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Bisexuality

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Bisexuality in human sexual behavior refers to one or more of aesthetic attraction, romantic love and sexual desire without regard to gender.

For some writers, the term expresses a contrast with homosexuality and heterosexuality, while for others the term expresses a blend of the two.

Although observed in a variety of forms in most societies throughout recorded history, bisexuality has only been the subject of serious study since the second half of the 20th century, and some disagreement remains about its prevalence and nature.

Description

Bisexual orientation can fall anywhere between the two sexual orientations of homosexuality and heterosexuality; a bisexual person is not necessarily attracted equally to both genders, and many tend to prefer one or the other. Another view of bisexuality is that homosexuality and heterosexuality are two monosexual orientations, whereas bisexuality encompasses them both. However, some argue that bisexuality is a legitimate sexual orientation in its own right.

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 be all be of the same gender.

Some bisexual people consider themselves to be gay or lesbian, on the basis that, for example, a "lesbian" might be defined as: any woman who is attracted to women (even one who is also attracted to men) or a woman who is primarily attracted to other women. Some lesbian and gay people object to this, asserting that exclusivity is part of the definition. Many bisexuals consider themselves distinct from homosexuals but part of the larger LGBT or queer community. Other bisexuals may be supportive of lesbian and gay people, but still consider themselves straight.

Historical examples of bisexuality

Historical and literary records from most known societies document widespread bisexuality, usually age structured or gender-structured. In fact, most of the commonly cited examples of "homosexuality" in previous cultures would more properly be categorized as "bisexuality". In some societies, a bisexual love life was normative.

For example, in Ancient Greece 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. Ancient Rome, Arab countries up to and including the present, China, and Japan, all exhibit patterns of analogous bisexual behavior. Perhaps the most famous example is Alexander the Great who had many wives, but also at least two male lovers, Hephaestion being his life-long friend. The same could be said of most Roman emperors, the shoguns of Japan, many Chinese emperors, and countless others.

However, 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.

Ancient Greece

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. 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 soldier 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.

Greek religious texts, reflecting cultural practices, incorporated bisexual themes. The subtexts varied, from the mystical to the didactic. See Mythology of same-sex love.

Middle Eastern cultures

Shah Abbas I embracing his wine boy.

In the Middle East, sexual behavior between males is common; a few sources describe it as near-ubiquitous. It was also a topic celebrated by some of the greatest medieval artists of the Middle East, such as the famous poet Abu Nuwas and the Persian painter Reza Abbasi. This is despite prohibitions against overt homosexual behavior (as opposed to attraction, which is expected) in the Qur'an and severe penalties for offenders, including the death penalty, in some nations.

The Qur'an however requires that the transgression be witnessed by four men or eight women in order to convict the participants. Therefore, while bisexual behavior is known to be common, men are not given much trouble about these behaviors so long as they also marry and raise families and fulfill other societal duties. It is something that remains very covert, and an open declaration of homosexual preference would be unacceptable. In this way, bisexuality in the Arab world and Persian world is somewhat similar to the DL culture prevalent in some African-American and Latino communities.

Modern Western prevalence of bisexuality

Main articles: Demographics of sexual orientation and Kinsey Reports

Some modern surveys report about 2%-6% of modern western populations as "bisexual", but there are still many methodological difficulties with regard to randomness and size of the sample population, and the accuracy of self-reports of such personal information. (The accuracy of these numbers is disputed.) Different studies also use different standards for bisexuality. Some studies ignore bisexual phenomena entirely, or separate it into same-sex and opposite-sex components. Reported results disagree over whether homosexuality is more common than bisexuality (with various definitions for each). Anecdotal reports from areas outside the west suggest much higher rates of bisexual expression.

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% of the population can be considered to be fully heterosexual or homosexual. On the other hand, an even smaller minority has no distinct preference for one gender or the other.

Social status of bisexuality

Historically, bisexuality has largely been free of the social stigma associated with homosexuality, prevalent even where bisexuality was the norm. In Ancient Greece pederasty was not problematized as long as the men eventually married and had children. All over the world among upperclass men of good social standing (i.e. properly married) homosexual affairs were tolerated, and heterosexual marriage was often successfully used as a defense against accusations of homosexuality.

Some in the gay and lesbian communities accuse those who call themselves "bisexual" of duplicity, believing they are really homosexuals who are attempting to hold onto the social approval through their heterosexual activity. They may be accused of "not doing their part" in gaining acceptance of "true" homosexuality. 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 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.

Bisexuals are often associated with men who engage in same-sex activity while closeted and heterosexually married, a practice which has led to high rates of HIV infection among, for example, black women in the USA. The majority of such men - said to be "living on the down-low" - do not self-identify as "bisexual", they just "do that" occasionally.

Because many bisexual people do not feel that they fit into either the gay community or the heterosexual world, and because they have a tendency to be "invisible" in public (fitting in rather seamlessly into both homosexual and heterosexual society), some bisexual persons are committed to forming their own communities, culture, and political movements.

File:Bi-flag-large.png
The bisexual pride flag

A common symbol of bisexual identity 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. Another symbol 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.

Terminology

The term bisexual was coined by botanists c. 1809. It originally applied to plants that had both male and female sex organs. It is not known when the term was first applied to 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, 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 given the partner(s). 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 as well as 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 descrimination 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 MOTSS, usually without reciprocation.
  • Actively-bi is a non-gender specific term that describes a bi-curious/bisexual person who initiates direct contact with a MOTSS.

Bisexuality in modern Western entertainment

Comparatively positive and notable portrayals of bisexuality can be found in mainstream movies such as: Goldfish Memory; The Rocky Horror Picture Show; and Henry and June. In popular music, many of the songs of The Smiths are commonly cited as classic 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; David Leavitt's The Lost Language of Cranes and While England Sleeps; Jeanette Winterson's The Passion; Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time; and Jane Rule's Young in One Another's Arms. Non-fiction scholarship, such as 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 show Will & Grace, the character of Karen is described as "omnisexual" and although is married to a man, often kisses Grace and appears to have had many female lovers throughout her life.

There are also negative media portrayals, reflecting prejudices and stereotypes. For instance, 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 people say they're kidding themselves

And 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.

Prejudice is also expressed in the storylines of movies in which the bisexual characters conceal murderous neuroses (Basic Instinct, Black Widow, Cruising, Girl Interupted).

See also

References

  • Bryant, Wayne M.. Bisexual Characters in Film: From Anais to Zee. Haworth Gay & Lesbian Studies, 1997. ISBN: 1560238941
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