Plurisexual Identities
Tara Pond on sexual identities, the gendered aspects of bisexuality, and the problems with label gatekeeping.
Tara Pond is a PhD Candidate in Psychology at AUT University, New Zealand. Her thesis examines bisexual and other plurisexual identified women's identities and experiences. Tara is a member of the bisexual research group.
Why are you interested in research on bisexuality?
Bisexual activism is a personal passion of mine.
I feel that it is extremely unfortunate that bisexuality is overlooked in academia and most research that included bisexual people does a disservice to them.
I am interested in research in bisexuality that deconstructs the marginalisation of bisexuality because it is an important and worthwhile pursuit.
What does your research explore?
My work uses a critical feminist and intersectional lens.
I believe that the intersection between difference marginalised aspects of peoples identities is crucial to acknowledge when examining (bi)sexuality.
For my research, the gendered aspects of bisexuality interest me especially. For instance, the reduced hostility bi+ women experience in comparison to bi+ men because of the objectification of their sexuality. And the consequences of this such as high rates of sexual violence victimisation and mental health problems.
What are the most interesting facts that you have learned about bisexuality from your research?
The facts that I try to stress the most are the sexual violence statistics that have been consistently found. In my own survey with 1,000 bi+ women 70% of respondents had been pressured into sex and 60% had been sexually assaulted.
On a related note, I found it interesting that 80% of respondents felt sexualised by society. These facts demonstrate the need for praxis around bi+ women's experiences.
How do you define bisexuality?
I personally believe that describing bisexuality as the attraction (or potential for attraction) to multiple genders as the most befitting.
What are the 3 things you wish everyone knew about bisexuality?
There are more bisexual people than there are gay and lesbian people
Bisexuality is not a binary or lesser sexuality than other plurisexual identities
Bi-negativity is just as harmful and consequential as homophobia and transphobia
What are the most pressing concerns within the bisexual community in 2020?
Within the community I think the continued gatekeeping of bisexuality is a large problem.
Constructing bisexuality as a seperate, and lesser identity than identities such as pansexual is very harmful for all involved.
I also see the current ubiquity of anti-trans sentiment within the queer community is harmful for all involved and needs to be actively fought. Finally, I always think that drawing public awareness to the structures that marginalise and sexualise bisexuality are crucial to their deconstruction.
What bi research would you like people to know about?
I greatly admire many works of bi-activists and academics. Some of my favourite papers/book chapters are by April Callis, Christian Klesse, and Nikki Hayfield.
Getting more personal…
Are you bi? Yes!!
Does being bisexual change how you approach your work?
Absolutely, I don't think I would have found this area of research if I wasn't bi and cared to look. I think being bi fuels my passion for my research and invigorates my drive towards making changes in how bisexuality is seen in society. I think it also allows me to view everyones unique experience with curiosity as I always strive to learn more about bisexuality and useful ways to educate others.
Can you tell me a bit about your experience?
I struggle to say the word bisexual in relation to myself because it is so stigmatised and I worry about the stereotypes that will be stuck onto me when people know about my sexual identity.
By being very vocal about my work as a bisexual academic allows me to shift the focus onto my bisexual activism rather than my sexual identity while still raising the visibility of bisexuality and creating potentials for discussions about it.
You can follow Tara Pond on Twitter: @tara_pond