Bisexuality

Bisexuality is about being sexually or romantically attracted to people of both sexes but is not necessarily about active bisexual behaviour. It is ultimately a matter of how you see yourself.

Bisexuality is about being sexually or romantically attracted to people of both sexes and includes sexual identification (how we see ourselves), sexual drives (what we want to do) and sexual behaviour (what we do). People who are bisexual may be attracted to people of both sexes or may define themselves as bisexual but may not necessarily be actively involved in bisexual behaviour.

What Kinsey Found

Kinsey researched sexuality and developed a Heterosexual - Homosexual scale to help evaluate and understand sexual preference. This scale used a person's experiences and reactions and applied them to a scale as follows:

Group Sexual Experience or Attraction
0 Exclusively heterosexual
1 Predominantly heterosexual (incidental homosexual experiences or attraction)
2 Predominantly heterosexual (but with some homosexual experiences or attraction)
3 Equal homosexual and heterosexual experiences or attraction
4 Predominantly homosexual (but with some heterosexual experiences or attraction)
5 Predominantly homosexual (incidental heterosexual experiences or attraction)
6 Exclusively homosexual

Kinsey's studies revealed that most people fall into the bisexual categories 1 to 5 with only minority in the exclusively heterosexual or homosexual groups 0 or 6.

More Recent Studies

More recently Fritz Klein found that there are many more things to think about in considering bisexuality such as the following:

Past History What was happening up to one year ago
Present History What was happening in the last year
Future History What is wanted in future
Sexual Attraction Who are the specific people we are sexually attracted to
Sexual Behaviour What are the specific sexual behaviors
Sexual Fantasies What sexual experience or attraction is fantasized about
Emotional Preferences Who we associate with love or monogamous relationships
Social Preferences The gender of people associated with
Lifestyle Preferences The sexual orientation of people associated with
Sexual Identity How we see our own sexual orientation

Klein found that sexual drive, orientation and behaviour can vary over time. He also found that the sexual experiences of older people may be more varied than those of younger people.

A recent survey of 750 men aged 18 to 27 published in the Journal of Homosexuality in 1999 found that, on the basis of recent behaviour or self identification as gay or bisexual, about 11% could be classified as gay or bisexual.

What Some People Think About Bisexuality

For some, bisexuality is less acceptable than homosexuality. Often heterosexual people consider bisexuality to be wrong. Some homosexual people consider that it is a way of denying homosexuality or a way of ‘sitting on the fence’ even going as far sometimes as labelling bisexual people as traitors.

Many think of bisexuality as a transition phase between heterosexuality and homosexuality. Bisexuality is in reality a sexual orientation, not a transition phase. Some think that bisexual people have simultaneous relationships with both men and women but research shows that bisexual people usually relate to men and women at different times or may choose to relate to only men or women.

Often people think that bisexual people are unable to have monogamous relationships but research shows that many bisexual people stay with one partner. Also some think that bisexual people are sexually compulsive but, in fact, many bisexual people never act on their bisexual inclinations.

So What Does It All Mean?

Bisexuality as defined by Kinsey is common - but it is often misunderstood. That is partly a matter of imprecise definition but also because of the way many people think about bisexuality in our culture.

If you are thinking about your own sexuality it is important to remember that your sexual orientation is ultimately a matter of how you see yourself. A good rule of thumb is that it is not what you've done, but what you'd like to do.