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Bisexuality Beyond The Binary

An illustration featuring the word "Embodied" in purple at the top, with silhouettes of the side profiles of several faces underneath, in the lower third of the illustration. You can see six faces or pieces of faces, with a mix of hair styles and lengths. Each silhouette is a different shade of pink or purple, and the silhouettes are facing different directions.
Charnel Hunter

Bisexual folks make up the highest portion of people who identify as LGBTQ+. What are the challenges of having a sexuality that falls between distinct, prescribed categories?

Our understanding of the term bisexuality has been in a state of constant evolution for over a century. From the 1890s when the word first emerged in English to 2020 when the definition was updated in Merriam-Webster, bisexuality has been a term that helps people define a more fluid sexuality — but has also come with stereotypes and stigma. And in the struggle to make space for all shades of desires and attraction, is there a point when the label no longer serves the folks who use it?

Host Anita Rao meets two people who have grappled with this question as well as the term’s history, meaning and power for building community. J.R. Yussuf is the author of “Dear Bi Men: A Black Man's Perspective on Power, Consent, Breaking Down Binaries, and Combating Erasure.” And Jazmín Aguilar is a host and senior audio producer at the Boston Globe.

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Kaia Findlay is the lead producer of Embodied, WUNC's weekly podcast and radio show about sex, relationships and health. Kaia first joined the WUNC team in 2020 as a producer for The State of Things.
Anita Rao is an award-winning journalist, host, creator, and executive editor of "Embodied," a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships & health.
Amanda Magnus is the executive producer of Embodied, a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships and health. She has also worked on other WUNC shows including Tested and CREEP.