Sexual Health, but What Else? A Critical Review of the Literature Focused on Bisexual Men in the United States

Abstract

Although bisexual individuals have higher rates of mental health concerns than their lesbian and gay counterparts, and higher rates of unsafe sex practices and substance use (Feinstein & Dyar, 2017; Gonzalez et al., 2017; Green & Feinstein, 2012), bisexual men, in particular, remain an under-researched population (Feinstein & Dyar, 2017; Schrimshaw et al., 2018). Such health disparities have been tied to internalized biphobia and masculinity concerns (Mackenzie, 2019; Schrimshaw et al., 2013). Further, bisexual men of color experience marginalization related to race and ethnicity as well as sexual orientation, which can negatively impact health (Arnold et al., 2017; Muñoz-Laboy et al., 2018). Utilizing Google Scholar, Pubmed and Psychinfo, 180 articles that included variations of the terms bisexual men (see methods for details) were identified from the past five years. Articles that did not meet inclusion criteria (e.g. were not focused exclusively on bisexual men, comprised of non-U.S. samples, or were non-empirical) were filtered out, resulting in 33 articles in the final sample. The final articles were qualitatively analyzed through a thematic analysis of the article’s keywords. The 33 articles included in the final review included themes that largely fit into the framework of minority stress (Meyer, 2003) when interpreted thematically by the reviewers. The two main categories of the findings included sexual health and identity concerns for bisexual men. In the last five years, only fourteen articles were focused on aspects of experience outside of the scope of sexual health. Sexual health continues to be a primary focus of research with bisexual men. Bisexual men are more than their sexual health; it would be beneficial to know about a broad spectrum of their experiences, including resiliency in the face of stigma, relational and family dynamics, and navigation of work and other dimensions.