Bisexuality refers to sexual behavior with[1] or physical attraction to people of both genders (male and female), or a bisexual orientation. People who have a bisexual orientation "can experience sexual, emotional, and affectional attraction to both their own sex and the opposite sex"; "it also refers to an individual’s sense of personal and social identity based on those attractions, behaviors expressing them, and membership in a community of others who share them."[2] It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation. Individuals who do not experience sexual attraction to either sex are known as asexual.
According to Alfred Kinsey's research into human sexuality in the mid-20th century, many humans do not fall exclusively into heterosexual or homosexual classifications but somewhere between.[3] The Kinsey scale measures sexual attraction and behavior on a seven-point scale ranging from 0 (exclusively heterosexual) to 6 (exclusively homosexual). According to Kinsey's study, a substantial number of people fall within the range of 1 to 5 (between heterosexual and homosexual). Although Kinsey's methodology has been criticized, the scale is still widely used in describing the continuum of human sexuality.
Bisexuality has been observed in various human societies[4] and elsewhere in the animal kingdom[5][6][7] throughout recorded history. The term bisexuality, however, like the terms hetero- and homosexuality, was only coined in the 19th century.[8]
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