Not a surprising score...
Well, this wasn't much of a surprise:
Given the fact that I was married for more than six years, and deeply closeted for 30 years, it would be kinda tough (especially given the weight given in this test for the past) to score much higher, I'd guess.Klein Sexual Orientation Grid
I scored an average of 4.14
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Heterosexual Bisexual Homosexual Meaning
This result can also be related to the Kinsey Scale:
0 = exclusively heterosexual
1 = predominantly heterosexual, 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, incidentally heterosexual
6 = exclusively homosexualSummary
The idea of this excercise is to understand exactly how dynamic a person's sexual orientation can be, as well as how fluid it can be over a person's lifespan. While a person's number of actual homo/heterosexual encounters may be easy to categorize, their actual orientation may be completely different. Simple labels like "homosexual", "heterosexual", and "bisexual" need not be the only three options available to us.
Take the quiz
I definitely feel more of a 5, though. After all, there are some disqualifying conditions which would forever prevent me from pinning the Gayometer (being fashion- and decor-impaired, and not being young, attractive, height-weight proportionate, or well-endowed enough). But there are some definitely OGT's _(obviously gay traits) [hat-tip to The Broken Hearts Club for the term]:
- Having videos from both Bel Ami and Falcon studios
- Knowing why they call Lukas Ridgeston "Lucky Lukas"
- Having a significant aversion to all team sports
- Owning more than 1 Barbara Streisand or Carpenters album
And, of course, being really turned on by attractive men....
I scored a 4.86. I suprised, a bit, that I scored that high, given that I was married for 30 years and have four adult children.
ReplyDeleteKlein's scale is much more sophisticated than Kinsey's, because it measures sexual attraction, emotional attraction and sexual behavior. Most adults don't fit neatly into catagories of gay/lesbian, bisexual or straight -- reality is more complex than a 3-category model or even a 7-category behavioral scale like Kinsey's.
Klein's scale, as you noted recognizes that people's sexual lives change and adjust over time. The book is packed, of course, so I can't pull it our and check the numbers, but I recall that extensive studies were done in San Francisco some years back using the Klein scale, and the level of change over time was quite remarkable for many people.
Simple-minded categories are for rabbits, in my opinion.
Although I self-identify right now as "gay", the simple-mindedness of that category doesn't reflect my life. When I'm being accurate, I don't use labels. I instead say this: "I fell in love with a man when I was in college, and we were together 18 months until he died. I fell in love with a woman in my mid-20's, and we were together for 30 years. I fell in love with a man after we were divorced, and I hope to be with him for the rest of my life." That's accurate, and other people can figure out what to do with fitting me into categories.
But, whatever might be the case about categories, life isn't a test.
We need not "fit" into any category. A high level of "fit" into this category or another doesn't add value to our lives, and a low level of "fit" doesn't subtract value from our lives. We are who we are.
Just relax and start living. Let other people worry about who and what you are.
What are "Bel Ami and Falcon studios"?
ReplyDeleteI haven't taken this test, but I have taken a ga-zillion others about all sorts of personality qualities and so on. I used to administer some as part of the seminary program I ran. I found they helped the guys gain an insight into themselves from particular points of view, and self-knowledge is an integral part of discerning God's call and will in one's life.
ReplyDeleteI have also taken courses from behavioral psychologists who contend that psychological testing of any sort is absolutely useless and that only observable behavior matters. They make good points, although I never got a fully satisfactory answer to the question: How can you be sure the observer's bias or limitation does not distort the interpretation of the behavior? Or even the fact that the person being observed may be consciously or unconsciously influenced by knowing or suspecting that he is being observed. Or why thinking -- unobservable in itself -- would not be an important pattern of behavior.
At any level, since we are made in the image and likeness of Mysterium tremens et fascinans, we remain a mystery even to ourselves at a deep level. Or, as a priest friend said, "God is a mystery. We are incomprehensible!"
After the seminarians and I had gone over the results of their tests, they were often excited and/or depressed and talked as though they would never be able to overcome (or need not try to overcome) things that showed up on the test. I always told them that we are called to transcend self. So, insofar as they had learned something about themselves, they needed to use this information to help them on their journey to union with God through self-gift to God and others, not as an excuse to avoid the ongoing call to conversion.
Self-transcendence is not self-destruction, nor is it self-adulation. It involves, among other things, learning to live without identifying self with only one part of the wonderful, marvelous work that God continues to weave together through the warp and woof of our lives. Some days may seem more warp, others are more woof. But you get my drift.
I am not saying I am not gay or that I need to work to overcome that. Whatever my score would be, I know that I am gay, that it is unchosen, that it is a channel of God's love and mercy in my life because it is part of the way God knitted me together and that God continues to weave that thread (among others) into the fabric of my life. I want to learn to celebrate that thread, and also the other threads. The gay thread stands out brightly and some people think it ruins the whole cloth. I know, though, that it plays its role in keeping the whole together and making it me.
Mausig
ReplyDeleteBel Ami is the Vegas wedding chapel (http://www.monbelami.com/) that offers videos with Wayne Newton wedding videos.
Falcon is a motorsports giant (http://www.teamfalconmotorsports.com/index.asp).
I get why Wayne Newton rings the gay bell, but Falcon Motorsports? More the NASCAR crowd, I should think.
Not that there is anything straight about being a NASCAR fan, said the guy wearing the Dale Jarrett shirt.
Mausig, Tom is being obscure and obtuse. (He can't help it - he's a recovering lawyer.)
ReplyDeleteBel Ami and Falcon are both major gay-porn studios. Falcon is known for big, muscular actors, while Bel Ami is known more for younger, teen-aged smooth twinks.
As for the rest of the comments, that's the subject of another post...
Obtuse? (ob·tuse (ŏb-tūs', -tyūs', əb-) pronunciation adj., -tus·er, -tus·est. 1. Lacking quickness of perception or intellect. 2. Characterized by a lack of intelligence or sensitivity: an obtuse remark. 3. Not distinctly felt: an obtuse pain.
ReplyDeleteEverything I said about Bel Ami and Falcon was straight dead on ... not to mention quick, perceptive, sensitve and distinctly felt.
Obtuse, indeed.
Methinks that Steve is trying to obfuscate the fact that he adores Wayne Newton and thinks that NASCAR is fabulous.