“Bisexuality Is Just Semantics…”: Young Bisexual Women's Experiences in New Zealand Secondary Schools

Abstract

A literature search reveals minimal New Zealand and international research that has a specific focus on young bisexual women at school. This study addresses this paucity by gathering the experiences of young bisexual women being bisexual at a secondary school in New Zealand. The study focuses on ways in which young bisexual women experience teacher and student attitudes and practices at school, and the consequent negotiation of their own bisexual identities within their school environments. Evidence from these experiences frames two specific practices, the first being societal misrecognition of the nature of bisexuality. The second practice introduces the notion of bi-misogyny, a form of erasure specifically targeting young bisexual women. The study engages with bisexual theory and feminist qualitative methodology. Data are examined using thematic analysis. Consideration of young bisexual women's experiences in New Zealand secondary schools adds to the body of knowledge about this silenced minority.