Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics

This is a very sincere well-written and thought out personal story, which can give support and affirmation to women who feel bogged down and misrepresented by identity politics. It is insightful and truthful, and lends honest help to women who aren't sure how to evaluate their sexual lives or inclinations. I'm glad I read it--it can't help but make you feel better about yourself.

My brain, heart, and groin were all excited by this totally absorbing book, which contains both a personal account of the author's romantic history -- chiefly four main love interests (bi woman, straight guy, 5-star lesbian musician, and straight guy who fathered her child but does not live with her) --and a brilliant inquiry into sexuality and larger issues of personal identity. Jennifer has interviewed many leading writers, artists, and musicians about their choices and we come to see that increasingly, at least for women, the old labels - straight, gay, and bi -- are irrelevant given that so many have jumped back and forth between same-sex and opposite-sex liasons. Whether it's bedroom dymanics, sexual politics, influences from the workplace or campus or evolving gay-tolerant cultural influences -- the reasons underlying who woman are bedding today are incredibly complicated and worthy of profound self-examination, which she has done brilliantly. What makes the book even more arousing is that the author -- as is apparent from the jacket cover and from a live reading I attended -- is a smoking hot beauty, who must have vastly more-than-average sexual-partner options; but once you're but a few pages into this book, you will find -- as the old adage goes about the brain being the primary erotic organ -- that it's the author's penetrating prose more than anything else that has irresistably won you over and charmed you into hanging onto her every word. Note that the book is almost exclusively focused on female sexuality, but any man will benefit from learning about women and wondering how applicable Jennifer's inquiry is to men of all sexual procliviities. A tour de force.

Feminists, bisexuals, and anyone interested in human sexuality will find a lot to ponder in this examination of sexual identity in our culture.

By far the most interesting, most readable and most satisfying exploration of bisexuality I've read, and certainly the most interesting book on the intersection of bisexuality and feminism ever written. Baumgardner is young, and of a different generation, but her thoughts and experiences are completely in line with my own, and so of course I embrace them as brilliantly insightful. The connections to feminism are fascinating, though she gives short shrift to male bisexuality. That said, her insights are fascinating and her weaving of personal anecdote with a more global and maturing political awareness is well worth reading. This book belongs on the bookshelf of every one interested in human sexuality, and especially those active in the Queer community. A remarkable book.

Reading Jennifer Baumgardner's Look Both Ways is like discovering that you share a secret with a friend you've known all your life. Part-memoir, part-cultural critique, the book is essential for anyone who wants to understand bisexuality and how it fits into our culture. On a personal note, as a woman who's been repeatedly rejected and trampled on by men, Look Both Ways helped me to realize it's not so strange to find the emotional support I need in relationships with women. Using Ani DiFranco, Anne Heche, the L-Word, and Virginia Woolf as her gateways into pop culture, Baumgardner both deflates and embraces the bisexual stereotypes she discusses. As a single mom and an advocate for feminism and reproductive rights, Jennifer Baumgardner is a pillar of strength in a world of Paris Hiltons. Today, people might be willing to embrace "alternative" lifestyle choices if you'd label yourself so they can package you up and stack you on the shelf with the rest of the queers. In this book, Baumgardner makes the point of saying it isn't that easy--sexuality is a complicated creature, with every experience, every moment of one's life influencing who we choose to love. With interviews from women from all walks of life, Look Both Ways helped me to really consider and ultimately embrace the ambiguities of my sexuality--she helped me lift the stigma I'd associated with my relationships past. And I can't think of anything more important than a book that makes you stop and reevaluate your life for the better.