Dear Tiggy,
I recently discovered that I’m bisexual. However, I live in Pakistan. Here, sexuality is hardly discussed and, in many cases, is considered taboo. I want to know more about myself and my sexuality. Can you please advise me on how to do that in a safe, open way?
-Nora
Dear Nora,
Yes: read! My October 30, 2012, column on biresource. net suggests bi magazines (print and online) and Facebook pages. Allow me to add to the list “Bisexual Bloggers” Facebook page which connects you to some excellent electronic reading material. And if you like Tumblr, you’re in luck: bisexual scholar Shiri Eisner created quite a rundown of bi Tumblr blogs to follow on bidyke.tumblr.com, posted on January 4, 2014. Note that one of them is “Bisexual Books” which will give you even more to read.
But the thing I’d most like you to read, the tome that’ll knock your bisexual socks off, is an anthology called Getting Bi edited by Robyn Ochs and Sarah Rowley. The book consists of over 200 personal essays from bisexuals on what it feels like to be one of us. The authors come from 42 dif- ferent countries and offer a wide range of experiences, so I have no doubt that you’ll find multiple stories that resonate with you.
I understand that in places like Pakistan where access to the internet is both limited and restricted, you may find it close to impossible to read blogs or purchase a book online. If you’re in this position, I urge you to get involved with zine culture. A zine is a small, self-published magazine, typically produced and distributed by one person. Popular in the 1990s, they were assumed obsolete once the digital age arrived. But that’s not the case – zines continue to thrive and are becoming widespread in various Eastern countries. The latest issue of Broken Pencil magazine just did a terrific feature on how zines have always seemed tailor-made for queers, as we strive to express ourselves and communicate with each other in a world that often discourages it.
Polish up those reading glasses, Nora, and don’t forget to have a pen at the ready. These books, blogs, and zines may well inspire your own bi writing.
-Tiggy