A review by mld12
Bi: The Hidden Culture, History, and Science of Bisexuality by Julia Shaw

informative reflective medium-paced

2.5

Although this book is full with good ideas for progress and lots of re-entering of history that’s been erased, this book puts forward an idea that many of us in solidarity have worked to move past— needing a specific identity to be noticed and brought up and individually assisted. It’s exactly what disability scholars have said alienates them from the LGBTQ+ conversation— acting like a singular identity must be named or recognized rather than a whole causes in fighting and a lack of progress for all. What surprised me the most was how the author mentions two-spirit and recognizes the erasure they face, then in the same chapter says the problem with “LGBTQ+” is that it erases caring about bi people individually… when the acronym they chose erases the two-spirit identity they brushed over (ignoring how the term itself is contested by indigenous groups).  I encourage the author to really think about what happens when we put our energy into getting rights for bi people and not anyone who might fall into that same right bi people want. As she says, labels are good for categorizing but beyond that we give them too much power.
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