Variations in the Sexual Repertoires of Bisexually-Identified Women from the United States and the United Kingdom

Abstract

Research on the sexual lives of bisexually-identified women tends to focus on their heightened risk for sexually transmitted infection acquisition. The development of effective, tailored interventions would benefit from detailed behavior estimates from a large sample of bisexual women. Thus, this study collected sexual behavior data from 710 bisexually-identified women. When possible, items were adapted from the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior. Approximately equal proportions of participants reported no recent (past 30 days) sexual partners, male sexual partners only, female sexual partners only and male and female sexual partners. The majority of participants reported a diverse sexual repertoire.

KEYWORDS:

• bisexual women
• sexual behavior
• sexual repertoire
• relationship
• National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior
• NSSHB
• cunnilingus
• fellatio
• sexual enhancement products
• vibrator
• dildo

Acknowledgments

Vanessa Schick was partially funded by a Developmental Award granted by the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association. This study was conducted in partnership with GaydarGirls. The authors would also like to thank Searah Deysach for her in-kind support of this research, Chelsea Heaven for her assistance with database construction and J. Dennis Fortenberry for general advice and guidance.