Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/bisexuality

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Bi-curious

Person who is attracted to experiencing bisexuality

Bi-curious

Person who is attracted to experiencing bisexuality

Bi-curious flag

Bi-curious (also bicurious) is a person, usually someone who is a self-identified heterosexual, who is curious or open about engaging in sexual activity with a person whose sex differs from that of their usual sexual partners. The term is sometimes used to describe a broad continuum of sexual orientation between heterosexuality and bisexuality. Such continuums include mostly heterosexual or mostly homosexual, but these can be self-identified without identifying as bisexual.

The terms heteroflexible and homoflexible are mainly applied to bi-curious people, though some authors distinguish heteroflexibility and homoflexibility as lacking the "wish to experiment with sexuality" implied by the bi-curious label. It is important when discussing this continuum to conclude that bisexuality is distinct from heterosexuality and homosexuality rather than simply an extension of said sexualities like the labels heteroflexibility and homoflexibility would imply, due to the prominent erasure and assimilation of bisexuality into other identity groups. To sum it up, the difference between bisexual and bicurious is that bisexual people know that they are sexually attracted to both genders based on personal experience. Bicurious people are still maneuvering their way through their sexuality.

Bi-curious is not to be confused with forms of sexual fluidity, defined as a "capacity for situation-dependent flexibility in sexual responsiveness," as bi-curious implies the existence of one set sexuality for the individual who carries the label, even if it is currently unknown, rather than an acknowledgment that the individual's sexual preference has changed and will continue to change that comes with sexual fluidity.

Bi-curiosity and other non-monosexual identities

Standard theories of bi-sexuality make use of the term bisexual umbrella to encompass multiple other non-monosexual identities (sexual identities that allow for multiple gender identity possibilities in partners) that are possible outcomes of exploration for bi-curious people. However, similar on the surface, bisexuality and the subsequent elements of its umbrella are distinct, thus leading to the possibility that a currently bi-curious person may end up as neither bisexual, homosexual, or heterosexual, but another non-monosexual identity altogether. This umbrella can be better broken into further sexual identities, with bisexuality normally including two groups that encompass attraction to the persons own gender and other genders (which will usually include non-binary gender identities too). At the same time, pansexuality includes attraction to an individual regardless of what gender identity they label themselves. The relevance to a bi-curious person is at what range does their exploration end.

Etymology

The term started becoming popular after 1984, according to Merriam-Webster, but The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English and Oxford Dictionaries' Lexico claim that the term was coined in 1990. According to Dictionary.com, the term was first used between 1980 and 1985.

References

References

  1. "Definition of BI-CURIOUS".
  2. (2008). "Born Gay: The Psychobiology of Sex Orientation". [[Peter Owen (publisher).
  3. (2019). "The A-Z of Gender and Sexuality: From Ace to Ze". [[Jessica Kingsley Publishers]].
  4. Frank, Katherine. (August 2008). "'Not Gay, but Not Homophobic': Male Sexuality and Homophobia in the 'Lifestyle'". Sexualities.
  5. (2012-02-01). "Prevalence and Stability of Self-Reported Sexual Orientation Identity During Young Adulthood". Archives of Sexual Behavior.
  6. (2018). "Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety Among Bisexual People Compared to Gay, Lesbian, and Heterosexual Individuals:A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis". Journal of Sex Research.
  7. Smorag, Pascale. (14 May 2008). "From Closet Talk to PC Terminology: Gay Speech and the Politics of Visibility". Transatlantica.
  8. "What Is Bicurious?".
  9. Diamond, Lisa M.. (2016-12-01). "Sexual Fluidity in Male and Females". Current Sexual Health Reports.
  10. "LGBTQ Plus Glossary".
  11. (2017-01-02). "Defining Bisexuality: Young Bisexual and Pansexual People's Voices". Journal of Bisexuality.
  12. Sprott, R. A.. (2018). "Bisexuality, pansexuality, queer identity, and kink identity". Sexual and Relationship Therapy.
  13. McShane, Hannah. (December 11, 2019). "The Bisexual To Be Corrected: Interrogating The Threat And Recuperation Of Women's Femme Bisexuality". Georgia State University.
  14. "What Does It Mean To Be "Bi-Curious"?".
  15. "bi-curious".
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

bisexuality lgbtq-slang pornography-terminology sexual-fluidity plurisexuality sexual-orientations
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Bi-curious — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report