Who are "bi", how do they differ from straight people and representatives of non-traditional orientation?

Over the past hundred years, human ideas about the sexual sphere have undergone such tectonic changes that it is appropriate to call it a revolution. It is impossible to be a resident of modern society and not know who "bi", "homo" or "hetero" are.

The concept of sexual orientation

The term "sexual orientation" hides the totality of the mental, emotional and carnal attraction of one person to another who belongs to a certain group.

According to modern scientific concepts, there are four kinds of orientations. The defining feature in their differentiation is attraction:

Men to women and vice versa ();
Men to men or women to women (homo);
To representatives of absolutely any gender (bi)
Lack of erotic attraction to anyone or anything (asexuality).

It should be noted that the fact that a particular representative of society has any orientation does not mean at all that this is how he behaves in everyday life. The limits and stereotypes that inevitably exist in society greatly change the trajectory of visible erotic behavior. So, for example, among the homosexuals of Hollywood in the second half of the 20th century, it was a common practice to marry the first beauties in order to conform to social ideas.

In addition, sometimes a person may not even be aware of their “deviations” in the sexual sphere.

Who are bi people?

So, sexual orientation, within which a person has erotic feelings for both sexes, carries the prefix " bi". As for the self-identification of a bisexual person, the following variations are possible:

An individual may consider himself "bi", but never have sexual intercourse with persons of the same sex;
The individual has experienced homoerotic relationships but does not identify as gay (lesbian) or bisexual;
A gay or lesbian person sometimes has connections with members of the opposite sex, but does not identify as bi.

Bisexuality should not be confused with the so-called pansexuality. If the former nevertheless divide the entire human society into sexes and genders, then the latter fundamentally do not draw a line between identities and consider them insignificant.

Bisexuality has accompanied human society throughout history, although the term itself and the scientific concept of orientations was put forward a little over a hundred years ago. There are also known "bi" precedents in the animal kingdom.

Who are bi girls?

Bisexual are those girls who have had or would like to have sexual relations with persons of the same sex, without giving up men. According to statistics, the proportion of such representatives of the fair sex is relatively small - only 1.5%. However, experts believe that respondents are not always frank with interviewers and with themselves.

In love with both men and women, girls have a rather hard time in modern society, even in developed countries. They are under pressure from various social groups:

Aggressive traditionalists and religious fundamentalists;
Radical feminists (especially lesbian feminists) who consider "bi" to be almost traitors due to occasional attraction to the stronger sex;
From the gay community. Not all representatives of the homosexual movement consider it necessary to allow bisexuals to participate in their structures.

As a result, in 2013 in the state of Iowa (USA) a case was initiated regarding discrimination against bi-women. The lawsuit was triumphantly won, which gives hope for equalizing the social status of all disadvantaged groups.

Bi-passive - who is this?

Sexologists usually divide persons involved in sexual intercourse into three groups:

Active- who take an active part in sex, determine its direction and even duration. In addition, as a rule, it is from them that the very initiative and the initial erotic impulse come. Usually they are also called "upper".
Passive- they rely on their active partner, which is why they carry the symbol "lower". Their role in the sexual process is not distinguished by its significance.
Active-passive- such relationships are possible only with equality in a couple and full mutual respect for each other, which happens extremely rarely.

For centuries, the two poles of activity and passivity have been strictly divided between men and women, respectively. However, the sexual revolution showed the world more bizarre combinations. In particular, among bisexuals, women with a man's face and real men in a skirt can often be found.

Image in culture

The theme of the emancipation of sexual life has been covered in cultural works since the beginning of the 20th century, although it has been exploited most actively relatively recently. Among such cultural artifacts, it is worth noting separately:

The 1914 film The Florida Charm had bi-characters as one of its main characters. The original version of the film was not given a wide release. It was shown to the general public only 50 years later.
The topic was repeatedly raised to the public by the notorious Virginia Woolf. As early as 1928, in her Biography of Orlando, she painted a man who turns into a woman. Two more works (1920 and 1925) are devoted to this topic. In all cases there were problems with censorship.
Contemporary novelist Bret Easton Ellis also plows the rich soil of the bi-theme. It runs like a red thread through his novels "Less Than Zero" and "Rules of Sex", and indeed through almost all of his work.
The television series "Home" on the Fox channel had the main character a female doctor who sometimes had intercourse with girls.
The drama "Oz" was dedicated to the life of a serial sex maniac who spared neither men nor women.

Famous personalities

History knows many eminent people who actually had or were rumored to have relationships with people of both sexes. Since such behavior was strongly condemned, such incidents are deeply engraved in the annals of history. Notable bi-people include:

Roman Emperor Nero, who used to rape both men and women;
King Henry VIII of Britain - one of the bloodiest tyrants in history - also liked to go over women and men almost equally;
The Russian Emperor Peter the Great is credited with rather sophisticated sexual perversions. True, it is quite difficult to determine how much of all the stories are true;
Among more modern personalities, Angelina Jolie, David Bowie, Lady Gaga, Brian Molko (from the Placebo group) and Billie Joe Armstrong (from the Greenday collective) should be noted.
As for fictional characters, the famous James Bond in one of his last films claims that he had relationships with men.

People who consider it quite normal to have sex with both men and women - that's what "bi" or bisexuals are. Moreover, it is not at all necessary that their attraction to different sexes be equally strong. Moreover, sexual contacts themselves as such may not exist at all. "B" is more a sense of self than a behavior.

By the way, all the stars depicted in the photo in this article openly admitted their bisexuality.

Video: all about bisexuals

In this video, doctor, sexologist Polina Matveeva will tell you who bi-orientated people are and how to determine it: