Researcher Conducting Much Needed Study on Bisexual Women’s Health
Chicago, IL

Concerned with the lack of attention given to bisexual women in the “LGBT” health literature Dr. Wendy Bostwick, Director of Community Engagement at the Adler School of Professional Psychology, is conducting a study specifically aimed at bisexual women. The goal is to explore bisexual women’s health and their experiences of stigma and discrimination.

Bostwick, who has a PhD in Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago, started the Women’s Health and Identity Study (WHIS) while she was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Michigan. She notes that self-identified bisexual women still face unique stigma related to their identity, and must confront discrimination from both the straight community as well as from the gay and lesbian community.

“I think that constantly being told that you’re ‘confused’ or that your identity isn’t genuine can really take a toll on bisexual women. I’m interested in learning more about how such messages affect bisexual women, particularly their mental health.”

Bostwick notes that while the literature about sexual minority health has grown tremendously in the past three decades, besides HIV/AIDS-related literature, there is a disturbing lack of information about the health of bisexual women as a distinct group. This is even more concerning, she suggests, in light of evidence that more and more women are identifying as bisexual.

Participants should be women who are at least 25 years old, self-identify as bisexual, reside in the Chicago area and are English-language speakers. Women of color are especially encouraged to take part. Participation in the WHIS study includes answering a brief survey with questions about your health, including questions about health insurance, substance use and experiences of discrimination. In addition, some women will be randomly selected to participate in a more in-depth interview. Involvement in the WHIS will take between 20 to 90 minutes. All participants will be compensated with a $10 gift card to a major retail establishment.

For more information about WHIS and how to get involved, please contact the study at (312) 201-1851 or via email at Biwomenstudy@gmail.com.

In the event that you aren’t as addicted to Bravo TV reality programming as I am, I figured I would spread the bi-love! There’s a bisexual contestant on their new show “Step it Up and Dance!” and the other contestants are kinda treating him like crap despite the fact that he’s just as (un)talented as everyone else… this sentiment seems perfectly captured in this episode recap on AfterElton.com see excerpt below:

… Micheal didn’t have a whole lot to do this week, except give me happy pants. He did make one startling revelation when, in the process of helping to choreograph a dance number, let it slip that he was “bi” (at which point my pants became melancholy). He was also the victim of a gang back stabbing by the rest of the dancers in his elimination group. After the final dance, everyone was asked who they felt was the weakest of their group. They all answered “Michael”, but he didn’t let it faze him, and he survived to dance another week.

… why melancholy? I really don’t understand why being bi should be a turn-off. True, it shouldn’t be a turn-on either (a problem I think bi women run into in their interactions with hetero men) … but why should Micheal’s appeal be any lessened when he owns up to who he is? Additionally, he didn’t “let it slip” … rather, he was trying to be open about himself and bring that to the choreography. It irritated me that the two effeminately gay men in the group didn’t respect that at all and tried to invalidate it by personally attacking Micheal’s character. I mean true, so far he hasn’t shown much character comparatively… I mean he’s not dressed like he just stepped out of Purple Rain! However, he’s hardly the only one and its only the second episode. Give a guy a break!

PS: It was oh so hard not to title this “Step it up and Prance!” … soo very hard :P