Male bisexuality
A man is bisexual if he feels a persistent sexual and/or romantic attraction to both men and women. A man can seek sex with men but not be gay or bi. This has worried some of my readers who conclude that I am “biphobic” or I don’t believe there are any bisexuals.
Gay men challenge me for writing that a straight male can have gay sex. They claim that I am keeping closeted gay men in the closet and reinforcing their incorrect belief that they are vertical. Bisexuals write to me saying that these men I claim are straight are truly double attraction and that I am engaging in bi-erasure by validating these men who self-identify as heterosexual.
Here is the primary difference between “straight men who have sex with men” and gay or bi men: Straight men who have gay sex report to me that they are attracted to the sexual acts but not to the men. Normally, gay and bi guys say me they are attracted both to the guy and the sex. That is a fundamental difference: “just sex” versus “sexual identity.”
I know some people spot this distinction difficult. Perhaps it will help to go into more detail.
First
Researchers Revisit Male Bisexuality — and Draw Critics
Some 2 percent of men in the U.S. identify as bisexual. But, for decades, some sexuality researchers have questioned whether true bisexual person orientation exists in men.
In , J. Michael Bailey, a sexuality researcher at Northwestern University, and two colleagues showed men who identify as pansexual brief pornographic clips featuring men or women, while measuring their subjects’ self-reported arousal and transform in penis circumference. The results, when compared to men who identified as straight or lgbtq+, led them to conclude that the men identifying as bisexual did not actually have “strong genital arousal to both male and female sexual stimuli.” This was in contrast to perform on sexual arousal in women, which showed that they — whether naming as straight or gay — were physically aroused by both male and female stimuli.
A New York Times headline covering Bailey&#;s study on men declared: “Straight, Homosexual, or Lying? Bisexuality Revisited.&#;
But the paper also spurred more research into the subject — some of which has now led
In a Pew Research Center Poll, 5 percent of Americans identify as pansexual. Comparing across generations and the sexes, 12 percent of Generation Z declare they're bisexual, but only 1 percent of Generation X identify as bisexual person. Across all generations, far more women than men identify as bisexual, and this is especially genuine among Generation Z youths. Thus, the answer to the question “Do bi men exist?” is clearly yes; less evident is whether the generational difference among men is reflected in the affirmation of bisexuality.
Two men who are attracted to both women and men reveal the drastic changes that acquire occurred from Generation X to Generation Z in the acceptability of bisexuality among men. Writer Charles Blow, age 53, grew up in a day when “[Bisexuality]would seem to me woefully inadequate and impressionistically inaccurate.”Woody Cook, age 23, believes “this is sort of the age of bisexuality It’s a thing on its own.”
Why the difference?
A silenced double attraction teenager in the s, Gen X’s Charles Break, author of Fire Fasten Up in My Bones: A Memoir, grew up in rural Louisi
Archer Magazine
I was standing on the balcony of Bondi Golf Club at a straight wedding, a glass of champagne in my hand. My girlfriend at the time was introducing me to a number of her friends who I hadn&#;t yet met throughout our year-long relationship.
One friend, Anna, was telling us a story of a recent fling she almost had on a work trip to the US. It was with a stable hand, at an equestrian facility in Texas where she worked. He was a tanned, square-jawed cowboy who liked to work with his shirt off, sweat glistening on his golden skin.
My girlfriend asked Anna if she and the reliable hand had hooked up. Anna replied that one night got quite blazing and heavy but that, moments before going for it, he disclosed to her he had been sleeping with another cowboy. She instantly broke it off, citing a headache to “get the hell out of there”.
This led Anna into a lengthy explanation as to why she could not possibly fuck this person knowing that he had slept with another man, using words like “disgusting” and “dirty” and saying he must be gay. My girlfriend nodded along, making the ‘appr