"I'm Bi"

[Andy of Comix Inc]

You're right. I'm not bisexual.

I'm omnisexual [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pansexuality].

But no-one - I say NO ONE!! - understands the concept behind it

Wow, people don't understand pansexuality? I probably shouldn't be as surprised as I am, in retrospect ... but what's not to get?

In confuses them because it's so similar to bisexuality. "So you're bi." "No, I'm pan." "But you like men and women?" "I can, yes." "SO YOU'RE BI!" *sigh*

...also, I tell a lot of people and they think it's a fetish for, like, kitchen pans. No palm big enough for my face, I tell you.

 

[feycreature]

... two extreme black and white dichotomies like gender...

That's to say you can ONLY be a "he" or a "she"? What about those who prefer to be an "it", or accept either pronoun? There are very few things that are 100% Black and White, outside of the visible spectrum. Gender isn't completely one way or the other.

Thanks, I was going to say that but you beat me to it. Even when people do take one particular pronoun and gender grouping you get soo much variation in actual behaviour. Physically there are curvy men and angular or muscular women or men who shave or trim all their hair and women who shave none of theirs and with the trans communities added in you get men with "female" parts and women with "male" parts both of whom identify firmly as their mental gender regardless of what's in their pants. Both sex and gender get pretty amazingly diverse when you start to look at what's actually out there.

Ok look the amount of people doing this is minuscule compared to the whole, and by black and white I mean you have a hole or a stick, theres no going around it unless you are born with both or neither, or undergo surgery, in which case you would fall into the negligible category. A straight man is not going to engage in sexual acts (knowingly) with a feminine man 99% of the time. Theres exceptions to everything, but when theres so few, you don't include them in an analysis, unless you want to make a discussion about this subject specifically. This was simply about bisexuality, and I got lots of responses and I thank you for your thoughts. I'm done.

Since we're talking specifically about classifying orientation based on organs: the people in between being rarer than people who can be consistently classified one or the other does not make sex a black and white dichotomy. It makes it a scale with most people crowded to one side or the other. I'm not going to dump all the data that doesn't fit the trend, and even a small percentage of the number of people on earth is still a pretty big number on its own.

Besides, to me the difference between male and female genitals is just as superficial as the difference between blonde and black hair, since this thread is about bisexuality. I won't say gender is unimportant, it influences a lot of how people live their lives. Identifying as a woman matters to me. But I find the shape of someone's genitals a minor detail. I have to take it into account for logistical purposes (bringing it closer to the height or physical fitness characteristics, perhaps), obviously the same methods don't work on both, but it's not particularly important and to fixate on it seems bizarre to me. Yet that's the normal way.

Anyway, I'll drop it now I promise. But I wasn't clear that you were talking specifically about sex so I couldn't specify what my version of bisexual was along those lines. Now I have, so it's sleep time.

 

[Denamic]

Bisexuality and homosexuality is far more common than you'd think.
The reason you see more people claiming to be bisexual and homosexual on the internet is simply because of the anonymity.

People's sexuality is an incredibly important thing in their life.
Imagine the frustration feeling that you 'have to' keep it a secret from everyone you know.
The internet simply provide an outlet where you can simply 'come out' and confess without any social repercussions.
Except for the occasional religious homophobe, but those are not that different from the everyday troll anyway.

 

[Hiraeth]

You know, in general society, people don't go around exclaiming their sexualities. We all talk about our "gaydar" but you know what? That's all BS. There's kids who you are completely sure are straight who fall somewhere on the gay spectrum and haven't bothered to tell you. Is there any reason to, after all? Furthermore, it's safer to admit it anonymously than in RL. I will say that I'm bi online, but in RL, when I'm asked (and I have been asked), I avoid the question. Most of the time, I stay silent, make sly little grins, or point to my boyfriend as an answer, depending on who asked.

In an anonymous forum, people ask questions that don't get asked in RL, and people answer in ways they don't in RL. It's really that simple.

This thread is not meant to offend, please don't take it that way, I?m just curious as to what you think.

Look, I get that you meant well, but your approach fails. Rather than assuming that everyone else is wrong, you might want to reconsider your own approach to your question.

I understand but there is potentially an equal amount of people pretending BECAUSE they are anonymous as well. I'm not singling you out.

What I'm trying to say i guess is that i feel that to be bisexual, you must have tried both ways and liked it at least once before you go telling everyone that you're bisexual and this is how bisexuals are, and that there must be far more bisexual posters here that have not done this than have.

edit: and if im wrong in my definition, ok fine, im still not going to discriminate, and since everyone is saying it, "i don't care!!! lets not discuss anything on a discussion forum!"

Well then to completely screw up everything you just said, you are explicitly excluding me, because I have had exactly 1 significant other and furthermore that significant other is a heterosexual relationship. So I'm probably just deluding myself with my curiosity.

There's more to it than that. Many gays know they're gay before they ever have a sexual encounter of any sort, let alone a homosexual one. Why would it be any different for bi?

To add to this, if I said I was straight, would a demonstration of my straightness be demanded? Is everyone asexual until they've participated in some kind of sexual behaviour? And when exactly do I get to be bi? How many bases do I have to reach to get my bi card? How many girls do I have to reach said bases with? If I get to a certain amount more girls than guys do I have to move from bi-town to gay-ville? Does that also mean that in order to confirm that they're straight, someone has to engage in homosexual behaviour and not like it?

Why is it not enough that I know who I'm attracted to? It seems to be enough for everyone else.

 

[Awesomeness]

i think for people to claim that they're bi-sexual they need to have had a sexual relationship with both genders, i'm a guy who thinks about other guys (and girls) but i can't call myself bi-sexual (in my opinion) because i haven't had sex with both genders.
i do however think about sleeping with both guys and girls but i still refer to myself as being bi-curious.
most of my friends think i'll grow out of it being that i'm only sixteen, but honestly i don't think i will.
i know a few people who are bi-sexual, a girl i hooked up with at a party now has a long-term relationship with another girl.
But i do believe that it is easier for girls to claim they're bi and get away with it than guys, probably because alot of guys will ussually be disgusted (maybe not for long, or very much) if a friend claims they're gay, but if a girl says they're lesbian most guys think it's pretty hot.
Just my opinions on the whole gay/straight/bi discussion.

 

[Xaio30]

I think everyone are bisexual at some percentage.

 

[Dunvi]

For a start: WHO CARES?
And the ratio of people who are gay, straight or bi on the Escapist does NOT in any way represent the ratio of people on earth.
Cus, y'know, the Escapist doesn't actually have over 6 billion members.

Well... the statistics homework I'm staring at reminds me that technically a sample is perfectly capable of representing a population. The missing thing here is "randomly chosen" and stuff like that, not sample size.

But I digress.

 

[IronicBeet]

I think it's just today's society that makes people automatically assume they're bisexual rather than just sexually confused or bicurious. Most people on here are still relatively young and there's MUCH more tolerance on the subject than in the past, so what's the problem with just saying you're bisexual right off the bat? I'd say that a good portion of the people on here who claim to be bisexual just haven't figured out what they like yet.

On another note, the word "bi" just sounds kind of dumb to me now. With so many people claiming it (Including a girl I know who claims to be "bi" but "Would never go out or sleep with another girl"), it's harder to believe when they don't actually use the full word. If I hear "I'm bisexual", I think "Okay, you're sexually attracted to men and women equally.". When I hear "I'm bi", I think "Okay, you like to wear skinny jeans.".

 

[Hookman]

Are you kidding me? There's nothing especially 'cool' or 'non-confirmist' about being bisexual, its not something you choose its just who you are.

 

[WildSeraph]

Attracted is not the same as 'want to have sex with and actively seek this'. BiSEXUAL, implies the latter.

Why the hell did I have to check for new messages?

I'd be perfectly willing to have sex with males or females. I'd just be MORE willing to do so with a male.

 

[amucha98]

.

 

[Blitzwarp]

Well I've been on these forums a while and I have serious doubts that all the "heterosexual" posters in the "what sexuality are you?" and "what do you find attractive" kinds of threads are actually straight.

/satire

OP, way to be condescending. You have no right to point a finger at people and say, "hey, you know what, I hear bisexuality is very trendy right now. Therefore, most bisexuals are just making shit up. lololol my learnings." That's exactly like saying, "I hear Buddhism is very popular right now thanks to Richard Gere. Therefore most if not all Buddhists are just faking to be cool."

True, there is a stage during teenage years when the body doesn't know what the hell is going on, and some teens label themselves as bisexual because they honestly believe they are. And yes, there are always going to be some people who claim they are something - bisexual, whatever - to impress or shock other people. But that does not mean you can wander into a forum and accuse everybody of lying based on the stereotype that bisexuals are trendy. I'm bi, and I'm the least trendy person I know. And I'm not attracted to men and women purely because I think it's awesome - it's just the way I am. Like a lot of bisexuals.

 

[Wow they sure are generous with the usernames]

Shockingly, people sometimes lie on the internet about themselves.

 

[Mitchell Smith]

Who gives a shit what someone's sexuality is?
As long as they aren't constantly shoving it in my face (In this case they aren't by just saying "I'm bi"), then I don't care.

I Second this