Bisexual Women and Beauty Norms

This article examines how coming out and gender of partner affect bisexual women's behavior, thoughts and feelings regarding beauty and appearance norms. Seventy-four bisexual women participated in a qualitative survey addressing these issues. Results showed that just under half (49%) of respondents felt that coming out as bisexual affected their beauty ideas and practices and over two-thirds (71%) felt that the gender of their partners affected their beauty ideas and practices. Most of the latter group (80%) felt more appearance pressures when involved with men than when involved with women. Themes from open-ended responses are presented through specific examples and the implications of findings are discussed.