A Brief Introduction to the Kinsey Scale of Human Sexuality
OR
"But Daisuke CAN'T like Ken...he likes Kari!"
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How many of us in the Yaoi/Yuri fandom have been dogged by comments like the subtitle to this article? Or, perhaps as a better question...how many of us HAVEN'T? I don't think there are many. It seems to be one of the most recurring points to appear in flames.
Leaving aside the question of if such an attraction is really there (I will fight many of these to the end...no, I DON'T think there's anything going on...on EITHER side...between Tai and Sora or Mimi and Matt. I'm sorry.) and cutting straight to the "undeniable" attractions...such as the aforementioned Daisuke liking Kari...this is still only an issue if you have a common, narrow...but inherently flawed...view of human sexuality.
Most people would like to see human sexuality as a set of polar opposites. Gay or straight, nothing in the middle. Or, to put it more simply, you like guys, or you like gals. There's no two ways about it. It's a simple, happy, very clean view of the world. And, like most simple, happy, very clean things...it's also very wrong.
Bisexuality.
It's considered somewhat taboo...for a very good reason. It breaks down many things we believe to be set in stone...gender, attraction, sexuality...and it can throw a happy world-view into chaos. It's also more the norm than the exception.
As I said earlier, most people would like to see sexuality as a polar system, perhaps with + as representing straight and - as representing gay. Thus, it's easy to see the world.
+ Straight | Gay -
Notice that there's nothing in between there. It's either one or the other. However, a more accurate view of human sexuality is that taken by the Kinsey scale, a scale of 0 to 6, where 0 is purely "straight" and 6 is purely "gay." In between, there are five levels of bisexuality. 1 is being mostly "straight" with a few same-gender feelings or tendencies. 2 is predominately "straight," but having a number of same-gender tendencies or experiences. 3 is "pure bi," someone who has around the same level of attraction to both those of the same gender and those of the opposite gender. 4 is predominantly "gay," but having a number of opposite-gender feelings or experiences, and 5 is mostly "gay," with a few opposite gender feelings or tendencies.
With this view, the world stops being a polar opposite situation and becomes a spectrum with "gay" and "straight" being just ends on a line, rather than sides to a coin. (I should point out that the Kinsey scale ignores those who are asexual, or have no sexual feelings towards either gender) It also becomes easier to deal with issues such as Daisuke liking Kari without resorting to the old standby of "He was faking it" (I don't think he was.). You can see a world where Daisuke is a 2 or 3...or maybe even higher. Where feelings towards those of one gender do not preclude feelings towards those of the other.
A world where we can admit that we saw Daisuke and Takeru fighting over Kari...but still have them all...or even just one or two of them...end up with a member of the same gender.
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MY PERSONAL FEELINGS ON THE SEXUALITIES OF THE DIGI-DESTINED
Now we get into the speculative part of this little essay-let. I should point out that I have avoided putting anyone on either a "0" or a "6," even those that I really, really wanted to (*cough*Ken*cough*), seeing as those are rarer than you would think (especially if you just came from a polar view of sexuality). I, myself, am the closest person I know to either end (it's the "6" end, if you must know...) and I still can find feelings towards the other end. (Not many...but they're there.). If I could not truly tell, someone reverted to the position of a 3, and I have not, yet, done anything for Jyou or Koushiro...mostly because I can't, really, get a handle on their characters...which is why, as much as I enjoy them, I haven't written a Jyoushiro yet. Or a Jyori, Jyoto, Daishiro or Kouken, for that matter. And, occasionally, I have put in something I considered a notable quote in parentheses. Like this ("Seeing you squirm is SO delicious").
Tai - 3. I'm never going to live this down...but...*coughs* IthinkhemightlikeSoraabit...Mimitoo...Mostly on the friends side...but...yeah, I know I said earlier that I didn't see it, so I'm
inconsistent. Sue me. I still hate Taiora...but I'm getting to the point where I can stand Michi. However, well, if you haven't seen anything about Taito, you haven't been paying attention...the movie was full of Taishiro (Tai + Izzy)...and I can even make out things with Daisuke, Takeru, and Joe (on two of those occasions they seem to be some form of crush from the younger end of the equation...gee, I wonder which two?)...Taito is the major one, though. And Tai makes comments which can be read as he liking girls. So...bi.
Matt - 5. Matt has his moments with every male 01 Digidestined...most obviously Tai and Joe, but also Izzy. Matt also has moments with the 02's. There are Yamasuke fans...and yes, they have moments in the first few episodes, and later on he has his scenes with Ken. On the female end of things...well...um...Do. Not. Mention. The. Term. Mimato. In. Front. Of. Me. Shouldn't he even see that Mimi exists before he's paired with her? (And, of course "Isn't she pretty, Neechan?" "No.") And Sorato...I don't care HOW
official they TRY to make it...it isn't there, in my eyes. Almost every official picture I've seen with Sora and Matt, they seem to have these looks on their faces like "Yep. This is fake. Just play along, okay?" (Finally saw the Christmas ep...yep, Sora's going after Matt. But a few scenes after THAT Matt's holding hands with Tai again.) Then...Jun. I like Jun. I like Jun just fine. However, he doesn't seem to have any chemistry there. And there aren't many people who would argue with me here.
Sora - 4 or 3. (Before 02 and the movies she was a 5) I can't be unbiased here. You don't ask a Mira fan about Sora's orientation. It's just...not right. However, as I have said on many occasions, in 01 she's too much (FAR too much) like I was at that age to be TOTALLY straight. Then they decided to put all those stupid Taiora moments in the movie, and apparently Sorato is soon to be canon (oh, Gods no...please...don't do this to a poor Taito and Mira fan...) but she does seem to have moments...especially with Mimi (natch, seeing as I have said on many occasions that I'm a Mira fan...). Thus, she's not as gay as I used to see her, but she can't be totally straight in my view. Now...however, for a quick moment I'm going to go off topic under Sora...Sora's portrayal in most Taito's. I'm a Taito fan. I'm a Yaoi fan in general. However, there tends to be a bit of...misogeny...in many Taito's when it comes to Sora. Sora, most of the time, if she makes an appearance, is there to be Tai's angry stalker...pissy, homophobic, teratorial, hating Matt and trying to make life hell for our boys. People, please. Even if I WASN'T a Mira fan...even if I DID believe in almost anything between Tai and Sora...I can't see her acting like that. Ever. Not ICly. What DO I think she'd do? Well...I think she'd be dating Mimi, really (*thwap*) but if she wasn't, I think she'd be at least a bit more supportive then she's usually written. She might be a bit hurt, maybe a bit let down, but I can't see her doing any of the really pissy things I've seen her do in some Taito's. No, I can't see her killing Matt...or Tai...or anyone...or doing just about anything else like that. Even if she DID have any feelings like that...she has the crest of Love. Let me repeat that. SORA HAS THE CREST OF LOVE. I think...of ANY of the 01 DigiDestined...she'd likely be the most SUPPORTIVE if anything developed between Tai and Matt...or any other couple, for that matter. Even if she liked Tai. Or Matt. Or both of them. In general...Sora isn't a bitch, people. She's annoying at times, but so is everyone else. Now we return you to your previously scheduled rant.
Mimi - 3 (people look up in surprise) Yes, I know this seems weird, but Mimi is something rather strange. She seems to SAY that she likes boys, but on most occasions she doesn't seem to ACT on those feelings, and I tend to go more off ACTING then saying. Boys seem to like HER, but so do girls (Sora, and Hikari seems to have some form of little-girl crush...and just look at Miyako's actions in 02...did somebody say Yomi?), and she seems to ACT more towards the female end of things (many of her actions towards Sora send me wondering...and into the camp of the Mira fan). She and Sora tease Joe on a few occasions, and she seems to have something, sort of, towards Izzy. Of course, she's also an utter airhead. Oh, and one more thing. Do. Not. Mention. The. Term. Mimato. In. Front. Of. Me. It was, until some intelligent person decided to pair up my two favorite characters (Ken and Miyako), my most hated pairing.
Jyou - 3. Sigh. There are Jyomi moments, and there are Jyoushiro moments. There are even Jyoto moments. I can't get into this kid's head yet, so he gets a 3.
Koushiro - 3. Koumi, Kouyako, Jyoushiro, even Kouken and Daishiro. Can't get into his head, he gets a 3.
Takeru - 1 heading towards 2. In 01 you can see something of a little-boy crush towards Tai, and there are some noteworthy reactions to Daisuke (which have already been pointed out on every Takedai page known to mankind and will thus not be covered here), as well as a few scenes with...of all people...Ken. (WHO'S hand does he take during the Christmas episode? Here's a hint...it ain't Hikari. Look while Ken is handing out the invites...).
Also, there's the entire Jogress thing with Iori...which seems more obvious on
the little one's side of things, but look at the scene where they're talking on
the beach...However he also rather obviously has feelings towards Hikari, and there are moments towards Miyako, Sora and Mimi ("Isn't she pretty, Neechan?") that make me put him rather firmly towards "straight" end of things, but not entirely straight.
Hikari - 3. The problem with pinning down Hikari is that almost everything she says and does can be warped by the fact that around 90% of the 02 DigiDestined seem to have some form of crush on her (Takeru...Daisuke...Miyako...okay, that's 50%...). However, the two she seems to be reacting to the most in a romantic way are Takeru and Miyako...she seems mostly annoyed at Dai, at least in the beginning...in the beginning of 01, Takeru and her seem to be a rather obvious couple, but there are noteworthy scenes between her and Miyako around and after their Jogress ("I'm not going to be fighting it alone any more...Yolei won't let me." And the scene where they're on the bridge and Miyako catches her, then they walk off holding hands...in general, they start to act incredibly "couple-y" after Silphymon makes an appearance...). In general, I am placing her directly in the middle.
Miyako - 3. We see her having obvious attractions towards members of the male gender, most notably Ken, Koushiro and Michael, but also Daisuke and Takeru on a few occasions (Man, do I like TakeMiya...) and just about every other male to cross her path ("Will you look at my tonsils?" and everything towards Wallace in the movie.)...but there are also moments that just make my eyebrow head towards my hairline...most noticeably her daydream about Mimi and her reactions towards Hikari during and after their Jogress...and even beforehand (notice how she calls Hikari beautiful, and how she starts almost showing off for her afterwards...the whole mineral water thing in the noodle episode...). There are even Soryako (Sora + Miyako) moments...
Daisuke - 2 heading towards 3. His crush towards Hikari is one of the more obvious aspects of 02, especially the earlier episodes, however his actions towards Ken place him more towards the bi end of things (people, if there's nothing...on either end...between Ken and Daisuke...I'll turn in my Yaoi badge), as well as a few interactions with Takeru and Tai, and some noticeable things towards Matt (start looking around the beginning of 02...) and Wallace (in the movie...natch, seeing as Wallace IS only in the movie.)...even a bit of what could be called Daiori (Daisuke + Iori) ("You two fight like and old married couple") and Daishiro (Daisuke + Koushiro) when you start looking.
Iori - 4. Actually, almost everything I can find on Iori seems to place him in the same-gender camp. He has something of a crush on Jyou at the beginning of 02, and seems to have something of a crush on Takeru nearing and after their Jogress. There are even scenes with Koushiro, Ken and Daisuke that make me wonder. On the straight end of things I can only see something that might be feelings towards Miyako. However, Iori is also rather young, and his sexuality has not really come forward yet, thus everything I have seen around him has been more subtle then comparable feelings in the older set.
Ken - 5. I actually can find very little about him that would seem to implicate heterosexuality...a few questionable scenes while he was Kaizer, most notably when he was watching Hikari so ardently (why is it that Hikari seems to be the one people notice?). I am not a Kenyako fan (it is, pretty much, the only pairing I hate. I'm sorry.), so I might be subconsciously ignoring any evidence in that direction as well. However, he has many scenes with Daisuke which are notable, both when he was Kaizer (where they tend to take on more of an S+My flavor ("Seeing you squirm is SO delicious")) and afterwards, as well as a few with Takeru (notice when Takeru offers him the Chinese dumpling at the end of the Azulogmon episode. He's almost blushing. And when he hands out invitations during the Christmas episode...), Koushiro (notice them talking at the beginning of the "Miyako in Kyoto" episode) and even Iori (they have a strange dynamic in some of the first episodes after he goes good).
Wallace - 1. Wallace seems to like the ladies quite a bit. However, as any fan of Wallasuke (Daisuke and Wallace) can point out, there are some scenes in the movie that are questionable. But, in general, he does not make enough of an appearance to try to pin down towards either side.
Michael - I don't want to think about the little so and so any more than absolutely necessary. Oh, fine. I've only seen him reacting to girls, but he's only shown up in one episode so far. And, as I said...I find him incredibly annoying.