Bisexuality is a sexual orientation that is interested in both men and women. For some, this may sound like a super-ability – a double romantic choice means a double chance, right? But in reality, bisexuality can be regarded as a bit embarrassing identity. Bisexuals are not “straight”, so it is difficult to think that they are in the sexual aspects of the majority. On the other hand, they are often considered heterosexual, especially when they have heterosexual partners, which sometimes make it difficult for them to feel connected with the LGBT community.
Above all, bisexuality is susceptible to serious misunderstandings. There are many rumors and prejudices surrounding this bisexual, some of which are even contradictory. Heterosexuals and LGBT people may hold these stereotypes, which adds to the difficulty of integration into the two groups. Fortunately, in recent years, more and more researchers have become interested in bisexuality, and research has improved our understanding of bisexuality. Here are three examples of how science fights misconceptions about bisexuality:
Gossip 1: bisexuality does not exist
I think this rumor is particularly ridiculous: how can you say to a group of people that they do not exist? But the idea that everyone is heterosexual or homosexual is widespread, especially among men. Frustratingly, even in the most tolerant circles of LGBT, you can hear “there is no bisexual male” sometimes.
In a recent study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, researchers have completely overturned this rumor. They brought together heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual men, for them to play multiple pornographic movie clips. Subjects were asked not only to assess the subjective sensations they were evoked by these fragments, but also to connect physiological devices to measure changes in their penile perimeter (sexual excitement).
As expected, heterosexual men watched women’s films with much higher subjective and sexual arousal than men who watched men’s films. Gay men were the opposite. Bisexual men, however, are relatively close to being evoked by male and female images. They were bisexual video (two male and one female starred in the video) to arouse the degree higher than the other two groups. Importantly, these differences are also reflected in their own reports of arousal and fairly objective data on sexual excitement. Therefore, it is clear from this study that these people are not “pretending” bisexuality.
Gossip 2: Bisexuality is just one stage
This rumor portrays bisexuality as an experimental or confusing state – usually during college. Bisexuality will then determine their “true” status (or decide whether they are straight or not).
Lisa Diamond carried out some very complicated work on the subject, during which she observed women’s gender identity for a long time. In a paper published in Developmental Psychology, Dr. Diamond reports on a group of women who have been watching for more than a decade.
The findings unequivocally show that bisexuality is not a transitional stage: only a small number of females who were bisexual at the time of adolescence changed their position to heterosexual or homosexual (only 8%) at the end of the study. However, bisexual women tend to change over time. During the ten-year research cycle, their interest in gender has been on a constant shift.
Rumors 3: Bisexuals are not loyal to their partner
This rumor is probably the most vicious. It is derived from a partner can’t fully meet the gender interests of people who are interested in the idea. Some people feel that they will sooner or later desire different people with their partners. For example, people tend to believe that bisexuals are more likely to deceive their partners than heterosexual and gay people.
In fact, many bisexuals have a happy one-to-one relationship with their partner. For example, Dr. Diamond’s decade-long study ended with 89% of bisexual women in long-term, single-spouse relationships. Moreover, for bisexuals who wish to have multiple sexual partners, research has shown that they tend to achieve this goal by negotiating an open relationship with their partner, rather than acting privately around their partner. I can’t find any research to support bisexuals than other sexual orientation of people who are not loyal or honest ideas.
All in all, the future of bisexual research, which is still small and growing, is bright. It not only dispelled a lot of rumors and misunderstandings surrounding bisexuality, but also provided an interesting insight into the general sexual activity. Unlike other sources such as pop culture or media, bisexuality is a relatively stable and lasting feature of sexuality. More research is needed to gain a more thorough understanding of the similarities between bisexuality and homosexuality (that is, heterosexuality and homosexuality), and perhaps uniqueness.