What Does Heteroflexible Mean?
Heteroflexible sexual identity is one in which a person primarily
has sexual attraction for people of the opposite gender but also has a passing
interest in people of the same gender. Heteroflexibility is linked to
bisexuality, and many queer people have different interpretations of what that
means.
Heteroflexible sexual orientation describes a person who is
primarily attracted to heterosexual people but also has some interest in people
of the same gender. Because of their primary attraction to the opposite gender,
a heteroflexible person may also be considered mostly straight. A homoflexible
person, on the other hand, prefers sexual attraction to people of the same
gender.
Origin of the Term ˜Heteroflexible™
The term "heteroflexible" most likely first
appeared in the early 2000s. While the term "heteroflexible" is
relatively new, the concept of sexual fluidity dates back to 1948, when the
Kinsey Scale was developed. This was one of the first scientific attempts by a
sex therapist to record and identify sexual fluidity by observing and recording
a person's sexual behaviors or desire for sexual encounters. Alfred Kinsey
discovered that there were more bisexual men and bisexual women than he
thought, and his findings were a major contributor to society's efforts to
break down heteronormativity and work toward nonbinary identity labels.
Criticism of the Term ˜Heteroflexible™
Some members of the LGBTQ+ community prefer the term
"bi-curious" to "heteroflexible" because people of this
sexual identity are mostly attracted to people of the same gender and may
prefer not to act on that attraction.
Others argue that the term is a form of bi-erasure or biphobia,
because some heteroflexible men and heteroflexible women simply avoid
identifying as bisexual.
