CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Balezina, Maryana |
|---|---|
| Title | Multifaceted Bisexual Subjectivity: Narratives of Bisexuals from Moscow, Russia |
| Summary | This research analyzes how people narrate and construct their bisexual subjectivities. It argues that bisexual subjectivity can be understood as a narratively constructed phenomenon and not as an identity label that can be clearly separated from other identities. Based on the literature review, three topical clusters of meanings that establish bisexual subjectivity were first theorized and then found through discourse analysis: knowledge, gender, and space. The topic of knowledge production includes discourse on coming-out narratives, identity disclosure strategies, and the establishment of meanings behind bisexuality. The theme of gender is explored via gender stereotypes, gender disbalance in the bisexual population, gender role normativity, and the heterosexual matrix. Lastly, the topic of space is analyzed with themes of visibility and passing as focal points. The data was collected via online interviews conducted with people over 18 years old who identify as bisexuals and live in Moscow. Overall, 19 semi-structured interviews were collected over the span of several months (from March until December 2020). The mean age for the sample was 22.8 years old (min 20, max 31). Most of the sample consisted of cisgender women (17), 1 person identified as trans man, and 1 as a non-binary trans*masculine person. The interviews were analyzed with Foucauldian discourse analysis, which allowed to deduct discursive dimensions in three overarching themes. The discursive dimensions found in the interviews include ideas about other identities, like pansexuality, notions of safety, dispositions of openness, intimacy, and desire. While some discursive dimensions were more potent for one theme than others, ideas about heteronormativity and the West appeared throughout conversation points. |
| Supervisor | Timár, Eszter |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/balezina_maryana.pdf |
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