Sex study

Straight guys confess their same-sex sexual encounters in candid new study

Can a guy identify as straight while still hooking up with other guys from time to time? According to another new study: Yes!

The study was published in the journal Sexualities and was led by Héctor Carrillo and Amanda Hoffman from Northwestern University. They interviewed a total of 100 straight-identifying men of various ages who say they occasionally have sex with other men.

“[The men] interpret that they are exclusively or primarily attracted to women, and many also conclude that they have no sexual attraction to men in spite of their desire to have sex with men,” researchers say. “They define sexual attraction as a combination of physical and emotional attraction, and they assess that their interest in women includes both, while their interest in men is purely or mainly sexual, not romantic or emotional.”

Related: “Straight” Guys Are Having More Bisexual Sex Than Ever Before, Study Finds

Now, let’s take a look at some highlights from their interviews…

Reggie, age 28, told researchers that might be attracted to men, but he really likes women:

I know what I like. I like p****y. I like women … the more the merrier … I would kiss a woman. ANYWHERE. I can barely hug a man … I do have a healthy sexual imagination and wonder about other things in the sexual realm I’ve never done … Sometimes I get naughty and explore … That’s how I see it.

Charlie, age 32, feels similarly:

Women are hot … I can see a beautiful woman walk down the street and I instantly can … get horny. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy walking by and got a b*ner. Also, I would not want to kiss or make out with them or love them. They would be more like a sexual experience.

When asked why he doesn’t openly identify as bisexual, 27-year-old Simon said:

I think everybody is a little bi. Isn’t that what this research is about? There’s the Kinsey scale … It’s not like Bush saying you’re either with us or with the terrorists. I think I’m probably bi but what I present to the world is a heterosexual man. Internally I’m bi, but that’s not something most people know. I’m not ashamed, but the majority of people are ignorant and close-minded.

Dustin, 28, had a similar response:

I am not openly bisexual to society except in sexual situations … I don’t have relationships with men; I am in a relationship with my wife and only love her. [I’m bisexual] only with men behind closed doors.

Related: Why Are Bisexuals So Self-Destructive? This Study May Have The Answer.

This falls in line with a similar study conducted by Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health last year that found many bi guys kept their true sexual orientations secret out of the fear of criticism and ridicule by their peers.

In the 2016 study, the men said they worried their wives and girlfriends would have “extreme negative reactions,” and that their friends and family members would treat them differently. “I would never tell anyone,” one participant said. “I’ll go to my grave with this.”

So what’s the takeaway form this new study?

“As indicated by the variety of terms that they used, those descriptors often reinforce a perception that, as a sexual orientation category, heterosexuality is elastic instead of rigid,” Carrillo and Hoffman write. “Some degree of same-sex desire and behavior need not automatically push an individual out of the heterosexual category.”

They add: “While some men are willing to recognize that their sexual behaviors might qualify their being called bisexual–and they may privately identify with that label–they feel that there is no contradiction between holding a private awareness of being bisexual and a public persona as straight or heterosexual.”

Related: Author of “dude sex” study talks about straight men hooking up with straight men and much, much more

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