Bisexuality (Bi): What does it mean?, Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation

Bisexuality – We often hear about men and women in love and it’s quite normal for us, Right? However, love and intimacy are not limited or restricted to only two opposite genders. Here comes the term “Sexual orientation” which includes vivid sexualities and breaks the stereotypical image of love and relationships. One of those sexualities is “Bisexuality”.

According to Ipsos global survey (23 April to 7 may, 2022), 9% of the Indian population identifies as bisexual. Included was a sample of almost 50,000 people in India. Let’s discuss more about bisexuality in this article.

What is Bisexuality?

Bisexuality is where a person experiences emotional, romantic, and sexual attraction towards more than one gender. Mostly we see it as interest or attraction towards both males and females. In simple words, we can say that Bisexuality is a sexual orientation that lies between heterosexuality and homosexuality. We can also consider it as a combination of both.

What makes someone bisexual?

There’s no strong scientific evidence that genes or hormones are responsible for Bisexuality but research indicates that bisexuality is influenced by biological, cognitive, and cultural variables in interaction. Being bisexual is completely natural, it is not a choice. It doesn’t equate the proportion or ratio of attraction towards both genders, attraction towards one of two genders could be higher.

Marjorie garber (an American professor) states that the nature of sexuality can not be located in fixed identities of homo and hetero. The nature of sexuality Is fluid not fixed. In this way, we can say that Bisexuality is not an accuired trait or something that could be changed.

Bisexuality: privilege or struggle?

Many people think that Bisexual folks are lucky as they enjoy romantic and sexual pleasure with both genders and explore their sex life to the next level. But is It really a pleasure to be bisexual?

Bisexual folks (especially in india) face challenges including:

It’s difficult for them to come out as bisexual and in many cases, once they do it, they face resistance and ignorance from close ones like friends and relatives.
Bisexual people may face stigma from society and gay communities as many people have the opinion of invalidation that bisexual people are just beings who are confused about their sexuality.
A large number of people think that bisexuals are hypersexualized beings who have insane sexual urges and can’t control them, that’s why they are intimate with both genders.
Bisexuals are also considered curious beings by many people who just want to explore new sexual experiences.
Most bisexuals keep their sexuality in the closet for good conduction of their married life. They believe that revieling their sexuality will ruin their married life with a suspect of cheat from their partner and will show them untrustworthy.
Bisexuals may have mental health hazards as the outcome of their problematic mental state.

There’s not any fixed percentage or survey about it but most bisexual men and women end up in a straight relationship or marriage.

Dealing with myths

The following are the three myths and facts about bisexuality:

Bisexuality is not about being half gay, lesbian and half straight. It’s entirely a separate sexual orientation.
Bisexuals can also have a good married and sex life or a good relationship. Someone’s sexuality doesn’t ensure that he/she is trustworthy or not.
Yes, Bisexuals are also a part of the queer community, and neglecting them is just a stereotypical thing.

A note from kamarth

The field of Sexuality have too much to explore and Bisexuality is a part of it. It has nothing to do with your genes, traumas, and mental health, it’s quite natural. Having attraction towards more than one gender doesn’t question your tendency to be trustworthy. It may be difficult for some people to accept the concept of bisexuality but it doesn’t make it wrong. It’s all up to you to decide your fate of being bisexual.

Some Additional Doubts

Question: What does it mean to be Bisexual?
Answer: The attraction to two or more genders is known as bisexuality.

Question: Do bisexuals have a high risk of HIV / AIDS / STD and do they spread it to heterosexuals?
Answer: Absolutely not! HIV and STD’s only contracted through unsafe sexual practices. Someone’s sexuality doesn’t make sure that he practices safe sex or not.

Question: Can Bisexuals live a happy life with a partner of one gender?
Answer: Yes, why not? Bisexuality doesn’t imply that the person will definitely have sexual experiences with both genders, it’s totally his/her choice. You can have a good relationship or marriage if you want with one gender.

Question: Is Bisexuality an outcome of childhood traumatic experiences or sexual abuse?
Answer: Not true completely! In some cases, the sexual orientation of an individual is shaped by his/her childhood traumas or sexual abuse in the formative stages. But it’s not totally considerable, Most of the cases don’t even have any of these experiences and even then they are from the queer community.

Question: Is bisexuality genetic?
Answer: Twin studies show varying degrees of heritability, but almost often less than 50%. This indicates that social, cultural, and environmental variables account for at least half of the factors influencing sexual identity, rather than genetics.

Reference Links:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-bisexuality-genetic-its-more-complex-than-some-studies-imply
https://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/bisexual
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5603307
https://www.csuohio.edu/sites/default/files/bisexuality.pdf
https://npin.cdc.gov/publication/understanding-bisexuality
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323619723_Defining_Bisexuality_Challenges_and_Importance_of_and_Toward_a_Unifying_Definition
https://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4017&context=dissertations