Well, hello! This attractive infographic, artist unknown, illustrates the various stages of undress that characterize the punctuations on the Kinsey Scale.
According to this, you can tell precisely how gay someone is by looking at how much of their lower body is exposed. We were about to cross our arms and frown at this blatant stereotyping but, yeah, itâs actually kind of of true.
Weâre at the 6 end of the scale and the only item of clothing weâve worn in the past week has been one strategically-placed mitten.
Can you help us identify the creator of this delightful illustration? Weâd love to give them credit.
Update: Artist found! Michael J. DiMotta, whose work we have just examined, and who we have a huge crush on now. Also, fixed some spelling, whoops heh.
EdWoody
Mildly amusing, except that I’m definitely a full-on 6 – I’d practically call myself a 12 – and I’ve looked like every image on that chart at one time or another.
John
So straight men are always 100% fully clothed at all times, bi men run around in boxers, and gay men don’t care for clothing at all? And why is the straight man not pictured with a girl? Amusing visuals, but not very logical, and maybe even slightly offensive to heterosexuals.
MikeE
the funny thing about the Kinsey scale, and those who keep going on about how “most men are somewhere in the middle”, is that I have yet to actually meet anyone who sees themselves as ANYTHING other than a perfect 6.
maybe I’ve just lived my life in such a way as to surround myself with only 100% gay men and women, but, I have yet to meet any guy (or girl, for that matter) who thought of themselves as “somewhere in the middle”.
So where exactly ARE all of these “somewhere in the middle” guys and girls? They don’t seem to live in THIS major metropolitan area (3+ million inhabitants).
TampaBay Ted
Is the spelling Naughy correct? Or should it be Naughty?
Nat
@MikeE:
I thought the general thinking was that men who were in the middle might be equally attracted to both sexes, but because of societal pressures, elected to pursue heterosexual relations the vast majority of the time.
But there are numerous problems with Kinsey and the Kinsey scale anyways; I don’t think the idea that the majority of the population is bisexual (if that means being more or less attracted to both sexes) holds up to scrutiny, even if actual desires – rather than mere actions – are accounted for. There are probably a great deal of curious men and women, but I hesitate to label that curiosity as bisexuality.
Tone
The drawing style is very much like that of Joe Phillips. Remember the wonderful “Boys Will Be Boys” calendars? I don’t think it is him though, he’s famous and makes a living drawing. Why wouldn’t he attach his name to the work?
Michael
That’s my friend Michael Jared DiMotta’s work. I”ll let him know.
GG
“I donât think the idea that the majority of the population is bisexual (if that means being more or less attracted to both sexes) holds up to scrutiny”
And yet in Greek or Roman times, bisexuality (or rather, the willingness to fuck women and boys) was basically taken as a given. And the word “homosexual” was a 19th century invention. Perhaps desire flows more fully when people aren’t compartmentalized.
“So where exactly ARE all of these âsomewhere in the middleâ guys and girls? They donât seem to live in THIS major metropolitan area (3+ million inhabitants).”
Unless you have full knowledge of the sexual habits of 3 million people, that is a doubtful statement.
jj
@MikeE: I’m definitely between a 4-5, though I identify as a gay man and don’t sleep with women. I would say the true middle, aka a 3 is a rare bird.
jose
@MikeE: totally agree, its funny how they think its so common for straight guys to like both, while gay men are always exclusively gay and never cross over. If there arent gays like that, then how do they even come up with the assumption about straights? I think its more about their desire for them, so they convince themselves that they have a chance
Queermofo
Mike E – lol. Bisexuals exist my friend.
jimm
@M.:
actually 90% are between 3 and 6
MikeE
@Queermofo: I’m not talking about bisexuals. I know they “exist”. I also didn’t say that I don’t believe in bisexuality.
I’m talking about the vast quantity of “fluid sexuality” that people keep bringing up on forums.
People keep bringing up that the majority of men who define themselves as “Gay” are in fact not true Kinsey sixes, but vacillate between the middle and the extreme.
All I am saying, is that in over 30 years of out gay life, I haven’t met any men who see themselves as anything OTHER than pure Kinsey 6. I’m only talking about the people I have personally interacted with. I have belonged over the years to gay discussion groups, gay arts groups, gay sports leagues, etc… and yes, I’ve met men there who identified as “bisexual”, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about those supposed fours and fives.
Like I said, maybe I’ve lead a “sheltered gay life”. It seems unlikely.
Brandon
Actually on the Kinsey Scale everything inbetween 1 and 5 consists of bisexuality.
Mike E. you need to get out more and stop being so biphobic.
Mark In Colorado
Mike E.- there are a whole shit load of latent bisexuals masquerading around as gay men and lesbians because they are ignorant of the fact that bisexual doesnât only mean an equal attraction to both genders, that you donât have to fall in love or want relationships with both genders, or theyâre too scared to admit it because theyâve invested so much of their time and energy cultivating a gay or lesbian identity.
There are some gay men like RA and others here who are highly bigoted towards bisexual men. Just like there are some lesbians who dislike bisexual women and trans women. These factors are also reasons why men and women who are bisexual yet call themselves gay or lesbian do not want to come out.
The dirty little secret that never gets addressed in the so called âgayâ world is the fact that many gay men do go through a second coming out and re-identify as bisexual. These men may still overwhelmingly prefer men, but their orientation and identity are not exclusively towards men. And how their attraction to both sexes manifests differently as well.
Itâs always weird to be corrected by someone (e.g., RA) who is wrong in their knowledge of a subject. Iâve found that if you dare to even allude to someone not being not quite âgayâ (in other words bisexual) then you get the typical apoplectic reactionâoh no, no, no, heâs gay, heâs definitely gay, absolutely, no question about it, and on and on and on. So many gay men are so fucking bi-phobic itâs unrealâand itâs usually because they donât understand the concept in the first place and theyâve made no attempt to do so.
I do have to say this though. A good number of men who say they are gay arenât fully gay. They only say they are gay because they want a relationship with a guy. But a good number of them if they canât find a guy when they are horny will just have sex with a woman and are actually sexually attracted to women so theyâre bisexual.
B
No. 4 ¡ MikeE wrote, “the funny thing about the Kinsey scale, and those who keep going on about how âmost men are somewhere in the middleâ, is that I have yet to actually meet anyone who sees themselves as ANYTHING other than a perfect 6.”
I bet some of those “perfect 6” guys you’ve met also tell women they are a “perfect 0”!
As they said in My Fair Lady and Pygmalion –
PICKERING. Excuse the straight question, Higgins. Are you a man of good character where women are concerned?
HIGGINS [moodily] Have you ever met a man of good character where women are concerned?
MikeE
wow, so the pro-bi brigade come out and actually attack someone for simply saying that they haven’t spoken to any people who identify as anything other than Kinsey sixes.
I’m sorry that my life experience has offended you.
I am not denying the existence of bisexuals. I’m only talking about my own experience, with the hundreds of men I’ve known over the last 30+ years. I don’t mean one-night stands. I don’t mean casual acquaintances. This is mostly pretty good friends. People I would trust with telling me the truth when it comes to a topic like this.
Of course, maybe living in a country that doesn’t demonize LGBT people makes a difference too. Where I live, equality protections for LGBT people have been in place since the late 1980’s. Maybe gay men don’t need to lie about being attracted to women, so they can pass?
I’ve known men who were married, and had children, yet when asked, say that they are in absolutely NO way attracted to women. There is no way they would ever consider sleeping with a woman again. They got married because they had to. (we’re talking men who got married in the 50’s and 60’s) So these guys, simply for dipping the pen in the inkwell, would be obligated to call themselves something OTHER than a Kinsey 6?
I think most of them would beg to differ.
EvonCook
Am I incorrect in thinking that Kinsey simply said all humans have the potential and could possibly be stimulated by both sexes, and therefor we are technically all bisexual, but environment, genes and personal experience refine our focus. A common saying is that genetics loads the gun and environment pulls the trigger.
And, in the homosexual side of that there were degrees of development or dedication from none to an awareness, to the occasional, all the way to the exclusivity of preference, activity and seeking only other males. Previous historical periods and other cultures seemed to have proved bisexual ability when boys and young men were routinely put in or confined to homosexual environments and then later were expected to perform as heterosexual — I’m thinking of New Guinea aborigines and old English boarding schools as two very different examples.
But couldn’t the same scale be applied to individual’s attraction and participation in life with sex at all. Some seem to hardly ever need or want sex and some start masturbating and coming on to people by five years of age. Then there are those males who just love their cocks so much that any warm, willing wet hole will do, especially in restricted circumstances like the clergy, prison, army or segregated societies who will enjoy penetrating another guy but who would never consider themselves gay.
I think in the last generation we have discouraged bisexuality as a like of confusion or betrayal to a predominant group identity. Go-betweeners were suspect and seen as taking advantage of both or not committed to either. Recent internet sites of self exposure have begun to erase that as straight guys more and more find themselves confronted, admired and complemented by gays, and they see more and more pleasuring of males by males, and they realize deeply how much they have been missing rather than just letting religionists so demonize gay sex that they are forced to react brutally as in the past. Now that people are confronted with the fact that homosexuals do exist, may be a member of the family or work force, we have become more of an option to the horror and chagrin of religionists. The younger generation seems more open to sex in general and to enjoy it wherever they can get it.
It is women in my opinion who play the bisexual game far more often than men, either by more frequently flip-flopping or by taking on both roles. This is encouraged by the arousal and long time acceptance of lesbianism as part of heterosexual male fantasy. This is why when lesbians cry their elephant tears about being invisible and want preferential PC treatment in the gay movement, it is the most ridiculous as they have been far more acceptable, less abused and less challenging to the general heterosexual majority forever. That is exactly why the first kiss on TV was a lesbian one, and didn’t one of those two go straight afterwards anyway? I think the difference in sex drives and sexuality of males and females will always keep the association of the gay and the lesbian communities at odds to some extent no matter what sexual scale you use.
Hyhybt
As I understand it, for *practical* purposes most people are at one end or the other; if it were a 100-point scale, there’d be few 1s or 100s but almost everybody would be in the single digits or 90s.
But the important question is this: what does being more gay have to do with wearing less clothing? (And does that mean that those of us nobody really wants to see undressed should go around in nothing but jock straps anyway?)
Seattlequeer
MikeE-Stop living in a gay ghetto and surrounding yourself with only gay men like most gay men of a certain age like to do.
Gay Bacon
One of my college roommates was somewhere in the middle. He had girlfriends but only ones into pegging LOL. And my other roommates was “totally” straight but loved receiving rim jobs and ‘finger massages’. I was really surprised by the latter because he was devout and always talked about how certain things were sinful. Guess I massaged the magic button that turns everyone gay lol.
Anyway, the only thing I never liked about the Kinsey scale was the conclusion one was 100% hetero or homo. The idea no one can be a 6 or 0…well I’m proof that’s not a good conclusion.
R.A.
@Seattlequeer:
Not everyone wants a life of quickies in rest rooms.
Scott
I didn’t know a scale for your sexuality was necessary.
‘Thanks for the drink, but I’m really looking for a 4.’
JamesNYC
Here’s some more biphobia from bigoted gay men who are idiots: http://str8gayconfessions.com/2012/06/02/3314/ and http://www.teddypig.com/2010/06/bisexuality-pride-prejudice-the-difference-between-identity-sex/
Seattlequeer
That’s nice R.A. but I’ve never had a quickie in a bathroom. I would not be surprised if you have had many though. đ
Charlotte York
I think it’s just a layover on the way to gaytown!
Matt
Charlotte York you’re an idiot, biphobe, and a bigot, much like the guy who claimed that he’s never met a “true bisexual man”. People like this are just as bad as homophobes.
Maria
What’s with all the hypocritical biphobes here on queerty in the comments?
You can be idiots all you want since most bisexuals like myself want nothing to do with you.
Heywould U. Blowme
@TampaBay Ted: Does spelling really count?Is this an open book test?
I forgot to study&the dog ate my butt plug
Stephen
I’m a 5! There, Mike E, now you’ve met two of us.
Nick
Why are they all white btw? Its stuff like this that keeps the black community thinking that being gay is a “white thing”…
Anthony
I am a full on 6 def. For romantic relationships, I prefer another full on 6 because the 1-5 bisexual guys make me insecure that I’d possibly lose them to a woman because I lack something (emotional or physical) they want from women. When I express that to folks, I am called bi-phobic. I have bisexual friends of both genders (who land across the scale) and I love them. I just don’t want a bi guy in my bedroom or my heart. It you think that’s bi-phobic, its prolly best you pick up a mirror instead of putting others who think similarly under a microscope.
Martin
Im a 4-5 =)
But its true its not something i advertise because it puts off partners. But i agree sexuality is fluid. Of all roman emperors only two didnt fuck boys also. They could have anything they liked. Its also quite a large sample…
TomMc
@Nick: Excellent point! And you made it without calling anyone a “phobe” đ
Teddypig
@JamesNYC:
You do not contribute anything to my community and the best you can come up with is name calling.
Why the hell would I be the least bit concerned about what you think of me?
darkorient
I’m a 6 and proud of it!
R.A.
@M.:
The latest Kinsey study shows male bisexuals with an arousal pattern that differs from straights and gay. While bisexual subjects in that test reacted much like gay men to man-on-man porn and could be half-aroused by lesbian porn (which sends straight guys through the roof and gay guys out of the room), their highest arousal rate was for bisexual porn (2 guys, one woman) which is only mildly interesting to straights and gays.
The idea that everyone is innately bisexual is as wrong as the idea that bisexuality is not a unique sexual orientation.
http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/publications/PDF/Cerny%20and%20Janssen%202011.pdf
Red Assault
Oh please.
no bisexual men look like that.
They all look like (and act like) Andy Dick and Drew Carey.
Red Assault
@MikeE: Oh dear… you’ve upset the unruly Bisexual guys who get so freaking up set when you maybe suggest their mantra of “Everyone is bisexual” is maybe… not actually accurate.
Although I’ve never once been sexually attracted to a woman, if you tell most bi men that, the immediately fly into a big tantrum about how you’re just conditioned to think that by society or that you’re “internally biphobic” and refuse to admit you like women, too.
When no. The vast majority of people are straight and a small percentage is gay… and a smaller percentage are bi. Although when it comes to annoying.. bi men are pretty much about 98%.
Hyhybt
@Red Assault: But those two people don’t act alike.
Red Assault
@Hyhybt: Well.. Creepy and Ugly. Two different shoes but girl… they both fit.
Heywould U. Blowme
@TampaBay Ted: OK-I lost a gh in the translation.
Sue me!
Or,better yet………..
Ted TampaBay
@Heywould U. Blowme:
Actually it was a “t”, not a “gh” that you lost.
verybookish
Cute drawing.
If I had to give myself a number, I’d be a four on the Kinsey scale.
DrewSF
Teddypig the fugly small dicked biphobic bigot is here. People like him are no better than Conservative politicians and are not a part of the LGBT community.
JamesNYC
Try looking in the mirror Teddypig, you’ll see a hypocrite and bigot staring right back at you. đ People like you are not for LGBT equality and no it’s not name calling to call out a bigot as yourself.
A PERFECT 3
I am a perfect 3 on the Kinsey scale. I am a very rare bird. It has been a chalenge since my teen years. If I decided to settle down with a woman I would never be with a man again, and if I settle down with a man I loose women. I can not tell you how many times as a teen ager I was reduced to tears in the dark over this dilema.
True bisexuals exist. We are capable of loving; emotionaly and physicaly both men and women equaly.
Ever since I realised my sexual orientation was a perfect 3 and I have been open about it, I have recieved hate and vitriol from the straight and the gay comunity. It is not a choice I made any more than it is a choice you made.
It got so bad (the abuse over being bisexual) that I swore that I would only date openly bisexual people and that choice has resulted in me marrying anouther Kinsey 3.
I do not understand the 1’s and the 6’s. I think they are psychosexualy deficient in some way that has left them emotionaly and sexualy scared for life.
Rob
A Perfect 3, I am the same way you are and I can fall in love with both men and women. No we are not rare birds. I agree with how there’s A LOT of biphobia and bisexual erasure from hypocritical gay men and lesbians, and even straight people who claim to be all for LGBT equality and yet think it’s perfectly fine to be biphobic and practice bisexual erasure when in reality they’re just as bad as homophobes are. However everyone on the Kinsey Scale or Klein grid that’s from 1 to 5 is a true bisexual not just us 3’s. I don’t think that people who are 0 (hetero) or 6 (gay/lesbian) are messed up (unless of course they’re the hypocritical biphobes we all know about), rare, or that they don’t like sex they’re just not bisexual like everyone from 1-5 is.
Have you ever considered an open relationship with either a man or a woman? A lot of gay men have them, and so do straight people.
Andreusz
You can tell a straight South African man, because he dresses like #1 — in midwinter.
R.A.
@Rob:
Oh cut the “hypocritical gay men and lesbian” crap and just give Perfect 3 your phone number.
seaki
You know what,…..call me a tramp,slutty, whatever!! But I don’t care what number he is. We as humans LLOOOOOVE the confines of “labels and boxes”. If he is gorgeous, great body, beautiful c$#k, ass I could have a three course meal on!!! I DONT GIVE DAMN if he identifies himself as a damn single spotted – one legged-giraffe with vertigo!. If he REALLY must “find himself”, I have a bathroom mirror, you can gaze at your confused reflection till your hearts content, AFTER you f&%ck me silly ofcourse, thats all I care about, “box” yourself on your own time dammit!! :::::sips coffee::::
A PERFECT 3
Hey Rob,
I am married to a bi-poly-pagan and I am also a bi-poly-pagan. So I have an open relationship situation. I haven’t taken advantage of that in 5 years as I get all the love I need from my spouse and no one has tickled my fancy enough to have base hedonistic sex with them in years.
Guess I just got picky in my old age.
Teddypig
@JamesNYC:
Oh Ted Haggard, Larry Craig, Mark Foley, or whatever typical Jesus preaching Republican bisexual homophobe basket case you are… you hurt my fee fees.
Boo hoo!