Brief history of bisexuality: from ancient greece, to kinsey scale to kristen stewart.

 “You are not confused if you are bisexual”- told Kristen Stewart in an interview to the guardian, and it basically encompasses the whole meaning. Bisexuality is wrongly misinterpreted to being something modern and new. Rather bisexuality is present from the date we know. From Greeks to Japanese, all have had bisexuality as an important part of their history. To be frank, folks back then were actually way more liberal and open while talking about sex and sexuality than we are today. 

On bisexual awareness week, it is imperative to all in the fam and even those who aren't, to understand the history of bisexuality and how it was viewed in various period of times.

So starting up with the culture which has openly viewed sexuality in the most naked and steamy way possible……

THE ANCIENT GREECE:

Greece not only has the most beautiful architecture but also has the most heartwarming stories of gay and bisexual love throughout history. from the story of apollo and hyacinth, they have given us the most heartwarming gay romance stories from the past. Young men were not only allowed but in some cases even encouraged to get into a relationship with older men, this was supposed to gain wisdom and experience. But it did not affect their chances of getting married to a female later in life. 

They did not waste their art of seduction and used it to their fullest.

Macedonian conqueror Alexander The Great and Roman emperor Hadrian openly maintained both wives and male lovers in public; and when Hadrian's beloved boyfriend Antinous killed himself, a heartbroken Hadrian built him a city, Antipolis, in Egypt. 

But this culture wasn't regarded much of a problem, it had clear lines that a relationship should only be between a younger and an older man. 

THE ILLEGAL 1800’s

From the introduction of blue jeans and the publication of Jane Eyre, this was the era where nightlife was basically discovered (though it did lead to the prohibition, who wants to talk about it :/). Though it does hold significant importance in the bisexual history as The word bisexuality, as we currently use it, was coined by Charles Gilbert Chaddock in his translation of Kraft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis (pictured) in 1892.  

The world before the 1900s was not really that liberal toward the bisexuals as such. The British legit had an anti-sodomy law, termed as the Buggery Act, which remained in the books until 1861. And consensual homosexual acts weren't made legal in the UK until 1967.

APA AND HOMOSEXUALITY

American psychological society was extremely verbal concerning homosexuality. They considered being homosexual as a “disorder” and treated it with castration, electroshock therapy, medication, hypnosis, aversive conditioning and whatever you had in hand. And the entire industry thrived “converting” homosexuals into heterosexuals.

That is until 1967 when APA actually declared that any form of homosexuality is not a mental disorder that needs to be “cured” or converted, rather it is just who they are and a lifestyle. Can't imagine how much it would have stung the people all over the world, but the shock that gays and homosexuals went through can never be compared.

FREUD AND THEORY OF INNATE BISEXUALITY

Like many of Freud's other theories about sexuality and sex, this was also equally bizarre one. In 1920, he put up the controversial theory of innate bisexuality, he considered that in the womb, the foetus is hermaphroditic, and attraction to both the sexes had its root in a developmental period where the babies float in the ectoplasm, and that no man is one gender or another. He further argued that any form of homosexuality rooted from a trauma in the childhood that prevented the individual to grow up normally and famously attempted hypnosis as a “cure”.

And the most awaited one…….

THE KINSEY SCALE

Kinsey’s famous Kinsey reports were groundbreaking in a number of ways. But the most important one was the Kinsey scale. He mapped the human sexual orientation between the scale of 0-6. With 0 being heterosexual and 6 being homosexual. He named 3, as ambisexual. Now not only did bisexual have a name in the scientific realm, but other sexualities were also studied in depth. 

It was also found out the Kinsey himself was a bisexual. I mean who knew!

THE MODERN ERA

With a lot of celebrities coming out like Lindsay Lohan, Harry Styles and my favourite, Kristen Stewart. Bisexuality has been embraced by the new generation and gave rise to many of the normal and extraordinary folks coming out of their closet. 

Many have talked about the appreciation of sexuality without the need to constantly label people. Kristen Stewart also spoke to the complexity that comes with having her sexuality in the spotlight.

"I mean, it’s hard to talk about," Steward said. "I don’t want to seem presumptuous, because everyone has their own experience. The whole issue of sexuality is so grey. I'm just trying to acknowledge that fluidity, that greyness, which has always existed. But maybe only now are we allowed to start talking about it." 

whether we change the term to “queer” or “fluid”, we who have liked both the genders have always existed, and are here to stay.