An exploration of sexual citizenship among bisexual men and women of colour in the United Kingdom and South Africa
Citation
(2016) An exploration of sexual citizenship among bisexual men and women of colour in the United Kingdom and South Africa, no. 51.
Abstract
Bisexuality and it's intersectionality with race is of yet vastly unexplored within academia. In
the attempt to contribute to the growing academic literature, this qualitative research
project is designed to explore the sexual citizenship among bisexual men and women of
colour in South Africa and the UK; with the particular interest on the intersection of race and
sexuality and the varying social attitudes and legislative landscapes of the UK and South
Africa. This study adopts a relativist, phenomenological, approach which allowed me to
develop a detailed insight into the lived experiences of six self-identifying bisexuals through
the medium of semi-structured interviews and secondary data analysis. The central findings
of this research reveal that despite recent academic interest, legislative changes and
awareness of bisexuality, the participants agreed about what it meant to be bisexual, but
that it is still broadly misunderstood especially its intersection with race, in both South Africa
and the UK. The participants achieve their sexual citizenship through disputing the notion
that bisexuality is unAfrican and unnatural. Furthermore, that bisexual people of colour
impacts their life in a negative way, resulting in marginalisation and the constant struggle
for acceptance.