Bisexual, do you really understand?

Bisexuality is a sexual orientation that is of interest to both men and women. For some people, it may sound like a super power - double the romantic choice means double the chance, right? But in reality, bisexual can be considered a bit embarrassing identity. Bisexuals are not "straight", so it is difficult to think that they are in the majority of sexual orientation. On the other hand, they are often considered heterosexual, especially when they have a heterosexual partner, which sometimes makes it difficult for them to feel their association with the LGBT community.

Most importantly, bisexuality is easily misunderstood. There are a lot of rumors and prejudices around this bisexuality, some of which are even contradictory. Both heterosexual and LGBT may hold these stereotypes, which adds to the difficulty of bisexual integration into two groups. Fortunately, in recent years, more and more researchers have become interested in bisexuality, and research has enhanced our understanding of bisexuality. Here are three examples of how science is confronting the misunderstanding of bisexuality:

Rumors 1: bisexual does not exist

I think this rumor is particularly funny: how can you say to a group of people that they do not exist? But the idea that all people are either heterosexual or homosexual is widely spread, especially among men. Depressing is that even in the most tolerant circle of LGBT, you can sometimes hear "no bisexual men do not have this" argument.

In a recent study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior [1], the researchers have completely overturned the rumor. They summoned some heterosexual, gay and bisexual men, playing multiple erotic movies for them. Subjects were not only asked to assess the subjective sensations they were evoked by these fragments, but also to connect physiologic equipment to measure changes in their perimeter of the penis (ie, sexual excitement).

As expected, heterosexual men are watching women's films, subjective and sexual excitement are significantly higher than watching the male performance of the film, gay men are just the opposite. However, bisexual men are relatively close to the degree of male and female imagination. They were bisexual video - two men and a female starred in the video - to arouse the degree than the other two groups. It is important that these differences are reflected in both the degree of their own reports and the considerable degree of sexual excitement. Thus, it is clear from this study that these people are not "pretending" bisexuality.

Rumors 2: bisexual is just a stage

This rumor depicts bisexuality as an experimental stage or a perplexious state - usually in college. After bisexual or will determine their "real" identity (or decide whether they are straight).

Lisa Diamond has done some very complicated work on this subject, during which she has long observed women's gender identity. In a paper published in Developmental Psychology [2], Dr. Diamond reported a group of women who had been closely watching for more than a decade.

The results clearly show that bisexuality is not a transitional stage: when puberty is positioned as a bisexual woman at the end of the study, only a few change their position to heterosexual or homosexuality (only 8%). However, the bisexual women's orientation always changes over time. In the ten years of research cycle, their degree of interest in both sexes has been kept at a loss.

Rumors 3: bisexuals will not be loyal to the partner

This rumor is probably the most vicious. It comes from the idea that a partner can not fully satisfy the people who are interested in both sexes. Some people think that they will soon and want to be different from the gender of the partner. For example, people tend to think that bisexuals are more likely to deceive their partners than heterosexual and homosexuals [3].

In fact, many bisexuals and their partners have a happy one-on-one relationship. For example, at the end of the ten-year study of Dr. Diamond, up to 89% of bisexual women are in long-term single spouse relationships. In addition, with regard to bisexuals who wish to have multiple sexual partners, studies have shown that they often achieve this goal by establishing an open relationship with a partner, rather than carrying a partner in private [4]. I can not find any research to support bisexuals who are less faithful or honest than others.

All in all, bisexuality is still small but is growing in the field of research is bright. It not only dispelled a lot of rumors and misunderstandings surrounding bisexuality, but also provides interesting insights into sexual activity in general. Unlike other sources such as pop culture or media, scientific research suggests that bisexuality is a relatively stable and lasting sexual orientation. We need more research to learn more about the similarities between bisexuality and monotony (that is, heterosexuality and homosexuality), and perhaps their unique place.