Challenging Identities, Changing Identifications

Abstract

Chapter seven examines the ways in which participants identified as bisexual, and how this changed according to the age of the men interviewed. Primarily, the chapter shows that early recognition of and identification with bisexual desire was harder for the older men (in their early 40s), compared to the younger (in their late teens). As with other studies, the older participants were less able to understand their bisexual desires until adulthood, being confused or denying bisexual desire during adolescence. This was not found among the younger men studied, who recognized their bisexuality earlier and with less difficulty. The chapter also documents ambivalence toward identity categories, with many younger participants not rejecting them but de-emphasizing their importance—talking about their utility rather than having a strong emotional attachment to them. It is suggested that decreasing stigma about sexual minority categories makes them less important socially and politically.