Say the word bisexual to some and they will tell you that it simply does not exist. You will hear statements like, “You are or your not” or possibly, “there is no in between when it comes to sexuality”. This misconception has been one that has been far too prevalent in the male community, spurned on by a study back in 2005 conducted by Northwestern University that concluded that male bisexuality could not definitively be said to exist. Well a new study suggests that indeed it does.
Northwestern University is again at the forefront of this new study and this time the tune being sung is a far different one. Now the prestigious midwestern university is stating that indeed male bisexuality does exist. The question from thousands of bisexual men out there now though is what in the world changed in a six period that made the same group that did the original study change their minds on the subject.
For these folks, the time since the 2005 study has contained plenty of ill words and stigmas about their sexuality. These men have been told that they are simple “gay” because of the fact that they enjoy sexual activity with other men, completely overlooking the fact that they also enjoying spending time with females as well. As it turns out, the answer as to why there are differences in the two studies may be linked to the fact that the new study was setup much better and took its sample from a proper group of participants.
The 2005 study was conducted using men that were summoned if you will from ads that were placed in gay or alternative magazines and papers. From there they determined which group that people fit into by having the folks who answered fill out a standard questionnaire, then had researchers place them in a category based on whatever criteria those people had setup. One can see how this could return a skewed study result, which many bisexual men felt this older study had. This led them to be labeled as a gay person in the closet.
This time around, researchers took a much smarter approach. They conducted their research with 100 men, but took a more scientific track in picking those that took part. According to an article in the Advocate, the men in the study were required to have had sexual relations with at least two members of each sex, as well as having been a part of a relationship with at least one person of each sex that lasted at least three months. With those criteria in place, it would seem there would be no dispute that the participants were equally enamored of both sexes.
That takes us to how does a survey of this type take place. Well, it is actually relatively simple. Each man is made to watch sets of videos. In one, they watched female on female sexual acts, then the second would have them watching male on male entertainment. The results were measured by the researchers and the results were exactly what bisexual men thought they would be. After going through the 100 men, the results showed that bisexual men were stimulated by both videos, whereas the gay and straight men were only swayed by one set of videos, not both.
In the end, the new study verified what bisexual men already new. That bisexual males do exist and can find members of both sexes attractive in all the ways that matter. However for those men that knew of the original study and doubted the legitimacy of its findings, this new study brings to them the satisfaction of knowing that they are now recognized on a human and scientific level. To some men that will not really matter, but to others it will help them to shake off the in the closet stereotype that was generated back in 2005.
