Friday, March 5, 2010

Book Review: Look Both Ways


Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics is book written by Jennifer Baumgardner, a 3rd wave feminist author, editor, and activist. The book is not only a memoir of her own bisexual experiences, but is also an analysis of pop-culture and the bisexual community, with feminist issues thrown in here and there.

Baumgardner points out that embracing her bisexuality helped her "truly see women without men as being successes, not failures." She also emphasizes that dating women helped her to understand herself better and, in essence, helped her see what she wanted out of her relationships, therefore improving her relationships with men (politically and sexually).

Some lesbians might falsely conclude that she experimented with bisexuality to improve her male relationships and criticize her embracement of “sexual choice,” something that many lesbians fear in bisexual women.

However, her bisexual experiences are completely legitimate, in particular her 5 year relationship with singer/songwriter Amy Ray. Speaking of Amy Ray, I could write an entire other blog on that woman—her music, her activism, her awesomeness—she remains one of my main musical influences. But back to the point.

Overall Look Both Ways was an extremely insightful analysis of bisexuality and feminism, although at times a bit confusing. Four out of five stars.

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