Yvette Sanders began her undergraduate research journey in community college and presented at a community college research conference. After transferring, she started working with Professor Bolzendahl, who supported her throughout her time at UC Irvine. Yvette had been interested in researching bisexuality for some time and was grateful for the opportunity to hear and share the narratives of bisexuals and show similarities in their experiences. One highlight of her research was being able to create a safe space for her participants to discuss their sexuality and personal life with her. After graduation, Yvette hopes to pursue a Ph.D. and a career as a professor and researcher.

This paper assesses how bisexuals negotiate their sexual identity in long-term relationships using a symbolic interactionist theoretical approach. More specifically, I examine how the context of a long-term relationship can influence how bisexual identifying individuals make sense of their sexual identity. Much previous research has examined the struggle of bisexuals to negotiate their bisexuality within their intimate relationships as well as within the larger context of society. However, few studies have focused exclusively on the ways that a long-term relationship shapes sexual identity. Based on twelve in-depth interviews with twelve bisexual-identifying individuals, I find that bisexuals continue to experience common challenges: disclosure of bisexuality, straight passing frustration, and partner-based insecurities about infidelity regarding bisexual partners. Within these themes, I analyze how bisexuals negotiate their identity. Through these findings, I argue that bisexuals, by resisting the dichotomy of sexuality, face significant roadblocks within their relationships and in the negotiation of their sexuality.

Catherine I. Bolzendahl School of Social Sciences

Ms. Sanders’ paper brings important sociological insight to an understudied and rapidly changing social identity—bisexuality. Social categories of sexuality and gender help people make sense of their lives and interaction but are frequently used as a means of discrimination, exclusion, and even violence. Ms. Sanders finds that respondents identifying as bisexual face challenges identified in previous studies, but also highlights the resilience of her subjects in crafting identities that more broadly rejected binary gender and sexual labels simultaneously. Undergraduate students have a passion for Sociology and an insight into their generation that can create really innovative social research. Working together with faculty helps the students see how pressing social questions transform into important social knowledge.