Bisexuals at Midlife: Commitment, Salience, and Identity

In the framework of a constructionist approach, a life-course point of view, and traditional concepts borrowed from identity theory, the authors report on a study of fifty-six San Francisco bisexuals. The data show that by midlife, changing life commitments among the participants were associated with a decrease in sexual involvement, a move toward sexual activity with just one sex, a decrease in contact with the bisexual subculture, and a decrease in the salience of a bisexual identity. Given these changes, the data reveal the opposite of what might be expected—an increase rather than a decrease in the certainty about and stability of the bisexual identity. The authors show that this was due to the continuation of dual attractions that were positively regarded even as there was a move away from a bisexual lifestyle. In explaining these findings, they discuss the interplay between sexual communities, relationships, selves, and sexuality.