Bisexual Men Actually Exist

Saya · 08-23-2011, 10:19 PM

Quote:

While stereotypes (and previous science) claimed bisexual men are just closeted gays, a new study conducted by Northwestern University offers evidence that male bisexuality actually does exist.

After Northwestern's 2005 study that concluded "with respect to sexual arousal and attraction, it remains to be shown that male bisexuality exists," researchers were much more selective about participants.

In the new study, researchers looked at 100 men who claimed to have sexual experiences with at least two people of each sex and a romantic relationship of at least three months with a person of each sex (as opposed to men in the 2005 study, who were recruited through advertisements in various gay and alternative publications and identified as heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual based on responses to a basic questionnaire.)

In both studies men watched videos of both male and female same-sex intimacy while their sexual response was monitored.

The results showed that while bisexual men responded to both male and female videos, gay and straight men did not.

"Someone who is bisexual might say, 'Well, duh!'" lead study author Allen Rosenthal, a doctoral student in psychology at Northwestern, told The New York Times. "But this will be validating to a lot of bisexual men who had heard about the earlier work and felt that scientists weren't getting them."

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_N...,_Study_Shows/

There's a documentary called Bi The Way in which they talked about the original study, it made me grind my teeth a bit, not the study but how a lot of people, including some gay people (COUGHDanSavageCOUGH) were holding it up as ultimate proof that bi men are just closeted gay men.

So suck it, Mr Savage.

Alan · 08-23-2011, 10:34 PM

This is news?

Saya · 08-23-2011, 10:38 PM

I'm sad to say, to a lot of people, yes.

There's a reason that I don't say I'm bisexual, personally, and I think I'd have it worse if I was a guy.

Vince · 08-23-2011, 10:52 PM

In other news, a recent university study concluded that some men actually can't grow hair on their heads. Yes...unintentional bald men do exist.

seriously though...it took a university study to come up with that? And...why?

Despanan · 08-23-2011, 11:10 PM

I love that they did a boner study.

Like one scientist said to the other: "WATCH that man's boner and then tell me how big it is!"

And then the other scientist was like "umm..."

and the first guy was like: "WATCH IT LIKE A HAWK!!!"

Grausamkeit · 08-27-2011, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan

This is news?

My thoughts exactly. This is news to whom, people living under rocks? People in denial that there are more than two sexualities? It is only 'news' to narrow-minded wankers.

I can see the next headline:

WOMEN REALLY DO ORGASM!

Men still in shock!

Why are people wasting time on this instead of AIDS research, cancer prevention/cures, helping people with disabilities, feeding the hungry? It should be a no-brainer to society at large that there are more than just gay or straight.

Saya · 08-27-2011, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Despanan

I love that they did a boner study.

Like one scientist said to the other: "WATCH that man's boner and then tell me how big it is!"

And then the other scientist was like "umm..."

and the first guy was like: "WATCH IT LIKE A HAWK!!!"

Oh, it was better than that. They put a rubber band (it wasn't really rubber though, I think there was mercury in the inside?) attached to some wires around the dick, and measured boner growth that way.

Ben Lahnger · 08-27-2011, 08:14 AM

THERE WAZ A BONER GROWTH STUDEE?!?!

No kidding.

I'm with everyone else ... why is this news?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grausamkeit

WOMEN REALLY DO ORGASM!

Men still in shock!

Actually, that was the results of a recent archeological expedition.

RARE REAL FEMALE ORGASM DISCOVERED IN THE WILD!

Men still debating whether they are necessary.

I'm always suspect of these kinds of surveys. They go to elaborate lengths to establish what a) basically most people already know to be true and b) some bigots or arch-conservative people speak vocally against. When the survey results are published, not much changes.

MissCheyenne · 09-03-2011, 06:36 AM

You know, I always thought the term 'fluid sexuality' was more fitting than 'bi'. I know people who have been straight their entire lives and then out of the blue, fallen for someone of the same sex. It doesn't matter who you love, all that matters is that you love.

MissCheyenne · 09-03-2011, 06:46 AM

Double post!

Just realised how much what I wrote above sounds like the plotline to Chasing Amy. It's still true though, some of the happiest people are know are those who refuse to be defined by who they choose to fuck.

Grausamkeit · 09-03-2011, 08:09 AM

I agree, MissC, but most of the world doesn't understand 'fluid sexuality' or 'polyamory' so it's easier, depending on where you live, to just say 'bi'.

MissCheyenne · 09-03-2011, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissCheyenne

You know, I always thought the term 'fluid sexuality' was more fitting than 'bi'. I know people who have been straight their entire lives and then out of the blue, fallen for someone of the same sex *and people who have been gay all their lives and suddenly found themselves wanting to be with someone of the opposite sex*. It doesn't matter who you love, all that matters is that you love.

I missed a bit out of my first post, I fixed it. Sorry, I'm surviving on less than 3 hours sleep a night at the minute so I forget things and get confused easily.

Solumina · 09-03-2011, 09:42 AM

Being bi and having fluid sexuality aren't really the same thing and I don't like the terms being used interchangeably, people who are bisexual can have just as crystallized sexual orientation as those who are gay or straight.

MissCheyenne · 09-04-2011, 08:50 AM

Maybe you're right Sol, I don't know. I can only speak from the experience I've had seeing how people I know behave and choose to define themselves and they always seemed to better fit the term fluid rather than bi but I can appreciate that maybe it isn't the right definition for everyone.

Ben Lahnger · 09-05-2011, 01:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissCheyenne

Maybe you're right Sol, I don't know. I can only speak from the experience I've had seeing how people I know behave and choose to define themselves and they always seemed to better fit the term fluid rather than bi but I can appreciate that maybe it isn't the right definition for everyone.

Maybe you're just thinking with your e-dick.

MissCheyenne · 09-05-2011, 02:26 AM

Ben, don't spend too long looking at my e-dick. It'll have your eye out if it catches you staring

Ben Lahnger · 09-05-2011, 05:44 AM

.

Ralphie: No! No! I want a raging hard e-dick like MissCheyenne!

.

Santa Claus: You'll shoot your eye out, kid.

.

Saya · 09-06-2011, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissCheyenne

Maybe you're right Sol, I don't know. I can only speak from the experience I've had seeing how people I know behave and choose to define themselves and they always seemed to better fit the term fluid rather than bi but I can appreciate that maybe it isn't the right definition for everyone.

I don't think a whole lot of people get the idea about fluid sexuality. You're one thing or the other and that's it!

Also, some people say they're bisexual just because everyone knows the term and they don't want to have to explain themselves all the time. A friend of mine identifies as pansexual but finds its a little annoying sometimes to explain what that means, so she'll say "bisexual" if she doesn't want to get into it.

Personally, I came out as bi when I graduated high school, but the reaction I got from the friends I came out to was mostly bad, so I stopped saying it. I'm not sure now whether its the right term anyway, so I usually say I'm queer and leave it at that.

Apathy's_Child · 09-06-2011, 08:27 AM

Maybe I'm coming at this wrong, but isn't that kinda splitting hairs? I mean, straights don't hanker after ALL members of the opposite sex, or gays for all members of the same... unless you'll hump anything that moves, it's usually about the person themselves...

Saya · 09-06-2011, 08:49 AM

Its not always easy. For me the bi- part seems to me to simply say you're attracted to both men and women, but there's a whole lot of people who are neither who a lot of people can find attractive.

I also think a lot of people have internalized homophobia, like girls who are probably bisexual but just say they find girls sexually attractive but only want relationships with men. Honest to god, the most biphobia I encountered when I used the term was from a girl who said I wasn't slutty enough to be bi, and she's bisexual herself. She did love a girl but didn't pursue it past a few sexual encounters, even though the other girl was head over heels for her, because she seems to think that relationships with women are less valid than relationships with men. I see things on tv all the time that are like "I used to be bisexual when I was young and experimenting, but I'm straight now," or my favourite, for an interview with Margaret Cho, "how Cho stays bisexual while being married to a man."

So, yeah, sometimes finding a label for your sexuality is sometimes splitting hairs, but other times its confusing for the person and says a lot about society.

Solumina · 09-06-2011, 10:17 AM

One of the other issues is that most women go through a period of fluid sexuality, no one seems to know why this happens but around their mid-teens girls who had previously identified as straight are highly likely to find themselves also interested in women and then around their early twenties this attraction to girls fades away and they go back to only (or at least primarily) being attracted to men, which leads to a lot of people viewing bisexuality as just being a phase and not a valid sexual orientation, even for those who are accepting of this "phase" it is viewed as something fun to experiment with but where actual relationships are stupid, which is rather frustrating for those of us who always have been and most likely always will be attracted to men and woman.

Saya · 09-06-2011, 12:07 PM

Do you have an academic source for that? I'm a little skeptical to be honest, for the internalized homophobia reason, and also I know that lesbians come out later than gay men, and according to one study, fluidity might not kick in until later in life, not the teen years: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/s...ey-mature.html (headline sucks ass I know). Other than that google wouldn't give me much more info, except on Scholar but the book it gave me was saying that sexual fluidity is dangerous. Its kinda old I think.

I really doubt that women's sexuality is less concrete than men, but its pretty recent that women report more same sex experiences than men, and I really think its because since, you know, two girls making out is hot (and they don't get into relationships, its just a phase), its far more okay than a guy and his best friend making out just to see if they like it.

Solumina · 09-06-2011, 04:38 PM

We went over it in my human sexuality class (and I think the psychology of gender) and I'm pretty sure that I still have the text book, I'll pull it out when I get home.

Saya · 09-06-2011, 06:12 PM

We didn't learn about it in our psychology of gender course, but our course acknowledges that its very poorly studied so far so pretty much there's a disclaimer in the last chapter that says "and this could all very well be bullshit, there's a good chance its all social constructs." I found the study of sexual fluidity in the journal it was published, and the author says female bisexual is horrendously understudied. The author found that while women do change their labels, few who do end up identifying as either gay or straight, most identify in the end as bisexual or "unlabeled", which I get. She also found that the ratio of gay sex to heterosex tends to decline with age, but again I think a lot of people have the idea that its fine to fuck around when you're young, but you're going to settle down and have babies with a man, right? Regardless, I don't think who you are changes based on who you sleep with.

Versus · 09-07-2011, 03:49 AM

I bone a dude about once every year just to make sure I still don't like it at all. Nothing wrong about that.

I thought the "people are more bisexual then they are willing to admit" idea that Saya had was interesting. It would explain why same sex pairings were more common in the past, but seemed to decline regionally.