Why I don't like reddit lesbian subs

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[–]yousaythosethings 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I'm not trying to uphold the Kinsey Scale as something everyone should use as a benchmark, but I don't understand your comment at all. I don't see people today using it to determine their orientation, but to describe what they already know or believe to be true about it. i also don't understand the implication that it has a bias toward bisexuality. There just is no spectrum of heterosexuality and homosexuality, so they get one number (0 and 6 respectively). But someone who is hypothetically a 5 is very different from someone who is a 1, even though they are both bisexual. It's just that of course there are different levels of bisexuality as the blended/dual sexuality.

[–]lovelyspearmint 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Sorry, my argument is a little confusing. What I meant by that is that I've found people not using the Kinsey Scale as it was intended, but misinterpreting what it's supposed to be and using it against gay people by saying 'well, it's rare that someone is completely straight or gay, everyone is a little bisexual'. That's the only context in which I've seen it being used.

Basically, people don't even know what the scale is but use it as a reason to get gay (or straight) people to consider that they might be a little bit interested in the same/opposite sex.

By bias towards bisexuality, I meant it doesn't tell straight or gay people anything about their sexuality, since those sexualities are clear cut. It's a scale of bisexuality rather than sexuality in general. Sorry if any of this is coming off as rude, I really hope not :/

[–]yousaythosethings 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

No, you're good. I get you now. That being said, I believe the Kinsey Scale as designed is intended to describe behavior, not attraction, but it has come to be used to describe the latter. I think it's more useful to describe the latter. And so I agree that the scale doesn't really tell truly gay and straight people much about their sexuality once they've already accepted what it is (if they're gay), but it can be used to tell them about the potential sexual orientations of others in their dating pool. For example, some lesbians are not interested in dating bisexual women who are primarily male-attracted, but would date a bisexual woman who is primarily female-attracted. I do feel bad for women who are in the Kinsey 4-5 range based on their pattern of attraction because it often seems that bisexual discussions are dominated by Kinsey 1 types and they often have nothing in common and their interests aren't really represented by them.

The scale can also be revelatory for people who are holding onto some idea in their head of being straight or gay that doesn't fully line up with their pattern of attraction (particularly for 1s, 2s, 4s, and 5s). I have definitely seen people comment on Reddit things like "I'm a Kinsey 4, can I call myself a lesbian if I'm only interested in women?" In that case, it should be instructive there, as it's clear they're harboring awareness that they're not actually homosexual but bisexual.