Jennifer Taub

Bisexual Women and Beauty Norms

ABSTRACT This article examines how coming out and gender of partner affect bisexual womens behavior, thoughts and feelings regarding beauty and appearance norms. Seventy-four bisexual women participated in a qualitative survey addressing these issues. Results showed that just under half (49%) of respondents felt that coming out as bisexual affected their beauty ideas and practices and over two-thirds (71%) felt that the gender of their partners affected their beauty ideas and practices. Most of the latter group (80%) felt more appearance pressures when involved with men than when involved with women. Themes from open-ended responses are presented through specific examples and the implications of findings are discussed.