I went to a Bisexual support group today, and someone mentioned that "everyone is bi", and someone else said "Instead of assuming everyone's straight, why don't we assume that everyone's bi". So innate bisexuality, which I just looked up, according to Freud and his associate Wilhelm Fliess, expounds all humans are born bisexual but through psychological development (which includes both external and internal factors) most become monosexual while the bisexuality remains in a latent state. And then there is the Kinsey scale, a scale that rates people in terms of homosexuality and heterosexuality. I would like to think that most people are bisexual to some degree. It is comforting to assume that everyone is bi. I don't feel so alone that way.
Carl Jung expounded on the concept of innate bisexuality. You've summarized the idea very well. I happen to agree that there is at least some semblance of bisexuality in people from birth. Environment and social development as well as genetics (yes I said it...sue me) play a role. Some people have a hard time believing that true heterosexuality or homosexuality exists and that we are all a degree of the middle BTW I am LOVING all these people lately talking about psychoanalysis lately...it's like a dream for me Foxface
That is interesting. This is what I found on Jung, after reading your suggestion. The animus is the masculine side of the female and the anima is the feminine side of the male. This expands on Freud's writings that we are all born bisexual and develop normal sexual attraction through our psychosexual development. According to Jung, we all have an unconscious opposite gender hidden within us and the role of this archetype is to guide us toward the perfect mate. In other words, we project our animus/anima onto others as they project theirs onto us. When a match is made, we have found a suitable partner.
Very well done I am a Feminist Jungian therapist outside of here (STILL looking for a job) but regardless my training was in this field. I could talk Jung for days Again you've summarized it beautifully. Not only does it serve to seek us the proper mate, it also seeks to have us live an authentic life with an authentic psyche. The very ground floor of Jungian theory is that we have a psyche when we are born. It is whole, supple and active. Then through the basic process of living (denial of desires, not getting our wants or even mild temporary neglect) fractures our psyche. It happens to everyone because there is no perfect world wherein each human is given precisely what they want exactly when they want it. The process of individuation is a matter of rebuilding the psyche by finding and solidifying the old pieces of the psyche that fractured and involving the new parts of the psyche. When we put these all together (and VERY few people can achieve this in their lifetime) we become truly whole. The nice part is that although it's a nigh impossible task, you can make amazing strides in mental, emotional and social health and find yourself in big ways with Jungian psychoanalysis. To deny the self, to hide the self is to suffer. This is the mantra of the psychoanalyst. Thanks so much for this invigorating topic. I may start my own psychoanalysis thread one of these days Foxface
Thanks for the feedback! I am excited that you are a Feminist Jungian Therapist, how cool to have met you So because I also have a male side, that is why I am attracted to women and vice versa for men? I am also fond of the idea of the shadow self. I just keep liking Carl Jung more and more -- about time I study his work a bit more in depth. That would be great if you started a thread on psychoanalysis, I would love to read it!
well it's tough to say. I am definitely of the mindset that LGBT is not a choice. With that said, the innate bisexuality concept more so regards the gender of the individual and the personality traits that often goes with the so-called 'gender.' In essence, my anima is an expression of my feminine traits despite the fact that I am male. It gets even more interesting when we get into the fathoms of the psyche in the inter-gender or trans community Foxface
So Jung's concept is that we have both female and male sides, but not so much that we are all bisexual?
yup I am not denying what you stated by any means. It can be said that Jung thought we all (or at least a vast majority) exist in some fraction of something like the Kinsey scale but mostly the anima and animus speak to feminine expression in males and masculine expression in females. Freud spoke more to the concept of sexual orientation love the chat by the way and I am going to start writing up some primers regarding Jung and make a psychoanalysis thread Foxface
