Challenge and Promise

SUMMARY

The friendships of women and sexual minorities are widely recognized as principal relationships that provide significant social and psychological benefits, yet the friendships of bisexual women have garnered little scholarly attention to date. This article articulates some of the unique conceptual and methodological challenges associated with the study of bisexual women's friendships, many of which can be located in the sociocultural constructs which circumscribe the topic (i.e., “bisexual,” “women,” and “friendship”). The article also highlights some ways in which current research has attempted to navigate these challenges, as well as promising directions for future theoretical and empirical work in this domain.

Key Words:

• Bisexuality
• sexual identity
• friendship
• sexual orientation
• women's friendships