Shades of Gray (The Kinsey Scale)

I've had an idea to write about the Kinsey Scale for several weeks now. #1, it's fascinating.....#2, I've talked about it with several friends and promised them I'd blog about it....and #3, many more friends have said they were unfamiliar with it. Allow me to shed some light. 

From Wikipedia: "The Kinsey scale, also called the Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale,^[1] attempts to describe a person's sexual history or episodes of his or her sexual activity at a given time. It uses a scale from 0, meaning exclusively heterosexual, to 6, meaning exclusively homosexual. In both the Male and Female volumes of the Kinsey Reports, an additional grade, listed as "X", was used for asexuality.^[2][3] It was first published in Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) by Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy and others, and was also prominent in the complementary work Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953). Numbers between 1 and 5 indicate bisexuality."

The first time I heard about this spectrum, I thought "DUH!". Sexuality is definitely not a black and white issue. This scale makes perfect sense; the the cool thing about it is the fluidity of it -- because it's supposed to describe someone's sexuality at any given time. It allows for change! 

So, here it is, the infamous Kinsey Scale :)

And here is a description of what the numbers mean:

Rating	Description
0	Exclusively heterosexual
1	Predominantly heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual
2	Predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual
3	Equally heterosexual and homosexual
4	Predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual
5	Predominantly homosexual, only incidentally heterosexual
6	Exclusively homosexual

My opinion is that most people assume that people are usually either a 0 or a 6. Heterosexual or homosexual. I believe that there are some people who truly are always at the ends of the spectrum. BUT -- I  also believe that there are many, many more people who fall into the 1-5 range. Which, according to Dr Kinsey is considered to be the bisexual range. I'm perfectly comfortable with that description, but I know many of you won't be.

I challenge all of you to look at the scale, all the shades of gray, and be truthful with yourself about where you fall on the spectrum (psst....it's OK, I won't ask you to share your number). And even if you consider yourself ONLY at one end or the other, I challenge you to understand that not everyone is. 

So where am I? Usually a 2 or 3. There are people that can tip my scale though, for sure. If I were in the presence of George Clooney, I'd damn near be a 0! Madonna on the other hand? ;)