Do you agree with this article about bisexuality?

[don29002]

2 nights ago I was on Yahoo and found an article on there saying that there's a study proving bisexuality is real.
Here it is:

---------- Post added 8th Nov 2011 at 11:04 PM ----------

Link to the article:

The 'insulting' study that proves bisexuality is real - The Week

[Mogget]

The study's only relevant because of an earlier study that denied the existence of bisexuality in men. Denial of the existence of bi men is pretty much passe, not even Dan Savage does it anymore. (though admittedly he's very snarky about admitting it)

[Mad Man L]

I already know its real.

But yeah, it was more to put to bed this myth that bisexuality doesn't exist. One comment did irritate me, though:

"Maybe if they don't want people to think they are just "closet" homosexuals, they shouldn't wave the Gay Pride flag around so much..."

The reason that is is because hardly anybody knows what a bi pride flag is, and the 'gay pride flag' is more correctly an LGBT Pride flag.

[Doctor Faustus]

Yawn. I've accepted bisexuals exist. Bisexual erasure is silly. End of.

[Chip]

The methodology of the study is interesting, but the clear-cut results sound suspicious. There are so many methodological variables: the type of porn, the physical appearance of the performers, and, most importantly, whether the lesbian porn was lesbian porn made for straight men or for lesbians. I did a quick search on the web but could only find the abstract of the study; it would be interesting to read the entire thing.


One interesting sentence from the abstract was

It remains unclear which pattern is most typical of contemporary bisexual men: the present results supporting a bisexual arousal pattern, or previous results not finding one.

which means that the results are nowhere near as conclusive as the article in "The Week" reporting on the study indicated.

That said, I don't think there's any question that there is a spectrum of sexual orientation rather than just a binary straight/gay aspect to it. However, I'm not sure that study, which attempts to reduce it down to simple terms, necessarily answers the question conclusively, by the authors' own statement in the abstract.

[crazyhead]

I think it is obvious that bisexuality exists. But a lot of people are stupid and need to have someone go, "Look. See? I proved it, dumb-ass." So it doesn't seem like the study to me was demeaning. It just seems to me like these people were sick of morons making stupid claims like bisexuality not existing and finally just said, "Fine! If I show you, will you shut up?" Yes, logical people already know it. But this is the best way to shut up the rest of the population.

Similarly, I know I didn't choose to be gay, but lots of straight people who couldn't possibly know that insist that being gay is a choice. So even though I already know it's not, I support doing research to figure it out to shut those people up.

[jargon]

I dont tihnk this is the first study along these lines, and of course, there's been more than one claiming the opposite.

Science does take it upon itself to prove the obvious once in a while though, and it isn't always a bad thing. Psychology does lots of research trying to confirm things that sound like common sense, in part because now and then it proves the common sense wrong, and in part because it gives scientific backing to argue against the also "common sense" argument that we're just faking/indecisive/hiding something. In this case, I'd imagine they went in with the expectation that bisexuality was real, just wanting science to confirm it. If not, well, its nothing new that there are ignorant people in the world - better that one group of those people decided to challenge their incorrect assumption.