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A review by punchofwishes
The Bi-ble: New Testimonials: The Bi-ble: Volume Two 2: Further Original Essays and Narratives about Bisexuality by Lauren Nickodemus, Ellen Desmond
4.0
A collection of essays centered around bi+ identities and experiences. Some essays really touched me (All the Things She Said and A Man, A Cane, An Awkward Title), most I found generally interesting, and a few bothered me, either more or less. As a bi+ person myself, I related to some essays more than others. I do want to point out the things that bothered me specifically in case it is useful:
-Jack Harkness from Doctor Who and Torchwood is falsely described as bisexual when he uses the term omnisexual
-one writer seemed to find every LGBTQ+ portrayal (and various other identities) in media problematic which in my view is identity policing. Of course critically viewing media representation is a good thing, but the line between that and prescribing the ‘right way’ to be queer/a woman etc. is slim.
-one writer distilled sexuality solely on sex and viewed it as based in action and not identity which made me a little uncomfortable
-one writer said that they couldn’t imagine how ‘a man in a woman’s body would even work’ which intentionally or not sounds a little transphobic
This is just my experience with this collection though, naturally influenced by my own intersecting identities. Still, I enjoyed engaging and interacting with this book a lot.
-Jack Harkness from Doctor Who and Torchwood is falsely described as bisexual when he uses the term omnisexual
-one writer seemed to find every LGBTQ+ portrayal (and various other identities) in media problematic which in my view is identity policing. Of course critically viewing media representation is a good thing, but the line between that and prescribing the ‘right way’ to be queer/a woman etc. is slim.
-one writer distilled sexuality solely on sex and viewed it as based in action and not identity which made me a little uncomfortable
-one writer said that they couldn’t imagine how ‘a man in a woman’s body would even work’ which intentionally or not sounds a little transphobic
This is just my experience with this collection though, naturally influenced by my own intersecting identities. Still, I enjoyed engaging and interacting with this book a lot.