Bisexuality and the Challenge to Lesbian Politics: Sex, Loyalty, and Revolution. - book reviews

Journal of Sex Research, Wntr, 1997 by Beth Firestein

By Paula C. Rust. New York. NYU Press, 1995, 367 pages. Softcover, $16.95.

Reviewed by Beth Firestein, Ph.D., Inner Source Psychotherapy and Consultation Services, 124 E. 23rd Street, Loveland, CO 80538. E-mail: firewom@fortnet.org.

Paula C. Rust has written a compelling, stimulating book that combines empirical research and sociohistorical inquiry to produce a coherent, plausible account of why bisexuality appears to function as such a divisive issue for the lesbian community. Rust is a sociologist whose program of research was focused initially on lesbian cultures and communities. As her personal and professional experiences within that community evolved, so did her emerging interest in bisexuality and the diverse attitudes and relationships between lesbian and bisexual women.

Bisexuality and the Challenge to Lesbian Politics: Sex, Loyalty, and Revolution reflects the debate over bisexuality in the lesbian community--a debate that appears to be intensifying. Rust explains why bisexuality has become a focus of attention within the lesbian community, by asking questions such as What are the issues raised by bisexuality, and why are these issues of concern to lesbians and What does the lesbian debate over bisexuality reveal about the political and cultural ideology of lesbianism and the structure of the lesbian movement? (p. 2). In addition, she offers data concerning the ways lesbians and bisexual women perceive bisexuality and how each group differs in their perceptions of lesbian and bisexual women.

Rust writes from the perspective of a "white, able-bodied, lesbian-identified feminist sociologist" (p. 4), a position that emphasizes the meaning of bisexuality for the lesbian community. Herein lies both the strength of her analysis and the limitations imposed by this perspective

The lesbian perspective on bisexuality and its role in the lesbian community has not been the subject of empirical research despite the recurrent appearance of this controversy in the lesbian press over the past 20-30 years. Rust is the first social scientist to give this topic the attention it deserves. A sound analysis of bisexuality's "challenge" to lesbian politics has the power to illuminate both the history and evolution of the lesbian community as well, as elements of the bisexual experience, particularly bisexual women's experiences within that community.

Bisexual women have frequently asserted that their experience of political affiliation and personal relating within the lesbian community has troubled them. Bisexual women allege that they have often been the objects of derision and exclusion by lesbians, who have sometimes viewed them as "traitors" or unwanted intruders into the lesbian community (Hutchins & Ka'ahumanu, 1991; Weise, 1992). Ruses research is focused specifically on lesbians' attitudes toward bisexuality and bisexual women, and she finds considerable empirical validation for the negative attitudes held by lesbians (and some bisexual women) about bisexuals, attitudes consistent with bisexual women's self-reported experiences.

Rust's research is characterized by conceptual sophistication and methodological rigor. Furthermore, she writes in a manner that makes her work accessible to a broad readership. She puts: scientific inquiry and methodology within the grasp of any college student with a basic knowledge of the scientific method, without sacrificing discussion of complex elements of the methodology. Although other readers may find these simplified explanations unnecessary or tedious, they set a valuable precedent for how to convey scientific material to a less academic readership.

Rust's study consisted of 332 lesbian-identified women and 45 bisexual-identified women who responded to a survey consisting of both open-ended and dosed-ended questions. A woman's membership in the "lesbian" or "bisexual" sample was based on self-identification. The open-ended question most central to the study was What is your opinion of bisexuality (p. 51). Closed-ended questions dealt with a variety of issues and beliefs, such as whether bisexuals are really in transition to a lesbian identity, are less personally and politically trustworthy than lesbians, and are more likely to pass as heterosexual than are lesbians. Rust obtained both bisexual women's and lesbians' responses and then analyzed their responses independently and in comparison to the other group's responses. Throughout the book, the author weaves individual participants' comments into the text to highlight her findings and illustrate her theoretical assertions.

The book is organized into eight chapters. The first chapter establishes the context of the study as the debate over bisexuality within "The Lesbian Community" (p. 7). Here Rust distinguishes between "The Lesbian Community" and "The lesbian Press"--the media arm of this community. Reviewing articles on bisexuality from four gay and lesbian-oriented publications claiming national readerships, Rust exposes the range of opinions and the differing levels of attention directed to bisexuality in the 1980s and early 1990s. She notes the wide range of opinions about bisexuality expressed in the lesbian press and asks which, if any of these sentiments reflect the communities these periodicals claim to represent.