# Male Bisexuality: Why is it Absent from Popular American Culture? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 8, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-bisexuality-why-is-it-absent-from-popular-american-culture/193707 "2003-08-08T00:16:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-bisexuality-why-is-it-absent-from-popular-american-culture/193707/21 "2003-08-08T16:59:55Z")
_Theory:_ Male bisexual material is out there, but it’s just not as visible as the visually-oriented magazines cited in the OP. Has anyone looked at other sources, like romance novels or fanfics (especially slash), to survey just how much male bisexual material is out there? ---
**Author:** ![Pastor\_of\_Muppets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b5a626/32.png) [@Pastor\_of\_Muppets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pastor_of_Muppets)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-bisexuality-why-is-it-absent-from-popular-american-culture/193707/22 "2003-08-08T17:23:05Z")
Forgive the highjack, but I’ve noticed several statements about _Chasing Amy_ on the board recently that I felt were unfair and I can no longer hold my silence. 😉 So, to me the truly interesting and wonderful thing about Chasing Amy is that Holden doesn’t end up with the bisexual girl. She leaves him for a two-bit a-hole. He completely thrashes the whole situation because he can’t deal with his jealousy. He attempts to solve it by saying that he and Banky should sleep together. Banky says okay. He’s relieved when it doesn’t happen, but he agrees. Sexual politics in Chasing Amy are satisfyingly complex and realistic. The film is based on Kevin Smith’s real life experience. I went through a similar relationship. We’d like people to be happily bisexual, but often admitted bisexuality disrupts thing tragically. It’s a hard thing to handle and Chasing Amy does a beautiful job of discription. Highkack over.:DCarry on as you were… ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-bisexuality-why-is-it-absent-from-popular-american-culture/193707/23 "2003-08-08T18:25:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by plnnr \* > \*\*“Speaking as a gay/bisexual guy” > > I don’t understand this statement. Are you soley attracted to other men? Then, by definition, you’re gay. Are you also attracted to women? Then, by definition, you’re bisexual. At least that’s how I’ve come to understand the terms. I’m confused (it actually isn’t any of my business at all, which always seems to get lost on most people, but since we’re having the discussion). \*\* By strict definition, I would be bisexual. However, it is by no means an even split of attraction, and I find myself more responsive to men than women. Hence, I tend to simplify matters for the general public for exactly the reason that people don’t get it. Kinsey scale straight - 0–1--2–3(even bi)–4--5\*–6 - gay \*me ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-bisexuality-why-is-it-absent-from-popular-american-culture/193707/24 "2003-08-08T19:05:08Z")
Got it. I tend to be more straight, but with a big bend in the middle. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-bisexuality-why-is-it-absent-from-popular-american-culture/193707/25 "2003-08-09T00:49:24Z")
[quote] What special, exclusive contributions do female bisexuals have to offer American culture? Why are they so more commonly depicted in the mass mediatainment today?[/unquote] Let me just say that, as I misread the OP title, I missed out on the “popular” in “popular culture” and didn’t realize that this thread dealt primarily with TV and movies. I now am in sync with the rest of you, but still don’t see what the big whoop is. As other have said, it all comes down to demographics. As for the greater representation of female _versus_ male bisexuals, I would have to say that female bisexuals are far more titillating to the average television viewer than male bisexuals. Personally, I thought the idea was to disregard a person’s sexual orientation and accept/respect them simply as a person. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-bisexuality-why-is-it-absent-from-popular-american-culture/193707/26 "2003-08-09T02:30:16Z")
[hijack] Never read an Anne Rice novel? [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![nisosbar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@nisosbar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nisosbar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-bisexuality-why-is-it-absent-from-popular-american-culture/193707/27 "2003-08-09T03:48:46Z")
No, good point, but even with that, if you saw the film Interview with the Vampire (I did), it almost completely glossed over the bisexual aspect of the book, as I understand it. In popular culture since AIDS, bisexuality is not something which men engage in because they enjoy it. It’s an alternative to heterosexuality, or it’s dysfunction, or it’s something else, but it’s never natural. 😃 Someone should tell these writers that male bisexuality is much more common than they would have us all believe. ---
**Author:** ![vasyachkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c5a1d2/32.png) [@vasyachkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vasyachkin)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-bisexuality-why-is-it-absent-from-popular-american-culture/193707/28 "2003-08-09T05:02:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nisosbar \* > \*\*Furthermore, in my experience, other cultures are far more accepting of male bisexuality than America. What accounts for the difference? > \*\* really? i came from Ukraine (part of former USSR) to US when i was 14. i didn’t even believe that gays really existed at that time, i thought they were invented just so we could joke about them 🙂 i think, US is much more tolerant to this issue than the case is in other places. that is not to say that we’re tolerant enough. but i really don’t give a sh1t though, what i really wish we were tolerant of is drugs 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nisosbar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@nisosbar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nisosbar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-bisexuality-why-is-it-absent-from-popular-american-culture/193707/29 "2003-08-09T13:37:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vasyachkin \* > \*\*really? i came from Ukraine (part of former USSR) to US when i was 14. i didn’t even believe that gays really existed at that time, i thought they were invented just so we could joke about them 🙂 > > i think, US is much more tolerant to this issue than the case is in other places. that is not to say that we’re tolerant enough. but i really don’t give a sh1t though, what i really wish we were tolerant of is drugs 🙂 \*\* Well, first off, I’m not talking about gays, I’m talking about bisexuals, so take that! 😉 Did guys exist in the Ukraine who had sex with other guys but also liked girls? That’s what I mean. In my experience (and I know I’m going to get flamed for this :eek: ), Spanish-speaking cultures, Arabs, Far Eastern cultures all are way more homoerotic than Anglo/American culture, to the extent that homosexual experiences seem to be acceptable under a relatively wide range of circumstances, even as a way of supplementing heterosexual relationships. ---
**Author:** ![annaplurabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@annaplurabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annaplurabelle)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-bisexuality-why-is-it-absent-from-popular-american-culture/193707/30 "2003-08-09T14:37:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nisosbar \* > \*\*In my experience (and I know I’m going to get flamed for this :eek: ), Spanish-speaking cultures, Arabs, Far Eastern cultures all are way more homoerotic than Anglo/American culture, to the extent that homosexual experiences seem to be acceptable under a relatively wide range of circumstances, even as a way of supplementing heterosexual relationships. \*\* Why flamed? You’re referring to examples like [this](http://www.travelandtranscendence.com/g-india.html): > [@](#): > > Prem is 26, married, and has a young son. He does not call himself homosexual; the word gay he doesn’t understand, not having access to English. Nor does he see anything wrong with what he does. He is just “messing about.” He remembers his first sexual experience with his uncle back in his home village. He was 12. > > Mohammed, 42: “So when I am hot and don’t have enough money, then I know several men who I can have ‘maasti’ with. A lot of my friends do this.” (Maasti is a Hindi term which means mischief and often has sexual overtones when it is used between young men.) > > They don’t consider themselves as different. They know many men who enjoy sex with other men. They don’t play husband and wife roles, thinking it rather silly as both are men. Neither read or speak English. > > About three-quarters (72%) of truck drivers in North Pakistan who participated in a recent survey published in AIDS Analysis Asia admitted that they has sex with other males, while 76% stated that they had sex with female sex workers. Are these 72% gay? Homosexual? There is sufficient anecdotal evidence to indicate that in the other countries of the sub-continent, similar levels of male to male sexual behaviors exist as part of a broader sexual repertoire. Are these males bisexual? ---
**Author:** ![nisosbar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@nisosbar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nisosbar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-bisexuality-why-is-it-absent-from-popular-american-culture/193707/31 "2003-08-09T15:00:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by annaplurabelle \* > \*\*Why flamed? You’re referring to examples like [this](http://www.travelandtranscendence.com/g-india.html): \*\* FASCINATING!! ^ thanks for the link! I’ll have to bookmark that. I just love Straight Dope! There doesn’t seem to be anything you can’t discuss. Other IBB’s I participate in are so prudish and prim… ---
**Author:** ![MusicJunkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@MusicJunkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MusicJunkie)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-bisexuality-why-is-it-absent-from-popular-american-culture/193707/32 "2003-08-09T15:18:02Z")
> [@](#): > > In my experience (and I know I’m going to get flamed for this ), Spanish-speaking cultures, Arabs, Far Eastern cultures all are way more homoerotic than Anglo/American culture, to the extent that homosexual experiences seem to be acceptable under a relatively wide range of circumstances, even as a way of supplementing heterosexual relationships Brazil isn’t Spanish speaking but I think it’s relevant to point out that though this may be true of other countries in latin America ( I have no idea) it most definitely isn’t in Brazil. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-bisexuality-why-is-it-absent-from-popular-american-culture/193707.md?page=1)