Does the increase in bisexuality have anything to do with Internet porn?

[maverick]

I just wonder if now that people have the Internet and are exposed to various kinds of sexuality other than the vanilla heterosexual missionary position of their forefathers (and usually at a fairly early age) if society as a whole has not become more open to expressed sexuality towards both genders.

Discuss.

[Bi As A Kite]

Interesting thought. When I started to recognize guys as good-looking etc. years ago, experimenting with 'alternative material' felt like a natural progession and was very easy to obtain. If the internet didn't exist, I most likely wouldn't have been able to explore that part of me.

[Ridiculous]

I'm not bisexual but similar to Bi As A Kite, I probably would be "straight" (i.e. not fully realising I was gay) if it wasn't for porn allowing me to see males in a sexual way.

So I assume a similar thing happens for bisexuals. I wouldn't say that the porn makes people bisexual, but just give them an avenue to realise they are bisexual.

[Mad Man L]

Yes.

Had I not discovered porn, I would not have recognised my bisexuality. And when 'feelings' came around for another guy I would have just been super-confused, and that "second curiosity" would have never developed. The signs were there, but I probably wouldn't have put two and two together until much later in life.

I personally believe that most are gay and straight to a certain degree, women express it in the form of biseuxality in their teens (some for attention) and then hide it away as 'another thing' when they settle down into a life of long-term relationships, and men ignore the feelings altogether because men dislike the idea of male gay sex. But as those barriers break down for guys, I think we'll see more guys become 'bicurious'.

[maverick]

I personally believe that most are gay and straight to a certain degree, women express it in the form of biseuxality in their teens (some for attention) and then hide it away as 'another thing' when they settle down into a life of long-term relationships, and men ignore the feelings altogether because men dislike the idea of male gay sex. But as those barriers break down for guys, I think we'll see more guys become 'bicurious'.

It's really interesting to me how bisexuality is expressed differently in men and women. Most of the adult bisexual women I know of are married women who like to have sex with women (with permission of their husbands) on the side. Sometimes with their husband watching. These are also the women who seem to break up their heterosexual marriages and "switch teams", which leads me to wonder if they are bisexual or not, or if they are simply trying to carry out a social imperative by marrying in the first place.

But if the wife asked to see her husband with another guy, you can imagine how well THAT fantasy would fly.

[biosynth]

personally i think its just the generally higher level of societies openness to homosexuality, since sexuality is more of a spectrum i imagine bisexuals of eras past have often suppressed the same sex attractions they've had and stuck to the hetero ones alone. i don't think the number of bisexuals is really going up, just more of them are willing to fully express and experience their attractions.

[Zontar]

On more than one occasion, I've wondered this, and wondered if I could have prevented being bi by not having viewed the porn. When I think about this possibility...it makes me very regretful because then I could have stayed straight.

[maverick]

Originally Posted by Zontar

On more than one occasion, I've wondered this, and wondered if I could have prevented being bi by not having viewed the porn. When I think about this possibility...it makes me very regretful because then I could have stayed straight.

Personally, I don't think it works that way. If you're innately bi, you're attracted to guys (or girls) whether or not you're exposed to sexual fantasies regarding them.

That's my take anyway.

Look at it this way - if you weren't bi to begin with, you wouldn't be looking up gay porn anyway.

[fiddledeedee]

I think it doesn't; I figured out my orientation without porn, and I can't be the only one. I can understand why it would help people figure stuff out, though. I think a larger factor in the apparrant increase in bisexuality is the sexualisation of our society and the growing acceptance of non-heterosexuals. In my opinion, there are probably about the same number of bisexuals now as, say, 100 years ago. Back then, though, there wasn't even the concept of a closet to come out of, people didn't consider the possibility of liking the same gender, or they would just have, ah, "someone on the side". Not that I can back any of this up, of course.

[Random Dent]

No. I don't believe that for one second.
The Greek (used to, before religious pricks stuck their noses into everyone's lives) believed that EVERYONE was (or had the potential to be) bisexual.
Catholicism and Christianity and the major religions repressed our natural sexual desires/urges and made sexuality/sex out to be something dirty and abominable.
Now the stigma of sexuality & sex is slowly dwindling, and more and more people are able to come out.

[Veronica]

Originally Posted by maverick

Personally, I don't think it works that way. If you're innately bi, you're attracted to guys (or girls) whether or not you're exposed to sexual fantasies regarding them.

That's my take anyway.

Look at it this way - if you weren't bi to begin with, you wouldn't be looking up gay porn anyway.

Exactly. Bi is not something you can catch. Not exploring it is a choice, but pretending it is not you is denial. All porn does is to help remove some of the stigma and let more people be themselves.

I for one think that I could have been much better off if I had understood myself earlier. Unfortunately this was pre-internet (as we know it today).

[Shmoe]

So people who never see gay porn never can be gay? If you're Bi, You're bi. You don't need to see the same sex naked in compromising positions to find that out.

( I could be completely wrong, I am not 100%)

(( In my opinion, The world been cursed by a dark wizard, Giving people confusing feelings and ideas. ))

[Emberstone]

secret goverment program... very hush hush... can't tell you more otherwise Nepolitano will cut off my nads.

[Holliepop]

I don't think there has been an increase, but now that it's not as taboo and you know, legal, people are not afraid to keep it hidden. It's like my conversation with my gran:

"When homosexuality became legal, loads of 'em were around!"
"They were around before too, they were just hiding otherwise they would have gotten arrested."

However, to me, I've always been bisexual, I think without the internet though I wouldn't have understood as much as I do, but porn did pretty much hit the nail on the head when it came to questioning myself, so it may lead to the increase of LGBT individuals knowing who they are rather than just becoming LGBT.

[Pseudojim]

Originally Posted by Veronica

Exactly. Bi is not something you can catch. Not exploring it is a choice, but pretending it is not you is denial. All porn does is to help remove some of the stigma and let more people be themselves.

I for one think that I could have been much better off if I had understood myself earlier. Unfortunately this was pre-internet (as we know it today).

I think the question being asked isn't with regard to the number of innately bisexual people coming into existence, but the percentage of bisexual people who choose to self-identify AS bisexual increasing

[maverick]

I think the question being asked isn't with regard to the number of innately bisexual people coming into existence, but the percentage of bisexual people who choose to self-identify AS bisexual increasing

This is what I mean. How many people who would have previously identified as heterosexual now identify as bisexual simply because they've been exposed to (and identified with) aspects of homoromanticism/homosexuality?

[Veronica]

Originally Posted by Pseudojim

I think the question being asked isn't with regard to the number of innately bisexual people coming into existence, but the percentage of bisexual people who choose to self-identify AS bisexual increasing

Kinda what I meant though