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Dual Attraction: Understanding Bisexuality. By Martin S. Weinberg Colin J. Williams, and Douglas W. Pryor. Oxford University Press, New York, 1994, 437 pp., $27.50.
Reviewed by J. Michael Bailey, PhD.2
Bisexuality is a hot topic, having inspired a recent Newsweek cover story (Leland, 1995) as well as several noted books (e.g., Garber, 1995), including the present one. Bisexuality is both controversial and enigmatic. On the one hand, one hears the assertion, "Everyone is really bisexual"; on the other hand, a common saying among gay men is: "You're either gay, straight, or lying." Is bisexuality everywhere, or is it illusory?
The present volume admirably attempts to illuminate some important controversies empirically, rather than via the unfortunately more common method of bald assertion. There is reason to hope for success, based on previous works of the authors. Weinberg coauthored two important studies of homosexuality (Bell and Weinberg, 1977; Bell et al., 1981), and Williams coauthored an informative survey of sex and morality (Klassen et al., 1989; see, e.g., Harry, 1990). Dual Attraction is organized similarly to these works, with reasonable questions followed by lucid presentations of results, supplemented by relevant quotations from subjects, and with most raw data relegated to appendices.
The authors conducted three related studies. In the first, they interviewed a small group of bisexuals from the San Francisco Bisexual Center. In the second study, they surveyed somewhat larger samples of bisexuals, homosexuals, and heterosexuals via anonymous written questionnaire. The third study followed up subjects in the first study 5 years later. Among the issues the authors aimed to explore were the stability of bisexual identity, the multidimensionality of "sexual preference" (the authors' preferred term), and the special problems that bisexuals face.
Results argued against the notion that bisexual identity is necessarily a phase in a transition to homosexuality. Most respondents rated themselves in the 2-4 range of the Kinsey scale, squarely in the bisexual range, and follow-up revealed substantial stability in bisexual preference.
The stereotype of bisexual people as highly sexed was supported. Both bisexual men and women reported high rates of casual sex, sexually transmitted diseases, and unusual sex practices. About half of the bisexuals in relationships had more than one significant partner. Many of the participants had left marriages due to the...