Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio - Böcker

According to David Halperin, sexuality in our time is typified by a "crisis in contemporary sexual definition". What is sexuality? What does it mean to have a sexual identity or orientation? What is the relationship between sexuality as a knowledge construct, on one hand, and the often messy flows of desire and practices of love, on the other? How and why are some sexual, erotic, and intimate practices normalized and others marginalized? Queer Theory has emerged in the West as one of the most provocative analytical tools in the humanities and social sciences. It scrutinizes identity and social structures that take heteronormativity for granted – that do not question the social construction of heterosexuality as normative in relation to its oppositional binary, homosexuality. At the same time, bisexuality is a practice, identity, and orientation that challenges the binary logic around which cultural notions of sexuality are organized. It is a portal to the imagination of a world of amorous expression beyond that divide.This provocative collection presents bisexuality and queer theory as two parallel thought collectives that have made significant contributions to cultural discourses about sexual and amorous practices since the onset of the AIDS era, and explores the ideas that circulate in these thought collectives today. We learn much about the construction and experience of sexuality, and the power it still holds throughout the contemporary Western world to shape identities and practices. This volume challenges our understanding of what it means to be sexual, to have a sexual identity, and to practise the arts of loving.This book was orginally published as a special issue of the Journal of Bisexuality.

According to David Halperin, sexuality in our time is typified by a "crisis in contemporary sexual definition". What is sexuality? What does it mean to have a sexual identity or orientation? What is the relationship between sexuality as a knowledge construct, on one hand, and the often messy flows of desire and practices of love, on the other? How and why are some sexual, erotic, and intimate practices normalized and others marginalized? Queer Theory has emerged in the West as one of the most provocative analytical tools in the humanities and social sciences. It scrutinizes identity and social structures that take heteronormativity for granted – that do not question the social construction of heterosexuality as normative in relation to its oppositional binary, homosexuality. At the same time, bisexuality is a practice, identity, and orientation that challenges the binary logic around which cultural notions of sexuality are organized. It is a portal to the imagination of a world of amorous expression beyond that divide.This provocative collection presents bisexuality and queer theory as two parallel thought collectives that have made significant contributions to cultural discourses about sexual and amorous practices since the onset of the AIDS era, and explores the ideas that circulate in these thought collectives today. We learn much about the construction and experience of sexuality, and the power it still holds throughout the contemporary Western world to shape identities and practices. This volume challenges our understanding of what it means to be sexual, to have a sexual identity, and to practise the arts of loving.This book was orginally published as a special issue of the Journal of Bisexuality.

Get a global perspective on bisexuality from a women's viewpoint!Women and Bisexuality: A Global Perspective reflects the growing contribution bisexuals, and especially bisexual women, make to queer culture on an international level. This unique book presents a collection of thoughtful essays, studies, and reviews that combine to help develop a language that reflects the reality of bisexuality from a feminine/feminist viewpoint. Authors map the inroads made by bisexual studies into conventional disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, health, literature, film, history, and biography, and analyze the situations of bisexual women in areas as diverse as France, North America, Germany, Australia, and Africa.The rich and varied contributions to Women and Bisexuality: A Global Perspective track the spread of bisexuality from the urban and metropolitan centers of gay culture to more peripheral areas as the movement becomes more and more hospitable to transnational and transcultural people. The book's main themesbisexuality's ability to disrupt categories and the resulting feeling of alienation many bisexuals experienceare manifested in approaches that include critical theory, deconstruction, textual analysis, cognitive psychology, personal essay, review essay, reportage, and qualitative study. Topics addressed include:the impact of feminism and women's communities on the appearance of bisexual women multi-sexual relationships as border existence in Australia a South African perspective on bisexuality understanding bisexuality's invisibility Lillian Hellmann's bisexual fantasies and much more!Women and Bisexuality: A Global Perspective follows bisexuality to the crossroads of academics and activism, presenting a wide scope of refreshing and insightful thought that reflects more than an identity or practice. The diverse mix of ideas is an essential read for anyone interested in literature on sexuality.

Get a global perspective on bisexuality from a women's viewpoint!Women and Bisexuality: A Global Perspective reflects the growing contribution bisexuals, and especially bisexual women, make to queer culture on an international level. This unique book presents a collection of thoughtful essays, studies, and reviews that combine to help develop a language that reflects the reality of bisexuality from a feminine/feminist viewpoint. Authors map the inroads made by bisexual studies into conventional disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, health, literature, film, history, and biography, and analyze the situations of bisexual women in areas as diverse as France, North America, Germany, Australia, and Africa.The rich and varied contributions to Women and Bisexuality: A Global Perspective track the spread of bisexuality from the urban and metropolitan centers of gay culture to more peripheral areas as the movement becomes more and more hospitable to transnational and transcultural people. The book's main themesbisexuality's ability to disrupt categories and the resulting feeling of alienation many bisexuals experienceare manifested in approaches that include critical theory, deconstruction, textual analysis, cognitive psychology, personal essay, review essay, reportage, and qualitative study. Topics addressed include:the impact of feminism and women's communities on the appearance of bisexual women multi-sexual relationships as border existence in Australia a South African perspective on bisexuality understanding bisexuality's invisibility Lillian Hellmann's bisexual fantasies and much more!Women and Bisexuality: A Global Perspective follows bisexuality to the crossroads of academics and activism, presenting a wide scope of refreshing and insightful thought that reflects more than an identity or practice. The diverse mix of ideas is an essential read for anyone interested in literature on sexuality.

When limitations are removed from loving (and from lovemaking), new worlds of possibility are opened. This book presents insiders’ viewpoints on bisexual/polyamorous living!With historical and theoretical perspectives, testimonials, reports from the field, and creative writing, Plural Loves: Designs for Bi and Poly Living examines group marriage, polyfidelity, cheating, solo-sex (and group solo-sex), utopian communities, tantric expression and sacred eroticism, transculturalization, and much more. This book explores the common ground shared by the bisexual and polyamorist movements, and addresses the ways bisexual polyamory has been portrayed in films and literature in the United States and Europe. Editor Serena Anderlini-D’Onofrio even includes a candid chapter recounting her erotic experiences with a Catholic priest from Africaand their meaning in the context of bisexual polyamory.Plural Loves: Designs for Bi and Poly Living presents:insider perspectives from members of polygamous groups, including the polyamorous circle Komaja and the Trent Polyamory Society insights into the benefits of self-sex for singles/couples/poly people a look at poly living as tantric expression an examination of the way polyamory is addressed in three modern texts: Love Without Limits, Loving More: The Polyfidelity Primer, and The Ethical Slutand in the work of two nineteenth-century novelists, J. K. Huysmans and Leopoldo Alas, and of three twentieth century dramatists, Noel Coward, Joe Orton, and Shelagh Delaney an analysis of portrayals of polyamorous people in American and foreign films, including When Two Won’t Do, Y tu mama también, Teorema, Something for Everyone, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Straight to the Heart, Henry and June, Threesome, Dallas Doll, Friend of the Family, French Twist, and Go Fish. a contribution from Deborah Taj Anapol about poly practices indigenous to Hawaii plus a fascinating chapter by well-known feminist/sex activist Betty Dodson that places masturbation in the context of homosexual activity (it is a same-sex activity, after all)