Oh New York Times...
Jul. 5th, 2005 09:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexmegamiToday, you are either going to push my buttons or make me cheer. Going to read articles now.
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United Church of Christ Backs Same-Sex Marriage
"Today's word is not the last word in the U.C.C. about marriage," Mr. Thomas said. "It is a crucial and groundbreaking first word in a difficult but important churchwide discussion."
He said the church strove to have "diversity without division, unity without uniformity." His hope, he said, is that "we will not run from one another, because if we run from one another we run from Christ."
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Straight, Gay, or Lying? Bisexuality Revisited
In the new study, a team of psychologists directly measured genital arousal patterns in response to images of men and women. The psychologists found that men who identified themselves as bisexual were in fact exclusively aroused by either one sex or the other, usually by other men.
The study is the largest of several small reports suggesting that the estimated 1.7 percent of men who identify themselves as bisexual show physical attraction patterns that differ substantially from their professed desires.
"Research on sexual orientation has been based almost entirely on self-reports, and this is one of the few good studies using physiological measures," said Dr. Lisa Diamond, an associate professor of psychology and gender identity at the University of Utah, who was not involved in the study.
The discrepancy between what is happening in people's minds and what is going on in their bodies, she said, presents a puzzle "that the field now has to crack, and it raises this question about what we mean when we talk about desire."
"We have assumed that everyone means the same thing," she added, "but here we have evidence that that is not the case."
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"I'm not denying that bisexual behavior exists," said Dr. Bailey, "but I am saying that in men there's no hint that true bisexual arousal exists, and that for men arousal is orientation."
But other researchers - and some self-identified bisexuals - say that the technique used in the study to measure genital arousal is too crude to capture the richness - erotic sensations, affection, admiration - that constitutes sexual attraction.
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About 1.5 percent of American women identify themselves bisexual. And bisexuality appears easier to demonstrate in the female sex. A study published last November by the same team of Canadian and American researchers, for example, found that most women who said they were bisexual showed arousal to men and to women.
Although only a small number of women identify themselves as bisexual, Dr. Bailey said, bisexual arousal may for them in fact be the norm.
---
United Church of Christ Backs Same-Sex Marriage
"Today's word is not the last word in the U.C.C. about marriage," Mr. Thomas said. "It is a crucial and groundbreaking first word in a difficult but important churchwide discussion."
He said the church strove to have "diversity without division, unity without uniformity." His hope, he said, is that "we will not run from one another, because if we run from one another we run from Christ."
---
Straight, Gay, or Lying? Bisexuality Revisited
In the new study, a team of psychologists directly measured genital arousal patterns in response to images of men and women. The psychologists found that men who identified themselves as bisexual were in fact exclusively aroused by either one sex or the other, usually by other men.
The study is the largest of several small reports suggesting that the estimated 1.7 percent of men who identify themselves as bisexual show physical attraction patterns that differ substantially from their professed desires.
"Research on sexual orientation has been based almost entirely on self-reports, and this is one of the few good studies using physiological measures," said Dr. Lisa Diamond, an associate professor of psychology and gender identity at the University of Utah, who was not involved in the study.
The discrepancy between what is happening in people's minds and what is going on in their bodies, she said, presents a puzzle "that the field now has to crack, and it raises this question about what we mean when we talk about desire."
"We have assumed that everyone means the same thing," she added, "but here we have evidence that that is not the case."
...
"I'm not denying that bisexual behavior exists," said Dr. Bailey, "but I am saying that in men there's no hint that true bisexual arousal exists, and that for men arousal is orientation."
But other researchers - and some self-identified bisexuals - say that the technique used in the study to measure genital arousal is too crude to capture the richness - erotic sensations, affection, admiration - that constitutes sexual attraction.
...
About 1.5 percent of American women identify themselves bisexual. And bisexuality appears easier to demonstrate in the female sex. A study published last November by the same team of Canadian and American researchers, for example, found that most women who said they were bisexual showed arousal to men and to women.
Although only a small number of women identify themselves as bisexual, Dr. Bailey said, bisexual arousal may for them in fact be the norm.
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no subject
Date: 2005-07-05 02:42 pm (UTC)I agree with that. People can be attracted to different genders or types of people in different ways.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-05 06:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-05 03:10 pm (UTC)I can't see the full article (registration? phooey), but that's a pretty strong claim to make. To say that what 1.5% women identify as is the norm (80% or more?) is a fairly tall claim. You'll have roughly 98.5% disagreeing with you, so you'd better have something to back that up with, Dr. Bailey.
Some time ago, someone I know claimed that sexuality on the Kinsey scale fits a bell curve (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution). He claimed by this that the majority of people are bisexual, although evidence would disagree with this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_sexual_orientation#Modern_survey_results). It's not that I'm against the idea, I just don't see it fitting with the stats we have on sexual orientation thus far.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-05 03:41 pm (UTC)I think that the article (or the doctor himself) words this poorly - what Dr. Bailey means is that, among bisexual women, being bisexually aroused is normal for them. I could always been misinterpreting, though.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-05 03:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-05 05:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-05 06:43 pm (UTC)See Obesity and denial. Anyhoo, it would be interesting to see some follow-up studies.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-05 07:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-05 07:09 pm (UTC)1. Bisexual arousal is the norm for bisexual women. Bisexual arousal is not the norm for bisexual men.
2. Bisexual arousal is the norm for all women. Hetero or homosexual arousal is the norm for all men.
Which do you mean?
no subject
Date: 2005-07-05 07:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-05 07:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-05 05:44 pm (UTC)This is indeed a pretty crude test, and I'd want to see the testing documentation before I slighted it - but I do have to say based on my own empirical evidence that bisexuality as they qualify it here does exist :)
no subject
Date: 2005-07-05 07:07 pm (UTC)Given that they probably wouldn't be reporting on it if it hadn't been peer-reviewed, I'd like to think that it's at least credible; they do note that it doesn't factor in emotional connections, and that they aren't going to start advising anyone to tell bisexuals that they're "really just gay".