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Dec 05, 2007

Grace rated it:

Last month, I posted about my irritation with the Bitch interview with Jennifer Baumgardner, the author of Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics. I was very disappointed with the interview, but at that time said I'd still read the book, as maybe she had more to say than she'd let on.

Once again, I'm disappointed.

The book is just as bad, if not worse, than the interview was. Baumgardner honestly seems to see a special place for herself and other bisexuals (or at least bisexual More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2007

Lola rated it:

I can't really disagree with a lot of the criticism leveled against this book. I find Baumgardner's thesis to be valuable and enlightening, but it is largely based on her own sexual and romantic experiences, which were largely dysfunctional, it seems: she seems to simultaneously give more weight to relationships with men while contending that women make better partners and much better lovers.

I was drawn to this book because my sexual history is, on paper, pretty similar to Baumgardn More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 28, 2008

Needleroozer rated it:

The most annoying thing about this book was not that it was mostly a piece of fluff, an excuse for the author to mention all the famous people she knows. (She is especially proud that Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls was once her partner.)

The most annoying part of this book is not even that it is waaaaay longer than it needs to be. (It is mostly just a magazine article barely fleshed out into a book.)

The most annoying part of this book is the author's insistence on using som More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Aug 17, 2007

Rachel rated it:

This book is hours of my life I will not get back. It received a great deal of positive press in feminist circles earlier this year, so I was really excited to read it, enough that I almost bought it in hardback. How glad I am that I waited to get it from the library. Baumgardner, a third-wave feminist with some bizarre atavistic 70s separatist tendencies, believes that relationships between women are without exception nurturing and sheltering, offering protection from the oppression that (also More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 16, 2008

Anna rated it:

The book is more of a memoir than a political manifesto(a). Its mostly interesting if you care a lot about Jennifer Baumgardner and her path to and through feminism with name dropping mention of relationship with famous lesbian singer/songwriter Amy Ray. I actually found her critique of bisexual involvement in the Gay rights movement to be a bit homophobic... certainly not terribly inclusive of the many and diverse sexualities that exist within the movement. I do however agree with her stance More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 29, 2007

Stephanie rated it:

I was a little disappointed by this book. I've read some of Baumgardner's previous writings. As someone who has read a lot of literature, popular to scholarly, on sex, gender, and sexuality, this book was a fluffier read than reviews had led me to believe. Marketing it as more of a memoir would have been a more accurate representation of the writing in the book. It works as a memoir; as a treatise on current bisexual politics, or a bisexual state of the union, not so much.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 20, 2008

Bad Penny rated it:

I don't know why I hated this book so much, but I did. It seemed like Baumgardner never made a succinct point; her writing was like someone talking just to hear themselves talk. In her endless yammering on about herself and her relationship with Amy Ray, she really did nothing for bisexual politics and her overuse of the phrase "look both ways" made her come across as a high-schooler trying to meet the word count requirement for an essay.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 29, 2008

Jennie rated it:

Contrary to the criticism raised in previous reviews, I actually enjoyed this book. It's definitely more of a sexual memoir than anything but I actually prefer my personal reading to be more personal and less pedantic. However, as an autobiography there are certain flaws within the narration. Baumgardner tends to describe sexual politics from a very binary perspective, even while she's arguing for a more inclusive, fluid definition of sexuality. While I related to some of her feelings, I felt sh More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Sarah rated it:

The main premise of the book is a great one - that bisexuality is inherently isolated from gay and straight, lacking in a sense of community/identity, and that one is always defined by the gender of your current partner. I like the premise, but was frustrated by the way she makes her argument. Ultimately it seemed that she believes what some feminists/lesbians argue, which is that being with women is inherently 'better', both in terms of intimacy, power balances, role negotiating, communicati More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 05, 2007

alicia rated it:

Not the most well-written book that I've ever read - in fact at many points throughout I found myself wondering: "what's her point." It could have been 100 pages shorter and better for it. Finally in the last several pages Baumgardner gets to the crux of her point (or at least she finally articulates it in a concise way) - clearly making the link with feminism. That is, that accepting who women choose to have relationships with is ultimately about embracing the notion that sexuality is More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 22, 2009

Ross rated it:

Meh.

I rated it two stars because it had some good anecdotes and some actually clever insights, but it was quickly obvious that all of them were wholly accidental.

Is it too much to ask for a single bisexual book out on the market that has:

a) An actual understanding of what sexuality is
b) No moralizing speeches on how much better bisexuality is than all queer identities
c) No speeches revealing deep heterosexual privilege and a seemingly reveling in t More...

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Jan 09, 2012

Sarah rated it:

I really wish I could give 2.5 stars, because I don't think this one deserves 3, but it isn't as bad as a plain 2.

I went into this one aware of a lot of the criticism, but still wanting to give it a shot, because I feel like there's a dearth of good books on bisexuality. (Also, I enjoyed Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future when I read it for a class in college.)

Unfortunately, this book has two huge problems. First (and worst) of all, as mentioned in many More...

5 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 15, 2008

sara rated it:

baumgarder touches on, but doesn't fully explore, what it means these days to consider your sexuality as fluid, or queer. i'm bothered by her constant binaries.

perhaps my problem is the idea of "bisexual", which feels so limiting.

this is a simple good start, probably best for younger readers. but there is too much more to be said here, too much terrain blocked out.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 06, 2010

Kellyann rated it:

I feel that this should be an important book, but we'll see. Baumgardner keeps coming back to the issue of bisexual identity, and related problems: are you bisexual only in theory, and either gay or straight depending on the sex of the person you're currently with? She makes a case for holding onto bisexuality as an identity as a way of being true to one's self and one's history, while also holding a political and cultural place different from gay/lesbian or straight, helping to illustrate the More...

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Dec 17, 2009

Twiggy rated it:

We read this for my bookgroup, no one liked it. Manifesta and Grassroots are both excellent books- which is why we were so surprised this one fell flat. The author is basically just rambling on here from personal experience, it wasnt very helpful to the conversation we were hoping to have about the book.

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Jan 04, 2009

kate rated it:

I'm about 1/3 in so far... but I'm confused about the so-far unquestioned assumption that a "bisexual" must be a woman. Unless I missed something, there hasn't been anything about choosing to focus only on bisexuality in women.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

May 09, 2007

Laura rated it:

Interesting... half memoir, half manifesta. A good read, but not as comprehensive or developed as it could be.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 15, 2009

Rosalía rated it:

The subheading tells all. Bisexual Politics told by a Bisexual author, using her sexual story and her awakening as a backdrop for the whole idea, makes this book unique and a page-turner.What do Coco Chanel,Billie Holiday, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Drew Barrymore have in common? That's right. They're attracted to men AND women. And until reading this book, I had no idea that the bigotry that exists with heterosexual men and lesbians is profound. The men are angry that they actually compete fo More...

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Jan 26, 2012

Real Supergirl rated it:

It's not a heady academic analysis of feminism and bisexuality, but I'm OK with that because I find those annoying. It's more of a personal memoir interspersed with thoughts about how the author has made meaning of her sex life.

I'm amusing and somewhat disturbed by some of the reviews of this book - I think they represent people's discomfort with bisexuality more than anything about the book itself. But I think that's why Baumgardner's voice is important - she challenges us to not More...

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Jul 15, 2009

Keely rated it:

There aren't a lot of books out there on the topic of bisexuality so I had pretty high hopes for this one.

The good:
It brought up a lot of interesting points which I hadn't considered. Baumgardner talks about bi women coming into hetero relationships with queer expectations and thus being able to obtain a more egalitarian relationship structure. She also makes an intriguing point about how greater recognition of bisexuality in society might have a positive impact on LGBT rights More...

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Aug 06, 2008

Jen rated it:

I enjoyed this book a lot, but mostly in a way that might be sort of self-indulgent. I've only ever seen one other book devoted solely to bisexuality. So this was a cool find for me because it is so rare to find any writing on that topic that goes beyond the "hot girl on girl action!" surface to substantial analysis. And substatial analysis is what Baumgardner dishes out, but I wish her scope was a bit broader. She interviewed a lot of veteran, 2nd wavers who've had relationships w More...

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Sep 10, 2007

Carrie rated it:

I liked Baumgardner's writing in Manifesta and Grassroots, so I was interested to see what she had written here - especially since I had never really taken the time to consider how being involved with both men and women would necessarily be different personally and politically than being either gay or straight. Important to think about since, I think, bi people tend to get labeled as one or the other depending on what relationship they are in. In the book, Baumgardner says "It's simply that More...

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Aug 11, 2011

David rated it:

While this piece is told from the perspective of primarily a woman's experience, I found it to be an enlightening novel that men can definitely learn from and find inspirational. At times, the personal narrative did not seem relevant; however, the examples from her experiences and those of other important or well-known figures build the foundation for the final two chapters that were meaningful and spoke what I consider to be important truths.

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Aug 18, 2010

Kelly rated it:

It's always good to see the B being represented, but this generalized yet extremely personal account frustrated me. Baumgardner makes a lot of sweeping statements about the experiences of women without managing to include almost anything about queeeeeeer culture. She also more or less dismisses trans folk altogether. Oh, and? Reveries about Ani DiFranco can only take us so far into understanding female sexuality.

1 comment like

Feb 27, 2010

Ocean rated it:

i agree with both the criticisms & the praises that other goodreads reviewers have said. not gonna rehash them here, but instead present you with my favorite quote from this book. on the appeal of butch women: "they're like the bad boy you always wanted, but in a girl who believes in recycling." i had to put down the book and laugh. that's so true!!!

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Aug 27, 2010

Lauren rated it:

There is not much point in writing another meh review on this book given all of the other critiques here. I'd just like to echo the refrains that a) we need more books on bisexuality, but b) Jennifer Baumgardner doesn't do much to help the cause, and c) her insistence on forcing the phrase "look book ways" onto every page is incredibly grating. Working for Ms. magazine and dating Amy Ray do not a bisexuality expert make.

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Mar 31, 2009

Vanessa rated it:

As much a primer on second-wave feminism as on bisexuality, I found this book completely fascinating. Full of personal anecdotes, research & interviews with well-known queer feminists, this book was extremely readable & thought-provoking.

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Sep 28, 2007

Jodi rated it:

Jennifer Baumgardner is a good writer. She weaves together narratives from interviews and other writings and connects them to her larger argument about bisexuality. Since Baumgardner was a writer for Ms. Magazine, the book reads like a who's who in the feminist movement. She interviews feminist theorists, musicians, and more. I have to admit her pop culture references left this TV-less woman googling (embarrassingly, I didn't know who Anne Heche is).

I read the book, because I t More...

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Feb 20, 2009

Emily rated it:

this book is ridiculous. it comes to us from one of the co-editors of Manifesta, which is what first caught my attention. she completely lost my interest when she casually mentions in a first chapter anecdote that she SEXUALLY HARASSED AN INTERN WHEN SHE WORKED FOR MS MAGAZINE! hello! she does not even acknowledge that "casually" making all your intern sstate their sexual reference over drinks counts! my attitude towards the rest of the book? ugh.

mostly this book was More...

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Apr 15, 2011

Julie rated it:

I wouldn't call this book groundbreaking, but it was good gossipy fun.

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