Sexuality.

The topic for todays post literally came to me in a dream. I don’t mean an old goat appeared on a mountain during sunset and spoke the words, “Abi, I need you to write about something very important, tell the world how you feel about sexual labels”. No, you see, for the past couple of days I have been searching for a new distraction from the insane boredom and anxiety that hits in when I’m not kept busy, and regretfully I have become a Netflix addict. First it was Breaking Bad (which was bloody brilliant with its plot and characters however the ending didn’t thrill me), and now I’m hooked on Orange is the new Black. For those living normal functioning lives who aren’t dependant on a series to maintain their already flagging sanity, OITNB is about an engaged woman Piper who goes to prison for helping her girlfriend Alex move a hefty amount of drug money into the country. Anyway they haven’t seen each other in 10 years and are shocked to see each other in the same prison. To keep things short they rekindle their lesbian love which  gets them in a lot of shit with anti-gay prison guards, Jesus loving hillbillies who try to kill them and Pipers fiancé funnily enough.

So anyway I bring this up because in my dream I was in that prison too, and without getting to graphic I was involved in a lesbian relationship. This isn’t the first lesbian thought that has crossed my mind, from a very young age I thought I was different from other girls. I remember going on holiday to Cyprus when I was 12 and meeting a very beautiful girl who was 3 years older. She had it all, she had a boyfriend who blessed the ground she walked on, she was beautiful and had an amazing figure. I just remember speaking to her the once at dinner time when we were at the buffet, she said she liked my dress. It wasn’t much but it was enough. I wasn’t in love with her or anything, maybe I didn’t even fancy her. All I can recall is watching her whilst she swam and wanting to join her, seeing her laugh made me wish it was me who made her happy. When she danced with her boyfriend I felt sick with envy. Maybe that was it? It was all just jealousy because she was perfect and I wasn’t in my eyes, that would be the more probable explanation- I wanted to be her. But that fiction wouldn’t explain how I felt when I returned home, normally when someone is jealous of someone else, when the other person is out of their life they are relieved and can start to become content in their own lives again. But me, I felt sad that I hadn’t spoken to her more, become friends with her, kept in contact. I missed her.

Some would say that makes me a lesbian, or at least interested in becoming one. I say something different. This feeling for the girl in Cyprus I then felt for a boy I had a holiday romance with in Turkey at 14, and again with my current boyfriend now. There was a spark there for me, and I don’t doubt that what I felt was the beginning of love. So I bisexual yes? I mean its obvious, I have a boyfriend but I like girls too? Whenever I get asked about my sexuality, I always tick “I don’t know” because there is no option for what I am, which is completely normal.

I don’t believe that we humans are attracted to each other according to sex, I think that we are drawn in due to looks and personality among many other factors. Yes we see a person first and register if they are a boy or a girl and would approach the member of the opposite sex, but why do we do that? Say you walk into a room, there is a girl and a boy sitting there. Both are attractive but one has a vile personality whilst the other is perfectly matched to yours. Primal instinct makes you approach the person of the opposite sex, because that’s what we have to do to survive. We meet a person and have children to keep our species going. You discover that they have a horrible personality and begin to back off, confirming that your relationship with them will go no further. Most would then joke to the other person about how that just went, before noticing that this other person is a much nicer sole to be around. You realise that you have two options and this is when people begin to branch off.  a) You let the conversation flow, see how it goes and pursue the relationship in the future, or b) You become friends and nothing more, perhaps don’t even speak again. In the modern times we live in today, it is much more acceptable to be with someone of the same gender, there aren’t as many things that would get in the way; marriage is now legal and children are available to adopt. The question you have to ask yourself is “would I rather be happy with this person for the rest of my life potentially, or do I plod on with my blinkers on and look for a man/woman to settle down with and have a normal life.” People looking to get through life with little fuss will chose the latter, but those of us who want to make the most of it and make ripples in their wake will mostly chose the first and that is what I believe.

So what, you like girls? You like boys? You like both? That makes you normal. You are a person looking for happiness and you have found it in another person. We are social creatures and does it really matter the gender of who we end up with as long as they make us eternally happy? No. The words gay, lesbian, bisexual and heterosexual should not be used as labels, because that limits our options with everything. Making friends, getting a job and even finding love. Personally I think everyone should drift through life with their minds and hearts open and just find someone they are attracted to by their characteristics- be that physical and philosophical, regardless of their gender.

Me personally, am normal. I like people based on these things, not their sex. And quite frankly the world would be a less judgemental place if their were more people with that attitude.