When Fiction Comes To Life

The Kinsey Scale

One of my favorite slash awards categories is “but I thought I was straight”.  I love reading those stories!   My very first slash story involved a very confused popular ladies’ man named Jasper who questioned everything he ever knew when he fell hard for a man named Edward in All I Ever Knew by manyafandom .  Then there was Edward, who had a steady girlfriend, yet fell for Jasper in Secrets and Lies by OCDJen and in Masks by HopelessRomantic79

Then there is gay Jasper who only dates straight men and who snares Edward in

How to Turn a Straight Guy Gay by Lou-La  

So are these scenarios possible, and do they happen in real life?  Just ask gay Will and an actual “but I thought I was straight” RJ…

Such a sweet couple!  They actually went as a “pitcher” and a “catcher” for Halloween this year.

But does a straight person “turn gay”?  Well, not exactly, not if we study and understand the Kinsey Scale, a sexuality indicator from 0 – 6 developed by Dr. Alfred Kinsey.  This concept was discussed in The Kinsey Scale by Pastiche Pen, written for the intheclosetcontest

Personally I think the Kinsey Scale is pure genius.  It was revolutionary in its day.  It was a major breakthrough in studying human sexuality.  Genius, revolutionary, and breakthrough….  but only the tip of the iceberg.   It is so complex, and there is so much more yet to discover.  However, since our society is just barely coming out of the dark ages in this regard, we have only just scratched the surface.

The Kinsey definitions of the scale can be found at

http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/research/ak-hhscale.html

And much of Kinsey’s research continues on:

http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/

http://kinseyconfidential.org/

And there has been some attempt by Dr Fritz Klein to expand on the basic principal: http://www.bisexual.org/kleingrid.html

To understand the history of the Kinsey Scale a little better, there is a 2004 Movie about Dr Alfred Kinsey:  “Kinsey” (available at Netflix).  It is excellent and offers a great appreciation for just how far ahead of his time Dr Kinsey was.  There is also a PBC documentary:  “Kinsey: American Experience” that I have not seen yet, but is on my list.

I find it very frustrating when people appear ignorant of the Kinsey Scale.  Sometimes they claim that straight people can be turned gay, or that gay people can be “cured” (as if there is anything wrong with them in the first place).   Recently one such person who promoted gay “therapy” showed us all just how well it really works…  see the plight of George Rekkers   http://www.sunjournal.com/node/844399

I think ZJemptv provides a very nice summary of Kinsey scale:

Of course seeing ZJ brings other questions to mind!  I think it is important to note that

sexual orientation does not dictate gender identification and vice versa.  Nor does cross-dressing.  For example, Drag Queens are not necessarily transgender, nor are they always gay for that matter.  Those are topics for another day.

In the meantime, there is a very sweet story about a cross dressing Edward in The Measure of a Man by PolkaDotMoma

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6222996/1/The_Measure_of_a_Man

So where does the population tend to fall on the Kinsey Scale?   That turns out to be another very frustrating question.  Generally experts do not even agree yet.  I suspect it can still be pretty hard to get accurate information from people.  The following is the most recent study numbers I’ve seen, and it does not even incorporate the Scale:

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/10/04/National_Sex_Survey_Released/

I think most people don’t even understand the Scale, or their own sexuality, well enough yet.  I don’t think they can determine where they are on the scale; much less provide accurate information for a study.   There is still just too much left to learn.

So our favorite Twi-slash characters did not actually turn gay instantly.  They were probably low on the Scale (between 1 and 2 maybe?) and just happened to meet that one special person who rocked their world.  Have you ever played the game “who would you go gay for?”  Then you probably aren’t at “0” either.  Personally I believe we are all born with our own unique spot on the Kinsey Scale - which makes for a lot of decimal places....   and for a very interesting world.   

What do you think?

Tuesday's Best 10-12-2010

Good morning, my lovelies. Hope you're all having a great day, and that you're ready to see what Captain Jezebel and Aradi have in store for us today. I know I am! So grab your towels, Kleenex, and a fresh pair of panties, and settle in for a good read. Here we go!

~*~*~*~*~*~

Two things are guaranteed to catch my eye in a fic: angst and a mystery.  The mystery doesn’t have to be the whodunnit type (although those are fun too).  Some of the best are simply “how did we get here?”

When the Night Comes is Drizl's first slash story, and the first chapters bring far more questions than answers.  Why did Jasper leave Forks for Chicago and never go back?  Who is the ghost that haunts him?  What exactly happened between Jasper and Edward?  What has Edward been doing all these years?  All we seem to know for sure is that Jasper’s been running from his past, but his miserable life doesn’t seem like it could be much better than whatever he left behind.

Jasper grudgingly returns to Forks because his Mama is about to die, and we start getting pieces of the puzzle through his conversations and high-school flashbacks.  The boys apparently began as previously-happy, previously-hetero friends and teammates.

"With your arm, we should crush them," he said bringing out the crooked grin again.

"Yeah? Do you think we'll be able to hook-up on a few long pass routes?"

His face lit up. "Hell yeah, they have one decent cornerback, but I'm faster than him." He laughed and lunged at me, but I was able to slip out of his grasp. We ran down the beach laughing and taunting each other. He finally tripped me up, falling on top of me. His green eyes were almost black as he hovered over me. Strange sensations fluttered in my stomach. Must be the fucking Jack mixing with the beer I had been drinking until Edward fucking Cullen leaned forward and brushed his lips against mine.

My entire body seized up. Was this actually happening?

"Oh fuck," he muttered. "I'm so sorry...I didn't mean...oh fuck...please Jasper...don't...I gotta go.."

He jumped off me, disappearing down the beach before I could even sit up. I ran my finger across my lips and groaned. Edward Cullen had just sort of kissed me and fuck...I kinda liked it...what the fuck did...I jumped up and started sprinting down the beach.

Like I said, “previously-hetero.”  Whatever the impending doom of their young relationship is, the writing was on the wall from the beginning.  

One of the surprises for me in this fic was Alice.  So often in slash she’s a one-dimensional background character.  She’s the evil ex, or the devastated ex, or at the very least a psychicmeddlesomepixie hag.  Here she’s actually three-dimensional.  This Alice is hurt, but still a friend.  She’s helpful, but not selecting outfits.  She’s also integral to the story and not just background sparkle.

When the Night Comes is mainly told in JPOV, and is fairly dripping with angst and heartache.  If you are looking for fluffy bunny tales, look elsewhere.  Both boys bring a lot of baggage to the table, and I suspect there’s still more as the current 15 chapters don’t contain the complete backstory.  Drizl updates with lovely regularity, and I can’t wait to see the past and present storylines play out.

~*~*~*~*~*~

 

*big hugs* to my fellow slashaholics. Captain Jezebel again bringing you another of my favorite Slash Backslash 2.0 entries. Being a HUGE lover, of the canon couple of slash I thought I had pretty much read every type of /ward or /sper available in fanfic. There were the dicks, the sweet ones, the lost ones, the slutty ones, even the ones that were slightly effeminate. After I began reading The Measure of a Man by PolkaDotMama I realized I had never read an extremely feminine and flamboyant Edward, and I wondered to myself why that was.

Jasper is a business man who is openly gay everywhere in his life, except at work. While attending a teahouse hosted by Geisha’s, with his colleagues, Jasper meets someone that catches his eye... Edward. This man causes him to stop and rethink everything he has ever known about what he finds attractive in a guy. In fact the draw he feels towards Edward surprises and entices his mind and body, despite what his past dictates to him.

I couldn't stop thinking about Edward either. In the end, seeing him won out over what "my type" supposedly was.

And it won out day after day.

It won out when I finally brushed my lips against his oh-so-soft mouth and tasted him through the fruity tang of his chewing gum.

It won out when we went dancing and all attention was drawn to us.

It won out when we sat at a restaurant and his laughter soared across the room, encouraging stares and whispers.

None of that mattered as I took him home three months after our first date and pressed him into my bed for the first time.

Edward is sweet, sexy and spends his life in full color. He is way more ‘out loud’ than anyone Jasper has ever been attracted to but the spark is evident to them both. When Jasper questions his ability to be with someone that may embarrass him in public; or worse cause him to be outed at work he needs to figure out what it is that truly makes a man.

The answers he finds at the end of his reflection may just shock him. However sometimes you need to understand that you love, who you love ‘ regardless of any silly standards and rules you have set up for yourself. Will Jasper embrace this new discovery of himself or will he succumb to his past limitations? You’re going to have to read it to find out peeps, I can’t say much more here without giving too much away.

I will say this... In many slash stories, so much emphasis is put on Jasper and Edward being somewhat “manly”. I loved the fact that PolkaDotMama colored outside the lines a bit and gave us an amazingly perfect, utterly fantastical, sexy as fuck, flamboyant Edward. I enjoyed this story so freaking much. Okay silly fangirl gush over...and just a note....this is not meant as any disrespect to slash authors....I LOVE slash. I mean duh look where I am...*giggles*  Stop by and give it a read, but don’t forget to leave her some love if you do.

~*~*~*~*~*~

And there you have it. Another couple of great reads, just waiting for you. Be sure to leave these lovely ladies some lovin', and check back next week to see what the good Captain and I have for you then.