Psychologically and physically, there are certain characteristics, male or female, and anatomical parts, which will arouse desire and love in a person. To most people, only the characteristics of one gender will elicit this response. And to some, it might seem that the brain can only be attuned to one gender, in that it is 'wired' that way. But not always... it is not entirely understood why a person of a certain gender would have feelings for the same sex, much less for people to claim that a person cannot be bisexual.
It is a documented fact that men are more likely to fall into either category, straight or gay, rather than bisexual [statistically]. There was even a study done on this. While I personally doubt the accuracy of that study, due to a limited sample size, I also feel it rushes towards a hasty conclusion: that there are only three categories, straight, bi and gay. And that if a person happens to prefer one sex over the other, even slightly, he immediately has to be boxed into gay or straight rather than bisexual, and that he is 'delusional'. The Kinsey scale is proof that this soup-can labelling is not entirely accurate.
For women, however, the straight-gay-bi boundaries are a lot more fluid, and they are true representatives of the Kinsey scale. However, very tentative conclusions can be drawn about women, because of the dearth of research into female sexuality. The only data on women are surveys on female sexual practices, such as this.
While studies indicate most people are innately bisexual, to whatever extent, many never act on it, or even realise it. Identifying as bisexual is essentially identifying as gay, and most people would rather live a purely heterosexual life than bear the stigma of that. Hence, the number of people who call themselves bisexual is far less than the true number... leading to the bisexual community being an minority in the gay community.
In essence, bisexuality is valid a sexual orientation as heterosexuality or homosexuality – and as essential a part of the gay community.
In the next column, Pleinelune shall discuss the problems bisexuals face.
References:
http://www.bidstrup.com/sodomy.htm
Comments
jade said,
April 10, 2006 at 2:39 pm
i believe that everyone is inherently bisexual. It’s not an orientation per se, as are homo- and heterosexuality. It’s just innate, just that some prefer the left or right more than the other.
Mier said,
April 10, 2006 at 9:26 pm
Some people can never imagine themselves on the other side. Thus, i believe that some people occupy extreme ends of the spectrum as well.
jade said,
April 10, 2006 at 9:41 pm
some cannot imagine, but i have friends who swore they were straight like nobody’s business but fell in love with the same gender eventually. and others who swear they are gay but fall for the opposite gender. everything’s fluid.
Mier said,
April 10, 2006 at 10:03 pm
There are always exceptions in every case.
Other factors come into play as well… like religious bent… =)
Sayoni Speak » Bisexuality - The Pandora’s Box said,
April 16, 2006 at 5:52 pm
[...] Last week, Pleinelune discussed the scientific position on bisexuality. Today, she shall exposit on the troubles bisexuals face. [...]
Tony said,
June 10, 2006 at 11:42 am
Good discussion.
Kinsey also recognized and addressed the fluid nature of the scale over time. That is, there is flexibility in the WHEN as well as the WHERE on his scale.
More broadly, he realized that many aspects of nature fell along a continuum. If only more people were as wise …
Continue this discussion on your chest if you’d like:
WhoDoYouDo?
Sam said,
April 16, 2009 at 12:20 am
Very informative discussion. I agree with Jade’s comments, I too believe that everyone is inherently bisexual, to some extend atleast.
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