Posts Tagged ‘sexual orientation’

Many terms have surfaced in the last few years to rename bisexuality and the fluidity of sexual orientation.  

On CNN, when we discussed “I Kissed A Girl (and Liked It),” as requested by the producer and host, I also began to discuss various words that are slang for “bisexual.” Keep in mind that some of these are considered offensive by some people in the GLBT community, and you should not try to label other people using these terms. Yet, in the spirit of keeping up with the lingo, here are additions for the sex slang glossary: 

• Fauxmosexual: Man or woman who has the appearance of the stereotype of a gay man or lesbian woman, but is heterosexual.
• Bi-curious:  Man or woman who is about a “one” on the Kinsey scale. He or she is primarily heterosexual, but occasionally is sexual with someone of the same gender, or at the very least fantasizes about the same gender. He or she does not completely identify as a bisexual.
• Heteroflexible:  Sometimes synonymous with bi-curious (above). Often refers to 17-21 year old girls and women who kiss another girl or woman in front of a group of guys to turn them on.
• Dance Floor Lesbian: Like heteroflexible, but only touches, kisses, makes out with other women sometimes, particularly in public.
• BUG, Bisexual Until Graduation: Man or woman who is sexual with both genders during college. Recently, this term has begun to also be used for high school students.
• LUG, Lesbian Until Graduation: Woman who is exclusively sexual with women during college. Recently, this term has begun to also be used for high school students.
• GUG, Gay Until Graduation: Man who is exclusively sexual with men during college. Lesser used term than BUG or LUG.

Define yourself; don’t define yourself. But no matter what, be true to and for yourself.

Posted by Dr. Sari Locker

The concept of a fluid sexual orientation has been around for decades.

On CNN today, we also discussed bisexuality. It is a commonly accepted idea in sexology that people are not always 100% homosexual or 100% heterosexual. In fact, sixty years ago, Alfred Kinsey conceptualized this in his landmark 1948 book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male where he presented his scale of sexual orientation. Kinsey informed us to not characterize people as either gay or straight, but rather as individuals who have certain amounts of heterosexual and homosexual experiences, thoughts, fantasies, attractions and desires. He also explained that sexual orientation should take into account past, present, and future ideas about one’s sexuality (not just behaviors), and that it may evolve or change throughout one’s life. The Kinsey Scale for Sexual Orientation is still the most used source for distinguishing different sexual orientations by describing the range of possibilities. The scale goes from 0 “exclusively heterosexual” to 6 “exclusively homosexual,” with bisexual at 3. Most people would not fit as either a 0 or 6, because most people have at least some occasional fantasies about both genders. A woman who has sex with her boyfriend, but also has fantasies about girls and kissed a girl (“and liked it” as Katy Perry sings) would probably be a 1 on the Kinsey Scale.

The Kinsey Scale for Sexual Orientation, Scanned from my first edition copy: Kinsey, A., Pomeroy, W., Martin, C.. (1948) Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Philadelphia, PA: W. B. Saunders.

0- Exclusively heterosexual with no homosexual

1- Predominantly heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual

2- Predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual

3- Equally heterosexual and homosexual

4- Predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual

5- Predominantly homosexual, only incidentally heterosexual

6- Exclusively homosexual

 Posted by: Dr. Sari Locker