Are Bisexuals a Valid Sexual Orientation or a Myth?

[fuzzyfelt]

oh, no offense taken. I am still just trying to work out a thoughtful reply to your post. I also just got back in town last night -- and speaking of, I read something interesting in Discover magazine while I was on the train coming back. It was about research into genes and homosexuality and theories about what evolutionary purpose homosexuality might serve. I thought about you when I was reading it. I should go dig it out of my bag.

thanks, and yes, just thought that may be another of many purposes.

 

[fuzzyfelt]

What you mention, domination in society, seems like more of a cultural than a biological thing, and it strikes me that ideas about masculinity and its importance might be what keeps some men from considering homosexuality or causes them to be repulsed by it.

There's a sociologist, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kimmel" , who studies masculinity and is pretty entertaining. He seems to be somewhat popular (as sociologists go, haha), so it's easy to find his work, talks, etc.

I've seen arildno mention things like that, homosexuals taking care of children and such.

Very interesting, thanks!

 

[raolduke]

The intention of sex is whatever the individuals involved decide it is. Creating offspring is an effect of the action, not the cause of it. Would be funny if it was. Oops, I just had another child. Damn me, my deviant mind and my empty wallet.

It’s funny that people, I am not typing that there is anyone on this forum, argue that there are definites and absolutes but then try to say that definitions are subjective.

The word bi-sexual exists and I thought it meant one who enjoys or takes part in sexual acts/experiences/preference of both male and female. How doesn't a bi-sexual exist then?

 

[Huckleberry]

It’s funny that people, I am not typing that there is anyone on this forum, argue that there are definites and absolutes but then try to say that definitions are subjective.

I'm not sure what the context for using my quote here is, but what you have stated is sometimes the way I see it. I don't see any logical paradox in that statement or any other combination of absolute and relative definitions and ideas. I see no reason to assume that the definition and the idea it is defining have any relation. I don't know that my thoughts and the thoughts of others are an acurate representation of what actually exists. The strength of the definition is in how widely agreed upon it is to the idea it represents. When two people can look at the same thing and perceive something completely different, has the idea they are trying to describe changed, or have the definitions they are using to describe the idea changed? I believe that either case could be true or false.

I would rather try to undersand someone elses concept of a thing and make an argument in their terms. It's difficult to argue about a thing if people can't agree how to define what it is.

 

[raolduke]

The most widely accepted statement is truth?
Consensus, conformity, causalities?

A word to the wise is infuriating

My problem with some people is when they try to examine things in a scientific manner and they don't put any consideration into allusion or abstraction.

While we're on the subject
Could we change the subject now?

 

[lets_pretend]

Personally, I think in terms of sexuality there is a big "spectrum" or scale per say, where people fall. One end would be "perfectly" heterosexual and the other end would be "perfectly" homosexual. Different people would fall all over on the spectrum. You might be attracted to mostly males your entire life and have one or two crushes on a woman, if you are a woman this would put you near the heterosexual end but not completely there. I think there isn't any black and white, but everyone is different.

 

[matthyaouw]

I just found this article, which may be referring to the study the opening post mentioned:
click me

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

I have a friend who claims to be bisexual. He's quite obsessed with a large cleavage and has an incomprehensible amount of straight porn, he'll be glad when I out him has heterosexual I'm sure and will cease to pursue relationships with men.

Of course I think they exist whether the attraction tends to be mainly to women in the brain or men is beside the point, a heterosexual could not reasonably bring themselves to sleep with the same sex any more than a homosexual could bring themselves to sleep with the opposite sex, yeah they may do it probably when drunk or on a whim but it's not something they seek to repeat on a regular basis, unless they are bisexual, there's a point there no? I believe in the Kinsey scale, whether it's refuted or not patently anecdotal evidence is important in this case and sexuality is clearly a lot more complex than the lab tests would indicate.

 

[0TheSwerve0]

Based on the studies, I'd say biologically, men are either straight or gay. But, our culture sexualizes women so much that perhaps they are also trained to see women as sexual objects and so often automatically behave accordingly.