For a few moments two weeks ago, everything seemed exhilaratingly clear. On July 5, the New York Times published an article titled "Gay, Straight, or Lying? Bisexuality Revisited."
The article reported on the findings of a study in which psychologists from Northwestern University and Toronto's Center for Addiction and Mental Health observed arousal responses in 100 men who identified themselves as either straight, gay or bisexual.
The study was conducted by hooking electrodes up to these men and monitoring their responses as they watched various forms of pornography.
And the result: Straight men liked straight porn and the gay men liked gay porn. As for the self-professed bisexual men, a third liked straight porn and two-thirds liked gay porn. None of them responded to both. In other words, the research suggested, male bisexuality, like Bigfoot, the Easter Bunny and possibly the real estate bubble, is a myth.
The story, which went out over the wires that day and remained at the top of the New York Times' "most e-mailed stories" list for several days after that, had the qualities of that most delicious form of news, which is to say the kind of news that lends credibility to preexisting biases and unstated politically incorrect views. On behalf of the millions of straight, single women for whom dating can mean navigating the murky waters of men who purport to be straight but whose interests and behavior sometimes suggest otherwise, I'll admit my initial response was a resounding "duh!"
The fact that the article also acknowledged that bisexuality may actually be the norm in women (although just 1.5% of women identify themselves as such) was even further validation of the double standard that so many women (and men, when they have occasion to think about it) share.
The crux of the double standard is this: Bisexual curiosity is seen as perfectly natural and normal in women and is even (largely by virtue of its appeal to men) an asset in attracting a mate. After all, tons of independent movies are made on the subject, some of which aren't even kept hidden at the video store. And what about all those teenage girls who now use the lesbian kiss as a way of exciting teenage boys? Back in my day, we relied on Love's Baby Soft perfume (talk about old technology).
