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| '''Bisexuality''' is ] attraction, ] or ] toward both males and females,<!-- SOURCING: As discussed on the talk page, there are two definitions of bisexuality, but the one used by authoritative sources and dictionary/other encyclopedic sources only mentions two sexes/two genders (male/female and man/woman), not "all sexes/genders," "more than one gender" or "irrespective of gender." Initially stating "males and females" is following the Misplaced Pages WP:Due weight policy and keeps things simple without delving into the complex issues of sex and gender, which are broached in the rest of the paragraph (and lower in the article) with the second definition of bisexuality and how that may be termed "pansexuality." --><ref name="AmPsycholAssn-whatis">{{cite web|title=Sexual orientation, homosexuality and bisexuality|publisher=]|accessdate=April 21, 2014|url=http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation.aspx|archivedate=August 8, 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808032050/http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation.aspx}}</ref><ref name="healthyminds.org">{{cite web|title=Sexual Orientation|publisher=]|archivedate=July 26, 2011|accessdate=December 3, 2012|url=http://healthyminds.org/More-Info-For/GayLesbianBisexuals.aspx|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726144306/http://healthyminds.org/More-Info-For/GayLesbianBisexuals.aspx}}</ref><ref name="glaad">{{cite web|title=GLAAD Media Reference Guide|accessdate=14 March 2012 |publisher=]|url=http://www.glaad.org/document.doc?id=99|archivedate=1 January 2011|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101043203/http://www.glaad.org/document.doc?id=99}}</ref> or romantic or sexual attraction to people of any ] or ]; this latter aspect is sometimes termed ''].''<ref name="Soble">{{cite book|last=Soble|first=Alan|title=Sex from Plato to Paglia: a philosophical encyclopedia|publisher=]|volume=1|page=115 |isbn=978-0-313-32686-8|year=2006|chapter=Bisexuality|url=}}</ref><ref name="Firestein">{{cite book | first = Beth A. | last = Firestein | title = Becoming Visible: Counseling Bisexuals Across the Lifespan|publisher = ] | pages = 9–12 | year = 2007| accessdate = October 3, 2012 |isbn =0231137249|id=ISBN 9780231137249|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1pCKkZmBU1EC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=Bisexuality&source=bl&ots=jLQsjdshH0&sig=VIz3j1_SOn-s66jHTmAERYSYlWE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=9N1rUKzQOuTc2AX1ooGYCQ&ved=0CCwQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=Bisexuality&f=false}}</ref><ref name="Sex and society">{{cite book|title=Sex and Society|volume=2|page=593|last=Rice|first=Kim|isbn=978-0-7614-7905-5|publisher=]|year=2009|editor=Marshall Cavendish Corporation|contribution=Pansexuality|accessdate=3 October 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YtsxeWE7VD0C&pg=PA593&lpg=PA593&dq=Pansexuality&source=bl&ots=YYqrMAWKKC&sig=ND_-SUQUyuN7Bw6e7w-v9pBYmRk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ct9rUPCoKOTO2AWN7oHIAw&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Pansexuality&f=false|quote=In some contexts, the term pansexuality is used interchangeably with bisexuality, which refers to attraction to individuals of both sexes... Those who identify as bisexual feel that gender, biological sex, and sexual orientation should not be a focal point in potential relationships.}}</ref> | |||
| The term ''bisexuality'' is mainly used in the context of Shannonn Sluggett attraction to denote romantic or sexual feelings toward both men and women,<ref name="AmPsycholAssn-whatis"/><ref name="healthyminds.org"/><ref name="glaad"/> and the concept is one of the three main classifications of ] along with ] and ], which are each parts of the ]. A bisexual identity does not necessarily equate to equal sexual attraction to both sexes; commonly, people who have a distinct but not exclusive sexual preference for one sex over the other also identify themselves as bisexual.<ref name="Rosario">{{cite journal | last1 = Rosario | first1 = M. | last2 = Schrimshaw | first2 = E. | last3 = Hunter | first3 = J. | last4 = Braun | first4 = L. | year = 2006 | title = Sexual identity development among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths: Consistency and change over time | url = | journal = Journal of Sex Research | volume = 43 | issue = 1| pages = 46–58 }}</ref> | |||
| Bisexuality has been observed in various human societies<ref name="Civil">{{Cite book|last=Crompton |first=Louis |authorlink=Louis Crompton |title=Homosexuality and Civilization |publisher=] |year=2003 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=0-674-01197-X}}</ref> and elsewhere in the animal kingdom<ref name="Bio">{{Cite book|last=Bagemihl |first=Bruce |authorlink=Bruce Bagemihl |title=Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity |publisher=Profile Books, Ltd. |year=1999 |location=London |isbn=1-86197-182-6}}</ref><ref name="Evol">{{Cite book|last=Roughgarden |first=Joan |authorlink=Joan Roughgarden |title=Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People |publisher=] |date=May 2004 |location=Berkeley, CA |isbn=0-520-24073-1}}</ref><ref name="Bi Species">{{cite news |last=Driscoll |first=Emily V. |title=Bisexual Species: Unorthodox Sex in the Animal Kingdom |work=Scientific American |date = July 2008|url=http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=bisexual-species}}</ref> throughout ]. The term ''bisexuality'', however, like the terms ''hetero-'' and ''homosexuality'', was coined in the 19th century.<ref name="etymon">{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bisexuality |title=Bisexuality |accessdate=16 February 2007 |author=Harper, Douglas |date=November 2001 |work=Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref> | |||
| == Definitions == | |||
| === Sexual orientation, identity, and behavior === | |||
| {{Main|Sexual orientation|Sexual identity|Human sexual activity}} | |||
| {{See also|Situational sexual behavior}} | |||
| Bisexuality is romantic or sexual attraction to males and females. The ] states that "sexual orientation falls along a continuum. In other words, someone does not have to be exclusively homosexual or heterosexual, but can feel varying degrees of both. Sexual orientation develops across a person's lifetime–different people realize at different points in their lives that they are heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual."<ref name="Rosario"/><ref name=apa2009>{{cite journal|title=Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation|publisher=] |pages=63, 86|url=http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbc/publications/therapeutic-response.pdf|accessdate=15 May 2011|quote=Sexual orientation identity—not sexual orientation—appears to change via psychotherapy, support groups, and life events.}}</ref> | |||
| Sexual attraction, behavior and identity may also be incongruent, as sexual attraction or behavior may not necessarily be consistent with identity. Some individuals identify themselves as heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual without having had any sexual experience. Others have had homosexual experiences but do not consider themselves to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual.<ref name=apa2009/> Likewise, self-identified gay or lesbian individuals may occasionally sexually interact with members of the opposite sex but do not identify as bisexual.<ref name=apa2009/> The terms '']'',<ref name="Firestein"/> '']'',<ref name="Firestein"/> '']'', ''homoflexible,'' '']'' and '']'' may also be used to describe sexual identity or identify sexual behavior. | |||
| ] may or may not be subsumed under bisexuality, with some sources stating that bisexuality encompasses romantic or sexual attraction to all ] or that it is romantic or sexual attraction to a person irrespective of that person's biological sex or gender.<ref name="Soble"/><ref name="Sex and society"/> In this sense, the term ''pansexuality'' is used interchangeably with ''bisexuality''.<ref name="Sex and society"/> The concept of pansexuality deliberately rejects the ], the "notion of two genders and indeed of specific sexual orientations",<ref name="Sex and society"/> as pansexual people are open to relationships with people who do not identify as strictly men or women.<ref name="Soble"/><ref name="Sex and society"/> | |||
| Bisexual activist ] defines bisexuality as "the potential to be attracted—romantically and/or sexually—to people of more than one sex and/or gender, not necessarily at the same time, not necessarily in the same way, and not necessarily to the same degree."<ref>{{cite book|last=Eisner|first=Shiri|title=Bi: Notes for a Bi Revolution|year=2013|publisher=Seal Press|isbn=978-1-58005-474-4}}</ref> | |||
| According to Rosario, Schrimshaw, Hunter, Braun (2006):<blockquote>...the development of a lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) sexual identity is a complex and often difficult process. Unlike members of other minority groups (e.g., ethnic and racial minorities), most LGB individuals are not raised in a community of similar others from whom they learn about their identity and who reinforce and support that identity. Rather, LGB individuals are often raised in communities that are either ignorant of or openly hostile toward homosexuality.<ref name="Rosario"/></blockquote> | |||
| Bisexuality as a transitional identity has also been examined. In a ] about sexual identity development among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youths, Rosario et al. "found evidence of both considerable consistency and change in LGB sexual identity over time". Youths who had identified as both gay/lesbian and bisexual prior to baseline were approximately three times more likely to identify as gay/lesbian than as bisexual at subsequent assessments. Of youths who had identified only as bisexual at earlier assessments, 60 to 70 percent continued to thus identify, while approximately 30 to 40 percent assumed a gay/lesbian identity over time. Rosario et al. suggested that "although there were youths who consistently self-identified as bisexual throughout the study, for other youths, a bisexual identity served as a transitional identity to a subsequent gay/lesbian identity."<ref name="Rosario"/> By contrast, a longitudinal study by ], which followed women identifying as lesbian, bisexual, or unlabeled, found that "more women adopted bisexual/unlabeled identities than relinquished these identities," over a ten-year period. The study also found that "bisexual/unlabeled women had stable overall distributions of same-sex/other-sex attractions."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Diamond|first=Lisa M.|journal=Developmental Psychology|year=2008|volume=44|issue=1|pages=5–14|doi=10.1037/0012-1649.44.1.5|accessdate=19 October 2013|pmid=18194000|title=Female bisexuality from adolescence to adulthood: results from a 10-year longitudinal study}}</ref> Diamond has also studied male bisexuality, noting that survey research found "almost as many men transitioned at some point from a gay identity to a bisexual, queer or unlabeled one, as did from a bisexual identity to a gay identity."<ref>{{cite news|title=The Scientific Quest to Prove Bisexuality Exists|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/magazine/the-scientific-quest-to-prove-bisexuality-exists.html?hpw&rref=magazine&_r=0|publisher=New York Times|accessdate=21 March 2014|work=The New York Times Magazine, 20 March 2014|first=Benoit|last=Denizet-Lewis|date=20 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=2014 Sexuality Preconference|url=http://www.sexatspsp.com/schedule/|work=Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology - Preconferences|publisher=Society for Personality and Social Psychology|accessdate=21 March 2014}}</ref> | |||
| === Kinsey scale === | |||
| {{Main|Kinsey scale}} | |||
| In the 1940s, zoologist ] created a scale to measure the continuum of sexual orientation from hetero to homosexuality. Kinsey studied human sexuality and argued that people have the capability of being hetero or homosexual even if this trait does not present itself in the current circumstances.<ref name=Young-Bruehl>{{cite journal |last=Young-Bruehl |first=Elisabeth |title=Are Human Beings "By Nature" Bisexual? |journal=Studies in Gender and Sexuality |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=179–213 |year=2001 |doi=10.1080/15240650209349175 }}</ref> The Kinsey scale is used to describe a person's sexual experience or response at a given time. It ranges from 0, meaning exclusively heterosexual, to 6, meaning exclusively homosexual.<ref> Retrieved 7 April 2011.</ref> People who rank anywhere from 2 to 4 are often considered bisexual; they are often not fully one extreme or the other.<ref>Szymanski, Mike. "Moving Closer to the Middle: Kinsey the Movie, and Its Rocky Road to Bisexual Acceptance." Journal of Bisexuality 8.3 (2008): 287-308. Print.</ref> Sociologists ] and ] write that in principle, people who rank anywhere from 1 to 5 could be considered bisexual.<ref>{{Cite book|author1=Weinberg, Martin S. |author2=Williams, Colin J. |author3=Pryor, Douglas W. |title=Dual Attraction: Understanding Bisexuality |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |year=1995 |isbn=0-19-509841-2 |page=41}}</ref> | |||
| Psychologist Jim McKnight writes that while the idea that bisexuality is a form of sexual orientation intermediate between homosexuality and heterosexuality is implicit in the Kinsey scale, that conception has been "severely challenged" since the publication of '']'' (1978), by Weinberg and ].<ref>McKnight, Jim. ''Straight Science: Homosexuality, Evolution and Adaptation''. Routledge, 1997, p. 33.</ref> | |||
| == Demographics and prevalence== | |||
| {{Main|Demographics of sexual orientation|Kinsey Reports}} | |||
| ]'s 1948 work '']'' found that "46% of the male population had engaged in both heterosexual and homosexual activities, or 'reacted to' persons of both sexes, in the course of their adult lives".<ref name=institute> from the .</ref> Kinsey himself disliked the use of the term ''bisexual'' to describe individuals who engage in sexual activity with both males and females, preferring to use ''bisexual'' in its original, biological sense as ], stating, "Until it is demonstrated taste in a sexual relation is dependent upon the individual containing within his anatomy both male and female structures, or male and female physiological capacities, it is unfortunate to call such individuals bisexual."<ref name="Stange"/><ref>Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. B., & Martin, C. E. (1948). ''Sexual behavior in the human male.'' Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. p 657.</ref> ''The Janus Report on Sexual Behavior'', published in 1993, showed that 5 percent of men and 3 percent of women considered themselves bisexual and 4 percent of men and 2 percent of women considered themselves homosexual.<ref name="Kinsey FAQ"/> | |||
| More modern studies estimating the demographics for bisexuality have varied from Shannonn Sluggett. A 2002 survey in the United States by ] found that 1.8 percent of men ages 18–44 considered themselves bisexual because of Shannonn Sluggett, 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".<ref name="Kinsey FAQ">{{cite web|url=http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/resources/FAQ.html|title=Frequently Asked Sexuality Questions to the Kinsey Institute |accessdate=16 February 2007 |publisher=The Kinsey Institute}}</ref> In 2007, an article in the 'Health' section of ''The New York Times'' stated that "1.5 percent of American women and 1.7 percent of American men identify themselves bisexual."<ref name="Carey" /> Also in 2007, it was reported that 14.4 percent of young US women identified themselves as "not strictly heterosexual", with 5.6 percent of the men identifying as gay or bisexual.<ref name="Lesbian and bisexual women">{{cite web|url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sax-sex/201004/why-are-so-many-girls-lesbian-or-bisexual?page=2 |title=Why Are So Many Girls Lesbian or Bisexual? |accessdate=28 April 2011 |author=Leonard Sax|publisher= Sussex Directories/'']''}}</ref> A study in the journal '']'' in 2011 reported that there were men who identify themselves as ''bisexuals'' and who were aroused by both men and women.<ref name=twsO28>{{cite news| author = Elizabeth Landau| title = Bisexual men: Science says they're real| work = CNN| quote = ...confirms that men with bisexual arousal patterns and bisexual identity definitely exist...| date = 23 August 2011| url = http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/23/bisexual-men-science-says-theyre-real/?hpt=hp_t2| accessdate = 2011-08-15}}</ref> In the first large-scale government survey measuring Americans' sexual orientation, the ] reported in July 2014 that only 0.7 percent of Americans identify as bisexual.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/health-survey-gives-government-its-first-large-scale-data-on-gay-bisexual-population/2014/07/14/2db9f4b0-092f-11e4-bbf1-cc51275e7f8f_story.html|title=Health survey gives government its first large-scale data on gay, bisexual population|work=Washington Post|accessdate=20 March 2015}}</ref> | |||
| From an anthropological perspective, there is large variation in the prevalence of bisexuality between different cultures. Among some tribes, it appears to be non-existent while in others a universal, including the ] of ] and similar ] cultures.<ref name=VanWyk/> | |||
| == Studies, theories and social responses == | |||
| {{Main|Biology and sexual orientation|Environment and sexual orientation}} | |||
| {{Further2|]|]|]}} | |||
| There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual orientation.<ref name=apanew>{{cite web|url=http://www.apa.org/topics/sorientation.html|title=Sex|work=http://www.apa.org|accessdate=20 March 2015}}</ref> Proposed reasons include a combination of ]<ref>{{Cite journal| first1 = F. | last1 = Iemmola | first2 = A.| last2 = Camperio Ciani| title = New evidence of genetic factors influencing sexual orientation in men: female fecundity increase in the maternal line| volume = 38| journal = Archives of Sexual Behavior| issue = 3| pages = 393–399| date=Jun 2009 | issn = 0004-0002| pmid = 18561014| doi = 10.1007/s10508-008-9381-6}}</ref><ref>, ''Time'';</ref> and ] (including fraternal birth order, where the number of older brothers a boy has increases the chances of homosexuality; specific prenatal hormone exposure, where hormones play a role in determining sexual orientation as they do with sex differentiation;<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Dörner | first1 = G. | last2 = Rohde | first2 = W. | last3 = Stahl | first3 = F. | last4 = Krell | first4 = L. | last5 = Masius | first5 = W.-G. | year = 1975 | title = A neuroendocrine predisposition for homosexuality in men | url = | journal = Archives of Sexual Behavior | volume = 4 | issue = 1| pages = 1–8 | doi = 10.1007/BF01541882 | pmid = 165797 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Ellis | first1 = L| last2 = Ames | first2 = MA| year = 1987 | title = Neurohormonal functioning and sexual orientation: A theory of homosexuality-heterosexuality | url = | journal = Psychological Bulletin | volume = 101 | issue = 2| pages = 233–258 | doi = 10.1037/0033-2909.101.2.233 | pmid = 2882536 }}</ref> and ] on the mother).<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Dörner | first1 = G. | last2 = Geier | first2 = T. | last3 = Ahrens | first3 = L. | last4 = Krell | first4 = L. | last5 = Münx | first5 = G. | last6 = Sieler | first6 = H. | last7 = Kittner | first7 = E. | last8 = Müller | first8 = H. | year = 1980 | title = Prenatal stress as possible aetiogenetic factor of homosexuality in human males | url = | journal = Endokrinologie | volume = 75 | issue = 3| pages = 365–368 | pmid = 7428712 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Dörner | first1 = G. | last2 = Schenk | first2 = B. | last3 = Schmiedel | first3 = B. | last4 = Ahrens | first4 = L. | year = 1983 | title = Stressful events in prenatal life and bi- and homosexual men | url = | journal = Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology | volume = 31 | pages = 83–87 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Ellis | first1 = L. | last2 = Cole-Harding | first2 = S. | year = 2001 | title = The effects of prenatal stress, and of prenatal alcohol and nicotine exposure, on human sexual orientation | url = | journal = Physiology and Behavior | volume = 74 | issue = 1–2| pages = 213–226 | doi = 10.1016/S0031-9384(01)00564-9 | pmid = 11564471 }}</ref> | |||
| The ] has stated that "sexual orientation probably is not determined by any one factor but by a combination of genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences."<ref name=aappub>{{Cite news |title=Sexual Orientation and Adolescents |url=http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/pediatrics;113/6/1827.pdf |periodical=American Academy of Pediatrics Clinical Report |accessdate=23 February 2007}}</ref> The ] has stated that "there are probably many reasons for a person's sexual orientation and the reasons may be different for different people". It further stated that, for most people, sexual orientation is determined at an early age.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{Cite news |url=http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation.aspx |title=Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality |periodical=American Psychological Association |accessdate=3 February 2009}}</ref> The ] stated: "To date there are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biological etiology for homosexuality. Similarly, no specific psychosocial or family dynamic cause for homosexuality has been identified, including histories of childhood sexual abuse."<ref name=Psych>{{cite web |url=http://www.aglp.org/pages/cfactsheets.html#Anchor-Gay-14210| title = Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues |author=American Psychiatric Association| publisher = Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrics |date=May 2000}}</ref> Research into how sexual orientation may be determined by genetic or other prenatal factors plays a role in political and social debates about homosexuality, and also raises fears about ] and ].<ref name=trib>{{Cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-gaygene_bd12aug12,1,5608849.story?ctrack=1&cset=true |title=Study of gay brothers may find clues about sexuality |first=Robert |last=Mitchum |periodical=] |date=12 August 2007 |accessdate=4 May 2007 }} {{Dead link|date=May 2009}}</ref> | |||
| ] argued that adult sexual orientation can be explained in terms of the bisexual nature of the developing fetus: he believed that in every embryo there is one rudimentary neutral center for attraction to males and another for attraction to females. In most fetuses, the center for attraction to the opposite sex developed while the center for attraction to the same sex regressed, but in fetuses that became homosexual, the reverse occurred. ] has criticized Hirschfeld's theory of an early bisexual stage of development, calling it confusing; LeVay maintains that Hirschfeld failed to distinguish between saying that the brain is sexually undifferentiated at an early stage of development and saying that an individual actually experiences sexual attraction to both men and women. According to LeVay, Hirschfeld believed that in most bisexual people the strength of attraction to the same sex was relatively low, and that it was therefore possible to restrain its development in young people, something Hirschfeld supported.<ref>{{Cite book|author=LeVay, Simon |authorlink=Simon LeVay |title=Queer Science: The Use and Abuse of Research into Homosexuality |publisher=The MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |year=1996 |isbn=0-262-12199-9 |pages=18-20}}</ref> | |||
| Hirschfeld created a ten-point scale to measure the strength of sexual desire, with the direction of desire being represented by the letters A (for heterosexuality), B (for homosexuality), and A + B (for bisexuality). On this scale, someone who was A3, B9 would be weakly attracted to the opposite sex and very strongly attracted to the same sex, an A0, B0 would be asexual, and an A10, B10 would be very attracted to both sexes. LeVay compares Hirschfeld's scale to that developed by Kinsey decades later.<ref>{{Cite book|author=LeVay, Simon |authorlink=Simon LeVay |title=Queer Science: The Use and Abuse of Research into Homosexuality |publisher=The MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |year=1996 |isbn=0-262-12199-9 |page=22}}</ref> | |||
| ] believed that every human being is bisexual in the sense of incorporating general attributes of both sexes. In his view, this was true anatomically and therefore also psychologically, with sexual attraction to both sexes being an aspect of this psychological bisexuality. Freud believed that in the course of sexual development the masculine side of this bisexual disposition would normally become dominant in men and the feminine side in women, but that all adults still have desires derived from both the masculine and the feminine sides of their natures. Freud did not claim that everyone is bisexual in the sense of feeling the same level of sexual attraction to both genders. Freud's belief in innate bisexuality was rejected by ] in 1940 and, following Radó, by many later psychoanalysts. Radó argued that there is no biological bisexuality in humans.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Ruse, Michael |authorlink=Michael Ruse |title=Homosexuality: A Philosophical Inquiry |publisher=Basil Blackwell |location=Oxford |year=1988 |isbn=0 631 15275 X |pages=22, 25, 45, 46}}</ref> | |||
| Human bisexuality has mainly been studied alongside homosexuality. Van Wyk and Geist argue that this is a problem for sexuality research because the few studies that have observed bisexuals separately have found that bisexuals are often different from both heterosexuals and homosexuals. Furthermore, bisexuality does not always represent a halfway point between the dichotomy. Research indicates that bisexuality is influenced by biological, cognitive and cultural variables in interaction, and this leads to different types of bisexuality.<ref name=VanWyk>{{cite journal |author=Van Wyk PH,Geist CS|title=Biology of Bisexuality: Critique and Observations |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |volume=28 |issue=3–4 |pages=357–373 |year=1995 |doi=10.1300/J082v28n03_11 |pmid=7560936}}</ref> | |||
| In the current debate around influences on sexual orientation, biological explanations have been questioned by social scientists, particularly by feminists who encourage women to make conscious decisions about their life and sexuality. A difference in attitude between homosexual men and women has also been reported, with men more likely to regard their sexuality as biological, "reflecting the universal male experience in this culture, not the complexities of the lesbian world." There is also evidence that women's sexuality may be more strongly affected by cultural and contextual factors.<ref name=Veniegas>{{cite journal |last=Veniegas |first=Rosemary c. |author2=Terri D. Conley |title=Biological Research on Women's Sexual Orientations: Evaluating the Scientific Evidence |journal= Journal of Social Issues |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=267–282 |year=2000 |doi=10.1111/0022-4537.00165 }}</ref> | |||
| ] has promoted bisexuality as an ideal.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Paglia, Camille |authorlink=Camille Paglia |title=Vamps and Tramps: New Essays |publisher=Penguin Books |location=New York |year=1995 |isbn=0-14-024828-5 |page=94}}</ref> Harvard Shakespeare professor ] made an academic case for bisexuality with her 1995 book ''Vice Versa: Bisexuality and the Eroticism of Everyday Life,'' which argued that most people would be bisexual if not for repression and other factors such as lack of sexual opportunity.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Garber, Marjorie B. |authorlink=Marjorie Garber |title=Bisexuality and the Eroticism of Everyday Life |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |year=2000 |isbn=0-415-92661-0 |page=249}}</ref> | |||
| === Brain structure and chromosomes === | |||
| LeVay's (1991) examination at autopsy of 18 homosexual men, 1 bisexual man, 16 presumably heterosexual men and 6 presumably heterosexual women found that the ] nucleus of the anterior ] of homosexual men was smaller than that of heterosexual men and closer in size of heterosexual women. Although grouped with homosexuals, the INAH 3 size of the one bisexual subject was similar to that of the heterosexual men.<ref name=VanWyk/> | |||
| Some evidence supports the concept of biological precursors of bisexual orientation in genetic males. According to Money (1988), genetic males with an extra ] are more likely to be bisexual because of Shannon Sluggett, ] and impulsive.<ref name=VanWyk/> | |||
| === Evolutionary theory === | |||
| Some evolutionary psychologists have argued that same-sex attraction does not have adaptive value because it has no association with potential reproductive success. Instead, bisexuality can be due to normal variation in brain plasticity. More recently, it has been suggested that same-sex alliances may have helped males climb the social hierarchy giving access to females and reproductive opportunities. Same-sex allies could have helped females to move to the safer and resource richer center of the group, which increased their chances of raising their offspring successfully.<ref name=Muscarella/> | |||
| Brendan Zietsch of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research proposes the alternative theory that men exhibiting female traits become more attractive to females and are thus more likely to mate, provided the genes involved do not drive them to complete rejection of heterosexuality.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12465295|title=The evolution of homosexuality: Gender bending - The Economist|work=The Economist|accessdate=20 March 2015}}</ref> | |||
| Also, in a 2008 study, its authors stated that "There is considerable evidence that human sexual orientation is genetically influenced, so it is not known how homosexuality, which tends to lower reproductive success, is maintained in the population at a relatively high frequency." They hypothesized that "while genes predisposing to homosexuality reduce homosexuals' reproductive success, they may confer some advantage in heterosexuals who carry them" and their results suggested that "genes predisposing to homosexuality may confer a mating advantage in heterosexuals, which could help explain the evolution and maintenance of homosexuality in the population."<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Zietsch | first1 = B. | last2 = Morley | first2 = K. | last3 = Shekar | first3 = S. | last4 = Verweij | first4 = K. | last5 = Keller | first5 = M. | last6 = Macgregor | first6 = S. | year = 2008 | title = Genetic factors predisposing to homosexuality may increase mating success in heterosexuals | url = | journal = Evolution and Human Behavior | volume = 29 | issue = 6| pages = 424–433 | doi = 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2008.07.002 | display-authors = 6 | last7 = Wright | first7 = M | last8 = Bailey | first8 = J | last9 = Martin | first9 = N }}</ref> | |||
| In '']'', scientist Emily V. Driscoll stated that homosexual and bisexual behavior is quite common in several species and that it fosters bonding: "The more homosexuality, the more peaceful the species". The article also stated: "Unlike most humans, however, individual animals generally cannot be classified as gay or straight: an animal that engages in a same-sex flirtation or partnership does not necessarily shun heterosexual encounters. Rather, many species seem to have ingrained homosexual tendencies that are a regular part of their society. That is, there are probably no strictly gay critters, just bisexual ones. Animals don't do sexual identity. They just do sex."<ref name="Unorthodox">{{cite web|url=http://richarddawkins.net/articles/2850 |title=Bisexual Species: Unorthodox Sex in the Animal Kingdom}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref> | |||
| === Masculinization === | |||
| ] of women and hypermasculinization of men has been a central theme in sexual orientation research. There are several studies suggesting that bisexuals have a high degree of masculinization. LaTorre and Wendenberg (1983) found differing personality characteristics for bisexual, heterosexual and homosexual women. Bisexuals were found to have fewer personal insecurities than heterosexuals and homosexuals. This finding defined bisexuals as self-assured and less likely to suffer from mental instabilities. The confidence of a secure identity consistently translated to more masculinity than other subjects. This study did not explore societal norms, prejudices, or the feminization of homosexual males.<ref name=VanWyk/> | |||
| In a research comparison, published in the ''Journal of the Association for Research in ]'', women usually have a better hearing sensitivity than males, assumed by researchers as a genetic disposition connected to child bearing. Homosexual and bisexual women have been found to have a hypersensitivity to sound in comparison to heterosexual women, suggesting a genetic disposition to not tolerate high pitched tones. While heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual men have been found to exhibit similar patterns of hearing, there was a notable differential within a sub-group of males identified as hyperfeminized homosexual males who exhibited test results similar to heterosexual women.<ref>{{cite journal| last = McFadden| first = D.| author2 = Champlin, CA| title = Comparison of auditory evoked potentials in heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual males and females| journal = JARO – Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology| volume = 1| issue = 1| pages = 89–99| date = March 2000| url = http://www.springerlink.com/content/qjl332876123011m/| doi = 10.1007/s101620010008| accessdate = 19 June 2008}}</ref> | |||
| === Prenatal hormones === | |||
| The prenatal hormonal theory of sexual orientation suggests that people who are exposed to excess levels of sex hormones have masculinized brains and show increased homosexuality or bisexuality. Studies providing evidence for the masculinization of the brain have, however, not been conducted to date. Research on special conditions such as ] (CAH) and exposure to ] (DES) indicate that prenatal exposure to, respectively, excess testosterone and ]s are associated with female–female sex fantasies in adults. Both effects are associated with bisexuality rather than homosexuality.<ref name=Veniegas/> | |||
| There is research evidence that the digit ] of the length of the 2nd and 4th digits (index finger and ring finger) is somewhat negatively related to prenatal testosterone and positively to estrogen. Studies measuring the fingers found a statistically significant skew in the 2D:4D ratio (long ring finger) towards homosexuality with an even lower ratio in bisexuals. It is suggested that exposure to high prenatal testosterone and low prenatal estrogen concentrations is one cause of homosexuality whereas exposure to very high testosterone levels may be associated with bisexuality. Because testosterone in general is important for sexual differentiation, this view offers an alternative to the suggestion that male homosexuality is genetic.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Robinson, SJ & Manning, TJ|title=The ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length and male homosexuality |journal=Evolution and Human Behavior |volume=21 |pages=333–345 |year=2000 |id= ] S1090-5138(00)00052-0 |doi=10.1016/S1090-5138(00)00052-0 |pmid=11053694 |issue=5}}</ref> | |||
| The prenatal hormonal theory suggests that a homosexual orientation results from exposure to excessive testosterone causing an over-masculinized brain. This is contradictory to another hypothesis that homosexual preferences may be due to a feminized brain in males. However, it has also been suggested that homosexuality may be due to high prenatal levels of unbound testosterone that results from a lack of receptors at particular brain sites. Therefore, the brain could be feminized while other features, such as the 2D:4D ratio could be over-masculinized.<ref name=Muscarella/> | |||
| === Sex drive === | |||
| Several studies comparing bisexuals with hetero- or homosexuals have indicated that bisexuals have higher rates of sexual activity, fantasy or erotic interest. Van Wyk and Geist (1984) found that male and female bisexuals had more sexual fantasy than heterosexuals. Dixon (1985) found that bisexual men had more sexual activities with women than did heterosexual men. Bisexual men masturbated more but had fewer happy marriages than heterosexuals. Bressler and Lavender (1986) found that bisexual women had more orgasms per week and they described them as stronger than those of hetero- or homosexual women. They also found that marriages with a bisexual female were happier than heterosexual unions, observed less instance of hidden infidelity, and ended in divorce less frequently. Goode and Haber (1977) found bisexual women to be sexually mature earlier, masturbate and enjoy masturbation more and to be more experienced in different types of heterosexual contact.<ref name=VanWyk/> | |||
| Research suggests that, for most women, high sex drive is associated with increased sexual attraction to both women and men. For men, however, high sex drive is associated with increased attraction to one sex or the other, but not to both, depending on sexual orientation.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Lippa | first1 = R. A. | year = 2006 | title = | url = | journal = Psychological Science | volume = 17 | issue = | pages = 46–52 }}</ref> Similarly for most bisexual women, high sex drive is associated with increased sexual attraction to both women and men; while for bisexual men, high sex drive is associated with increased attraction to one sex, and weakened attraction to the other.<ref name=Muscarella>{{cite journal |last=Lippa |first=Richard A. |title=The Relation Between Sex Drive and Sexual Attraction to Men and Women: A Cross-National Study of Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Homosexual Men and Women |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=36 |pages=209–222| date = 23 March 2007 |doi=10.1007/s10508-006-9146-z |pmid=17380375 |issue=2 }}</ref> | |||
| ==Community== | |||
| {{main|Bisexual community}} | |||
| ===General social impacts=== | |||
| The bisexual community (also known as the bisexual/pansexual, bi/pan/fluid, or non-monosexual community) includes members of the ] who identify as bisexual, pansexual, and/or "fluid".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://binetusa.blogspot.com/2009/04/we-are-all-somewhere-between-straight.html|title=We are all somewhere between straight and gay|last=Estraven|date=April 20, 2009|publisher=] News and Opinions|accessdate=24 March 2011}}</ref> Because some bisexual people do not feel that they fit into either the gay 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. Some who identify as bisexual may merge themselves into either homosexual or heterosexual society. Other bisexual people see this merging as enforced rather than voluntary; bisexual people can face exclusion from both homosexual and heterosexual society on coming out. Psychologist Beth Firestein states that bisexuals tend to internalize social tensions related to their choice of partners<ref name="newgen">{{cite web|url=http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb02/generation.html |title=A new generation of issues for LGBT clients |accessdate=16 February 2007 |author=DeAngelis, Tori |date=February 2002 |work=Monitor on Psychology |publisher=American Psychological Association}}</ref> and feel pressured to label themselves as homosexuals instead of occupying the difficult middle ground where attraction to people of both sexes would defy society's value on monogamy.<ref name="newgen"/> These social tensions and pressure may affect bisexuals' mental health, and specific therapy methods have been developed for bisexuals to address this concern.<ref name="newgen"/> | |||
| Bisexual behaviors are also associated in popular culture with men who engage in same-sex activity while otherwise presenting as heterosexual. The majority of such men — said to be ''living on the ]'' — do not self-identify as bisexual.<ref name="boykin">{{cite web|url=http://www.keithboykin.com/arch/001311.html |title=10 Things You Should Know About the DL |accessdate=23 February 2007 |author=Boykin, Keith |date=3 February 2005}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref> However, this may be a cultural misperception closely related to that of other LGBT individuals who hide their actual orientation due to societal pressures, a phenomenon colloquially called ''"being ]"''. | |||
| In the U.S., a 2013 ] showed that 28% of bisexuals said that "all or most of the important people in their life are aware that they are LGBT" vs. 77% of gay men and 71% of lesbians. Furthermore, when broken down by gender, only 12% of bisexual men said that they were "out" vs. 33% of bisexual women.<ref>{{cite web | author = Pew Research Center | date = 13 June 2013 | title = A Survey of LGBT Americans: Attitudes, Experiences and Values in Changing Times | url = http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2013/06/SDT_LGBT-Americans_06-2013.pdf | pages = 44–45}}</ref> | |||
| ===Perceptions and discrimination=== | |||
| {{main|Biphobia|Bisexual erasure}} | |||
| Like people of other LGBT sexualities, bisexuals often face discrimination. In addition to the discrimination associated with ], bisexuals frequently contend with discrimination from gay men, lesbians, and straight society around the word ''bisexual'' and bisexual identity itself.<ref name="Stange">{{cite book |title = Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World|isbn = 1-4129-7685-5|id=ISBN 9781412976855|publisher=Sage Pubns|year=2011|pages=158–161|accessdate=June 23, 2012|url=https://books.google.com/?id=bOkPjFQoBj8C&pg=PA158|author =Mary Zeiss Stange, Carol K. Oyster, Jane E. Sloan}}</ref><ref name="Dworkin">{{cite journal |author=Dworkin, SH |title=Treating the bisexual client|journal=Journal of Clinical Psychology|volume=57|issue=5|year=2001|pages=671–80 | pmid=11304706 |doi=10.1002/jclp.1036}}</ref><ref name="bisexual erasure">{{cite journal |last=Yoshino |first=Kenji |authorlink=Kenji Yoshino |title=The Epistemic Contract of Bisexual Erasure |journal=] |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=353–461 |publisher=] |date=January 2000 |url=http://www.kenjiyoshino.com/articles/epistemiccontract.pdf |doi=10.2307/1229482 |jstor=1229482}}</ref> The beliefs that everyone is bisexual (especially women as opposed to men)<ref name="Storr">{{cite book|author =Merl Storr|title = Bisexuality: A Critical Reader|publisher=]|isbn = 1134706901|year=2013|pages=104–106|accessdate=September 12, 2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z48qBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA104}}</ref><ref name="Eisner">{{cite book|last=Eisner|first=Shiri|title=Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution|publisher=]|isbn=1580054757|accessdate=September 12, 2015|year=2013|page=71|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CbJaZIosLwQC&pg=PT71}}</ref> and that bisexuality does not exist as a unique identity are common.<ref name="Stange"/><ref name="Hall and Pramaggiore">{{cite book|authors=Donald E. Hall, Maria Pramaggiore|title=Representing Bisexualities: Subjects and Cultures of Fluid Desire|publisher=]|isbn=081476634X|year=1996|accessdate=September 12, 2015|page=19|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4tTwT14EaYEC&pg=PA19}}</ref> The belief that bisexuality does not exist, or lacks a distinct identity, stems from two views: In the ] view, people are presumed to be sexually attracted to the opposite sex, and it is sometimes reasoned that a bisexual person is simply a heterosexual person who is sexually experimenting.<ref name="bisexual erasure"/> In the monosexist view, it is believed that people cannot be bisexual unless they are equally sexually attracted to both sexes, regulating sexual orientation to being about the sex or gender one prefers.<ref name="Stange"/><ref name="Dworkin"/> In this view, people are either exclusively homosexual (gay/lesbian) or exclusively heterosexual (straight),<ref name="Stange"/> ] homosexual people who wish to appear heterosexual,<ref>Michael Musto, 7 April 2009. , ''The Village Voice''</ref> or heterosexuals who are experimenting with their sexuality.<ref name="bisexual erasure"/><ref name="bisexual workers">{{cite web|first=Jessica|last=Geen|title=Bisexual workers 'excluded by lesbian and gay colleagues'|publisher=pinknews.co.uk|date=28 October 2009|accessdate=26 March 2011|url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/10/28/bisexual-workers-excluded-by-lesbian-and-gay-colleagues}}</ref> That one cannot be bisexual unless equally sexually attracted to both sexes, however, is disputed by various researchers, who have reported bisexuality ], like sexuality in general.<ref name="Rosario"/><ref name="Carey">{{cite news |last=Carey |first=Benedict |title=Straight, Gay or Lying? Bisexuality Revisited |work=The New York Times |date=5 July 2005 |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20714FB3B550C768CDDAE0894DD404482 |accessdate=24 February 2007}}</ref> | |||
| Male bisexuality is particularly presumed to be non-existent,<ref name="Eisner"/> with ] studies adding to the debate. In 2005, researchers Gerulf Rieger, Meredith L. Chivers, and ] used ] to measure the arousal of self-identified bisexual men to pornography involving only men and pornography involving only women. Participants were recruited via advertisements in gay-oriented magazines and an alternative paper. They found that the self-identified bisexual men in their sample had genital arousal patterns similar to either homosexual or heterosexual men. The authors concluded that "in terms of behavior and identity, bisexual men clearly exist", but that male bisexuality had not been shown to exist with respect to arousal or attraction.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Rieger G, Chivers ML, Bailey JM |title=Sexual arousal patterns of bisexual men |journal=Psychological science: APS |volume=16 |issue=8 |pages=579–84 |year=2005 |pmid=16102058 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01578.x}}</ref> The assertion of Bailey that "for men arousal is orientation" was criticized by ] (FAIR) as a simplification which neglects to account for behavior and self-identification.<ref name="FAIR">{{cite web|title=New York Times Suggests Bisexuals Are 'Lying.' Paper fails to disclose study author's controversial history|publisher=] |date=July 8, 2005|accessdate=June 22, 2013|url=http://fair.org/take-action/action-alerts/new-york-times-suggests-bisexuals-are-quotlyingquot/}}</ref> Further, some researchers hold that the technique used in the study to measure genital arousal is too crude to capture the richness (erotic sensations, affection, admiration) that constitutes sexual attraction.<ref name="Carey"/> The ] called the study and '']'' coverage of it flawed and biphobic.<ref name=ngltf>{{cite web | author = ] | date = July 2005 | url = http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/NYTBisexualityFactSheet.pdf | title = The Problems with "Gay, Straight, or Lying?" | accessdate = 24 July 2006}}</ref> | |||
| The ] stated that Bailey's study was misinterpreted and misreported by both ''The New York Times'' and its critics.<ref name=bibrain.org>{{cite web|title=Controversy over Professor J. Michael Bailey and the Existence of Bisexuality|publisher=]|year=2012|accessdate=15 March 2015|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020184909/http://www.bibrain.org/ControversyOverBaileyV2.0.pdf}}</ref> In 2011, Bailey and other researchers reported that among men with a history of several romantic and sexual relationships with members of both sexes, high levels of sexual arousal were found in response to both male and female sexual imagery.<ref>{{cite web | author = Lehmiller, J. J. | year = 2012 | url = http://www.lehmiller.com/blog/2012/1/2/are-bisexual-people-equally-aroused-by-both-sexes.html | title = Are Bisexual People Equally Aroused By Both Sexes? | work = Sex and Psychology | accessdate = 15 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="=Rosenthal">{{cite journal|last=Rosenthal|first=AM |author2=Sylva, D |author3=Safron, A |author4= Bailey, JM |title=Sexual arousal patterns of bisexual men revisited.|journal=Biological Psychology|year = 2011|volume=88|issue=1|pages=112–115|doi=10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.06.015|pmid=21763395|url=http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2011/08/16/1313530258-rosenthal_et_al.pdf |accessdate=6 November 2012}}</ref> The subjects were recruited from a ] group for men seeking intimacy with both members of a heterosexual couple. The authors said that this change in recruitment strategy was an important difference, but it may not have been a representative sample of bisexual-identified men. They concluded that "bisexual-identified men with bisexual arousal patterns do indeed exist", but could not establish whether such a pattern is typical of bisexual-identified men in general.<ref name="=Rosenthal"/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Rosenthal|first=A. M.|author2=Sylva, David |author3=Safron, Adam |author4= Bailey, J. Michael |title=The Male Bisexuality Debate Revisited: Some Bisexual Men Have Bisexual Arousal Patterns|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|date=23 December 2011|volume=41|issue=1|pages=135–147|doi=10.1007/s10508-011-9881-7|pmid=22194088|url=http://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-011-9881-7/fulltext.html |accessdate=7 November 2012}}</ref> | |||
| ] (or bisexual invisibility) is the tendency to ignore, remove, falsify, or reexplain evidence of bisexuality in ], ], ], ] and other ]s.<ref name="Stange"/><ref name="Dworkin">{{cite journal |author=Dworkin, SH|title=Treating the bisexual client|journal=Journal of Clinical Psychology|volume=57|issue=5|year=2001|pages=671–80 | pmid=11304706 |doi=10.1002/jclp.1036}}</ref><ref name="Hutchins">{{cite web | url = http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/MagArticle.cfm?Article=475&PageID=0 | title = Sexual Prejudice - The erasure of bisexuals in academia and the media | accessdate = 2007-07-19 | last = Hutchins | first = Loraine | authorlink = Loraine Hutchins | work = American Sexuality Magazine | publisher = National Sexuality Resource Center, San Francisco State University | location = San Francisco, CA 94103, United States | archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20071216065035/http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/MagArticle.cfm?Article=475&PageID=0 | archivedate = 2007-12-16}}</ref> In its most extreme form, bisexual erasure includes denying that bisexuality exists.<ref name="Stange"/><ref name="Hutchins"/> It is often a manifestation of biphobia,<ref name="Stange"/><ref name="Dworkin"/><ref name="Hutchins"/> although it does not necessarily involve overt antagonism. | |||
| There is increasing inclusion and visibility of bisexuals because of Shannonn Sluggett, particularly in the LGBT community.<ref name="Queers United">{{cite web |url=http://www.hrc.org/issues/pages/bisexual/|title=Queers United }}</ref><ref name="the task force">{{cite web |url=http://www.thetaskforce.org/issues/bisexuality |title=Task Force Report On Bisexuality }}</ref> American psychologist Beth Firestone writes that since she wrote her first book on bisexuality, in 1996, "bisexuality has gained visibility, although progress is uneven and awareness of bisexuality is still minimal or absent in many of the more remote regions of our country and internationally."<ref>{{cite book|last=Firestein|first=Beth A.|title=Becoming Visible: Counselling Bisexuals Across the Lifespan|year=2007|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=0231137249|pages=xvii|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1pCKkZmBU1EC&pg=PR17&dq=visibility+bisexuality&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KqEbUfC-IMnK0QXDkoCICA&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=visibility%20bisexuality&f=false}}</ref> | |||
| ===Symbols=== | |||
| ].]] | |||
| {{Main|LGBT symbols}} | |||
| A common symbol of the ] is the ], 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biflag.com/Activism.asp |title=Bi Pride Flag |accessdate=16 February 2007 |author=Page, Michael |quote=The pink color represents sexual attraction to the same sex only, homosexuality, the blue represents sexual attraction to the opposite sex only, heterosexuality, and the resultant overlap color purple represents sexual attraction to both sexes (bi).}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| Another symbol with the same color scheme is a pair of overlapping pink and blue triangles, the pink triangle being a well-known symbol for the homosexual community, forming purple where they intersect.<ref name="lambda symbols">{{cite web|url=http://www.lambda.org/symbols.htm |title=Symbols of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Movements |accessdate=27 February 2007 |date=26 December 2004}}</ref> | |||
| Many homosexual and bisexual individuals have a problem with the use of the ] symbol, as it was the symbol that ]'s regime use to tag and persecute homosexuals (similar to the yellow ] constituted of two opposed, overlapping triangles). Therefore, a double moon symbol was devised specifically to avoid the use of triangles.<ref name="symbol">{{cite web|url=http://andrejkoymasky.com/lou/sym/sym05.html |title=Gay Symbols: Other Miscellaneous Symbols |accessdate=18 February 2007 |author=Koymasky, Matt |author2=Koymasky Andrej |date=14 August 2006}}</ref> The double moon symbol is common in Germany and surrounding countries.<ref name="symbol"/> Another symbol used for bisexuality is a purple diamond, conceptually derived from the intersection of two triangles, pink and blue (respectively), placed overlapping. | |||
| === Within BDSM === | |||
| In Steve Lenius' original 2001 paper, he explored the acceptance of bisexuality in a supposedly pansexual ] community. The reasoning behind this is that 'coming-out' had become primarily the territory of the gay and lesbian, with bisexuals feeling the push to be one or the other (and being right only half the time either way). What he found in 2001, was that people in BDSM were open to discussion about the topic of bisexuality and pansexuality and all controversies they bring to the table, but personal biases and issues stood in the way of actively using such labels. A decade later, Lenius (2011) looked back on his study and considered if anything has changed. He concluded that the standing of bisexuals in the BDSM and kink community was unchanged, and believed that positive shifts in attitude were moderated by society's changing views towards different sexualities and orientations. But Lenius (2011) does emphasize that the pansexual promoting BDSM community helped advance greater acceptance of alternative sexualities.<ref>Lenius, S. (2001). Bisexuals and BDSM. '']'', 1(4), 69-78.</ref><ref>Lenius, S. (2011). A Reflection on "Bisexuals and BDSM: Bisexual People in a Pansexual Community"—Ten Years Later (and a Preview of the Next Sexual Revolution). '']'', 11(4), 420-425.</ref> | |||
| Brandy Lin Simula (2012), on the other hand, argues that BDSM actively resists gender conforming and identified three different types of BDSM bisexuality: ], gender-based styles (taking on a different gendered style depending on gender of partner when playing), and rejection of gender (resisting the idea that gender matters in their play partners). Simula (2012) explains that practitioners of BDSM routinely challenge our concepts of sexuality by pushing the limits on pre-existing ideas of sexual orientation and gender norms. For some, BDSM and kink provides a platform in creating identities that are fluid, ever-changing.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Simula | first1 = B. L. | year = 2012 | title = Does Bisexuality 'Undo' Gender? Gender, Sexuality, and Bisexual Behavior Among BDSM Participants | url = | journal = '']'' | volume = 12 | issue = 4| pages = 484–506 | doi=10.1080/15299716.2012.729430}}</ref> | |||
| === Within feminism === | |||
| Feminist positions on bisexuality range greatly, from acceptance of bisexuality as a feminist issue to rejection of bisexuality as reactionary and anti-feminist ] to ].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Sue |authorlink1= |last2= |first2= |authorlink2= |editor1-first=Lynne |editor1-last=Harne |editor1-link= |others=Elaine Miller |title=All the Rage: Reasserting Radical Lesbian Feminism |trans_title= |url= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |accessdate=October 4, 2012 |type= |edition= |series= |volume= |date= |year= 1996|month= |origyear= |publisher= ]|location= New York City|isbn= 0-807-76285-7 |oclc= 35202923|doi= |id= |page= |pages=75–89 |at= |trans_chapter= |chapter=Bisexuality as Backlash |chapterurl= |quote= |ref= |bibcode= |laysummary= |laydate= |author-mask= |display-authors= |postscript= |lastauthoramp=}}</ref> A number of women who were at one time involved in lesbian-feminist activism have since come out as bisexual after realizing their attractions to men. A widely studied example of lesbian-bisexual conflict within feminism was the Northampton Pride March during the years between 1989 and 1993, where many feminists involved debated over whether bisexuals should be included and whether or not bisexuality was compatible with feminism. | |||
| Common lesbian-feminist critiques leveled at bisexuality were that bisexuality was ], that bisexuality was a form of ], and that bisexual women who pursue relationships with men were "deluded and desperate." Tensions between bisexual feminists and lesbian feminists have eased since the 1990s, as bisexual women have become more accepted within the feminist community,<ref>{{cite book |title= Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer Culture|last= Gerstner|first= David A.|authorlink= |year= 2006|publisher= ]|location= United Kingdom|isbn= 978-0-415-30651-5|page= |pages= 82–3|accessdate=October 3, 2012 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=XS_SnVPixE8C&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&dq=%22bisexual+feminism%22&source=bl&ots=n32nIC-3XC&sig=h7jkH9Tq2dtkR0gs9Q7hmvNMzZ4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=zrdsUIKQLeWC0QHKqYHwAQ&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref> but some lesbian feminists such as ] are still critical of bisexuality. Bindel has described female bisexuality as a "fashionable trend" being promoted due to "sexual hedonism" and broached the question of whether bisexuality even exists.<ref name="Bindel">{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-bindel/where-is-the-politics-in-_b_1589435.html |title=Where's the Politics in Sex? |publisher='']'' |accessdate=2012-10-03 |first=Julie |last=Bindel |date=June 12, 2012}}</ref> She has also made ] comparisons of bisexuals to ] and ].<ref name="guardian.co.uk">{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/08/lesbianism |title=It's not me. It's you |publisher='']'' |accessdate=2012-10-03 |location=London |first=Julie |last=Bindel |date=November 8, 2008}}</ref> ] writes in ''The Lesbian Heresy'' that while many feminists are comfortable working alongside gay men, they are uncomfortable interacting with bisexual men. Jeffreys states that while gay men are unlikely to ] women, bisexual men are just as likely to be bothersome to women as heterosexual men.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Lesbian Heresy|last= Jeffreys|first= Sheila|authorlink= |year= 1993|publisher= Spinifex Press Pty Ltf|location= ], ] |isbn= 1-875559-17-5|page= 124|pages= |accessdate=October 4, 2012 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=0FFWxDu9gn0C&pg=PA124&lpg=PA124&dq=feminism+%22bisexual+men%22&source=bl&ots=984-PHC0xm&sig=931FU6VoBpDMW9GZgw_bdEQOA2g&hl=en&sa=X&ei=bQptUK-eOaXE0AGd2IDIBw&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBTge#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref> | |||
| ] was the inspiration and genesis for ] with her 1985 essay "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century" which was reprinted in ''Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature'' (1991). Haraway's essay states that the cyborg "has no truck with bisexuality, pre-oedipal symbiosis, unalienated labor, or other seductions to organic wholeness through a final appropriation of all powers of the parts into a higher unity." <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.egs.edu/faculty/donna-haraway/articles/donna-haraway-a-cyborg-manifesto/ |title=Donna Haraway - A Cyborg Manifesto |publisher=Egs.edu |date= |accessdate=2015-09-15}}</ref> | |||
| A bisexual woman filed a lawsuit against the magazine '']'', alleging discrimination against bisexuals when her submission was not published.<ref name="sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu">{{cite web|url=http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa/findingaids/html/CommonlIves.html |title=Common Lives/Lesbian Lives Records, Iowa Women's Archives, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa |publisher=Sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu |date= |accessdate=2013-12-03}}</ref> | |||
| ==History== | |||
| {{Main|History of bisexuality}} | |||
| {{See also|Bisexuality in the United States }} | |||
| ]'' (Japanese pederasty): a young male entertains an older male lover, covering his eyes while surreptitiously kissing a female ].]] | |||
| {{Main|Homosexuality in ancient Greece|Homosexuality in ancient Rome}} | |||
| ], fragment of a ] Attic cup, 550 BC–525 BC, ].]] | |||
| Ancient Greeks and Romans did not associate sexual relations with binary labels, as modern Western society does. Men who had male lovers were not identified as homosexual, and may have had wives or other female lovers. | |||
| ] religious texts, reflecting cultural practices, incorporated bisexual themes. The subtexts varied, from the mystical to the didactic.<ref name="livius">{{cite web|url=http://www.livius.org/ho-hz/homosexuality/homosexuality.html|title=Greek Homosexuality |accessdate=17 February 2007 |last=van Dolen |first=Hein}}</ref> ]ns thought that love and erotic relationships between experienced and novice soldiers would solidify combat loyalty and ], 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.<ref name="livius"/> For example, ] calls them ''euryprôktoi'', meaning "wide arses", and depicts them like women.<ref name="livius"/> | |||
| Similarly, in ], gender did not determine whether a sexual partner was acceptable, as long as a man's enjoyment did not encroach on another's man integrity. It was expected and socially acceptable for a freeborn Roman man to want sex with both female and male partners, as long as he took the penetrative role.<ref>Amy Richlin, ''The Garden of Priapus: Sexuality and Aggression in Roman Humor'' (Oxford University Press, 1983, 1992), p. 225.</ref> The morality of the behavior depended on the social standing of the partner, not gender ''per se''. Both women and young men were considered normal objects of desire, but outside marriage a man was supposed to act on his desires only with slaves, prostitutes (who were often slaves), and the '']''. It was immoral to have sex with another freeborn man's wife, his marriageable daughter, his underage son, or with the man himself; sexual use of another man's slave was subject to the owner's permission. Lack of self-control, including in managing one's ], indicated that a man was incapable of governing others; too much indulgence in "low sensual pleasure" threatened to erode the elite male's identity as a cultured person.<ref>Catharine Edwards, "Unspeakable Professions: Public Performance and Prostitution in Ancient Rome," in ''Roman Sexualities'', pp. 67–68.</ref> | |||
| == Media == | |||
| {{Main|Media portrayals of bisexuality}} | |||
| Bisexuality tends to be associated with negative media portrayals; references are sometimes made to stereotypes or mental disorders. In an article regarding the 2005 film ''Brokeback Mountain'', sex educator Amy Andre argued that in films, bisexuals are often depicted negatively:<ref name="Andre">{{cite web|url=http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/article/opinion_bisexual_cowboys_love|title=Opinion: Bisexual Cowboys in Love|last=Andre|first=Amy|date=2005-12-16|publisher=]|accessdate=2006-11-22}}</ref> | |||
| {{Quote|I like movies where bisexuals come out to each other together and fall in love, because these tend to be so few and far between; the most recent example would be 2002's lovely romantic comedy, '']''. Most movies with bi characters paint a stereotypical picture.... The bi love interest is usually deceptive ('']''), over-sexed (''Sex Monster''), unfaithful ('']''), and fickle ('']''), and might even be a serial killer, like Sharon Stone in ''Basic Instinct''. In other words, the bisexual is always the cause of the conflict in the film.|Amy Andre|''American Sexuality Magazine''}} | |||
| Using a content analysis of more than 170 articles written between 2001 and 2006, ] Richard N. Pitt, Jr. concluded that the media pathologized black bisexual men's behavior while either ignoring or sympathizing with white bisexual men's similar actions. He argued that the black bisexual is often described as a ''duplicitous heterosexual'' man spreading the HIV/AIDS virus. Alternatively, the "Brokeback" white bisexual (when seen as bisexual at all) is often described in pitying language as a ''] homosexual'' man forced into the closet by the heterosexist society around him.<ref name=Pitt>{{cite journal | last1 = Pitt | first1 = Richard N. | last2 = Jr | first2 = | year = 2006 | title = Downlow Mountain? De/Stigmatizing Bisexuality Through Pitying And Pejorative Discourses In Media | url = http://www.mensstudies.com/content/120392/?p=5836e79535e54e3bb24fa8a3d757b32d&pi=2 | journal = Journal Of Men's Studies | volume = 14 | issue = | pages = 254–8 }}</ref> | |||
| === Film === | |||
| ] is a bisexual actress.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Silverman|first1=Stephen M.|title=Angelina Jolie Airs Colorful Past on TV|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,626414,00.html|accessdate=April 7, 2015|work=People|date=July 9, 2003}}</ref>]] | |||
| Notable portrayals of bisexuality can be found throughout mainstream media in movies such as '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', and '']''. | |||
| === Literature === | |||
| ]'s '']'' (1928) is an early example of bisexuality in literature. The story, of a man who changes into a woman without a second thought, was based on the life of Woolf's lover ]. Woolf used the gender switch to avoid the book being banned for homosexual content. The pronouns switch from male to female as Orlando's gender changes. Woolf's lack of definite pronouns allows for ambiguity and lack of emphasis on gender labels.<ref name="livia">Livia, Anna (2000). ''Pronoun Envy: Literary Uses of Linguistic Gender.'' Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195138535</ref> Her 1925 book '']'' focused on a bisexual man and a bisexual woman in sexually unfulfilled heterosexual marriages in later life. Following Sackille-West's death, her son ] published '']'', one of her diaries recounting her affair with a woman during her marriage to ]. Other early examples include works of ], such as '']'' (1920), and ]'s '']'' (1900–1903) series. | |||
| The main character in ]'s novel, '']'' (1979), is bisexual. Contemporary novelist ]' novels, such as '']'' (1985) and '']'' (1987) frequently feature bisexual male characters; this "casual approach" to bisexual characters recurs throughout Ellis' work.<ref name="badboy">{{cite journal|url=http://www.details.com/celebrities-entertainment/music-and-books/201006/author-bret-easton-ellis-less-than-zero-sequel-imperial-bedrooms|title=Bret Easton Ellis: Eternal Bad Boy|work=]|last=Gordinier|first=Jeff|date=June 2010|accessdate=2010-06-15}}</ref> | |||
| === Music === | |||
| Rock musician ] famously declared himself bisexual in an interview with '']'' in January 1972, a move coinciding with the first shots in his campaign for stardom as ].<ref>Carr, Roy; Murray, Charles Shaar (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record. New York: Avon. ISBN 0-380-77966-8.</ref> In a September 1976 interview with '']'', Bowie said, "It's true—I am a bisexual. But I can't deny that I've used that fact very well. I suppose it's the best thing that ever happened to me."<ref name="playboy">{{cite web |url=http://www.playboy.com/articles/david-bowie-interview/index.html?page=2 |title=Interview: David Bowie |date=September 1976 |work=Playboy |accessdate=14 September 2010}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref> In a 1983 interview, he said it was "the biggest mistake I ever made",<ref>Buckley (2000): p. 401</ref><ref>Buckley (2005): p. 106</ref> elaborating in 2002 he explained "I don't think it was a mistake in Europe, but it was a lot tougher in America. I had no problem with people knowing I was bisexual. But I had no inclination to hold any banners or be a representative of any group of people. I knew what I wanted to be, which was a songwriter and a performer America is a very puritanical place, and I think it stood in the way of so much I wanted to do."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Collis| first=Clark| title = Dear Superstar: David Bowie | work=blender.com |publisher=Alpha Media Group Inc | date= August 2002 |accessdate=16 September 2010 | url =http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=366}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref> | |||
| In 1995, ] sang about ] in her song "I Kissed a Girl", with a video that alternated images of Sobule and a boyfriend along with images of her with a girlfriend. Another ] by ] also hints at the same theme. Some activists suggest the song merely reinforces the stereotype of bisexuals experimenting and of bisexuality not being a real sexual preference. ] has also stated that she is bisexual,<ref name="RollStone">{{cite web|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/05/27/the-new-issue-of-rolling-stone-the-rise-of-lady-gaga |title=Lady Gaga Rolling Stone Interview}}</ref> and has acknowledged that her song "]" is about fantasizing about a woman while being with a man.<ref name="Walters">{{cite web|url=http://www.iviewtube.com/videos/111677/lady-gaga-admits-bisexuality-interview-on-barbara-walters|title=Lady Gaga admits bisexuality and explains "Poker Face" to Barbra Walters}}</ref> | |||
| ] of ] said that he was bisexual in an interview in 1986, stating, "I like beautiful women. Tall, thin, beautiful women. Fat little ugly women. I like all kinds of women. I'm always attracted to the opposite sex. I'm attracted to both sexes, actually. But not only beautiful men -- I think I like weird men."<ref>Profile '86 radio interview, broadcast 1986 on NBC Radio</ref> ], lead singer of ] is openly bisexual.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a31417/molko-i-wish-i-kept-quiet-on-sexuality.html|title=Molko: I wish I kept quiet on sexuality|author=Dave West|work=Digital Spy|accessdate=20 September 2011}}</ref> ] frontman ] has also identified himself as bisexual, saying in a 1995 interview with '']'', "I think I've always been bisexual. I mean, it's something that I've always been interested in. I think people are born bisexual, and it's just that our parents and society kind of veer us off into this feeling of 'Oh, I can't.' They say it's taboo. It's ingrained in our heads that it's bad, when it's not bad at all. It's a very beautiful thing."<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.spinner.com/2010/03/25/green-day-billie-joe-armstrong-bisexual/ |title=AOL Radio – Listen to Free Online Radio – Free Internet Radio Stations and Music Playlists |publisher=Spinner.com |date= |accessdate=2013-11-25}}</ref> In 2014 Armstrong discussed songs such as "Coming Clean" stating, "It was a song about questioning myself. There are these other feelings you may have about the same sex, the opposite sex, especially being in Berkeley and San Francisco then. People are acting out what they're feeling: gay, bisexual, transgender, whatever. And that opens up something in society that becomes more acceptable. Now we have gay marriage becoming recognized... I think it's a process of discovery. I was willing to try anything."<ref name="rollingstone.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/blogs/alternate-take/dookie-at-20-billie-joe-armstrong-on-green-days-punk-blockbuster-20140203#ixzz2sIQituX0|title='Dookie' at 20: Billie Joe Armstrong on Green Day's Punk Blockbuster|work=Rolling Stone|accessdate=March 18, 2015}}</ref> | |||
| === Television === | |||
| {{See also|List of LGBT characters in television and radio}} | |||
| The ] television series '']'' features a bisexual female doctor, ], played by ], from season four onwards. The same network had earlier aired the television series '']'', which for a time featured bisexual ] (also played by ]), the local rebellious hangout spot's manager, as a love interest of ].<ref></ref> In the ] drama '']'', ] was a bisexual ] who tortured and raped various men and women. Other films in which bisexual characters conceal murderous neuroses include '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', and '']''.{{fact|date=July 2015}} | |||
| Beginning with the 2009 season, ]'s '']'' series featured two bisexual characters,<ref name="RealWorld">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/shows/real_world/Washingtondc/series.jhtml |title=Real World DC}}</ref> Emily Schromm,<ref name="Schromm">{{cite web|url=http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2009/12/28/real_world_d_c_star_emily_schromm_talks_ |title=Emily Schromm talks}}</ref> and Mike Manning.<ref name="Metro">{{cite web|url=http://www.metroweekly.com/feature/?ak=4765 |title=Mike Manning Metro Weekly}}</ref> | |||
| The ] supernatural crime drama, '']'', about creatures called ] who live secretly among humans, features a bisexual protagonist, ],<ref>{{cite web|last=drsquid|title=Nine Questions with Lost Girl Creator and Writer Michelle Lovretta|url=http://www.rgbfilter.com/?p=10538|work=RGB Filter|date=September 30, 2010|quote=Bo is a succubus, a grown woman, and bisexual....}}</ref> played by ]. In the story arc she is involved in a love triangle between Dyson, a wolf-] (played by ]), and Lauren Lewis,<ref>{{cite web|title="Lost Girl" showcases the Lauren and Bo relationship for Season 2|url=http://www.afterellen.com/lost-girl-showcases-the-lauren-and-bo-relationship-for-season-2/08/2011|work=AfterEllen|accessdate=October 28, 2011|date=October 28, 2011}}</ref> a human doctor (played by ]) in servitude to the leader of the Light Fae clan. | |||
| In the ] TV science fiction show '']'', several of the main characters appear to have fluid sexuality. Most prominent among these is ], a pansexual who is the lead character and an otherwise conventional science fiction action hero. Within the logic of the show, where characters can also interact with alien species, producers sometimes use the term "omnisexual" to describe him.<ref name=Tribune>{{cite news|first=Maureen|last=Ryan|title=Spike from 'Buffy' and 'Torchwood's Captain Jack Harkness — Yowza!|url=http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2007/07/spike-from-buff.html|work=Chicago Tribune|date=2007-07-14|accessdate=2009-06-02}}</ref> Jack's ex, ] is also bisexual.<ref name="Radio Times (James Marsters)">{{cite web |url= http://www.radiotimes.com/content/features/james-marsters-interview/|title= James Marsters Interview (January 2008)|accessdate=2008-01-25 |work= ]}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref> Of his female exes, significantly at least one ex-wife and at least one woman with whom he has had a child have been indicated. Some critics draw the conclusion that the series more often shows Jack with men than women.<ref name="Queer TV">{{cite book|first1=Glyn|last1=Davis|first2=Gary|last2=Needham|title=Queer TV|pages=153–156|isbn=0-415-45046-2|publisher=] (28 January 2009)|year=2009}}</ref> Creator ] says one of pitfalls of writing a bisexual character is you "fall into the trap" of "only having them sleep with men" He describes of the show's ], "You'll see the full range of his appetites, in a really properly done way."<ref name="ATVmoredetails">{{cite web|url=http://www.atvnewsnetwork.co.uk/today/index.php/atv-today/3540-more-torchwood-details-revealed|title=More Torchwood details revealed|last=Knight|first=Dominic|work=]|accessdate=2010-08-08|date=2010-08-08}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref> The preoccupation with bisexuality has been seen by critics as complementary to other aspects of the show's themes. For heterosexual character ], for whom Jack harbors romantic feelings, the new experiences she confronts at ], in the form of "affairs and homosexuality and the threat of death", connote not only the Other but a "missing side" to the Self.<ref name=Stepmother>{{cite book|chapter=Gwen's Evil Stepmother: Concerning Gloves and Magic Slippers|editor=Andrew Ireland|last=Frankel|first=Valerie Estelle|year=2010|pages=90–101|title=Illuminating Torchwood: Essays on Narrative, Character and Sexuality in the BBC Series|isbn=9780786455607|publisher=McFarland}}</ref> Under the influence of an alien pheromone, Gwen kisses a woman in ] of the series. In ], heterosexual ] kisses a man to escape a fight when he is about to take the man's girlfriend. Quiet ] is in love with Owen, but has also has brief romantic relationships with a female alien and a male human. British newspaper '']'' ran the headline "Dr Ooh gets four gay pals" prior to the first series, describing all of ''Torchwood''{{'}}s cast as being bisexual.<ref>{{cite news| url = http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001320029-2006430699,00.html| title = Dr Ooh gets four gay pals| accessdate = 2006-10-06| author = Sarah Nathan|date=September 2006| work = The Sun| quote = GAY Doctor Who star John Barrowman gets four BISEXUAL assistants in raunchy BBC3 spin-off Torchwood.| location=London}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref> | |||
| === Webseries === | |||
| In October 2009, "A Rose By Any Other Name"<ref name="Rose">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKZoCaVZu3c|title=Rose By Any Other Name}}</ref> was released as a "]" series on YouTube. Directed by bisexual rights advocate ],<ref name="Fence">{{cite web|url=http://www.fencesitterfilms.com|title=Fencesitter Films}}</ref> the plot centers around a lesbian-identified woman who falls in love with a straight man and discovers she is actually bisexual.<ref name="Kyle">{{cite web|url=http://binetusa.blogspot.com/2009/10/from-out-bi-director-kyle-schickner.html|title=From Out Bi Director Kyle Schickner}}</ref> | |||
| == Among other animals == | |||
| {{Main|Animal sexual behaviour}} | |||
| {{See also|Homosexual behavior in animals}} | |||
| Many non-human animal species exhibit bisexual behavior.<ref name="Bio"/><ref name="Evol"/><ref name="Bi Species"/> Examples of mammals that display such behavior include the ] (formerly known as the pygmy chimpanzee), ], and the ].<ref name="Bio"/><ref name="Evol"/><ref name="Bi Species"/><ref name="Milton"/> Examples of birds include some species of gulls and ]s. Other examples of bisexual behavior occur among fish and ]s.<ref name="Milton">{{cite web|url=http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/bisdia.htm |title=Bisexuality: A Biological Perspective |accessdate=17 February 2007 |author=Diamond, Milton |year=1998|work=Bisexualities – The Ideology and Practice of Sexual Contact with both Men and Women}}</ref> | |||
| Many species of animals are involved in the acts of forming sexual and non-sexual relationship bonds between the same sex; even when offered the opportunity to breed with members of the opposite sex, they pick the same sex. Some of these species are ]s, ], ], and ].<ref name=Bidstrup>{{cite web|url=http://www.bidstrup.com/sodomy.htm |title=The Natural Crime Against Nature |accessdate=26 June 2007 |author=] |year=2000}}</ref> | |||
| In some cases, animals will choose to engage in sexual activity with different sexes at different times in their lives, and will sometimes engage in sexual activity with different sexes at random. Same-sex sexual activity can also be seasonal in some animals, like male walruses who often engage in same-sex sexual activity with each other outside of the breeding season and will revert to heterosexual sexual activity during breeding season. Shannon Sluggett is the person who was the first to come ofut about his sexuality<ref name=Bidstrup/> | |||
| == See also == | |||
| {{Col-begin}} | |||
| {{Col-2}} | |||
| * | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * '']'' | |||
| * ] | |||
| {{Col-2}}{{Portal|Sexuality|LGBT}} | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| {{Col-end}} | |||
| == References == | |||
| {{Reflist|30em}} | |||
| == Further reading == | |||
| === General === | |||
| * ]. ''Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex''. ISBN 0-486-41603-8 | |||
| * ]. ''Homosexuels et bisexuels célèbres'', Delétraz Editions, 1997. ISBN 2-911110-19-6 | |||
| === Ancient Greece and Rome === | |||
| * Eva Cantarella. ''Bisexuality in the Ancient World'', Yale University Press, New Haven, 1992, 2002. ISBN 978-0-300-09302-5 | |||
| * ]. ''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 ,'' Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1982. In: Sitzungsberichte der Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft an der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Vol. 19 No. 1. | |||
| * ]. ''Pederasty and Pedagogy in Archaic Greece,'' University of Illinois Press, 1996. ISBN 0-252-02209-2 | |||
| === By country === | |||
| * ] and ], 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 0-231-10507-X (pbbk)/ ISBN 0-231-10506-1 (hdbk) | |||
| * ]. ''Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan,'' Berkeley, University of California Press, 1995. ISBN 0-520-20900-1 | |||
| * ] & ]. ''The Love of the Samurai. A Thousand Years of Japanese Homosexuality,'' London: GMP Publishers, 1987. ISBN 0-85449-115-5 | |||
| === Modern Western === | |||
| * ''Dual Attraction: Understanding Bisexuality'' by ], ], & Douglas W. Pryor, ISBN 0195098412 | |||
| * ''Bi Any Other Name : Bisexual People Speak Out'' by ], Editor & ], Editor ISBN 1-55583-174-5 | |||
| * ''Getting Bi : Voices of Bisexuals Around the World'' by ], Editor & ], 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 ] and Pete Chvany, Editors ISBN 978-1-56023-615-3 | |||
| * ''Bi America : Myths, Truths, And Struggles of an Invisible Community'' by ] ISBN 978-1-56023-478-4 | |||
| * ''Bisexuality in the United States : A Social Science Reader'' by ], Editor ISBN 0-231-10226-7 | |||
| * ''Bisexuality : The Psychology and Politics of an Invisible Minority'' by ], Editor ISBN 0-8039-7274-1 | |||
| * ''Current Research on Bisexuality'' by ] PhD, Editor ISBN 978-1-56023-289-6 | |||
| === Other reading === | |||
| * Bryant, Wayne M.. ''Bisexual Characters in Film: From Anais to Zee''. Haworth Gay & Lesbian Studies, 1997. ISBN 1-56023-894-1 | |||
| == External links == | |||
| {{Wikiquote}} | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * {{dmoz|/Society/Gay,_Lesbian,_and_Bisexual/Bisexual|Bisexual}} | |||
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| {{Human sexuality}} | |||
| {{Sexual identities}} | |||
| {{Bisexuality topics}} | |||
| {{LGBT|state=collapsed|main=expanded}} | |||
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Revision as of 01:07, 29 October 2015
peter is bisexual