Alfred Kinsey's groundbreaking work in research on sexual behavior and response was a turning point in terms of how we might understand ourselves. Kinsey's research yielded very compelling data that said that people are not necessarily exclusively "gay" or "straight," but instead fall on a seven-point scale that accommodates nuance and various degrees:
- 0 - Exclusively heterosexual
- 1 - Predominately heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual
- 2 - Predominately heterosexual, but more that incidentally homosexual
- 3 - Equally heterosexual and homosexual
- 4 - Predominately homosexual, but more that incidentally heterosexual
- 5 - Predominately homosexual, only incidentally heterosexual
- 6 - Exclusively homosexual
This scale is fascinating to me because of its ambiguity; just what does it mean? As an English major, I immediately start parsing the words; "incidentally" homosexual? What does that mean? To me, it's all about desire; that is, whom do we find appealing as a sexual partner? If "incidental" is "not intentional," what does this tell us about our orientations and attitudes? Does this mean if I'm a "5" on the Kinsey scale, I might "unintentionally" find a man attractive as a sexual partner? Is "intention" pertinent?
I think what it might indicate is that we all have an "innate" sexual orientation, that drives our attraction to others as sexual partners. (I strongly believe that our orientation is deeply intrinsic, and that we cannot ever be "cured" of homosexuality.) The gradation is in terms of how "potent" or "powerful" that orientation is, within the context of how "open-minded" we might be about potential sexual partners.
The real beauty of the Kinsey scale is that it reflects the ambiguity, the shades of gray (not just the black-and-white), the nuances, the messiness of life; the very fluidity of identity. It acknowledges that people evolve and grow and sometimes experience new feelings, especially if they maintain an open mind and an open heart. The Kinsey scale extols the idea that "real" life is not as restrictive or as neatly defined as our cultural, social and ethical mores might dictate.
I remember at the 1993 "March on Washington" for Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans rights, there was a film crew there, asking people, "how did you know you were gay?" People had all kinds of elaborate stories about this and that. And then one woman summed it up quite succinctly, I think: "Because I fell in love (with a woman)." While I firmly believe that sexual orientation is a deeply innate human characteristic, I also believe that for people who are neither a "0" nor a "6" on the Kinsey scale, that individual people we meet can sway us one way or the other. I love this concept, because to me it reveals that "desire" is not exclusively "sexual" - that desire and attraction are imbued with a whole host of characteristics and elements, some of which remain mysterious.
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