People have such a need to cram others into little boxes. Somebody recently asked me how bisexual I am (I can only presume they meant my Kinsey number). Now, I’ve written before about the absurd inadequacy of any attempt to reduce human sexuality to a single one-dimensional axis, or even a two-dimensional chart that:
A) crosses Kinsey numbers with what the designers referred to as “attraction types” based on “lustful feelings” (that roughly a third of women don’t have);
B) ignores kink entirely; and
C) “gives a place of precedence to ongoing sexual ‘relationships’ despite the fact that many individuals aren’t interested in them.”
As I wrote in “East is East and West is West“,
Human sexuality is not like a standard light switch, which has two and only two positions; it’s not even like a dimmer switch, with an infinite number of subtle gradations along one linear path. It’s much more like a faucet, in which two kinds of water can be mixed to produce many temperature gradations while the intensity of the flow can also have many levels. In fact, if you can imagine a shower where the water can be directed to come out of either the lower faucet or the shower head or a movable nozzle or jacuzzi jets, that might be a model a bit closer to the truth…
But even ignoring all that, the very question of “How bi are you?” ignores the reality of female sexual fluidity. As I explained in “AC/DC“, “women tend to move around the sexual spectrum depending upon their environment, circumstances and experiences,” and I probably wander more than most women. So for me, the question is simply not answerable in any fixed, predictable sense. I mean, are we talking now or at some specific past or future time? What time of the month is it? Hell, what time of day is it? What did I have to eat last? How many clients have I had recently, and when was the last time a busty redhead made eyes at me? What was the gender of the last idiot who pissed me off? Am I high, and if so on what drug? Is it October? Is it Tuesday? Is it raining? What music are we listening to? Is there a dog or cat in the room? Is there money involved? Is there bondage involved? How attractive does the person in question find me, and what are they doing to prove it? And after all that I still probably couldn’t tell you how bi I am.
(Have a question of your own? Please consult this page to see if I’ve answered it in a previous column, and if not just click here to ask me via email.)
