Loraine HutchinsCritiques

I read this a bit longer ago, actually, but went out and bought it last year. Some of the stories are tough to read, but I really liked a couple of them - it made me feel less alone.

I read this a bit longer ago, actually, but went out and bought it last year. Some of the stories are tough to read, but I really liked a couple of them - it made me feel less alone.

Bi Any Other Name is an anthology of writings by people who identify as bisexual, published in the early 1990s. At the time, I’m sure it was on the ground-breaking edge of a movement: giving voice for the first time to the many different kinds of people who came together around a common identity of being bisexual. There was power in the words, and power in the recognition of a shared, emerging identity, with little precedent to hold on to.

Today, though, the book feels like a historical document. The place most of the authors were writing from no longer exists: a feminist movement where many still believed that “feminism is the theory, lesbianism is the practice,” a country where a burgeoning AIDS epidemic was rapidly spreading biphobia and quashing the sexual revolution, a gay movement that was still trying to segregate itself from mainstream America rather than arguing for integration and equal rights. I felt little connection to most of the writers, which may be why I think the same book written now would be very different. In today’s world, there still isn’t a ‘bisexual movement’ to speak of, but it seems that gay culture and the main-stream are no longer at such polar opposites that coexisting in both seems an impossible task. Perhaps a more modern edition of this book would turn more toward queer theory.
All in all, an interesting read for the historical content, but not very relevant to a broader audience.½

This is a must read, especially if you happen to be bi. It tends to drag in places, but what anthology doesn't? The good more than makes up for the bad.

Bi Any Other Name was one of the first and remains one of the best books on bisexuality. This anthology has over seventy bisexual contributors with a broad spectrum of backgrounds, ethnicities, and cultures. The essays themselves are also very diverse, from academic works and journal articles to personal stories and poetry. This book dispels the stereotypes of being a bisexual while revealing the immense diversity of those who claim the identity. A very engrossing and important book, I would highly recommend it.

Experiments in Reading½