(5.0*)

“Bisexuality is a beautiful thing. It should be showcased as one.”

Bi by Julia Shaw is a great piece that I truly would recommend to anyone (maybe not everyone), but that’s what has me thinking. Because, the people you or I typically would not see picking up this book and wanting to educate themselves, are the ones I feel like who NEED to read something like this to truly understand bisexuality better.

Myself, first coming out as bisexual in 2012, and now pansexual in 2019, really believes this book is valuable. It tackles some of the most difficult topics that bisexual people have gone through, are currently going through, and will continue to go through if we don’t stand together and fight. This is done very accurately, and with tons of knowledgeable detail.

Of course, some of the topics talked upon and visited within this book can truly be hard to read, but as sad as it is, that is the reality of it all. Like Julia states, “to sugarcoat these realities would be to do them a disservice and to remove them from their potential to help ignite revolutionary forces within us.” So, some topics are harder than others.

Most of the topics covered by Shaw in this book such as oppression, erasure, and violence, are to show how bisexuality has been excluded from discussions in history, culture, or science in order to push us into the shadows, but we’re still here as a group and we will continue to fight.

Being under the bisexual umbrella, and identifying as pansexual as a non-binary individual, this book truly helped me see myself and my experiences in a different light. A different perspective. I came to the realization that I have been fighting for who I want to be and who I want to love for 10 years already now and this is just the beginning, some people of the LGBTQIA have been experiencing these hardships for 50 years+.

Overall, I think Julia Shaw’s extensive research and wealth of knowledge on this topic is truly impressive. The time and effort it took for her to find all of this information, as well as, display it in her own writing is very beautiful. Despite some of the hardships talked about, it really is beautifully written and shows how passionate she (as a bisexual woman herself) is for this community and for her own self.
There wasn’t a book about bisexuality out there, so she did the damn thing! Thank you babe! It was truly needed!

Thank you NetGalley and Abrams Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the kind of book I struggle to rate, because as a work of nonfiction that is purely meant to inform, I want to assess it on a technical level and remove any emotional bias here. This is clearly a passion project of the author, who is a criminal psychologist by trade. A deep dive into the history of bisexuality and discrimination this demographic of individuals faces is quite obviously a major pivot from her typical works. And Julia Shaw has clearly done the research, and has the numbers - but I’m not totally sure the narrative around these numbers was as effective as it could have been. She throws a lot of statistics around without expanding on these in a way that felt totally productive to the conversation I felt like she was trying to start.

The most effective use of this was in the chapter focusing on the specific brand of disregard bisexuals face when attempting to immigrate to a nation that does not endanger them based on their sexual identity. I never once considered this would be would more difficult for bisexual individuals on the basis of falsely assuming they are claiming to be LGBT to necessitate the successful immigration. These brief, insightful moments are striking when Shaw highlights the and I wish more of the book shared this kind of information.

Instead, there’s a lot of focus on how bisexuals are either oversexualized by popular media or excluded from the LGBT community - two problems that I don’t think are insignificant but pale in comparison to the life-threatening discrimination that was previously discussed. The chapter on immigration in my mind should have been the finisher, and take prevalence on the full chapter dedicated to the value of threesomes. It’s hard to sell a cohesive narrative when we’re jumping back and forth between such disparate aspects of bisexuality.

I’ll settle on a 3.5 rating for this one, rounded up, on the basis of some great factoids that just could have been expanded on a little further. I do like to see bisexuality or pansexuality explored more in this type of nonfiction, and hope the highlights of this work eventually see a greater focus in future books in this space.

Thank you to the publisher Abrams Press for providing an e-ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

I love it when nonfiction holds my attention. Bi was a heavily researched look at the history, key players, culture, and science behind defining and understanding bisexuality. I love how the author drew on her own experience and tied in understanding across time, geography, and even across nature. She did a fantastic job referencing scientists without glossing over their darker aspects and had some great calls to action.

I especially enjoyed learning that bisexuality by definition is not different or exclusive from pansexuality and learning ways to be more inclusive. Both the queer community and those who are not LGBTQ+ supportive have a history of defining bisexuality as a transitionary phase of denial rather than the reality that most exist on a spectrum with attraction and action lying somewhere in between fully gay or straight.

Really illuminating!

Thank you #netgalley and #abramspress for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#bi #juliashaw #lgbtqnonfiction

This book is so, so powerful. I can't recommend it enough as a bi woman. There's not much more I can say about it other than that it was phenomenally written.

The bi community is often overlooked, scoffed at and sexualized differently than some of our fellow queer mates. Julia Shaw does an excellent job of exploring and talking about bisexuality.

Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams Publishing for the e-ARC to read and review. I had this one on my e-reader for months and started it right away, but it really did take me months to get through. I'd start up a passage, get really thrown off or distracted, and then come back weeks later only to repeat it all again. While I was really anticipating this book, I ultimately found it a less than stellar reading experience: it's not purely academic or scientific, it's not a memoir, it's not a look at pop culture - yet it's kind of all of those things at the same time? Sometimes that blend really works for me, but here it was just not happening. For me, there was a chance to either really embrace the personal element or really embrace the obvious amount of research that went into this -- or weave those elements together with more cohesion. I've read a few other texts lately that pulled this off SO much more my style. I appreciate all that this book was trying to do, but I'm not left sure it did it.

Julia Shaw's book is a highly relevant read and helps demystify the "B" in LGBTQ+. I am not aware of other books about bisexuality that covers so many aspects -- from history, to the "Klein Grid" to invisibility, to coming out, to mammal behavior, She explores all the diversity within this community and she is very present in the text, sharing her own stories throughout which added an interesting perspective and keeping the book from being too dry. Her end-notes after each chapter are very comprehensive which will help those of us who would like to do some additional research. I recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Abrams Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

At last! A book about bisexuality!

I majored in gender and women's studies (graduated in 2012) and am so happy to see books like this being published. I loved Bi. Any and every chapter would have fit into my studies. I think this book is filling an important need in sexuality studies. I would have EASILY come to terms with my own sexuality much earlier if I had a book like this.

100% buying this the next time I'm at my favorite indie. :)

I am so deeply, genuinely happy this book exists. I needed something like this earlier in my life as it was such an eye-opener to me. While I've been proudly openly bi for a little over a decade now, there was so much I just didn't know. Every time I heard about how deep the biphobia is in the community I was always confused because yes, I have heard some of the classic biphobic lines before in some relatively benign interactions, but not to the degree that it was full-on discourse and I certainly (thankfully) never had a vitriolic reaction to my bisexuality (though I have experienced the awful, accusatory homophobia that comes when people of the same gender find out you like the same gender). This book helped me learn what actually is going on (and to what extent) when it comes to how we are viewed and treated by the rest of the world, as well as our history. I knew some of the history already, but this book went further, and I lost count of the amount of bookmarks I made in the NetGalley app when reading. No doubt when I get the physical copy there will be sticky note flags sticking out everywhere so I can reference it with ease.

I think this book is incredibly important and I not only want a physical copy for myself but I really want a copy of it in our library, so others can use it to better understand themselves or someone they know. Truly, I believe EVERYONE should read this, regardless of orientation. We really need that understanding more than ever. Seriously, I can go on and on but I don't think I could ever talk enough about how great this book is. I just want to thank Julia Shaw for writing it.

This is a well-studied and highly informative look at bisexual history and culture. It's wonderful to see works like this on the shelf a it can be a struggle to find a comprehensive history of less visible sexualities. This is a wonderful resource!

An amazing eye-opening read!

So many things I have brushed over or ignored were pointed out. The brief walk down the history, the contemporary discussions, and valid fears - all make for a perfect read.

One of the best non-fiction reads in 2022!

Getting to read Bi this Pride month was the best gift I could’ve given myself. As someone who spent most of my life believing that I was just a really committed ally, I appreciated how Shaw approaches bisexuality from many different angles and proves that the road to understanding one’s sexuality can be a winding one. It’s so exciting and refreshing to read a book that deals with all the misconceptions about bisexuality like bisexuals being promiscuous (whatever that means!), or bisexuality being a stop on the way to becoming straight/gay. It’s truly validating to read about such a personal and intimate subject written by someone who understands it perfectly. I loved learning more about the people who studied bisexuality in the past, and feeling that sense of connection with others in a community that is often overlooked. It was a 5 star read for me until the last chapter: a section of the book focused on non monogamy, which to me felt a little bit out of place. Shaw focuses a lot on the way bisexual people get over-sexualized, so then writing about how hot threesomes are (jokingly, yes, but still) undermined her own work.

TLDR: Bi is a well researched and informative book about what it means to be bisexual. It presents the struggles and the violence that the bisexual community faces, but it also makes space for the joy and beauty of being true to oneself.

Thanks to NetGalley and Abrams for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bi: The Hidden Culture, History, and Science of Bisexuality by Julia Shaw is exactly as the title suggests. It details the history, culture, and science of bisexuality. Detailing previous explorations and experiments about bisexuality, investigating modern portrays of bi-ness, and detailing Shaw's own experiences, this book covers a lot of ground! I found it well written, detailed, and easy to read.

As I've done a lot of research about bisexuality, not much of this book was new to me, but I do think it's well organized for newbies.

As a bi woman who is trying to catch up on her queer history and theory, this was a perfect book. I loved that this book came across as very accessible even as it referenced scientific research. I found myself zipping through it, which I don't expect from non-fiction. That Julia Shaw is herself a bisexual woman shows in the text. My questions were answered as I read and I felt understood in a way that made me cry happily. Thank you Ms. Shaw for acquainting me with so much of my queer ancestry and thank you to NetGalley and Abrams Press for giving me the chance to read and review.

Bi is a nonfiction book that discusses queer history, bi history, preconceptions people have, views on how the sexuality has changed and experiences. The book strives to be an all encompassing book that educates the reader on the history of bisexuality. I agree with that, and enjoyed being further educated. Being Biromantic, I found many parts of this book to be deeply relatable and sometimes even a bit painful as they are things I've experienced. I also enjoyed the level of detail that was in the book. Each chapter had a reference list at the end of it which allows the reader to research further if they wished to. This is not usually the type of book I review, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and I think it would be a good read for all groups of people, including those that aren't bi.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Clearly well researched and written with much thought and care. My only complaint is that it was a touch heavy on the scientific studies, though I can understand the necessity and it definitely lends objective credulity to Shaw's voice on the subject.

Bi by Julia Shaw is the first book of its kind that I've seen—a history by, for, and about bisexual people with both history and social science embedded into its pages. I enjoyed learning about some queer history through Shaw's well-researched yet personally nuanced explanations. As a bi woman herself, of course the subject matter is going to hold some bias for her. But I think in a book of this kind, having a personal stake in it rather than looking at bisexuality as some kind of oddity is important. It reminded me a lot of Ace by Angela Chen. I think many people who identify as bisexual, think they may be bisexual, or just want to have a good schooling on bisexuality as a legitimate sexuality in the LGBTQ+ spectrum would enjoy this book. It's well-written, not preachy, and extremely informative.

This was a very informative and in some ways eye opening non-fiction on bi-sexuality. I think readers who have read extensively on the subject might find this a bit basic, but I do think this is a useful and much needed (and very accessible) resource for those who want to begin learning about bi-sexuality. I liked the authors very conversational writing style. I would also recommend this for teens who are just now discovering who they are or just as a general point of interest.

Real Rating: 4.5* of five, rounded up for the "Bidentity List"

I've contended publicly that bisexuality is the disrespected stepchild of the QUILTBAG community. When one says "bisexual" without the modifier "man/male" the presumption is one's referring to a woman/female. And that's what Author Shaw has set out to correct...that sense of non-inclusion that heteronormative society, whether straight or gay, attaches to labeled people. No one ever explains to you, "oh, I'm straight" because we assume they are unless they make a point of not being. And bisexuality, being by its nature focused on sexual activity, is simply not an acceptable identity in the heteronormative prescriptivist world.

Author Shaw, who also includes a lot of other identities in her discussion, corrects this misperception with an assertion that bisexuality is in fact an identity and to diminish that is to indulge in bi erasure. When that erasure comes at you from all sources and angles, including the one with a letter for your identity in its public face, that can feel disheartening and rejecting.

What Author Shaw does is build a good case, based on research and science, for the existence and validity of the <I>identity</i> "bisexual" as a separate thing. It's an equal to "gay" or "lesbian" or "straight" (which term I dislike because its connotation is "as opposed to 'bent'" and that doesn't thrill me) not a way-station on a road heading one way or the other. Thinking outside binaries is the great revolution in consciousness of this century. It's a giant gift to our descendants to recognize, affirm, and support their outside-our-experience identities. That does mean, however, learning what those identities are as well as what they want to be called.

Learning about bisexuality is not the challenge it was in the past. When I was a teen and wondering what to call myself ("faggot" wasn't gonna cut it for internal monologues, but it's accurate) I found a book called <I>Loving Them Both: A Study of Bisexuality</i> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_MacInnes" target="_blank">Colin MacInnes, son of Angela Thirkell</a> and her first husband. "Maybe that fits," I thought after reading it. It didn't, but at least I found something to help me try on an identity that just does not exist in pop culture. That book existed for me; it gave me information I'd never have found otherwise (though it was written in 1970 and was very much of its time); and the newcomers to adolescence and adulthood need the same help I found. That's Author Ward's book.

That she is a psychologist, with a special interest in criminality, makes me believe her research chops are top-notch even if I don't know what sources she's used. Consulting the Notes will disabuse anyone of the notion that she's just makin' it up. This is someone who makes a living as a psychologist, there's no way in heck she doesn't cite her sources. And they're impressively complete and diverse.

What's all this in aid of? It's a sad fact that, like most people who are bisexual, Author Ward wasn't really sure what that meant or if it, as an identity not a sexual desire, really existed. Unlike most people, she set out to do something to help people in their own searches for identity when they're feeling surer and surer that "straight" is for jackets not for them. There's always a process in developing an identity. In most cultures it's called "growing up." In modern Western culture, we're possessed of both a bewildering freedom to decide for ourselves and a grim paucity of examples for anything outside heteronormative society. Remember I said the author was a psychologist? Bet you can't guess what she did....

These are Author Ward's "Six Stages of Bidentity Development."
<ol>
<li>Stage 1. Loneliness: I must be the only one who feels this way, no one ever talks about it.</li>
<li>Stage 2. Euphoria: I'm NOT the only one! Say hallelujah and bring the jubilee!! Now I can start living!</li>
<li>Stage 3. Disappointment: What do you mean, I'm not queer/activist/leftist/whatever enough?! I'm just ME! What's with this judgment?</li>
<li>Stage 4. Mourning: How can anyone stand to be so cruel/ignorant/prejudiced? I'm a real person!</li><br />
<li>Stage 5. Anger: <B><I><U>HOW DARE YOU?!?</U></I></B> We are valid, real people with feelings and needs!</li>
<li>Stage 6. Peace: Wait...I <I>am</i> real, I have loved ones and others who accept me and are like me, and nothing the jackanapes do or say will make that different. (I call this the "It's not what you call me, it's what I answer to" stage.)</li>
</ol>
If you take no other thing away from reading this review, I hope it is that there is something out there in the world that can support and guide those not satisfied with the heteronormative world's offerings towards a different, possibly more comfortable and complete, identity. If you know someone who's on that journey, if you might be yourself, or if you're just curious about what the hell all the fuss is about, read Author Ward's enjoyable, informative, and authoritative prose.

No one <I>needs</i> to feel alone. Not when Author Ward's here to show a new path.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGallet and am voluntarily posting a review.
This is a well-researched and cited introduction into bisexuality as an identity, from an academic standpoint. It’s very approachable, and there’s a great balance between personal narratives from the author herself and consultation of varied sources to help substantiate her points and destigmatize myths around bisexual identity.