At the intersection of bisexuality and masculinity: Bisexual people's experiences in Turkey

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b2578312_(Table of contents)

This study aims to explore bisexual men and nonbinary persons’ experiences with monosexism and binegativity through accounts of sexual identity construction, coming out as well as sexual and romantic relationships. The fact that social experiences of bisexuality might have negative implications on individuals’ health and well-being makes it essential to understand social experiences of bisexuality in Turkey, especially because few studies deal with this subject within the context of Turkey. As monosexism and its effects on sexualities in Turkey were not studied before, this study aims to locate monosexism and understand how it operates within the narratives of bisexuals. Based on my interviews, monosexism operates through binegativity (or biphobia), stereotyping, bisexual invisibility, identity invalidation, and bisexual shaming in Turkey. The three main chapters of this thesis explore, identify, and analyze how monosexism interacts with other societal structures and normativities to form the various social experiences of bisexuality within the contexts of identity construction, coming out, and sexual and romantic relationships consecutively.