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A review by sadie_slater
Purple Prose: Bisexuality in Britain by Kate Harrad
5.0
I bought a copy of Purple Prose: Bisexuality in Britain, an anthology edited by Kate Harrad, at Nine Worlds a couple of years ago, read a couple of the most obviously relevant sections and then tucked it away on a shelf and more or less forgot about it until someone mentioned in in a comment on a review of The Bi-ble a few weeks ago, prompting me to fish it out and put it back on the to-read pile.
Unlike The Bi-ble, which was simply a collection of personal essays, Purple Prose is divided into thematic chapters, with editorial commentary linking quotes from a range of bisexual-identified people. After a couple of introductory chapters looking at what bisexuality is, biphobia and the experience of coming out as bi, the chapters look at the intersections of bisexual identity with gender, race, disability, faith, non-monogamy and age, as well as looking at bisexuality in the workplace and in the context of dating, and rounding off with a look at allyship and bisexual activism. I think that one of the reasons I'd put off reading the book when I first bought it was that the thematic structure seemed a little academic and serious (although it was mostly ongoing internalised biphobia telling me I wasn't really bi so what was the point of reading it, obviously), but actually I felt that it worked better for me than the unfiltered personal accounts of The Bi-ble in terms of helping to highlight key themes in bi experience. (It also meant that I could easily skim through the sections of least relevance to me - in particular the one on dating and to a lesser extent the one on non-monogamy - although mostly I found it interesting to read these as a way of understanding other bi people's experience.)
I found Purple Prose really interesting and informative. Also, unlike The Bi-ble which felt like the voice of a slightly younger generation of bi people, I felt that I was reading the voices of bi people like me, and suggesting the existence of a bi community I could imagine being part of. (Actually, a bi community I am already part of without realising it; among the contributors and chapter editors I recognised three members of my DW circle, one long-term "friend" from LJ days, and a couple of other people I follow on Twitter.) Many of the contributors mentioned early experiences which clearly placed them close to my age, and there was also a section on the experiences of older bi women (although, rather disappointingly, these were all Americans). I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who is bi, or to allies and partners of bi people who want to understand more about bisexuality and its intersections with other facets of identity.
Unlike The Bi-ble, which was simply a collection of personal essays, Purple Prose is divided into thematic chapters, with editorial commentary linking quotes from a range of bisexual-identified people. After a couple of introductory chapters looking at what bisexuality is, biphobia and the experience of coming out as bi, the chapters look at the intersections of bisexual identity with gender, race, disability, faith, non-monogamy and age, as well as looking at bisexuality in the workplace and in the context of dating, and rounding off with a look at allyship and bisexual activism. I think that one of the reasons I'd put off reading the book when I first bought it was that the thematic structure seemed a little academic and serious (although it was mostly ongoing internalised biphobia telling me I wasn't really bi so what was the point of reading it, obviously), but actually I felt that it worked better for me than the unfiltered personal accounts of The Bi-ble in terms of helping to highlight key themes in bi experience. (It also meant that I could easily skim through the sections of least relevance to me - in particular the one on dating and to a lesser extent the one on non-monogamy - although mostly I found it interesting to read these as a way of understanding other bi people's experience.)
I found Purple Prose really interesting and informative. Also, unlike The Bi-ble which felt like the voice of a slightly younger generation of bi people, I felt that I was reading the voices of bi people like me, and suggesting the existence of a bi community I could imagine being part of. (Actually, a bi community I am already part of without realising it; among the contributors and chapter editors I recognised three members of my DW circle, one long-term "friend" from LJ days, and a couple of other people I follow on Twitter.) Many of the contributors mentioned early experiences which clearly placed them close to my age, and there was also a section on the experiences of older bi women (although, rather disappointingly, these were all Americans). I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who is bi, or to allies and partners of bi people who want to understand more about bisexuality and its intersections with other facets of identity.