A Show of Gay Pride

[The Grand Nudger]

Could have made it a 14 point scale, just divide each point in half, continue ad infinitum.
(scales like these probably tell us just as much or more about the researcher as they do about the subject being researched)

[Violet]

Where would I fall in your paradigm John? Any more penis than my own penis is entirely too much penis. In fact, it's so much penis - that I refer to it as "all the penis". For example, when I'm in a public bathroom, "all the penis" make me entirely uneasy - my sphincter tightens. Even when I'm alone, the lingering presence of penis...it's just too much penis.

Ahh, I see you are transsexual.

Might have something around here to help you with that...

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In case it hasn't been brought up yet, the Kinsey Scale. It's a scale of sexuality ranging from 0-6, much the same as the Dawkins scale, with an X option for asexuals.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinsey_scale#section_3
Not many people score a 0 (completely heterosexual) or a 6 (completely homosexual), rather most are somewhere in between.

Kinsey scale categories are far too vague, and not indicative that any given human's sexuality may well 'permanently' shift, may at times expand/contract with one's mood (arousal, depression), nor is it indicative of romance's affect upon sexual attraction. Overall, it might give you a 'guess' of where a person's sexuality might have fallen at the time they categorized themselves (or were categorized), but in general: I would suggest you assume that they also are party to one category on either side. People like to bluster that they'll never find a man/woman/whatever sexy, or that they'll never have (or if they do: enjoy) sex with a member of that group... but get the right conditions and they'll likely find themselves wrong. More likely that Kinsey scale demonstrates the feasibility of attempting to court/mate/bang with someone.

Anyway, there are a lot of cultural reasons to deny homosexual desires/interest/etc. Plenty of people with homosexual tendencies lie to themselves, believe it's just a phase, or are never forthcoming with others about them... among other issues they might have (closets, married, have children, problems resulting from restricted dating pool). Some of these are likely subconscious.

Doesn't matter though, sooner or later humans are gonna be fucking aliens... I mean, we've already seen it: Europeans with Chinese wives. 0.o

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But most people are 1&2 or 4&5 on the Kinsey scale. Which shows that people lean strongly one way or the other, but still have occasional to not so occasional atractions to the sex they predominately don't favor.
For instance, I'd probably be a 1, but I haven't met the woman yet who I'm so attracted to I'd actually have sex with her.

Look to your favorite foods.

Not dissimilar. Y'know... I sometimes really actively dislike certain things, like meatloaf, and sausage. But in certain exceptionally aesthetic experiences... I can find myself quite satisfied with foods which ordinarily are quite distasteful.

It's unlikely that most people (who only have sex with some 5 people in their lifetime) often allow themselves a chance to retry something they dislike. Thought: if people had a lot more sex... with more partners... they would be more receptive to sexual activities/conditions they otherwise would not normally engage in. Observation: Missionary style, and a whole bunch of conservative religious folk who claim to have sex rarely... the question is really: are they lying?

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Sexuality can shift, but not radically. If you're a 1 or a 2, you are highly unlikely to jump to being a 5 or 6 or vice versa.

Some transpeople state that they've gone from exclusive interest in men or women... polar.

Regardless of whether or not shifting is unlikely: it remains that it *can* shift, and *does* shift (if you are to believe a thousand crying voices, and me...).

Better than to flatly claim 'it's not a big change' or 'but that's the exception!': examine the mechanics behind what might cause it to happen, find the mechanism of the change, and/or discover *why they had a preference in the first place*. Science and stuff.

[festive1]

In fairness, when the Kinsey scale was developed in the 1950's, being trans was very uncommon. Perhaps it doesn't take into account the wider variety of sexuality that we see today. But perhaps it did help to awaken public awareness that sexuality is a continuum, not pigeon holes. When the Kinsey report came out, people were all upset because it showed that women tend to masturbate. The public didn't like that, but now it's far more accepted. It was the start of actual research into human sexuality, I'm not saying the research hasn't moved beyond those initial findings.

[Violet]

Being trans was exactly as common. Recognizing oneself as trans on the other hand: not so much.

Public opinion, even today, is all about pigeonholing. Do we have any 'better' understandings of human sexuality today than a scale made 60 years ago? You made a big deal out of the Kinsey scale... know of anything more accurate?

[festive1]

No, but if you would care to enlighten me...

[Violet]

No, but if you would care to enlighten me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXiU6kiq_Ms

Were I a scientist, I'd be sure to get right on that. Oh wait, everyone is.

Alternate measures of sexual orientation

The Kinsey Scale does not address all possible sexual expressions. Others have stepped forward to define it further. In 1980, Michael Storms proposed a two dimensional chart with an X and Y axis.[11] This scale took into account the case of asexuality and the simultaneous expression of hetero-eroticism and homo-eroticism.[12] Fritz Klein, in his Klein Sexual Orientation Grid, included factors such as how orientation can change throughout a person's lifetime, as well as emotional and social orientation.
Kinsey, Storm, and Klein are only three of more than 200 scales to measure and describe sexual orientation.[13] For example there are scales that rate homosexual behaviors from 1 to 14, and measures for gender, masculinity, femininity, transsexualism and attitudes towards contraceptives.[14][15]

This is from the same Kinsey scale link you posted earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klein_Sexua...ation_Grid

Even in this there are things not measured. Kinsey scale itself could certainly benefit from a wording change, considering the implications behind 'predominantly'.