Bisexuality! Does it really exist?

Question

My friend had a discussion with a teacher who claimed that Bisexuals are just people who are still confused or just greedy or just undecided etc. I dont know what to think after a science magazine claimed to have proven the unexistance of bisexuality- what do you think?

Answer 1

I think WaterGoddess has pretty much said it all.

Case in point, I'm 38 years old, in my late teens I identified as gay, having previously been in a straight relationship. I came to realise that I wasn't gay, so determined I must be straight but then later realised that I missed the intimate company of men.

This went on for several years. It was only after a rather busy (but enjoyable) period at university, that I finally understood I didn't have to pick between straight or gay, only. I "changed" (I didn't really change, I always was) from "monosexual" to bisexual. My bisexuality was not a transitory phase between straight and gay.

The confusion disappeared, I was no longer undecided and, because I am comfortable with who I am (and I'm that bit older) I am certainly not greedy :)

I am a bisexual male. I don't know which science magazine or what the article says (that it proves bisexuality doesn't exist) but I and others who have posted are clearly the exceptions that prove the rule.

You'll have had the the link to Dr Robert Epstein's Sexual Orientation test...it is an oversimplification as an actual test, but it does offer a simple model.

Answer 2

I would guess that a solid 80% of people are bisexual to one degree or another, with 10% purely straight, and 10% purely gay.

Obviously, far fewer people actually ACT on their bisexual inclinations... and those that will TALK about one's bisexual inclinations or actions is an even smaller segment of the population.

Want to find out where you fall on the spectrum? Dr. Robert Epstein's (Harvard, editor-chief Psychology Today) theory is that people are not necessarily fully straight or fully gay, that they could be somewhere between. His test (ESOI) is online. You can take to determine where are you on this spectrum at:
http://drrobertepstein.com/esoi/...

I don't know how much faith to put in this particular test, because I think it is too simple and short. But I DO believe wholeheartedly that there is a sexual continuum, and most people simply will not talk about it.

Gray areas are very hard for a lot of people to deal with. Black and white, good and evil, straight and gay, are much more manageable for most people... even though all of them are oversimplifications of reality.

By the way, I am quite sure I'm lesbian, but on the test, got these results:
Your Mean Sexual Orientation is 9
Your Sexual Orientation Range is 6

Answer 3

Bisexuality really does exist - you only have to read the bisexual testimonies on this site to understand that.

It is a popular misconception amongst monosexuals that bisexuals are confused, in denial, transition, infected with STDs, pathological and/or greedy. This is because those particular monosexuals can only understand sexuality through their own eyes, and also because bisexuals are invisible in mainstream society.

There was indeed an experiment which concluded that "male bisexuality doesn't exist". A group of self-identified homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual males and females were hooked up to a machine which measures erotic response. They were shown male and female pornography. Nearly all the bisexual guys responded exclusively to one or the other. The weaknesses with this experiment were:

1. It assumed that the porn stimulus itself was attractive to everyone.
2. It only defined sexuality in terms of sexual attraction to the characters on the video. Attraction consists of sexual and romantic attraction.
3. It only took part once - some bisexuals fluctuate between genders over a period of time.

I'm a bisexual myself. I've been attracted to both male and female porn. Sometimes, I could go into a gay bar and see a porn video involving multiple men, and find it repulsive - not because I disapprove of it, but because I personally don't find the characters in the video attractive. I could then go and see a straight porn video and find the particular females attractive. Does this mean I'm straight? Next day, it could be the other way round (a different straight porn video consisting of unattractive females, and a different gay porn video consisting of attractive guys). I'm not a porn addict, nor do I see much in the way of porn. The scenario described above represents how I would respond to different types of porn if I were exposed to it on multiple days.

Answer 4

Very narrow minded teacher who should really know better than to spout such opinions to such malleable minds from such an influential position. surely bisexuality was proven before science got its mucky little paws on it, by definition and blatant acts of bisexuality. i think one of the reasons people give bisexuals a hard time is because they can't understrand why they have 'gay relations' when they can be straight, so they have to put them down. its like saying someone is greedy because they choose to be with both brunettes and blondes, or people from various cultures or of various skin colours. gender may not be a determining factor or only a small part of the attraction, personality or some other trait may overide gender and in this society people think it should be the main determining factor, so in order to understand they are put down and slagged off as indecisive.

Answer 5

Of course it does. I think that human beings are all beautiful...you dont choose to be this way, and I am not greedy. Ermm, in general i prefer to be with women. I enjoy the companionship and the...well use your imagination. however, occasionally after a hard, stressful day at work/uni I need a man to really help me distress some tension...
I must add that it is not just about the sex, I have had non sexual long term relationships with men and women alike- i think it is just something which makes me happy.

Answer 6

Every bisexual person i have met where mostly gay in their lives. I think that somehow they cannot accept the fact that they are gay. I agree with that teacher of your friend. But i am not sure of anything and i think that your question which is my question too, will never have an answer. I am lesbian and i just dont make out with bisexuals but they are people and they can do anything they like as long as they dont hurt someone.

Answer 7

Bisexuality does exist. I myself am one, and it's not being greedy or confused. I just find women as attractive as men, and it has nothing to do with looks, it's the personality no matter what the sex. That's what annoys me about science, they find something they can't explain rationally and have to pick away at it until they're either proved wrong or they can "claim" to prove something doesn't exist.

Answer 8

If I don't exist, someone needs to tell me. After all, I've had great sexually fufillinglong term serious relationships with both men and women. I enjoy fantasizing about men and women. I feel very secure in saying that I'm a 50-50 bisexual.

And honestly, I resent the idea that someone at a magazine who has never met me is going to tell me that I'm really 1) too stupid to know myself or 2) I don't exist. It's silly, unreal, and really strange.

Answer 9

Technically ALL humans have bisexual feelings. Normally humans feel sexual feelings and act upon them whether gay or heterosexual. However where a normal sexual background or system is not possible then a human often resorts to other sexual practices. In Brokeback Mountain, the two cowboys are unable to access normal relationships with women and so they resort to homosexuaity to repel the urges that nearly all humans feel.
This behavior has been noted in swans and also penguins, where two of the same sex huddle and even build a nest together and share food.

Answer 10

Yes, I'm sure it does. I don't understand it though, just like straight people don't understand homosexuality and some homosexuals don't understand bisexuality or heterosexuality. I've only known homosexuality, so it's hard for me to understand anything different. I don't know what it would feel like to be attracted to a woman on that level. I don't judge though, to each his own. I don't think they are greedy. I'm sure most of them are attracted to both sexes the same way I'm attracted to the same sex and the same way a heterosexual is attracted to the opposite sex. Sure, some of them may be confused, but I think most of them are legitimately that way. Who am I to pass judgement? There is too much hate in this world to be hating people for who they choose to love.