Bi-curious (also bicurious) is a term for a person, usually someone who is a self-identified

heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions ...

, who is curious or open about engaging in

sexual activity Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) t ...

with a person whose sex differs from that of their usual

sexual partner Sexual partners are people who engage in sexual activity together. The sexual partners may be in a committed relationship, either on an exclusive basis or not, or engage in the sexual activity on a casual basis. They may be on intimate terms ( ...

s. The term is sometimes used to describe a broad continuum of sexual orientation between heterosexuality and

bisexuality Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, ...

. Such continuums include mostly heterosexual or mostly homosexual, but these can be self-identified without identifying as bisexual. The terms '' heteroflexible'' and ''homoflexible'' are mainly applied to bi-curious people, though some authors distinguish heteroflexibility and homoflexibility as lacking the "wish to experiment with sexuality" implied by the bi-curious label. It is important when discussing this continuum to conclude that bisexuality is distinct from heterosexuality and homosexuality rather than simply an extension of said sexualities like the labels ''heteroflexibility'' and ''homoflexibility'' would imply, due to the prominent erasure and assimilation of bisexuality into other identity groups. To sum it up, the difference between bisexual and bicurious is that bisexual people know that they are sexually attracted to both genders based on personal experience. Bicurious people are still maneuvering their way through their sexuality. Bi-curious is not to be confused with forms of sexual fluidity, defined as a "capacity for situation-dependent flexibility in sexual responsiveness," as bi-curious implies the existence of one set sexuality for the individual who carries the label, even if it is currently unknown, rather than an acknowledgment that the individual's sexual preference has changed and will continue to change that comes with sexual fluidity.

Bi-curiosity and other non-monosexual identities

Standard theories of bi-sexuality make use of the term bisexual umbrella to encompass multiple other non-monosexual identities (sexual identities that allow for multiple gender identity possibilities in partners) that are possible outcomes of exploration for bi-curious people. However, similar on the surface, bisexuality and the subsequent elements of its umbrella are distinct, thus leading to the possibility that a currently bi-curious person may end up as neither bisexual, homosexual, or heterosexual, but another non-monosexual identity altogether. This umbrella can be better broken into binary and non-binary sexual identities, with bisexuality being a 'binary' sexual identity, meaning it is an attraction to men conventionally and women conventionally (a combination of the binary sexual attractions of homosexual and heterosexual). At the same time,

pansexuality Pansexuality is sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction towards people of all genders, or regardless of their sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are not de ...

is a non-binary sexual identity because it is an attraction to an individual regardless of what gender identity they label themselves, including men, women,

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

people, gender-fluid people, and more. The relevance to a bi-curious person is at what range does their exploration end; have they found that their sexual attraction ends with both men and women (binary sexual attraction), or do they find themselves attracted to individuals regardless of their gender identity (non-binary sexual attraction).

Etymology

The term started becoming popular after 1984, according to

Merriam-Webster Merriam-Webster, Incorporated is an list of companies of the United States by state, American company that publishes reference work, reference books and is mostly known for Webster's Dictionary, its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary pub ...

, but '' The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English'' and ''Oxford Dictionaries' Lexico'' claim that the term was coined in 1990. According to Dictionary.com, the term was first used between 1980 and 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bi-Curious Bisexuality LGBTQ slang Pornography terminology Sexual fluidity Plurisexuality

Bi-curiosity and other non-monosexual identities

Etymology

See also

References