Weightless On The Kinsey Scale
You know the Kinsey sexuality scale, right? The one which measures your sexuality from "0" (fully heterosexual) to "6" (fully homosexual). So a female friend of mine and I were talking about it about a month or so ago, and I asked her where she fell on the scale.
"Two, maybe three."
"What?" I said. "Really?"
"Yeah."
There was nothing about her that indicated bisexual tendencies. Then, she asked me where I fell.
"Zero, maybe a one at most. I just cannot understand how one might possibly have sex with a man. Aren't we disgusting? Frankly, there is no way in the world I'd have sex with myself. Part of me thinks the women who sleep with me are maniacs for that reason. Which may explain why a lot of my relationships never worked out."
I decided to poll my friends. Some interesting results. First, I have absolutely no lesbian friends, which I guess I should have known, but which still surprised me.
Then, just about every woman I knew said they were a 2 or a 3. What?!?
Except for one, who declared herself fully a 0. She gave me this monologue about how vaginas are so gross that almost had me swearing off them. Almost.
The guys were a study on extremes. My gay male friends rated themselves a 5 or 6. The hetero males all rated themselves a 0 or 1.
Interesting results. Were women being more honest about their bisexual tendencies? Or is there something in the genetic hardwiring of women that makes them more amenable to bisexuality? Or does it have to do with socialization, how we cast women in society and objectify them.
Feeling open? Where do you fall on the scale? And do my results have to do more with the random assortment of friends I have, or do you think the results reflect the way we are?
posted by Joseph K at 8:42 PM
3 Comments:
I'm definitely a 2 on the scale. I can't say I'm a huge fan of vaginas (besides me own of course, yay), but I love breasts. And hips. I think women have beautiful bodies. I love looking at them.
I think there are several possible explanations of all this:
a) Women are more relaxed in admitting their attraction for other women, or at least the female body, because we are not conditioned to view sex as a penetrative conquest. We are socialized to process our sexual impulses differently.
b) Otherwise straight women are socialized to believe that a whiff of bisexuality makes us more attractive to men. Come on guys, many of you like watching us kiss at parties.
c) Evolution encourages this. Perhaps it is meant to create bonds between women to stand up to men, who are generally more sexually aggressive.
Perhaps it's none of the above, and I'm just talking bollocks. Or it could be a combination of these factors. And different factors. And... gaaah. I'm lost.
Great questions though.
4 or 5. Or 4.5 if I'm allowed fractions.
I think your results match my experience. Most straight men are STRAIGHT. Most gay men are GAY. Most straight women are more open.
Possibly, it's that women can more easily put themselves in hypothetical situations. Or perhaps it's all about self-perception. Though most of my straight male friends are on the (very) low end of the scale, I still think (and most would even admit) that they might engage in homosex under certain conditions. However, that wouldn't change their positions on the scale as far as they're concerned. They still wouldn't spend any time sexually fantasizing about men and wouldn't pursue further congress with men, so they'd still be a 0 or a 1.
"Except for one, who declared herself fully a 0. She gave me this monologue about how vaginas are so gross that almost had me swearing off them. Almost."
Well, I'm a girl too and gotta agree with that lady you know...
I'll never forget how I watched that "Sex and the City" episode where Charlotte hangs out with all of these hip NY lesbians and when finally asked whether or not she was one too and she replied no, the other lady said: "Face it, honey, if you want to belong to this club, you gotta lick pussy."
I was unable to continue my dinner after being subjected to that image. Urgh.
Anya
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