Bi+ Archival Work
Samu/elle Striewski (they/them) is a graduate student in political philosophy with a concentration in Gender Studies and Queer Theory who is interested in bi+ archival work and bi+ activism.
Samu/elle Striewski (they/them) is a graduate student in political philosophy with a concentration in Gender Studies and Queer Theory. They have studied mathematics, comparative literature, and philosophy in Paris (Sorbonne, Paris VIII) and New York (Columbia, New School). Currently, they are writing their master's thesis on queering recognition theory. They have worked on Claude McKay, a Black and bi+ author of the Harlem Renaissance, and on the strategic political importance of bi+ activism.
Why are you interested in research on bisexualilty?
Throughout my studies, I have learnt a lot about gender and sexuality.
Bisexuality has usually been neglected or only poorly discussed even by the most notable scholars in Queer Theory.
I am therefore interested in further "queering" Queer Theory, in the sense of making it more inclusive to all kinds of sexual orientations, including bisexuality+.
Can you tell me about your research?
I have two main research interests. The first concerns archival work and the difficulty of historicizing bisexuality+ when the term was not yet intelligible as such (e.g., because individuals were "read" as homo- or heterosexual).
The second concerns the analysis of bi+ activism both from a normative (Is it necessary? What should it do?) and phenomenological/historical (What does it? How did it develop?) perspective. Those two aspects are highly co-related since the current political praxis informs the potential of thinking about bisexuality+ and on the other hand, historical and theoretical knowledge is important for an effective political engagement.
What are the most interesting research findings that you have learned about bisexuality?
Some trans* scholars have pointed out how desiring someone can be connected to desiring to be someone. If we translate this to thinking about bisexuality+, some interesting questions come to mind, for instance, how does being bi+ relate to being non-binary or trans*? Does our sexual orientation have the "power" to change our gendered self-conception and to which degree does our gender identity determine the extent to which we can think of ourselves and "behave" as bi+?
3 things you wish everyone knew about bisexuality?
Bisexuality+ is not a phase
Bisexuality+ is not trans*phobic
Bisexuality+ is political
How do you define bisexuality?
I like the definition: "being attracted by more than two genders" and "being attracted by people with one's own gender and with different ones".
More broadly, however, I define "bi+" as the transformative desire that – despite acknowledging the Western gender binary many of us live in, ("bi") – continuously tries to break free from this restraint ("+").
Are you bi?
I identify as bi or bi+, but only among other queer people (as a response to the invisibility of bisexuality+ even within the LGBTQIA+ community), otherwise I tend to refer to myself as queer.
Can you tell me a bit about your experience?
I started verbalizing my sexual orientation as "bi" at the age of 15 or 16 and most of my family members, friends, and colleagues know about it. Yet, I did not really have a coming out since I did not consider it necessary for me personally. Due to my physical appearance, I am mostly read as gay and I like to confuse people's box-thinking when I start talking to them about my attraction to more-than-males.
Learn more about Samu/elle Striewski here.