aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!@!@!

[rm]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/05/health/05sex.html

Summary? Bisexuality may not exist in men; may be the norm in women. At the end, a researcher notes that a woman may identify as a lesbian, but if the pizza guy is really hot, what are you going to do?

Fear not, heterosexual universe, the premise for all your porn films remains intact.

*bangs head on handy objects*

To the Editor,

In "Straight, Gay or Lying? Bisexuality Revisited" testing male sexual interest through responsiveness to pornography is presented as something other than the obvious. A bisexual man may be uninterested in porn solely featuring women because it lacks an object of identification, or he might just find porn and its narrow range of bodies uninteresting. There are too many variables for the study as presented to have meaning.

My jaw dropped when Dr. Diamond declared, "[A woman] may be mostly interested in women but, hey, the guy who delivers the pizza is really hot…." I had to wonder if her study was porn industry sponsored.

Perhaps women are socially rewarded for bisexuality or men face pressure to have a non-fluid sexual identity. These studies ignore the obvious societal context of sex, which seems absurd, misleading and unhelpful in the midst of the current culture wars.

I have a strong feeling they will publish it, and oh, man, that's gonna be fun when my parents call me. La!

Comments

[ladyjaida.livejournal.com]

HAH. My mother just read me that article and I burned my forehead on my hairstraightener -- I was gesticulating wildly because it made me so very very angry.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Also, one could argue that men in particular get intense dissapproval for bisexuality regardless of whether they spend most time in teh gay or straight community, and that study, without asking about their socialization habits just doesn't work.

[ladyjaida.livejournal.com]

I like how it believes and wants us to believe that sexuality and sexual preference all boils down to what everything boils down to: good old fashioned porn.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Well with men. The women were just asked about their behavior, because you know, women don't like porn or anything.

[sethg]

Most telling line from the article: "Although about a third of the men in each group showed no significant arousal watching the movies, their lack of response did not change the overall findings, Mr. Rieger said."

So by the same logic that concludes that there are no true bisexual men, we can conclude that one in three men have no sexual orientation whatsoever.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I think I'm writing a letter.

[ktnb]

That is so cracked out it's not even funny. *facepalms* This is why people lose faith in psychology, because of stupid studies like this.

[splix.livejournal.com]

Perhaps women are socially rewarded for bisexuality or men face pressure to have a non-fluid sexual identity. These studies ignore the obvious societal context of sex, which seems absurd, misleading and unhelpful in the midst of the current culture wars.

Well said.

[labellerose.livejournal.com]

YES! Well said indeed.

[orien.livejournal.com]

I read it last night, and found it rather irritating.

Sola and I went through a list of bisexual men that we both knew (myself, included) and discovered that every single one of them had a strong preference for a physical gender. In my case, I can fall in love with women and will then be physically attracted to them because I love them, but will lust after men regardless of my affection for them.

She thinks my preference split is 85/15, and she's likely correct.

In people with a broader range, there was still a distinct preference for one or the other. In some cases, the men would sleep with the non-preferred gender out of convenience and then sometimes fall in love and form relationships. This tended to happen with my former coworkers a ridiculous amount.

And then we know men who are more or less completely gay, but who like to kiss women because they're soft, and heterosexual men who occasionally fuck guys because it's easier tto get anonymous, stringless sex from other guys.

Sexual preference is a moot point if you try to make it anything stricter than a preference.

And why are woman more bisexual than men, in general? They're allowed by our society to touch each other. Various straight women I've known who are now admittedly bi or have gone completely lesbian happened because a platonic friendship turned into something more, and men aren't threatened by the presence of other women nearly as much, so a jealous and possessive husband will often be reasonably tolerant of his wife having a female lover -- and bonus points if the new woman will let him watch/join occasionally.

That doesn't, and can't, happen that often for men in America. Due to fear of being outed as gay or perceived that way, men don't touch each other except in the sort of awkward displays of affection I wrote a post about not that long ago. American men are a culture of Buddy Jesuses. "Heeeeeey, pal!" Inspiring intimacy? No.


WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW (fuck this study): gay, straight, whateverthefuck -- what's the ratio of guys who want to get laid versus guys who want to be in a long-term relationship, broken down by age group, and sorted into pecentages based on listed sexual preference.


And are gay relationships less successful than straight ones or what, exactly? Is it just that we don't have a media portrayal of gay family life that makes it seem that way? My gay friends don't seem to be any more unsuccessful in love than straight ones, but the image has always been that gay relationships are fleeting.

Sola's brother and his partner have been together for over a decade. I know two lesbians who've been together for something between seven and ten years and they have a daughter. I know plenty of people who have two-five year long relationships. I've been with mine for two and a half years.

The thing that made me cry at the Boy Ball in Georgia before I left was a big presentation of long term couples, doing their gay marriage manifesto. "Put that in your Constitution," they said.

So. That's what I want to know about. Why are all gay people presented in the common stereotype image of being swingers? Why are bisexual people, in particular, portrayed as dishonest sex fiends?

[rm.livejournal.com]

I'm saying this to everyone, but this might be particularly challenging in light of your glorious rant:

If you can reduce this thought to 150 words or less (a requirement for publication), please send them a note.

[markw.livejournal.com]

One friend put it as, "I'm a lesbian who likes to make out with boys." She also claimed to be a vegetarian who liked a good steak, but I think she's mostly abandoned (http://twistyfaster.typepad.com/i_blame_the_patriarchy/2005/06/on_dinner_and_p.html) that stance. She might have abandoned the former stance as well, for all I know. I don't care and I don't ask.

Me, I'm likely one of the abovementioned straight male friends that indulges in the anonymous man-love. But I never think of myself as straight, gay or bi unless someone asks and needs a convenient answer. I'm attracted to women, but a guy will do to tie to. And unless I'm presently in the act of having sex, what does my preference matter anyway?

Oh, and: hi. I'm Mark. Nice to meet you :D

[ladypeculiar.livejournal.com]

Yet researchers were unable to produce direct evidence of bisexual arousal patterns in men, said Dr. J. Michael Bailey, a professor of psychology at Northwestern and the new study's senior author.

Fuck that. Fuck that I can produce several date planners that prove otherwise.

There also seemed to me (and this could just be me) the subtle intimation that men state they're bisexual in order to cope with being homosexual-- women state they are bisexual becuase they'll take what they can get.

[rm.livejournal.com]

If you can reduce this thought to 150 words or less (a requirement for publication), please send them a note.

[askeladden.livejournal.com]

Fag porn is hot. Good production values, enthusiastic participants.
Het-made "lesbian" porn is skanky. Gross tongue action, unrealistic sex, bored actors.

So who wouldn't get a bone for the former and not the latter? Lord knows I do. I love women's bodies and have never been turned on by a man's. Porn isn't about physical attraction. It's about the inherent hotness of the sex act. That a third of the group couldn't care less should have tipped off the researchers to the sketchiness of their variables.

[rm.livejournal.com]

If you can reduce this thought to 150 words or less (a requirement for publication), please send them a note.