History UsefulNotes / Bisexual

[[caption-width-right:350:Official Bisexual pride flag (designed by Michael Page, circa 1998).]]

The actual definition: unlike heterosexuals and homosexuals, who are attracted to ''just'' people of the opposite sex and ''just'' people of the same sex respectively, bisexuals are attracted to people of more than one gender. Note that this does ''not'' mean that bisexuals must be [[UsefulNotes/ForTheLoveOfMany polyamorous]], with partners of more than one gender, any more than somebody who is attracted to people of all hair colours would need to be polyamorous with a partner of each hair colour.

Similarly, a bisexual person with an opposite-sex partner has not "turned straight", and a bisexual person with a same-sex partner has not "turned gay". It is how people ''feel'' that determines their sexuality, and not what they ''do''. Even somebody who has only had sex with people of one gender still counts as bisexual if they feel attracted to more than one.

People that are X on the scale are UsefulNotes/{{Asexual}}, they do not feel sexual attraction towards any sex but they can experience romantic attraction. This is also applicable for bisexual people: terms such as heteroromantic, homoromantic, biromantic, and aromantic exist because of the distinction between romantic and sexual orientation. People that are sexually attracted to multiple sexes but are romantically attracted to only one or none would thus be described as heteroromantic bisexuals, homoromantic bisexuals or aromantic bisexuals under such terminology, as opposed to biromantic bisexuals. A biromantic asexual may also consider themselves as "bi".

Something else that probably needs to be said: while bisexuals find both men and women attractive, they do not find ''all'' people attractive (any more than straight people find everyone of the opposite sex attractive, for example) and, as a rule, are ''not'' {{Extreme Omnisexual}}s. Bisexuals are attracted to people of more than one sex; ''not'' to children, animals or inanimate objects. This is a particular [[DepravedBisexual stereotype]] that ''really'' pisses bi people off, as the propagation of the same is another major cause of biphobia.

Some people don't like the term "bisexual" because of its apparent implication that people can only be one of two genders (as the "bi" prefix literally means "two", like bicycle and binoculars). There are many people who identify as being not male or female but somewhere in between (genderqueer), or something entirely different, or even without gender at all (agendered). Additionally, there are intersex people who are biologically somewhere in between male and female. Consequently, many people instead prefer the term "pansexual" -- which is intended to indicate an attraction to ''all'' genders rather than ''both'' genders, with trans, intersex and non-binary people usually being the groups that this term is seen as being "more inclusive" of. The term "polysexual" (not to be confused with polyamory) also exists, which is when people are attracted to ''more than one but not all'' genders (implying that there are more than two), although this one isn't used very often and does not specify which genders the person is attracted to.

Something else that probably needs to be said: while bisexuals find both men and women attractive, they do not find ''all'' people attractive (any more than straight people find everyone of the opposite sex attractive, for example) and do not as a rule want to screw AnythingThatMoves. Bisexuals are attracted to people of more than one sex; ''not'' to children, animals or inanimate objects. This is a particular [[DepravedBisexual stereotype]] that ''really'' pisses bi people off, as the propagation of the same is another major cause of biphobia.

In fact, this confusion has lead to the development of another term used to describe bisexuality called, "ambiphilia". "Androphilia" and "gynephilia" are terms used in behavioural science to describe sexual orientation, as an alternative to a gender binary homosexual and heterosexual conceptualization. This system is much more grounded in science and is more commonly used for studies than for personal labels, but it they are still applicable and useful. Androphilia describes sexual attraction to masculinity; gynephilia describes the sexual attraction to femininity and ambiphilia describes people that are attracted to both masculinity and femininity. According to this definition, bisexuality is not binarist as it does not imply there are only two genders. It is the attraction towards gender expression, and gender identity is not a necessary component.

The actual definition: unlike heterosexuals and homosexuals, who are attracted to ''just'' people of the opposite sex and ''just'' people of the same sex respectively, bisexuals are attracted to people of the same gender and other genders. Note that this does ''not'' mean that bisexuals must be [[UsefulNotes/ForTheLoveOfMany polyamorous]], with partners of more than one gender, any more than somebody who is attracted to people of all hair colours would need to be polyamorous with a partner of each hair colour.

Bisexual. Almost always used as an adjective (unlike "homosexual" and "transsexual", which are often incorrectly used as nouns), but quite often used as a noun in plural ("bisexuals"). Quite often shortened to "bi" as a slang term. "Bisexual" does not mean {{Hermaphrodite}}. It also does not mean UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}}. "Bisexual" is a term of sexual orientation, not gender identity.

People that are X on the scale are asexual, they do not feel sexual attraction towards any sex but they can experience romantic attraction. This is also applicable for bisexual people: terms such as heteroromantic, homoromantic, biromantic, and aromantic exist because of the distinction between romantic and sexual orientation. People that are sexually attracted to multiple sexes but are romantically attracted to only one or none would thus be described as heteroromantic bisexuals, homoromantic bisexuals or aromantic bisexuals under such terminology, as opposed to biromantic bisexuals. A biromantic asexual may also consider themselves as "bi".

[[caption-width-right:350:''Official Bisexual pride flag (designed by Michael Page, circa 1998)'']]

Labels are made to help people feel secure, not to confuse them; at the same time, simplifying something as multiplexed as gender identity and sexual orientation with our current labelling systems might not be the best thing, either. In the end, people should choose whatever they think is best or right for them.

Bisexual. Almost always used as an adjective (unlike "homosexual" and "transsexual", which are often incorrectly used as nouns), but quite often used as a noun in plural ("bisexuals"). Quite often shortened to "bi" as a slang term. "Bisexual" does not mean {{Hermaphrodite}}. It also does not mean {{Transgender}}. "Bisexual" is a term of sexual orientation, not gender identity.

Despite the debate on terminology, however, the definition of bisexuality used by all major bisexual organizations is "attraction to the same and other genders," not excluding people of non-binary genders. "Bisexual" is therefore often used as an umbrella term to refer to any number of non-monosexual identities. The general public continues to view the orientation with its original meaning, despite many bisexuals professing their attraction towards multiple genders and those who do not confirm to the gender binary. The polysexual and pansexual communities were first created to distinguish themselves from bisexuality, and the subsequent desire to define themselves have lead to some friction within the community regarding their exact terminology. For instance, pansexuality is often used as a "more inclusive" term than bisexuality -- what with the latter seemingly encompassing attraction only to the two binary genders (male and female) -- as it is defined as an attraction to individuals who do ''and'' who don't fit the traditional binary gender framework. However, with trans people usually being cited as one of the groups that this term is seen as being more inclusive of, many bisexual activists consider this line of thinking transphobic for [[UnfortunateImplications implying that trans people aren't]] ''[[UnfortunateImplications really]]'' [[UnfortunateImplications male or female but are of an entirely separate gender]], which is especially baffling because bisexuality would ''still'' include trans men and trans women even if it was the term's traditional definition -- attraction to no more than the two binary genders of male and female -- being used.

What constitutes as "bisexuality" is probably as debatable as the idea of what asexuality is. Although always defined as a spectrum orientation that encompasses attraction to and regardless of several gender identities, certain sections did not always perceive it as so, but is now accepted as one by many people due to an increase in awareness. The inclusion of the disputable "demisexual" orientation within asexuality has caused outrage from many people. These examples of identity politics display the complexity within labelling systems and defining sexual orientation. The term "bisexual" is a highly contentious issue that means many different things to many different people.

Something else that probably needs to be said: while bisexuals find both men and women attractive, they do not find ''all'' people attractive (any more than straight people find everyone of the opposite sex attractive, for example) and do not as a rule want to screw AnythingThatMoves. Bisexuals are attracted to people of more than one sex; ''not'' to children, animals or inanimate objects [[note]]Unless they have a Fetish but even heterosexual people have those[[/note]]. This is a particular [[DepravedBisexual stereotype]] that ''really'' pisses bi people off, as the propagation of the same is another major cause of biphobia.

Labels are made to help people feel secure, not confuse them. Although simplifying something as multiplexed as gender identity and sexual orientation with our current labelling systems might not be the best thing, either. In the end, people should choose whatever they think is best or right for them.

See BisexualityTropes here.

Something else that probably needs to be said: while bisexuals find both men and women attractive, they do not find ''all'' people attractive (any more than straight people find everyone of the opposite sex attractive, for example) and do not as a rule want to screw AnythingThatMoves. Bisexuals are attracted to people of more than one sex; ''not'' to children, animals or inanimate objects. This is a particular [[DepravedBisexual stereotype]] that ''really'' pisses bi people off, as the propagation of the same is another major cause of biphobia.

People that are X on the scale are asexual, they do not feel sexual attraction towards any sex but they can experience romantic attraction. This is also applicable for bisexual people, terms such as heteroromantic, homoromantic, biromantic, and aromantic exist because of the distinction between romantic and sexual orientation. People that are sexually attracted to multiple sexes but are romantically attracted to only one or none would thus be described as heteroromantic bisexuals, homoromantic bisexuals or aromantic bisexuals under such terminology, as opposed to biromantic bisexuals. A biromantic asexual may also consider themselves as "bi".

Despite the debate on terminology, however, the definition of bisexuality used by all major bisexual organizations is "attraction to the same and other genders," not excluding people of non-binary genders. "Bisexual" is therefore often used as an umbrella term to refer to any number of non-monosexual identities. The general public continues to view the orientation with its original meaning, despite many bisexuals professing their attraction towards multiple genders and those who do not confirm to the gender binary. The polysexual and pansexual communities were first created to distinguish themselves from bisexuality, and the subsequent desire to define themselves have lead to some friction within the community regarding their exact terminology. For instance, pansexuality is often used as a "more inclusive" term than bisexuality -- what with the latter seemingly encompassing attraction only to the two binary genders (male and female) -- and is defined as an attraction to individuals who don't fit the traditional binary gender framework, like trans people. However, many bisexual activists consider this line of thinking transphobic for [[UnfortunateImplications implying that trans people aren't]] ''[[UnfortunateImplications really]]'' [[UnfortunateImplications male or female but are of an entirely separate gender]], which is especially baffling because bisexuality would ''still'' include trans men and trans women even if it was the term's traditional definition -- attraction to no more than the two binary genders of male and female -- being used.

Some people don't like the term "bisexual" because of its apparent implication that people can only be one of two genders (as the "bi" prefix literally means "two", like bicycle and binoculars). There are many people who identify as being not male or female but somewhere in between (genderqueer), or something entirely different, or even without gender at all (agendered). Additionally, there are intersex people who are biologically somewhere in between male and female. Consequently, many people instead prefer the term "pansexual" -- which is intended to indicate an attraction to ''all'' genders (as opposed to ''both'' genders). The term "polysexual" (not to be confused with polyamory) also exists, which is when people are attracted to ''more than one but not all'' genders (implying that there are more than two), although this one isn't used very often and does not specify which genders the person is attracted to.

Despite the debate on terminology, however, the definition of bisexuality used by all major bisexual organizations is "attraction to the same and other genders," not excluding people of non-binary genders. "Bisexual" is therefore often used as an umbrella term to refer to any number of non-monosexual identities. Although this is still highly problematic as the term itself originated within the binary framework to compliment the terms "heterosexuality" and "homosexuality"; the general public continues to view the orientation with its original meaning, despite many bisexuals professing their attraction towards multiple genders and those who do not confirm to the gender binary. The polysexual and pansexual communities were first created to distinguish themselves from bisexuality, and the subsequent desire to define themselves have lead to some friction within the community regarding their exact terminology.

What constitutes as "bisexuality" is probably as debatable as the idea of what asexuality is. Although always defined as a spectrum orientation, certain sections did not always perceive it as so, but is now accepted as one by many people due to the stretching of the term in recent years by asexual organisations. The inclusion of the disputable "demisexual" orientation within asexuality has caused outrage from many people. These examples of identity politics display the complexity within labelling systems and defining sexual orientation. The term "bisexual" is a highly contentious issue that means many different things to many different people.

As can be seen from the above conflation of bisexuality with polyamory, attraction to multiple sexes can be a confusing idea for people who aren't bisexual, given the human tendency to prefer clearly demarcated boundaries and opposites -- black and white, up and down, male and female, gay and straight. This has lead to a fairly widespread belief that [[NoBisexuals bisexuality doesn't exist]], and that bisexuals are either deluded heterosexuals or are homosexuals with "one foot in the closet". Bisexuals, naturally, say that this is absolute crap. Another charge often laid at the feet of bisexuals is that many of them aren't really attracted to multiple sexes and are only pretending to be [[GirlOnGirlIsHot for]] [[YaoiFangirl the]] [[YuriFan attention]]. Sadly, to the annoyance of ''actual'' bisexuals everywhere, this one is true in some cases.

Something else that probably needs to be said: while bisexuals find both men and women attractive, they do not find ''all'' people attractive (any more than straight people find everyone of the opposite sex attractive, for example) and do not as a rule want to screw AnythingThatMoves. Bisexuals are attracted to people of more than one sex; ''not'' to children, animals or inanimate objects. This is a particular [[DepravedBisexual stereotype]] that ''really'' pisses bi people off.

Despite the debate on terminology, however, the definition of bisexuality used by all major bisexual organizations is "attraction to the same and other genders," not excluding people of non-binary genders. "Bisexual" is therefore often used as an umbrella term to refer to any number of non-monosexual identities. Although this is still highly problematic as the term itself originated within the binary framework to compliment the terms "heterosexuality" and "homosexuality"; the general public continues to view the orientation with its original meaning and most self-identified bisexuals only feel attraction towards the binary male and female genders. The polysexual and pansexual communities were first created to distinguish themselves from bisexuality and many of them most certainly do not appreciate bisexuality being re-defined to take up their spaces and having their orientation identities erased. Especially since they were the original creators of terms that laid out of the binary ''not'' bisexuals and they would prefer being called "multisexual" rather than being swept under the bisexual rug.

In fact, this confusion has lead to the development of another term used to describe bisexuality called, "ambiphilia". "Androphilia" and "gynephilia" are terms used in behavioural science to describe sexual orientation, as an alternative to a gender binary homosexual and heterosexual conceptualization. This system is much more grounded in science and is more commonly used for studies than for personal labels, but it they are still applicable and useful. Androphilia describes sexual attraction to masculinity; gynephilia describes the sexual attraction to femininity and ambiphilia describes people that are attracted to both masculinity and femininity. According to this definition, bisexuality is not binarist as it does not imply there are only two genders. It is the attraction towards masculine and feminine gender expression and gender identity is not a necessary component.

What constitutes as "bisexuality" is probably as debatable as the idea of what asexuality is. It was not originally thought of as a spectrum orientation, but is now seen as one by many people due to the stretching of the term in recent years by asexual organisations. The inclusion of the disputable "demisexual" orientation within asexuality has caused outrage from many people. These examples of identity politics display the complexity with labelling systems and defining sexual orientation. The term "bisexual" is a highly contentious issue that means many different things to many different people. Labels are made to help people feel secure, not confuse them. Although simplifying something as multiplexed as gender identity and sexual orientation with our current labelling systems might not be the best thing, either. In the end, people should choose whatever they think is best or right for them.

Bisexual. Almost always used as an adjective (unlike "homosexual" and "transsexual", which are often used as nouns), but quite often used as a noun in plural ("bisexuals"). Quite often shortened to "bi" as a slang term. "Bisexual" does not mean {{Hermaphrodite}}. It also does not mean {{Transsexual}}. "Bisexual" is a term of sexual orientation, not gender identity.

The actual definition: unlike heterosexuals and homosexuals, who are attracted to ''just'' people of the opposite sex and ''just'' people of the same sex respectively, bisexuals are attracted to people of the same gender and other genders. Note that this does ''not'' mean that bisexuals must be [[UsefulNotes/ForTheLoveOfMany polyamorous]], with partners of more than one gender, any more than somebody who is attracted to people of all hair colours would need to be polyamorous with a partner of each hair colour.

As can be seen from the above conflation of bisexuality with polyamory, attraction to multiple sexes can be a confusing idea for people who aren't bisexual, given the human tendency to prefer clearly demarcated boundaries and opposites -- black and white, up and down, male and female, gay and straight. This has lead to a fairly widespread belief that [[NoBisexuals bisexuality doesn't exist]], and that bisexuals are either deluded heterosexuals or are homosexuals with "one foot in the closet". Bisexuals, naturally, say that this is absolute crap. Another charge often laid at the feet of bisexuals is that many of them aren't really attracted to multiple sexes and are only pretending to be [[GirlOnGirlIsHot for]] [[YaoiFangirl the]] [[YuriFan attention]]. Sadly, to the annoyance of ''actual'' bisexuals everywhere, this one is true in some cases.

0 is heterosexuality. 6 is homosexuality. 1-5 are ''all'' bisexuality. In fact, some people believe that "true" heterosexuals and homosexuals are much rarer than people think, and that most people are bisexual to at least some degree -- manifestations of this being the tropes EvenTheGuysWantHim, EvenTheGirlsWantHer and IfItsYouItsOkay. People who are at 1 or 5 on the Kinsey scale are sometimes referred to with the neologisms "bi-curious" and "homoflexible"/"heteroflexible" as they may engage in bisexual relations for experimentation.

People that are X on the scale are asexual, they do not feel sexual attraction towards any sex but they can experience romantic attraction. This is also applicable for bisexual people, terms such as heteroromantic, homoromantic, biromantic, and aromantic exist because of the distinction between romantic and sexual orientation. People that are sexually attracted to multiple sexes but are romantically attracted to only one or none would thus be described as heteroromantic bisexuals, homoromantic bisexuals or aromantic bisexuals under such terminology, as opposed to biromantic bisexuals. A biromantic asexual may also consider themselves as "bi".

Some people don't like the term "bisexual" because of its apparent implication that people can only be one of two genders (as the "bi" prefix literally means "two", like bicycle and binoculars). There are many people who identify as being not male or female but somewhere in between (genderqueer), or something entirely different, or even without gender at all (agendered). Additionally, there are intersex people who are biologically somewhere in between male and female. Consequently, many people instead prefer the term "pansexual" -- which is intended to indicate an attraction to ''all'' genders (as opposed to ''both'' genders). The term "polysexual" (not to be confused with polyamory) also exists, which is when people are attracted to ''more than one but not all'' genders (implying that there are more than two), although this one isn't used very often and does not specify which genders the person is attracted to.

Despite the debate on terminology, however, the definition of bisexuality used by all major bisexual organizations is "attraction to the same and other genders," not excluding people of non-binary genders. "Bisexual" is therefore often used as an umbrella term to refer to any number of non-monosexual identities. Although this is still highly problematic as the term itself originated within the binary framework to compliment the terms "heterosexuality" and "homosexuality"; the general public continues to view the orientation with its original meaning and most self-identified bisexuals only feel attraction towards the binary male and female genders. The polysexual and pansexual communities were first created to distinguish themselves from bisexuality and many of them most certainly do not appreciate bisexuality being re-defined to take up their spaces and having their orientation identities erased. Especially since they were the original creators of terms that laid out of the binary ''not'' bisexuals and they would prefer being called "multisexual" rather than being swept under the bisexual rug.

In fact, this confusion has lead to the development of another term used to describe bisexuality called, "ambiphilia". "Androphilia" and "gynephilia" are terms used in behavioural science to describe sexual orientation, as an alternative to a gender binary homosexual and heterosexual conceptualization. This system is much more grounded in science and is more commonly used for studies than for personal labels, but it they are still applicable and useful. Androphilia describes sexual attraction to masculinity; gynephilia describes the sexual attraction to femininity and ambiphilia describes people that are attracted to both masculinity and femininity. According to this definition, bisexuality is not binarist as it does not imply there are only two genders. It is the attraction towards masculine and feminine gender expression and gender identity is not a necessary component.

What constitutes as "bisexuality" is probably as debatable as the idea of what asexuality is. It was not originally thought of as a spectrum orientation, but is now seen as one by many people due to the stretching of the term in recent years by asexual organisations. The inclusion of the disputable "demisexual" orientation within asexuality has caused outrage from many people. These examples of identity politics display the complexity with labelling systems and defining sexual orientation. The term "bisexual" is a highly contentious issue that means many different things to many different people. Labels are made to help people feel secure, not confuse them. Although simplifying something as multiplexed as gender identity and sexual orientation with our current labelling systems might not be the best thing, either. In the end, people should choose whatever they think is best or right for them.

The actual definition: unlike heterosexuals and homosexuals, who are attracted to ''just'' people of the opposite sex and ''just'' people of the same sex respectively, bisexuals are attracted to people of the same gender and other genders. Note that this does ''not'' mean that bisexuals must be [[UsefulNotes/ForTheLoveOfMany polyamorous]], with partners of more than one gender, any more than somebody who is attracted to people of all hair colours would need to be polyamorous with a partner of each hair colour. Bisexuals don't separate attraction to each sex into separate drives, but rather their sexual attraction is simply directed towards all parts of the population rather than just one.

Despite the debate on terminology, however, the definition of bisexuality used by all major bisexual organizations is "attraction to the same and other genders," not excluding people of non-binary genders. "Bisexual" is therefore often used as an umbrella term to refer to any number of non-monosexual identities. Although this is still highly problematic as the term itself originated within the binary framework to compliment the terms "heterosexuality" and "homosexuality"; the general public continues to view the orientation with its original meaning and most self-identified bisexuals only feel attraction towards the binary male and female genders. The polysexual and pansexual communities were first created to distinguish themselves from bisexuality and many of them most certainly do not appreciate bisexuality being re-defined to take up their spaces or having their identities erased. Especially since they were the original creators of terms that laid out of the binary ''not'' bisexuals and they would prefer being called "multisexual" rather than being swept under the bisexual rug.

Despite the debate on terminology, however, the definition of bisexuality used by all major bisexual organizations is "attraction to the same and other genders," not excluding people of non-binary genders. "Bisexual" is therefore often used as an umbrella term to refer to any number of non-monosexual identities. Although this is still highly problematic as the term itself originated within the binary framework to compliment the terms "heterosexuality" and "homosexuality"; the general public continues to view the orientation with its original meaning and most self-identified bisexuals only feel attraction towards the binary male and female genders. The polysexual and pansexual communities were first created to distinguish themselves from the bisexuality and many of them most certainly do not appreciate being labelled under it again or having their identities erased. Especially since they were the original creators of terms that laid out of the binary ''not'' bisexuals and they would prefer being called "multisexual" rather than being swept under the bisexual rug.

In fact, this confusion has lead to the development of another term used to describe bisexuality called "ambiphilia". "Androphilia" and "gynephilia" are terms used in behavioural science to describe sexual orientation, as an alternative to a gender binary homosexual and heterosexual conceptualization. This system is much more grounded in science and is more commonly used for studies than for personal labels, but it they are still applicable and useful. Androphilia describes sexual attraction to masculinity; gynephilia describes the sexual attraction to femininity and ambiphilia describes people that are attracted to both masculinity and femininity. According to this definition, bisexuality is not binarist as it does not imply there are only two genders. It is the attraction towards masculine and feminine gender expression and gender identity is not a necessary component.

Despite the debate on terminology, however, the definition of bisexuality used by all major bisexual organizations is "attraction to the same and other genders," not excluding people of non-binary genders. "Bisexual" is therefore often used as an umbrella term to refer to any number of non-monosexual identities. Although this is still highly problematic as the term itself originated within the binary framework to compliment the terms "heterosexuality" and "homosexuality"; the general public continues to view the orientation with its original meaning; most self-identified bisexuals only feel attraction towards the binary male and female genders; the polysexual and pansexual communities were first created to distinguish themselves from the bisexuality and many of them most certainly do not appreciate being labelled under it again or having their identities erased, especially since they were the original creators of terms that laid out of the binary.

Despite the debate on terminology, however, the definition of bisexuality used by all major bisexual organizations is "attraction to the same and other genders," not excluding people of non-binary genders. "Bisexual" is therefore often used as an umbrella term to refer to any number of non-monosexual identities. Although this is still highly problematic as the term itself originated within the binary framework to compliment the terms "heterosexuality" and "homosexuality"; the general public continues to view the orientation with its original meaning; most self-identified bisexuals only feel attraction towards the binary male and female genders; the polysexual and pansexual communities were first created to distinguish themselves from the bisexuality and many of them most certainly do not appreciate being labelled under it again or having their identities erased.

In fact, this confusion has lead to the development of another term used to describe bisexuality called "ambiphilia". "Androphilia" and "gynephilia" are terms used in behavioural science to describe sexual orientation, as an alternative to a gender binary homosexual and heterosexual conceptualization. This system is much more grounded in science and is more commonly used for studies than for personal labels, but it they are still applicable and useful. Androphilia describes sexual attraction to masculinity; gynephilia describes the sexual attraction to femininity and ambiphilia describes people that are attracted to both masculinity and femininity. According to this definition, bisexuality is not binarist as it does not imply there are only two genders. It is the attraction for masculine and feminine gender expression and gender identity is not a necessary component.