# Bisexuals & Androgynous Partners

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 6, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278 "2011-12-06T18:10:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 15\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278/1 "2011-12-06T18:10:52Z")

</div>

Are bisexuals more likely to be attracted to androgynous partners (male & female) than heterosexuals, or do they (on average) like their males masculine and their females feminine (to the same extent as heterosexuals, on average)?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278/2 "2011-12-06T18:30:31Z")

</div>

[moderating]  
Moved to IMHO.  
[/moderating]

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278/3 "2011-12-06T18:37:54Z")

</div>

hmm that’s a good question. I haven’t met very many bisexual people, but I believe that they are attracted to your average man and average woman, and possibly the androgynous types as well but I don’t think they necessarily have a predilection for them.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Peeta\_Mellark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Peeta\_Mellark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peeta_Mellark)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278/4 "2011-12-06T18:57:32Z")

</div>

It differs. I’ve met straight women who go into paroxysms of ecstasy over an androgynous man and bisexual women who only like people at the extremes of the gender spectrum. I haven’t known many bi guys who were as evenly balanced in their attractions as women.

I consider myself mostly gay, but I do have bi attractions/affections at times. They’re only to women who are androgynous or somewhat masculine. The guys I like tend to be “pretty” I suppose, and yet clearly male. Along the lines of [Jonathan Rhys-Meyers](http://www.marvelousmrse.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/jonathanrhysmeyersbrown.jpg).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278/5 "2011-12-06T18:58:44Z")

</div>

I’d classify myself on the straight end of bisexual (2/6 on the Kinsey scale), but I find masculine women and feminine men very attractive. Make of that what you will.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278/6 "2011-12-06T19:09:14Z")

</div>

I know a bi woman who is dating a man (no idea how masculine he is) and biological woman who lives life as a man.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278/7 "2011-12-06T19:14:15Z")

</div>

I’m a fairly androgynous woman and the last guy I was with was bi. He seemed really into androgynous people in general (he liked butch girls and femmy guys). But I don’t know if he’s representative of anything. I’m mostly straight and I prefer androgynous guys.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278/8 "2011-12-06T19:33:01Z")

</div>

[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:2, topic:605278”]

[moderating]  
Moved to IMHO.  
[/moderating]  
[/QUOTE]  
Problem with this is that an IMHO thread asking this question gets a bunch of personal anecdotes, which is what it attracted. What I was hoping for was some actual evidence/studies, which is why I tried GQ. Possibly these don’t exist, but that was the intention, at any rate.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278/9 "2011-12-06T21:40:51Z")

</div>

Bisexuality isn’t a singular thing. For men, it seems to me that there’s a few different categories (and infinitely more gradients within categories). For simplicity, I’m going to group them three ways:

1. guys who are mostly gay or straight but like to dabble in the other
2. guys with little regard for gender (often identifying as pansexual or queer)
3. guys with both a “straight” and “gay” side

Going on meagerish anecdotal evidence, #2 is going to be the most likely to be attracted to androgynous people. For #1, they likely looking for a more “typical” sample to experiment with. For #3, they want to compartmentalize more.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278/10 "2011-12-06T21:59:06Z")

</div>

Data-point - I am strictly heterosexual and generally find androgynous women much more attractive than hyper-feminine women, who often seem abjectly ridiculous to me.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278/11 "2011-12-07T13:41:31Z")

</div>

My personal experience is that androgynous people are more likely to be bisexual, but not that they necessarily prefer other androgynous people. Nor does that cover all bisexuals.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Reverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@Reverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reverse)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278/12 "2011-12-07T13:59:51Z")

</div>

I’d imagine it depends on the person.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278/13 "2011-12-07T17:00:21Z")

</div>

I’m bi, and I know a lot of other bi people (and gay people) and in my experience, it’s all over the map.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278/14 "2011-12-07T17:44:12Z")

</div>

> [@miss\_elizabeth](#):
>
> I’m bi, and I know a lot of other bi people (and gay people) and in my experience, it’s all over the map.

I’m curious, do you consider sex (and other activities) to be sex with a person, or with a man or woman? Do you sometimes want one or the other specifically, or does it matter? Do you go through phases?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bisexuals-androgynous-partners/605278/15 "2011-12-07T18:39:30Z")

</div>

> [@typoink](#):
>
> Bisexuality isn’t a singular thing. For men, it seems to me that there’s a few different categories (and infinitely more gradients within categories). For simplicity, I’m going to group them three ways:
> 
> 1. guys who are mostly gay or straight but like to dabble in the other
> 2. guys with little regard for gender (often identifying as pansexual or queer)
> 3. guys with both a “straight” and “gay” side
> 
> Going on meagerish anecdotal evidence, #2 is going to be the most likely to be attracted to androgynous people. For #1, they likely looking for a more “typical” sample to experiment with. For #3, they want to compartmentalize more.

I can agree with this as more the #3 type you describe. I’m bi leaning toward straight, and I like girly girls and (when in the mood) manly men. I find androgynous people of either gender entirely unattractive.
