Meg-John Barker

Meg-John Barker is a writer, writing mentor, creative consultant, speaker, and independent scholar. They have written a number of anti self-help books on the topics of relationships, sex, and gender, as well as the graphic non-fiction books, Queer: A Graphic History and Gender: A Graphic Guide, and the book The Psychology of Sex. They are the writer of the relationships book and blog Rewriting the Rules, and they have a podcast with sex educator Justin Hancock. Barker is a full-time writer, as well as being a writing mentor, creative consultant, speaker, and independent scholar. Barker holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Nottingham, and worked for two decades as an academic psychologist at the Open University in the United Kingdom, and as a psychotherapist specialising in sex, gender, and relationships. Barker has written and/or edited some of the first academic collections on open non-monogamy, bisexuality, non-binary gender and BDSM. They were editor of the journal Psychology & Sexuality from 2010 to 2017, and lead author of The Bisexuality Report and the BACP document on Gender, Sexual, and Relationship Diversity. Barker was born in Hull, England, on 23 June 1974, grew up in Bradford, and holds a PhD[5] in Psychology from the University of Nottingham. After teaching at a number of higher education institutions, Barker settled at the Open University in 2008, having also qualified with an MA in Psychotherapy from the University of Sheffield and trained at the major NHS sexual and relationship clinic at Guy's Hospital for several years. Barker's main area of expertise is human sexuality, gender and romantic relationships, with a focus on the experiences of people in sexual, gender and relationship communities located outside the mainstream – particularly polyamorous,[6] kink,[7] non-binary[8] and bisexual communities. Theoretically their work draws on social constructionism, existentialism and Buddhist philosophy. Barker, with co-author Darren Langdridge, has published two edited collections on sadomasochism[9] and on non-monogamy,[10] and a recent book for mental health professionals (co-authored with Christina Richards). Barker founded the journal of Psychology & Sexuality[11] together with Langdridge in 2010, and they co-edited it until 2017. Barker co-organized the Critical Sexology[12] series from 2006 to 2018, and BiReCon[13] (a biennial research conference which takes place prior to the annual BiCon event).