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A bisexual is a person who is physically and mentally attracted to both genders. Both a woman and a man can be bisexual, and bisexuality itself is, next to heterosexuality and homosexuality, one of the psychosexual orientations. Many myths have arisen around being bisexual: that bisexuals are actually indecisive, that they like to jump from flower to flower, that they can't give up on anything. Read who is bisexual and how to recognize bisexuality.
bisexual: who is he?
Bisexual- this term is a combination of two words: Greek "bi", meaning "oboje", and Latin "sexualis", meaning "sexual". A bisexual is sexually attracted to representatives of both genders, but, it is worth emphasizing, it is not about sex itself - a bisexual person can create a lasting relationship with a woman or a man - just like homosexuals create relationships with people of the same sex, and heterosexuals - with people of the sexes the opposite.
A bisexual is not a person who cannot decide whether to be in a relationship with a woman or a man. He also does not want to use the "once a girl, once a boy" option, he does not create a relationship with two people of different sexes at the same time - he / she just likes both men and women. However, he may feel more attracted to one of the sexes. It is worth remembering not to confuse bisexuality as orientation with bisexual episodes - resulting from curiosity or the willingness to experiment with short-term relationships in which homosexual or heterosexual people have been involved.
Moreover, the fact that, for example, a woman who describes herself as bisexual is in a long relationship with a man does not mean that she has "become" heterosexual. The same would be true of her relationship with another woman - although society describes her as heterosexual in the former and lesbian in the latter, she is still bisexual.
Bisexuality: how to recognize?
Recognizing bisexuality is not the easiest thing to do. The "National He alth Statistics Reports"1published in 2011 in the United States shows that 11.2% of Americans and 6% of Americans declare that they have also had sex with the same person gender. Meanwhile, the percentage of bisexual people in American society is much lower. It is something elsebecause the homosexual episode in his biography, and being bisexual person something else. The authors of the report "How many people are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender"2cite a plethora of studies with mixed results. In a study conducted in 2004-2005, 0.7% of participants identified themselves as bisexual, another study - from 2006-2008 - said 2.3% of bisexuals, another - in 2009 - 1.4% of bisexuals, and the study from 2010 - by 0.5% bi. However, it is usually assumed that the total number of non-heterosexual people is around 5% not only in the United States, but in every other country of the world, and bisexuals account for half or close to half of them, or about 2-2.5% of the population.
On September 23, the Bisexual Dignity Day is celebrated.
The difference between people declaring sexual contact with a person of the same sex and a bisexual is huge. Bisexuality is an orientation, and therefore a permanent element of the identity of a given person and something completely different than experimenting, often in adolescence and often drinking or simply out of curiosity. We talk about bisexuality when, after the first sexual contacts, attempts to establish a relationship with representatives of both sexes, a person finds that he is able to be in a relationship with both a man and a woman. However, here again there are complications - because you can be a bisexual person equally directed at representatives of both sexes, or more homosexual or heterosexual. Partners of bisexual persons, if they know about their partner's / partner's orientation, often fear that he / she is with them temporarily, i.e. if a bisexual person forms a relationship with a woman, she may be afraid that her partner will eventually choose "easier "that is, a heterosexual relationship, while a bisexual partner may perceive a threat in the women around her. Why? Because theoretically, it may lack the feminine or the masculine element. However, this is not the case - for a bisexual person, his / her personality is more important than the sex of a partner. For him, the change of partner is associated with a personality mismatch, and not with the gender of the chosen one.
So what could be evidence of bisexuality? Certainly not a one-time adventure with a person of the same sex. If, on the other hand, this contact has resulted in a deeper relationship or awareness that you want to try more, more often, with other representatives of your gender, this may indicate bisexuality. Just like the theoretical possibility of staying in a relationship - living together, dealing with everyday matters, etc. - not only with a representative of the opposite, but also thesame sex.
It is worth adding that adults often discover their bisexuality, because it is more difficult to declare one's interest in both sexes than for one of them.
Are women more bisexual than men?
It is popular to say that women are more likely to enter into a relationship with another woman than men are with other men. Research proves that… there is a grain of truth in it. Dr. Gerulf Rieger of the University of Essex even stated that no woman is really heterosexual3 . The scientist conducted a study in which 345 women of different education, views and professional position took part. It turned out that each of the volunteers developed sexual arousal on a similar level when she saw a photo of an attractive woman and an attractive man. The exception was lesbians who were not excited at the sight of a man. Before the study, 72% of women identified themselves as heterosexual, but as many as 82% of all participants showed physiological responses to both sexes. In turn, the study of prof. Elizabeth Morgan of Boise Satte University4proves that of the 454 heterosexual women participating in the study, 60% felt sexual attraction towards another woman, and 50% had erotic fantasies involving their female representatives. gender. Women are also much more "sympathetic" to the hypothetical possibility of having a sexual relationship with a woman than men - the latter usually strongly adhere to their heterosexual or homosexual "position". Even Sigmund Freud himself claimed that women are inherently bisexual, and that social demands make people lose this "bisexual".
The researchers also emphasize that women attach less importance to appearance and gender than men, and more to feelings, emotions and shared experiences. It is worth adding, however, that most studies of this affectivity and emotionality do not take into account at all - it is based mainly on the physiological reaction of the body to the sight of attractive people of the same sex. Therefore, in the case of the surveyed women, one can certainly speak of a short-term sexual attraction, but not necessarily of bisexuality - a sexual orientation that is a permanent state and also includes emotional attraction to a given person.
Worth knowingThe symbol of bisexual people are two overlapping triangles - pink (symbol of homosexual people) and purple (symbol of heterosexual people). However, many people do not associate this symbolism well - after all, during World War II, the pink triangle marked gays in German concentration camps.