a dangerous impact on the wellbeing of people who are, in fact, bisexual.
What bi research would you like people to know about?
I would highly recommend anything written by
… and Rosie Nelson has recently written an excellent article on the impact of researching sex and gender on the researcher's LGBTQ+ identity which particularly resonates with me, as I'm going through that process at the moment!
Getting more personal…
Are you bi? Yes
Does being bisexual change how you approach your research?
I think so. I've been trying hard to make my research as participatory as possible, because as a bisexual person myself, I really wanted my research to be FOR bisexual people, not ABOUT bisexual people.
I wanted to balance out the researcher/researched power dynamic as much as I possibly could, but I still think there's a certain tension around being the researcher, and conducting research into your own sexual identity.
Can you tell me a bit about your bi experience?
I knew I was attracted to more than one gender from an early age, but didn't have a name for it, and it caused a lot of uncertainty for me growing up. I came out fully when I was 18, and started working as an exotic dancer.
Suddenly I was surrounded by women who identified as bisexual, and I finally felt as though I belonged somewhere. It was a deeply affirming and positive experience for me. My friends, family, and colleagues all know I'm bi.
“And there was no particular reason why I came out, other than finally having a name for how I felt, and a greater sense of certainty in myself”
Follow Sakura Byrne on Twitter: @sakurabyrne