Dr Elizabeth Reed (University of Southampton) is a cultural sociologist doing exciting research on bi-erasure, media representation and queer life-building. In this episode, Lizzie explains why bi relationships can be so difficult to describe, where we might need new language and where we might not, what and who queer families identify with and (most importantly) what soup dragons have to do with all of this. If that gets you curious, or if you’ve ever defined your identity using a wine metaphor, this one is for you.

Texts, Series and People mentioned:
Modern Family
The Fosters
Mae Martin’s Feel Good
Lewis, S. (2018). International Solidarity in reproductive justice: surrogacy and gender-inclusive polymaternalism. Gender, Place & Culture, 25(2), 207-227.
The Clangers
Becky Chambers’s Wayfarers Series
Schitt’s Creek
Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples’s graphic novel series Saga

Work by Lizzie mentioned:
Reed, E. (2020). Lesbian, bisexual and queer motherhood: crafting radical narratives and representing social change through cultural representations. In Imagining Motherhood in the Twenty-First Century Routledge.
Reed, E. (2018). The heterogeneity of family: responses to representational invisibility by LGBTQ parents. Journal of Family Issues, 39(18), 4204-4225. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X18810952
Hayfield, N., Campbell, C., & Reed, E. (2018). Misrecognition and managing marginalisation: Bisexual people’s experiences of bisexuality and relationships. Psychology & Sexuality, 9(3), 221-236.
Wood, R., Litherland, B., & Reed, E. (2020). Girls being Rey: ethical cultural consumption, families and popular feminism. Cultural Studies, 34(4), 546-566.

You want to build a queerer life? Start by following Lizzie (@ReedLizzie) and me (@Lena_Mattheis) on Twitter.

Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:

1. Which terms does Lizzie mention in addition to biphobia? How are they distinct?
2. What is queer methodology?
3. How does Lizzie study queer families and media representation?
4. In what form does Lizzie study Rey Skywalker and girlhood?
5. Why does Lizzie think queer families relate to cultural texts are not explicitly queer?