Bisexuality

Bisexuality is a sexual orientation which refers to the aesthetic, romantic, and/or sexual attraction of individuals to other individuals of both their own and the opposite gender or sex. Most bisexuals are not equally attracted to men and women, and may even shift between states of finding either sex exclusively attractive over the course of time. However, some bisexuals are and remain fairly static in their level of attraction throughout their adult life.

In the mid-1950s, Alfred Kinsey devised the Kinsey scale in an attempt to measure sexual orientation. The 7 point scale has a rating of 0 ("exclusively heterosexual") to 6 ("exclusively homosexual"). Bisexuals cover most of the scales' values (1–5) which ranges between "predominantly heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual" (1) to "predominantly homosexual, only incidentally heterosexual" (5). In the middle of the scale (3) is "equally heterosexual and homosexual".

Although observed in a variety of forms in human societies and in the animal kingdom throughout recorded history, the term "bisexuality" (like the terms "hetero-" and "homosexuality") was only coined in the 19th century.

Description

Template:Sexual orientation Bisexual people are not necessarily attracted equally to both genders. Because bisexuality is often an ambiguous position between homosexuality and heterosexuality, those who identify, or are identified, as bisexuals form a heterogenous group.

Some believe that bisexuality is a distinct sexual orientation on a par with heterosexuality or homosexuality, with a clear attraction to both men and women required.

Others view bisexuality as more ambiguous. Some people who might be classified by others as bisexual on the basis of their sexual behavior self-identify primarily as homosexual. Equally, otherwise heterosexual people who engage in occasional homosexual behaviour could be considered bisexual, but may not identify as such. For some who believe that sexuality is a distinctly defined aspect of the character, this ambiguity is problematic. It is sometimes argued that the behaviour of bisexuals may be explained by a subconscious homophobia or peer pressure.^{[citation needed]} On the other hand, some believe that the majority of people contain aspects of homosexuality and heterosexuality, but that the intensities of these can vary from person to person.^{[citation needed]} Some people who engage in bisexual behavior may be supportive of lesbian and gay people, but still self-identify as straight; others may consider any labels irrelevant to their positions and situations.

Some bisexuals make a distinction between gender and sex. Gender is defined in these situations as social or psychological category, characterised by the common practices of men and women. For example, the fact that women wear dresses in Western Society whilst men traditionally do not is a gender issue. Sex in this case is defined as the biological difference between males and females, prior to any social conditioning. Bisexuals in this sense may be attracted to more than one gender but only to one sex. For example, a male bisexual may be attracted to aspects of men and masculinity, but not to the male body. Such a person's attractions may manifest themselves through sexual activities other than anal sex with other males.

Bisexuality is often misunderstood as a form of adultery or polyamory, and a popular misconception is that bisexuals must always be in relationships with men and women simultaneously. Rather, individuals attracted to both males and females, like people of any other orientation, may live a variety of sexual lifestyles. These include: lifelong monogamy, serial monogamy, polyamory, polyfidelity, casual sexual activity with individual partners, casual group sex, and celibacy. For those with more than one sexual partner, these may or may not all be of the same gender.

Terminology

The term bisexual was first used in the 19th century to refer to hermaphrodites. By 1914 it had begun to be used in the context of sexual orientation. Some bisexuals and sex researchers are dissatisfied with the term, and have developed a variety of alternative or supplementary terms to describe aspects and forms of bisexuality. Many are neologisms not widely recognized by the larger society.

• Pansexual, omnisexual, anthrosexual, and pomosexual (postmodern sexuality) are substitute terms that rather than referring to both or "bi" gender attraction, refer to all or "omni" gender attraction, and are used mainly by those who wish to express acceptance of all gender possibilities including transgender and intersex people, not just two. Pansexuality sometimes includes an attraction for less mainstream sexual activities, such as BDSM. Some people who might otherwise identify as pansexual or omnisexual choose to self-identify as bisexual because the term bisexual is more widely known, and because they see it as an important term in identity politics.

• Bi-permissive describes someone who does not actively seek out sexual relations with a given gender, but is open to them. Such a person may self-identify as heterosexual or homosexual, and engage predominantly in sexual acts with individuals of the corresponding gender, and might be rated 1 or 5 on Kinsey's scale. Near-synonyms include heteroflexible and homoflexible.

• Ambisexual indicates a primarily indiscriminate attraction to either sex. A person who self-identifies as ambisexual might be attracted with equal intensity on physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual levels to partner(s) regardless of sex or gender presentation, while upholding selectivity standards in other areas. Some might experience equally intense attractions that could be triggered by sex- or gender-specific traits in the given partner or partners. A person with this orientation might fall in the 3 category on Kinsey's scale, as would some who subscribe to the 2 or 4 rating (although some individuals in these latter categories consider themselves Bi-permissive).

• Bi-curious, has several distinct and sometimes contradictory meanings. It is commonly found in personal ads from those who identify as heterosexual but are interested in homosexual "experimentation". Such people are commonly suspected - not necessarily correctly - of being homosexuals or bisexuals in denial of their homosexuality. It can also be used to describe someone as being passively-bi, bi-permissive or open to indirect bisexual contact.

• Trisexual (sometimes trysexual) is either an extension of, or a pun on bisexual. In its more serious usage, it indicates an interest in transgender persons in addition to cissexual men and women. In its more humorous usage, it refers to someone who will try any sexual experience.

• Biphobia describes a fear or condemnation of bisexuality, usually based in a belief that only heterosexuality and homosexuality are genuine orientations and appropriate lifestyles. Bisexual persons may also be the target of homophobia from those who consider only heterosexuality appropriate. The reverse can also apply in that bisexual persons may be targets of heterophobia or discrimination by some gays/homosexuals.

• Passively-bi, aka open-minded is a non-gender specific term that describes a straight or bi-curious person who is open to incidental or direct contact (typically in a Group sex scenario) from a member of the same sex, usually without reciprocation.

• Actively-bi is a non-gender specific term that describes a bi-curious/bisexual person who initiates direct contact with a member of the same sex.

Modern Western prevalence of bisexuality

A 2002 survey in the United States by National Center for Health Statistics found that 1.8 percent of men ages 18–44 considered themselves bisexual, 2.3 percent homosexual, and 3.9 percent as "something else". The same study found that 2.8 percent of women ages 18–44 considered themselves bisexual, 1.3 percent homosexual, and 3.8 percent as "something else".

The Janus Report on Sexual Behavior, published in 1993, showed that 5 percent of men and 3 percent of women consider themselves bisexual and 4 percent of men and 2 percent of women considered themselves homosexual.

Sigmund Freud theorized that every person has the ability to become bisexual at some time in his or her life. He based this on the idea that enjoyable experiences of sexuality with the same gender, whether sought or unsought, acting on it or being fantasized, in social upbringing becomes an attachment to his or her needs and desires.

Some studies, notably Alfred Kinsey's Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953), have indicated that the majority of people appear to be at least somewhat bisexual. The studies report that most people have some attraction to either sex, although usually one sex is preferred. According to some (falsely attributed to Kinsey), only about 5–10 percent of the population can be considered to be fully heterosexual or homosexual.^{[citation needed]} On the other hand, an even smaller minority has no distinct preference for one gender or the other.

Despite common misconceptions, bisexuality does not require that a person is attracted equally to both sexes. In fact, people who have a distinct but not exclusive preference for one sex over the other can and often do identify as bisexual. Some recent studies, including one by controversial researcher J. Michael Bailey which attracted media attention in 2005, purported to find that bisexuality is extremely rare in men, but such studies have typically worked from the assumption that a person is only truly bisexual if he or she exhibits virtually equal arousal responses to both opposite-sex and same-sex stimuli, and have consequently dismissed the self-identification of people whose arousal patterns showed even a mild preference for one sex. Bailey, in fact, found that approximately one-third of the men he studied, a percentage that remained consistent across all three orientation groups, were not aroused by any of the sexual stimuli that he presented, a finding which he dismissed as irrelevant to his conclusions.

Bisexuality in history

Japanese sex worker entertains male client while enjoying the favors of a serving girl

In some cultures, historical and literary records from most literate societies indicate that male bisexuality was common and indeed expected.^{[citation needed]} These relationships were generally age-structured (as in the practice of pederasty in the Mediterranean Basin of antiquity^{[citation needed]}, or the practice of shudo in pre-modern Japan)^{[citation needed]} or gender-structured (as in the Two-Spirit North American tradition or the Central Asian bacchá practices).^{[citation needed]} Male heterosexuality and homosexuality, while also documented, appear mostly as exceptions, unless we are examining cultures influenced by the Abrahamic religions, where heterosexuality was privileged, and bisexuality and homosexuality forcefully suppressed.^{[citation needed]} In fact, most of the commonly cited examples of male "homosexuality" in previous cultures would more properly be categorized as bisexuality.^{[citation needed]} Determining the history of female bisexuality is more problematic, in that women in most of the studied societies were under the domination of the males, and on one hand had less self-determination and freedom of movement and expression, and on the other were not the ones writing or keeping the literary record;^{[citation needed]} however, Sappho is a notable example.

The bisexual Roman emperor Hadrian met Antinous, a 13 or 14 years old boy from Bithynia in 124 C.E. and they began their pederastic relationship. Antinous was deified by Hadrian, when he died six years later. Many statues, busts, coins and reliefs display Hadrian's deep affections for him.]]Ancient Rome, Arab countries up to and including the present, China, and Japan, all exhibit patterns of analogous bisexual behavior.^{[citation needed]} In Japan in particular, due to its practice of shudo and the extensive art and literature associated with it, the record of a primarily bisexual lifestyle is both detailed and quite recent, dating back as recently as the 19th century.^{[citation needed]} Bisexual behavior was also common among Roman and Chinese emperors, the shoguns of Japan, and others.^{[citation needed]}

Nevertheless, it should be noted that the terms heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual, and the concept of "sexual orientation" itself are all modern sociological constructs, and may not be appropriate in historical contexts, in which behavior might be considered homosexual, but people were not labeled using such terms.^{[citation needed]}

Ancient Greece

File:Homosexual scene - 420 B.C.E., Dinos painter - Capua - GR 1772.3-20.154 F65 - British Museum.jpg

Two athletes about to have sex, while a man watches; Apulian red-figure vase by the Dinos painter, 420B.C.E.

Main Article Homosexuality in ancient Greece

Ancient Greek religious texts, reflecting cultural practices, incorporated bisexual themes. The subtexts varied, from the mystical to the didactic.

Ancestral law in ancient Sparta mandated same-sex relationships with youths who were coming of age for all adult men, so long as the men eventually took wives and produced children.^{[citation needed]} The Spartans thought that love and erotic relationships between experienced and novice soldiers would solidify combat loyalty and encourage heroic tactics as men vied to impress their lovers. Once the younger soldiers reached maturity, the relationship was supposed to become non-sexual, but it is not clear how strictly this was followed. There was some stigma attached to young men who continued their relationships with their mentors into adulthood. For example, Aristophanes calls them euryprôktoi, meaning "wide arses", and depicts them like women.

In Ancient Greece it is believed that males generally went through a homosexual stage in adolescence, followed by a bisexual stage characterized by pederastic relationships in young adulthood, followed by a (mostly) heterosexual stage later in life, when they married and had children.^{[citation needed]} Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king, is thought to have been bisexual, and to have had a male lover named Hephaestion.

Social status of bisexuality

Historically, bisexuality has largely been free of the social stigma associated with homosexuality, prevalent even where bisexuality was the norm.^{[citation needed]} In Ancient Greece pederasty was not problematic as long as the men involved eventually married and had children. In many world cultures, homosexual affairs have been quietly accepted among upper-class men of good social standing (particularly if married)^{[citation needed]}, and heterosexual marriage has often been used successfully as a defense against accusations of homosexuality.^{[citation needed]} On the other hand, there are bisexuals who marry or live with a heterosexual partner because they prefer the complementarity of different genders in cohabiting and co-parenting, but have felt greatly enriched by homosexual relationships alongside the marriage in both monogamous and "open" relationships.

Some in the gay and lesbian communities accuse those who self-identify as bisexual of duplicity, believing they are really homosexuals who engage in heterosexual activity merely to remain socially acceptable. They may be accused of "not doing their part" in gaining acceptance of "true" homosexuality. Some gay and lesbian people may also suspect that a self-described bisexual is merely a homosexual in the initial stage of questioning their presumed heterosexuality, and will eventually accept that they are lesbian or gay; this is expressed by a glib saying in gay culture: "Bi now, gay later." These situations can and do take place, but do not appear to be true of the majority of self-described bisexuals. Nonetheless, bisexuals do sometimes experience lesser acceptance from gay and lesbian people, because of their declared orientation. Bisexual experimentation is also common in adolescents of every sexual orientation.^{[citation needed]}

Bisexuals are often associated with men who engage in same-sex activity while closeted or heterosexually married. The majority of such men - said to be living on the down-low - do not self-identify as bisexual.

Because some bisexual people do not feel that they fit into either the gay and lesbian or the heterosexual world, and because they have a tendency to be "invisible" in public, some bisexual persons are committed to forming their own communities, culture, and political movements. However, since "Bisexual orientation can fall anywhere between the two extremes of homosexuality and heterosexuality," some who identify as bisexual may merge themselves into either homosexual or heterosexual society. Still other bisexual people see this merging as enforced rather than voluntary; bisexual people can face exclusion from both gay and straight society on coming out. Psychologist Beth Firestein states that bisexuals also tend to internalize social tensions related to their choice of partners. Firestein suggests bisexuals may feel pressured to label themselves as either gays or lesbians instead of occupying a difficult middle ground in a culture that has it that if bisexuals are attracted to people of both sexes, they must have more than one partner, thus defying society's value on monogamy. These social tensions and pressure may and do affect bisexuals' mental health. Specific therapy methods have been developed for bisexuals to address this concern.

Relatively few supportive bisexual communities exist, therefore there is not as much support from people who have gone through similar experiences. This effectively can make it more difficult for bisexuals to "come out" as such.^{[citation needed]}

Bisexual symbols

Main article: LGBT symbols

File:Bi flag.svg

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A common symbol of bisexual identity is the bisexual pride flag, which has a deep pink stripe at the top for homosexuality, a blue one on the bottom for heterosexuality, and a purple one (blended from the pink and blue) in the middle to represent bisexuality.

The overlapping triangles

Another symbol of bisexual identity that uses the color scheme of the bisexual pride flag is a pair of overlapping pink and blue triangles (the pink triangle being a well-known symbol for the gay community), forming purple where they intersect.

Bisexual moon symbol

Many gay and bisexual individuals have a problem with the use of the pink triangle symbol as it was the symbol that Hitler's regime used to tag homosexuals (similar to the yellow Star of David that is constituted of two opposed, overlapping triangles). Because pink triangles were used in the prosecution of homosexuals in the Nazi regime, a double moon symbol was devised specifically to avoid the use of triangles. This bisexual symbol is a double moon that is formed when the sex specific attributes of the astrological symbol of Mars & Venus (representing heterosexual union) is reduced to the two circles open on both ends. Thus symbolizing that bisexuals are open to either sex unions.^{[citation needed]} The color of the bisexual double moon symbol varies. The symbol is most often displayed with rainbow colors^{[citation needed]} signifying that bisexuals belong to the gay community.^{[citation needed]} It also may appear with the pink-purple-blue colors of the bisexual pride flag.^{[citation needed]} The double moon symbol is common in Germany and surrounding countries.

Bisexuality in animals

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Many non-human animal species also exhibit bisexual behavior. This is, of course, common in hermaphroditic animals, but is also known in many other species. Examples of mammals include the bonobo (or pygmy chimpanzee), orca, and bottlenose dolphin. Examples of avians include some species of gulls and Humboldt penguins. Other examples occur amongst fish, flatworms, and crustaceans.

Bisexuality in culture

Main article List of media portrayals of bisexuality

Comparatively positive and notable portrayals of bisexuality can be found throughout mainstream media.

In movies such as: The Pillow Book; Goldfish Memory; The Rocky Horror Picture Show; Henry and June; Chasing Amy; and Brokeback Mountain.

In popular music, many of the songs of The Smiths are commonly cited as classic examples. In the songs and stage presentation of Suzie Quatro and Joan Jett there have been additional examples.

In notable graphic novels, Love & Rockets subtly portrays bisexuality. Krazy Kat is an early comic-strip character whose loves are not limited by gender.

Notable novels containing significant bisexual characters are:

• Sean David Wright's Two for One—a novel about having choices
• Anne Rice's Cry to Heaven
• Rosamond Lehmann's Dusty Answer
• Mary Renault's The Last of the Wine and The Persian Boy
• Colette's Claudine novels
• Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections
• David Leavitt's The Lost Language of Cranes and While England Sleeps
• Jeanette Winterson's The Passion
• Calum Brodie's Milk and Cookies
• Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time
• Alice Walker's The Color Purple
• Jane Rule's Young in One Another's Arms
• Gregory Maguire's Wicked and its sequel, Son of a Witch
• Sylvia Brownrigg's The Metaphysical Touch
• Robert Sawyer's Neanderthal Parallax
• Michael Chabon's The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
• Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed
• Marc Acito's How I Paid For College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship, and Musical Theatre
• Alan Moore's Lost Girls

Non-fiction scholarship, such as Marjorie Garber's Vice Versa: Bisexuality and the Eroticism of Everyday Life (1995), Camille Paglia's Sexual Personae (1990) and Louis Crompton's Byron and Greek Love (1985), has uncovered previously hidden histories of bisexuality.

On the TV sitcom Will & Grace, the character of Karen Walker appears to be bisexual and—although married to a man—often kisses Grace and seems to have had many female lovers throughout her life. The character Jack Harkness of Doctor Who and Torchwood is often described as "omnisexual" by his fans. Torchwood also features bisexual characters Toshiko Sato and Ianto Jones. Rebecca Romijn portrayed a bisexual con artist in the film Femme Fatale.

In the sci-fi television series Babylon 5, characters including Susan Ivanova and Talia Winters are portrayed as bisexual, or omnisexual. There seems to be a general feeling in the show that it is accepted and common for people to follow their hearts wherever that may take them, ignoring gender. Other examples include the characters Marcus Cole and Stephen Franklin posing as a married couple, and series creator J. Michael Straczynski indicating that the station commander John Sheridan would have been propositioned by the male Lumati ambassador if Susan Ivanova had not been handling those negotiations.

In the Broadway play turned movie, RENT, Idina Menzel plays Maureen Johnson, a character who has a relationship with both Mark Cohen (Anthony Rapp, who is openly bisexual in real life) and Joanne Jefferson (Tracie Thoms/Freddie Walker).

There are also negative media portrayals - references sometimes made to stereotypes or mental disorders. The television show Friends sported a short song about the topic that expresses a common prejudice on the subject:

Sometimes men love women,

Sometimes men love men,

Then there are bisexuals

Though some just say they're kidding themselves

On the HBO drama Oz, Christopher Meloni played Chris Keller, a bisexual sociopath who tortured, raped, and had numerous sexual encounters with various men and women whom he met. Desperate Housewives features Andrew Van De Kamp, Skins features Tony Stonem, both similarly bisexual sociopaths.

A Saturday Night Live joke ran thus:

"A bisexual is a person who reaches down the front of somebody's pants and is satisfied with whatever they find." — Dana Carvey as the church lady, Saturday Night Live.

Movies in which the bisexual characters conceal murderous neuroses include Basic Instinct, Black Widow, Blue Velvet, Cruising, and Girl Interrupted.

In one of his comedy routines, George Carlin admits to thinking about what a curse bisexuality must be: "Could you imagine wanting to fuck everybody you meet? Think of all the phone numbers you'd accumulate! You might as well just walk around with the White Pages under your arms."

In the television program, "Bottom", Richie is shown consistently throughout the series to be trying to get a girlfriend but to either be secretly attracted to men or accidentally finding more luck with men. He maintains a facade of heterosexuality throughout this, although in the stage adaptations he is shown to be far more attracted to men but still also to women.

See also

Bisexuality Portal

• Homophobia
• Biphobia
• Bisexual erasure
• List of bisexual people
• List of gay, lesbian or bisexual people
• List of LGBT-related organizations
• Media portrayal of bisexuality
• Bisexual chic
• Pansexuality
• Bisexual pornographic movie
• Societal attitudes towards homosexuality
• Journal of Bisexuality

Further reading

General

• Garrett Jones. Coming Clean about Bisexuality, 2000. Free download
• Louis Crompton. Homosexuality and Civilization, Cambridge, Mass. and London, 2003. ISBN 0-674-01197-X
• Michel Larivière. Homosexuels et bisexuels célèbres, Delétraz Editions, 1997. ISBN 2-911110-19-6
• Sigmund Freud. Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex. ISBN 0486416038

Ancient Greece

• Kenneth J. Dover. Greek Homosexuality, New York; Vintage Books, 1978. ISBN 0-394-74224-9
• Thomas K. Hubbard. Homosexuality in Greece and Rome, U. of California Press, 2003. ISBN 0-520-23430-8
• Herald Patzer. Die Griechische Knabenliebe [Greek Pederasty], Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1982. In: Sitzungsberichte der Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft an der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Vol. 19 No. 1.
• W. A. Percy III. Pederasty and Pedagogy in Archaic Greece, University of Illinois Press, 1996. ISBN 0-252-02209-2

By country

• Stephen O. Murray and Will Roscoe, et al. Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature, New York: New York University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8147-7468-7
• J. Wright & Everett Rowson. Homoeroticism in Classical Arabic Literature. 1998. ISBN 023110507X (pbbk)/ ISBN 0231105061 (hdbk)
• Gary Leupp. Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1995. ISBN 0-520-20900-1
• Tsuneo Watanabe & Jun'ichi Iwata. The Love of the Samurai. A Thousand Years of Japanese Homosexuality, London: GMP Publishers, 1987. ISBN 0-85449-115-5

Modern Western

• Bi Any Other Name : Bisexual People Speak Out by Loraine Hutchins, Editor & Lani Ka'ahumanu, Editor ISBN 1-55583-174-5
• Getting Bi : Voices of Bisexuals Around the World by Robyn Ochs, Editor & Sarah Rowley, Editor ISBN 0-9653881-4-X
• The Bisexual Option by Fritz Klein, MD ISBN 1-56023-033-9
• Bi Men : Coming Out Every Which Way by Ron Suresha and Pete Chvany, Editors ISBN 978-1-56023-615-9
• Bi America : Myths, Truths, And Struggles Of An Invisible Community by William E. Burleson ISBN 978-1-56023-478-4
• Bisexuality in the United States : A Social Science Reader by Paula C. Rodriguez Rust, Editor ISBN 0-231-10226-7
• Bisexuality : The Psychology and Politics of an Invisible Minority by Beth A. Firestein, Editor ISBN 0-8039-7274-1
• Current Research on Bisexuality by Ronald C. Fox PhD, Editor ISBN 978-1-56023-288-5
• Exploring Biphobia. (144 KB PDF). Report on the problems caused by stereotyping of bisexuals.

Film

• Bryant, Wayne M.. Bisexual Characters in Film: From Anais to Zee. Haworth Gay & Lesbian Studies, 1997. ISBN 1-56023-894-1

External links

• The British Columbia Bisexual Network - Vancouver BC, Canada
• Bisexual Resource Center (USA)
• Bi Tribune Magazine (USA)
• Bisexual Women's Forums and Resources (USA)
• Bisexuality on SexInfo101.com

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