Bisexual Mothers
Ellen Davenport-Pleasance on the importance of studying LGBT parents, monosexism, and why Bi+ people don’t have to “pick a side”.
Ellen Davenport-Pleasance is a student at the University of Cambridge, completing her MPhil and PhD in Psychology. Her MPhil research investigates the experiences of bisexual+ mothers through in-depth qualitative interviews.
Why are you interested in research on bisexualilty?
I am interested in bisexuality because as a bisexual myself it is a topic close to my heart. During my undergraduate degree in psychology, I noticed that most of the literature on LGBT parents focused on lesbian or gay parents.
I was disappointed that the erasure of bisexuals which I had noticed in mainstream media, such as books and television shows, extended to the psychological family literature. This gap in the literature inspired me to conduct research into bisexual parents, to reduce bierasure in the field of psychology.
Can you tell me about your research?
My current research investigates the experiences of bisexual+ mothers, so anyone who identifies as a bisexual/pansexual/non-monosexual/plurisexualomnisexual mother. I am using in-depth qualitative interviews, as I want to foreground the voices of bisexual+ mothers, as they are a group who are hugely under-represented, despite the fact that the majority of LGB parents are bisexual.
I am passionate about studying bisexual+ mothers in their own right, rather than aggregating bisexuals with gay or lesbian participants, as I think this erases and makes opaque many of the experiences unique to bisexuals.
What are the most interesting facts that you have learned about bisexuality from your research?
One of the most interesting findings I have come across in my reading is that
64% of LGB parents are bisexual (Goldberg, Gartrell, & Gates, 2014).
I found this really fascinating because it means that the majority of LGB parents are bisexual, which really shows that research on bisexual parents is warranted. It really showed me that bierasure has affected the psychological literature on LGB parents, because a disproportionate amount of the current research focuses on gay or lesbian parents, despite the fact that the majority of LGB parents are bisexual.
3 things you wish everyone knew about bisexuality?
Bisexuality is a valid, stable sexual orientation.
A bisexual remains bisexual regardless of the gender composition of their relationship. A bisexual woman with a female partner is not a lesbian; she is still bisexual! Likewise, a bisexual woman with a male partner is not straight; she is still bisexual!
Just because bisexual has the prefix "bi" does not mean all bisexuals define bisexuality as attraction to two genders (men and women). Although bisexuality does mean "attraction to two genders" or "attraction to men and women" for some bisexuals, for many it means attraction to multiple genders, attraction to all genders, or attraction regardless of gender.
How do you define bisexuality?
Defining bisexuality is a tricky question, as it means different things to different people. In my research I will acknowledge this, by asking each person what being bisexual means to them. For me personally, my bisexuality means that I am attracted (sexually and romantically) to people of multiple genders.
What bi research would you like people to know about?
If people are looking for some interesting research to read on bisexual parents, I would really recommend reading "Berghaus, A. (2020). Making visible the invisible: Bisexual parents ponder coming out to their kids". It is the largest study of bisexual parents to date (to my knowledge) and is a really interesting read.
Are you bi?
I identify as bisexual and have done for a number of years. I found working out my identity in a society that is largely monosexist difficult, because of the rhetoric that I should "pick a side".
I also found it challenging because people assumed I was straight if I had a male partner, and assumed I was a lesbian if I had a female partner, which is again a consequence of monosexism. This meant that for a while I identified as heterosexual, then as a lesbian, before finding the "bi" label which completely felt right.
Does being bisexual change how you approach your research?
Being bisexual has definitely affected how I conduct my research! Not only did it lead me to the topic in the first place, but it likely affects the questions I ask participants.
Being bisexual, I think I have designed questions for my interviews that non-bisexual people may not think to ask.
My research questions and my outlook are of course influenced by my own experiences as a bisexual person navigating the world. I think that when it comes to conducting thematic analysis of the transcripts of the interviews, being bisexual will again play a role in what I focus on and what seems important to me and what I notice.
Although being bisexual means I cannot be completely objective, no researcher is 100% objective, and I believe that by acknowledging and reflecting upon my positionality reflexively, I can use my own bisexual identity to benefit my research.
Follow Ellen Davenport-Pleasance on Twitter: @EllenPleasance