Including the B-word: Reflections on the place of bisexuality within lesbian and gay activism and psychology

Meg Barker in conversation with Jenni Yockney

Heteronormativity and the exclusion of bisexuality in psychology

About the book: There has been a recent explosion of interest in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Perspective Psychology amongst students and academics, and this interest is predicted to continue to rise. Recent media debates on subjects such as same-sex marriage have fuelled interest in LGBTQ perspectives. This edited collection showcases the latest thinking in LGBTQ psychology. The book has 21 chapters covering subjects such as same sex parenting, outing, young LGBTQ people, sport, learning disabilities, lesbian and gay identities etc. The book has an international focus, with contributors from UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealan

Turning the world upside down: Developing a tool for training about SM

About the book: Psychological and medical perspectives on sadomasochism (SM) have historically been concerned with understanding it as a form of psychopathology. In the past (but still often today) studies of SM have been concerned with extreme and most often non-consensual acts. More recently, however, there has been growing interest in exploring the meaning of sadomasochism in non-pathological ways. Safe, Sane and Consensual includes work from across the social sciences exploring a variety of aspects of SM from a non-pathological perspective. There are discussions of the history and culture of SM, medical and legal understandings, along with theory and original research on the topic. There are also sections on SM and psychotherapy and writing on bridging the academic/activist divide. The book includes contributions from an international group of academics, practitioners and activists and represents some of the most recent cutting edge work in the field by leading scholars

Slashing the slayer: a thematic analysis of homo-erotic Buffy fan fiction

This essay reports the research that I have carried out on Internet slash fiction based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series. I became interested in this area when I stumbled across slash fiction on the web myself and found that I enjoyed it. As someone who studies sexuality I was intrigued by this new (to me) form of erotic fiction and began to read the academic literature in the area. As I became familiar with the main theories, I wondered how they would relate to slash fiction written about Buffy, since this series differs from many of the programmes that have been slashed in the past. There are strong female and gay characters in Buffy, emotional and relationship-based themes are directly addressed, and the interaction between vampires and humans adds an additional dimension to the plot. In my study, I analysed both slash stories and my e-mail correspondence with the authors of Buffy slash. I come at the topic as both a slash reader and a psychologist, and I hope that I achieve a good balance between the position of mutual knowledge (as a fan) and critical distance (as a researcher) as recommended by Tulloch and Jenkins (1995). In the past, slash authors have been stigmatised by other fans and by convention organizers (Jenkins, 1992), and several of my participants felt that they had been misrepresented in previous research. I hope to be accountable in my research (Bannister et al., 1995) and to give a respectful and realistic portrayal of Buffy slash and its writers

Hot bi babes and feminist families: Polyamorous women speak out

Much academic literature on SM (sadomasochism) still portrays it as anti-feminist with authors arguing that, for example, SM reproduces and reinforces heterosexual gendered hierarchies and power imbalances. This study explored how women who identify as SMers understand and explain their practices in relation to feminist principles and gendered dynamics. An in-depth focus group discussion was conducted with a group of women who practice SM. Participants were involved in designing and managing the discussion and in analysing the transcripts. It is clear that these women did not perceive their SM practices to be necessarily incompatible with a feminist agenda. The potential for SM scenes to subvert or reveal traditional gendered dynamics was discussed and themes of distinguishing fantasy from reality and the importance of choice emerged

On tops, bottoms and ethical sluts: The place of BDSM and polyamory in lesbian and gay psychology

Meg Barker in conversation with Dossie Easton

Why I Study' Bisexuality and beyond

This article addresses bisexuality, non-monogamy and SM and the ways these are represented in psychological literature. It offers some challenges to conventional perceptions and ways forward for studying these areas, based in my experiences of researching sexual communities over the last few years

'Risking the kids' vs. 'double the love': Couple-counsellors in conversation on LGB parenting

The literature on lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) affirmative psychotherapy suggests that heterosexist and homophobic discourses persist in the accounts of counsellors and therapists (Milton, Coyle & Legg, 2005) and that these may particularly cohere around the issue of same-sex parenting (Moon, 1994; Phillips, et al 2000). The current research demonstrates that this was the case in focus group discussions with counsellors working for a UK relationship therapy organisation. Many participants drew on discourses of same-sex parenting as 'risky', reproducing arguments about the 'danger' of potential prejudice that such children may face and the 'necessity' of differently gendered role models (Clarke & Kitzinger, 2005). However, these were sometimes challenged within the discussions, particularly with the offering of an alternative discourse of children of same-sex parents experiencing 'double the love'. The potential of such discussions to resist heterosexist discourses is considered as a possible direction for counsellors' on-going professional development training