The history of bisexuality concerns the history of the bisexual sexual orientation.
Although the term "bisexuality" was coined in the 20th century, there are recorded examples throughout history of people having both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships.
A modern definition of bisexuality began to take shape in the mid-19th century within three interconnected domains of knowledge: biology, psychology and sexuality. In modern Western culture, the term bisexual was first defined in a binary approach as a person with romantic or sexual attraction to both men and women. The term bisexual was redefined later in the 20th century as a person who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to both males and females, or as a person who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to people regardless of sex or gender identity, which is sometimes termed pansexuality. Some distinguish between bisexuality and pansexuality.
In English, the word "bisexual" was first used in 1892 by American neurologist Charles Gilbert Chaddock when he kept the term from the source material in his translation of the seventh edition of German psychologist Krafft-Ebing's book Psychopathia Sexualis. Richard von Krafft-Ebing was the first to use the word bisexual with the meaning of having both heterosexual and homosexual attractions or, in lay terms, attraction to both men and women. Prior to Krafft-Ebing, bisexual usually meant having both female and male parts as in hermaphroditic or monoicous plants, or in the sense of mixed-sex education, meaning inclusive of both males and females.
From the 1970s onwards, bisexuality as a distinct sexual orientation gained visibility in Western literature, academia and activism. Despite a wave of research and activism around bisexuality, bisexual people have often been marginalised in literature, film and research.
Societal attitudes towards bisexuality vary by culture and history; however, there is no substantial evidence that the rate of same-sex attraction has varied across time. Prior to the contemporary discussion of sexuality as a phenomenon associated with personal identity, ancient and medieval culture viewed bisexuality as the experience of homosexual and heterosexual relationships. The cultures of ancient Greece and Rome accepted that adult men were involved in homosexual relationships, as long as they took the active role of penetration.
Ancient history Ancient cultures and societies have conceptualised sexual desire and behaviour in a variety of ways throughout history, which are subject to debates. The author has made adapted and expanded portions of this book available online as A Critique of Social Constructionism and Postmodern Queer Theory. Many historians have pointed out the difficulty in identifying historical examples of queerness that have not been filtered through the lens of modern Western paradigms. Manuela L. Picq and Josi Tikuna wrote that "sexual diversity has historically been the norm, not the exception, among Indigenous peoples," pointing to the diversity of indigenous terms to refer to both sexual and gender identity, many of which do not translate well into contermporary English. Generally, homosexual relationships between men are more visible and recorded than those between women in literature and historical texts.
Ancient Greece
The ancient Greeks did not conceive of sexual orientation as a social identity as modern Western societies have done, or distinguish sexual desire or behavior by the gender of the participants. The main distinction was in the role that each participant played in the sex act, that of active penetrator (typically associated with masculinity) or passive penetrated (typically associated with femininity).Oxford Classical Dictionary entry on homosexuality, pp. 720–723; entry by David M. Halperin. When intercourse occurred between two people of the same sex, it still was not entirely regarded as a homosexual union, given that one partner would have to take on a passive role, and would therefore no longer be considered a 'man' in terms of the sexual union. The active penetrator was typically associated with masculinity, while the passive penetrated was typically associated with femininity. However, for Plato, both men and women could be subjects or objects. For both philosophers, however, the male hierarchy is unquestioned.
The most common form of same-sex relationships between elite males in Greece was paiderastia (pederasty) – a relationship between an older male and an adolescent youth, rooted in tribal Greek tradition. The relationship often, but not always, included sexual activity.Marilyn B. Skinner, Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture 2nd edition (United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons, 2014), 16–18. These relationships, though temporary, often had a lasting impact on future opposite-sex relationships; in ancient Spartan weddings, the bride had her hair cropped short and was dressed as a man. It was suggested by George Devereux that this was to make the husband's transition from homosexual to heterosexual relationships easier.
Historians debate over the acceptability of homosexual relations between adult men.Meredith G. F. Worthen (2016). Sexual Deviance and Society: A Sociological Examination. Routledge. pp. 160–. .
There are documented examples of prominent Ancient Greeks being involved in sexual relationships with both men and women. Alexander the Great, despite having multiple wives, was known to have an intense bond with his childhood friend Hephaestion that many modern scholars have speculated could have been sexual. Socrates, who married twice in his life and had multiple children, was described by multiple students as being unable to control himself around beautiful men. Some authors document a long-term romantic relationship between Theseus and Pirithous, despite the fact that both heroes were married to women."Plutarch, Thesus". classics.mit.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
Examples of same-sex relationships between women are less well-documented. Pedagogic erotic relationships are also documented fin ancient Sparta, where women would sing flirtatious hymns. Sappho, a poet who wrote extensive love poems about other women, is often stylized as a lesbian in modern pop culture, but in ancient times, she was portrayed having relationships with both men and women.
Ancient Rome
Latin, and Ancient Roman culture, did not have terms for "homosexual" or "heterosexual". Instead, the primary dichotomy of ancient Roman sexuality was active / dominant / masculine and passive / submissive / feminine. In Ancient Rome a freeborn Roman performing the penetrative role could have sex with male and female partners as it was considered socially acceptable; being penetrated was considered a form of submission, and a forfeiture of personal liberty.Amy Richlin, The Garden of Priapus: Sexuality and Aggression in Roman Humor (Oxford University Press, 1983, 1992), p. 225. Acceptable male partners were slaves and former slaves, prostitutes, and entertainers, whose lifestyle placed them in the nebulous social realm of infamia, so they were excluded from the normal protections afforded to a citizen even if they were technically free. Freeborn male minors were off limits at certain periods in Rome. Having sex with another freeborn man himself was considered a violation of the other man's integrity, and immoral. Sexual use of another man's slave was subject to the owner's permission.Catharine Edwards, "Unspeakable Professions: Public Performance and Prostitution in Ancient Rome", in Roman Sexualities, pp. 67–68. However, love or desire between males is a very frequent theme in Roman literature. In the estimation of Amy Richlin, out of the poems preserved to this day, those addressed by men to boys are as common as those addressed to women.Richlin, The Garden of Priapus, p. 33. "Whatever the relationship between the poetry and the reality, it is a fact that poems to pueri are as common as poems to mistresses, and are similar in tone." Homoerotic scenes between both male and female couples are depicted on everyday objects, and are often found to share space with pictures of opposite-sex couples. Some have interpreted this to mean that heterosexuality and homosexuality were viewed with equal value.Clarke, "Sexuality and Visual Representation," p. 514
There are multiple words in Latin to describe sexual preferences that would today be labeled "bisexual": both cinaedus, and pathicus indicate a male who liked to receive anal sex by men and/or women;Holt N. Parker, "The Teratogenic Grid," in Roman Sexualities, p. 56 however, these were often used as derogatory terms.John R. Clarke, Looking at Lovemaking: Constructions of Sexuality in Roman Art 100 B.C.–A.D. 250 (University of California Press, 1998, 2001)
Some Roman men kept a male concubine (concubinus, "one who lies with; a bed-mate") before they married a woman. Eva Cantarella has described this form of concubinage as "a stable sexual relationship, not exclusive but privileged". After marriage, the concubinus would remain in the household and might father children with women of the household.Williams, Roman Homosexuality, 2nd ed.
Some prominent Roman men have been linked to relations with both men and women. Several ancient sources claim that the emperors Nero, Marc Antony, and Elagabalus (both of whom had multiple wives) had public marriage ceremonies with other men. Gaius Lucilius, a second-century BC poet, draws comparisons between anal sex with boys and vaginal sex with females; it is speculated that he may have written a whole chapter in one of his books with comparisons between lovers of both sexes, though nothing can be stated with certainty as what remains of his oeuvre are just fragments. Several prominent authors wrote comparing sex with men and women: including Ovid,Ovid, Ars Amatoria 2.683–684; Pollini, "Warren Cup," p. 36. Juvenal, Lucian, Strato, and Martial.
Same-sex relations among women are far less documented and, if Roman writers are to be trusted, female homoeroticism may have been very rare, to the point that Ovid, in the Augustine era describes it as "unheard-of". However, there is scattered evidencefor example, a couple of spells in the Greek Magical Papyriwhich attests to the existence of individual women in Roman-ruled provinces in the later Imperial period who fell in love with members of the same sex.
Foursomes appear in Roman art, often with two men and two women, sometimes showing two same-sex pairings. In Pompeii, where there were found the only examples known so far of Roman art depicting sexual congress between women. A frieze at a brothel annexed to the Suburban Baths, in Pompeii, shows a bisexual threesome with two men and a woman, and a foursome with two men and two women participating in homosexual anal sex, heterosexual fellatio, and homosexual cunnilingus. However, this imagery runs counter to mainstream Roman culture, and at least one writer described the scene as humorous.
Ancient China