The Upper-Class Bisexual Top as Romantic Hero: (Pre)dominant in the Social Structure and in the Bedroom

Abstract

I discuss variations in the cultural understanding of male sexuality, particularly the form of dominant male bisexuality personified by the heroes of my two Regency novels. Looking at human sexuality from the anthropological and historical perspectives, I see a "vertical divide," in which sexuality is categorized by a person's preferred role, inserter or receiver ("top" or "bottom"), being replaced by a "horizontal divide," based on the gender of a person's partners (the modern idea of sexual orientation). With their wealth, social status and sexual dominance, my upper-class bisexual heroes more closely resemble traditional (heterosexual) romance heroes than members of a sexual minority (LGBT), and their emotional evolution differs from that of their old-school counterparts only in number, as their relationships with both male and female partners are equalized through love.

Keywords

• male bisexuality
• regency romance
• dominance
• submission
• human sexuality
• homosexuality
• social structure
• jane austen
• georgette heyer