• village604@adultswim.fan
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    15 hours ago

    I think what you’re stuck on is the scientific use of a word and a social use of a word can have different meanings. And depending on context the scientific use can differ.

    In the case of bisexual, the term was likely used because the preference was for both genitals, since only 2 genders existed to science at that point. Also the term was coined by psychologists in 1890.

    • bellsfry@thelemmy.club
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      7 hours ago

      Well the modern usage of “bisexual” regarding sexual orientation has also found its way into science, evidenced by the lack of prominent scientific synonyms

      Which again is irritating because scientific terminology shouldn’t be this lax

      I think “bisexual” only references two sexes because it was created to describe a phenomenon related to sexual reproduction which evolved to occur between two main sexes; the term was unrelated to gender

      • village604@adultswim.fan
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        1 hour ago

        The modern usage is because scientists used it, not the other way around. It was initially used by psychiatrists.