Bisexuality, Gaia, Eros: Portals to the Arts of Loving

Abstract

This article presents bisexuality as a portal to the arts of loving where Eros, the energy of love, is recognized as what makes Gaia, the third planet Earth, alive. It is a reflection on the author's experience as a keynote speaker at BiReCon, and as a participant in BiReCon and BiCon. ¹ The article is organized into three sections. The Preamble muses about how bisexuality manifests today, the current status of the bisexual movement, and how bisexuals (bis) are positioned within lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) communities, their institutions and in mainstream society. In this first section the author reflects upon her experience at the events. Addressing the Audience is a rendition of her actual keynote address. This second section focuses on why it's key at this time to see bisexuality as a portal to a world that is more eco-friendly and erotophile. By way of Annie Sprinkle's evolving work, the section establishes continuity between bisexuality and ecosexuality. The author also uses her own experience of bisexual erasure at the French libertine resort of Cap d'Agde to encourage more research and education about bisexuality and the multiple contexts where it manifests. The address also invites readers to imagine the world behind this portal, where a paradigm shift has already occurred. Love is considered an art, Gaia is recognized as the ‘gay’ planet, the homo/hetero divide has disappeared, and the energy of Eros circulates beyond socially constructed binaries. The third section or Conclusion suggests ways to initiate this shift by considering ‘organic bisexuality’ and ‘holistic sexual health.’

KEYWORDS:

• eros
• Gaia
• bisexuality
• ecosexuality
• erotophilia
• gay planet
• art of love
• Annie Sprinkle
• Cap d'Agde
• bisexual men and women
• organic bisexuality
• holistic sexual health

Acknowledgments

Serena Anderlini-D’Onofrio, PhD, is a cultural theorist. Her book Gaia and the New Politics of Love: Notes for a Poly Planet (2009) is a Nautilus Winner with a 2010 digital edition. She is the editor of several interdisciplinary studies on bisexuality and Polyamory, including Bisexuality and Queer Theory (2010), Plural Loves: Designs for Bi and Poly Living (2005), and Women and Bisexuality: A Global Perspective (2003). Her memoir, Eros: A Journey of Multiple Loves, was a 2007 Lambda finalist. She is a full professor of humanities at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. Her 2010 keynotes include the World Polyamory Association Conference in Harbin Hot Springs, California, and at the 10th International Bisexuality Conference in London. Her PhD in Comparative Literature is from the University of California, Riverside. She has taught French, Italian, English, Drama, Cinema, and Humanities. She's fluent in Spanish. Address: Serena Anderlini-D’Onofrio, P.O. Box 1941, Mayaguez, PR 00681. Web page: www.serenagaia.com; E-mail: [email protected]; Blog: http://polyplanet.blogspot.com.

Notes

1. BiReCon: Bisexuality Research Conference, BiCon: Bisexuality Conference: 10 ICB: Tenth International Conference about Bisexuality. These three events took place at the University of East London, Dockland Campus, on August 26–30, 2010, in a coordinated, almost simultaneous way, with BiReCon on opening day, the 26th.

2. Gaia is the ancient Greek name for the Earth/fertility goddess central to the matrifocal civilizations of the Neolithic (Gimbutas, 1989, 2001). Thanks to James Lovelock (1979, 1988) and Gore Vidal, it is now also used in science.

3. My sources in Gaia science are Margulis and Sagan (1991, 1997). Their work as a team shines a significant light on the connections between sexuality, symbiosis, and the evolution of life from bacteria to humans. It falls within the aegis of Gaia theory, respected yet still controversial in many scientific circles. I also refer to my own work (Anderlini-D’Onfrio, 2009), and to Lovelock's classics (1979, 1988, 2001, 2006).

4. The idea that love is an art is not new. My main sources are Ovid (1957), from antiquity, and Fromm (1956/2006), from the Frankfurt School. It's a subtext in many other works too. The good thing about this idea is that it implies that love can be taught and one's talents make one a good student.

5. My main source on erotophobia is Ince (2003). Erotophilia was discussed at the conference in relation to in-progress AIB research. The word comes from Eros, the name of the Greek god of love.

6. This point was made in the presentation by John Sylla, from work in progress that did not make it in this issue.

7. Sources on women's sexual capacity and its expanded multiplicity include Winston (2010), Ley (2009), and Ryan and Jetha (2010).

8. This idea of cultivating talent in the arts of loving so as to create complex and fulfilling relationship network systems conducive of creative intelligence and even genius was not lost on people raised in such emotionally sustaining circles. A good example is Burgo Partridge, raised in the early 20th century in the Bloomsbury literary experimental community, who grew up to be exceptionally knowledgeable in the arts of loving (Partridge, 1958/2002). The Bloomsbury circle nurtured the genius of modernist literary icon Virginia Woolf, among others.