A Sliding Scale
May 2008 - Kelly Garland

Sexual orientation is often thought of as static and unchanging throughout life. Or a shift in sexual orientation is really the manifestation of true orientation. However, sexual orientation doesn’t fit so easily into the small boxes society likes to create ,and often this prohibits the understanding and acceptance of sexual fluidity and orientation of both men and women. Sexuality and orientation encompass many aspects of human identity. The Sexual Information and Education Council of the United States offers this definition:
“Human sexuality encompasses the sexual knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors of individuals. It deals with anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry of the sexual response system; with roles identity, and personality; with individual thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and relationships. It addresses ethical, spiritual, and moral concerns, and group and cultural variations.”

Statistically, most humans are heterosexual with 10 per cent of the population being self -identified as homosexual, and an even larger portion identifying itself as bisexual. That being said, and given the social stigma of being either bisexual or homosexual, these numbers are an estimate at best. If we look to the above definition, one can see how difficult it is to put sexual identity and orientation into a restrictive category.

Indeed, a number of recent surveys and literature have focused on the fluidity of sexual orientation with both men and women throughout their lives. It would seem women are more open to a shift in sexual orientation or fluidity in sexual identity due to attraction and desire being more based in specific human qualities, and not rooted in gender.

Women also tend to be more open about their sexual orientation and don’t participate in secretive behaviors. On the other hand, men tend to identify with one orientation throughout life and maintain that orientation socially, even if their sexual attraction and behavior is more fluid.

The Kinsey Reports, published by Dr. Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy and others in the late forties and early fifties, were two books based upon thousands of interviews and caused quite a furor upon publication because the research challenged conventional beliefs about sexuality and discussed subjects that had previously been taboo.

The research both challenged the social assumptions of sexual orientation and revealed what had been assumed by many for a great number of years: that people aren’t as rigid in sex roles as commonly thought, both in thought and deed. One finding of the research was that most people can be placed somewhere between the two extremes, often sliding back and forth during the course of their lives.

In 1995, University of Utah psychologist and author Lisa Diamond travelled through New York State, visiting softball games, picnics, and gay pride parades in search of young women who had experienced same-sex attraction. Diamond wanted to learn how these women understood and labelled their own desires.

She followed dozens of women for 10 years, from college graduation to first jobs to relationships. Most women’s behavior had little to do with being gay; some switched their sexual identity many times. When women were asked to define themselves as “gay,” “straight” or “bisexual,” many refused to take any label at all, while others invented their own labels.For example, one interviewee called herself a “reluctant heterosexual.”

Given all of the evidence, sexual orientation is something that certainly demands reconsideration in regard to thoughts, beliefs and opinions. This would allow us to better understand ourselves and our intimate relationships throughout life, and offer us the ability to open up to new possibilities and love.