An in-depth scientific, historical and cultural account of bisexuality

Your sexuality is political, whether you want it to be or not – Chapter 6, p.148.

It has taken me the longest time to sit down and write this review. The editor sent me a proof copy and asked if I would review it, but in completing my bachelors and masters thesis projects in similar areas of bisexual psychology, I had burned out, badly. It was the overwhelming amount of negativity that is present, nay endemic, in bisexual research that did it. At the time I wanted nothing more to do with bisexual research and writing. But now after a year and a half gap following graduation from my Health Psychology MSc, living at home and working at a big Tesco, I'm employed in the NHS within a psychology service. No, I'm not a qualified psychologist… yet. But I now feel I have the time and the education to do a review justice.  

Bi: The Hidden Culture, History and Science of Bisexuality, like Bi the Way, is unabashedly bisexual from cover to cover. Shaw's foray into bisexuality is thorough and insightful and covers the invention (and etymology) of 'bisexual' and 'bisexuality', to the intersection of bisexuality in the socio-political and legal worlds. Shaw includes a full chapter devoted to the exploration of bisexual history, which I found enlightening, especially since queer history and theory is not something taught at anything other than university level in the UK. Shaw has distilled a complex and nuanced area of study into something that is approachable for a reader who may have little knowledge of bisexual issues, and also those who do have some. I was able to see studies and sources that I had used in my research, but also new sources. 

I feel it's important to highlight Chapter 4, 'The Bisexual Closet', in which Shaw explores the bi+ coming out experience. She draws on the 2020 Stonewall Bi Report, which highlights that 80% of sampled bisexual people weren't out to all family members, and 64% were not out to their friends. The Pew Research Centre, in 2019, found that 74% of sampled bisexual people were not out to most or all of the important people in their lives, compared to 29% of lesbians and 23% of gay men. This divide becomes even starker when you consider gender – a third of bisexual women told important people in their lives about their bisexuality, compared to 12% of bisexual men (Pew Research Centre, 2013).  

In the world of work, Shaw highlights that 4 in 10 bisexual workers who were surveyed were out to no one at work, compared to 1.5 in 10 lesbians and gay men; in the US, half of bisexual people don't disclose their sexuality at work. Shaw's message is that it is important to create spaces for the disclosure of a person's bisexual identity (or indeed any sexuality), built upon safety, trust and authenticity, to allow bisexual people 'to bring their whole selves to work'. Otherwise, the danger is that companies create policy and messaging on the basis that they have no bi+ employees when in fact, they probably do. 

It's also important to emphasise that bisexuality is a multifaceted and multidimensional experience that transcends the 'traditional' white, cisgender stereotype. There are deep and pronounced issues facing non-white, non-cisgender bisexual people which are addressed in depth across the book and specifically in Chapter 6. These include seeking asylum as a bisexual person, and experiencing double and multiple discrimination from individuals, communities and groups. As a society we must address these issues immediately, with compassion and understanding, in a way that centres a plurality of bisexual voices and holds an equity focused lens. 

In sum, Shaw's book, alongside others, provides an in-depth scientific, historical and cultural account of bisexuality that is informed by psychological science and backed by personal experience. There's a little bit of something for everyone, from politics and law to culture and biology. For practitioners and research/academic professionals who are working with bi+ clients, this book could inform your practice around working with core bisexual experiences such as coming out and provide an all-important historical context for the issues that bi+ people face. 

• Bi: The Hidden Culture, History and Science of Bisexuality is published by Canongate.