Reportedly, over 18,000 people took part in the Kinsey study. [I am aware that religious folks, scientists, psychologists, lawyers, and statisticians, have attempted to debunk the Kinsey Reports. Some are: Catholic Medical Quarterly (1992), Kinsey: Crimes and Consequences (1997); The Alec Report of Kinsey (2004).]
The Kinsey Report discloses that:
• 46% of adult males studied admitted to reacting sexually to both sexes.
• 37% of adult men admitted having one homosexual experience.
• 11.6% of white males, aged 20-35, were rated as equally hetero- and homosexual.
Furthermore:
• 7% of single females, aged 20-35, were rated as equally hetero- and homosexual.
• 4% of previously married females, aged 20-35, were rated as equally hetero- and homosexual.
• 2 to 6% of females, aged 20-35, were more or less exclusively homosexual in responses about their experiences.
• 1 to 3% of unmarried females aged 20-35 were exclusively homosexual in responses to their experiences.
In my mind, the Kinsey 7-point scale (0-6) and resulting percentages fracture human sexuality into static male and female behaviors. It treats each sex as sheep and goats as if they have nothing in common as beings, even though the report claims that:
“The world is not to be divided into sheep and goats. It is a fundamental of taxonomy that nature rarely deals with discrete categories... The living world is a continuum in each and every one of its aspects.”
In opposition to the reporting done by Kinsey and others, I feel that every human organism should be looked upon as behaving in a female – male continuum regardless of whether the organism is a male/female body.
I would like to posit the following NORMAL distribution curve to include all humans as being perfectly normal regardless of their sexual inclinations and body organs. This is because I personally believe every human being either at some time during their lifetime, or for a whole lifetime, has some innate sexual attraction for their same sex. While this belief might be accepted by women, I doubt it would be acceptable with most men I know or have known, particularly those who feel compelled to display irrational homophobic behavior.
According to this NORMAL curve, sexuality ranges from women or men or transgender individuals seeking female relationships on the left, to those on the right seeking male relationships. As such, every single human being on this planet has existence somewhere under the NORMAL bell shape.
Article comments
1 - Cindy
Very insightful article Mr. Schilken! I appreciate the way you broke down the "normal" curve as I have heard the term many times but never knew just what went into determining it. Interesting statistic too, 46% of men! Never would have thought it too be that high!
2 - Cindy D
Best to differentiate one commenter from another. I should read this, I'd like to know how gay I could be. :-)
3 - Rege
Hi cindy! In my opinion, ALL of us, male or female, fit somewhere under the normal curve. Thus, you or I would have to be at least two standard deviations and then some to be purely female or male. We cannot help our natures. We are born that way. We have no choice. There is no sense fighting against NORMAL innate abilities or tendencies because they are what is n-o-r-m-a-l for each and every one of us. To resent or restrict our normal urges leads to psychological problems. The fault lies with society: "we are underlings."
Regis Schilken, author of article