ERIC Number: EJ841231
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 8
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1541-0889
EISSN: N/A
On the Borders of Sexuality Research: Young People Who Have Sex with Both Males and Females
Pallotta-Chiarolli, Maria
Journal of Gay & Lesbian Issues in Education, v3 n2-3 p79-86 2006
As D'Augelli and Grossman point out, there is an underrepresentation in LGB research of "youth who have had sexual experiences with both males and females." Most of the information on bisexuality has been obtained from studies with adult samples, and it is "unclear to what extent a separate bisexual cultural identity is consolidated during adolescence." Accessing bisexual-identifying or bisexual-behaving young people may be difficult for two reasons. First, the label itself is stigmatized. Second, the figures vary depending upon whether the research has been conducted using sexual identity and/or sexual behaviour as the defining criteria. Thus, much more research is required with bisexual-identifying and bisexual-behaving youth to explore questions such as: (1) What impact does having access, no access or minimal access to bi-specific and bi-specifying youth groups and information have on young people identifying as bisexual?; (2) Given that friendships and peer group relations are of high significance to most adolescents, what are the experiences and impacts on bisexual young people in their interactions with heterosexual and homosexual peers at school?; and (3) To what extent do bisexual young people feel invalidated and Websites with relevant information by families, health services and educational systems, particularly health services provided within schools? Researchers, health providers, and educators need to ask how school policies and programmes reflect the dominant discourses of hierarchical sexual dualisms, and how these may be increasingly out of step with the shifting contexts and discourses of sexual diversity that today's young people are immersed within, engaging with, and negotiating.
Descriptors: Females, Disproportionate Representation, Adolescents, Sexuality, Sexual Identity, Males, Homosexuality, Sexual Orientation, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A