The Rocky Horror Picture Show Sexuality and Sexual Identity

The Kinsey Scale isn't a kitchen tool used for measuring ingredients for baked goods, although if Kinsey were a baker, he'd probably have a heck of a time trying to decide whether certain treats were biscuits or scones. Is there a scone spectrum?

Sexuality is (slightly) more complicated than making biscuits, so Alfred Kinsey came up with the Kinsey Scale.

He didn't believe that people were exclusively heterosexual or homosexual. He believed that sexuality was on a spectrum. You could be a little of both, or asexual. Since 1948, the idea of a spectrum has been applied to gender, too.

And The Rocky Horror Picture Show' s all over the spectrum. It's a whole rainbow of colors, with characters of multiple sexualities, genders, and intergalactic races. Yes, there are aliens. Some might find this variety to be weird or off-putting, but in Frank's house, everyone is welcome.

Questions About Sexuality and Sexual Identity

1. Where do Frank, Brad, and Janet lie on the Kinsey Scale?
2. How does Janet's attitude toward sexuality change during the course of the movie?
3. Are Rocky Horror's attitudes toward sexuality still radical today?

Chew on This

The pronoun "he" is often applied to Frank because he is played by male actor Tim Curry, but Frank's gender and sexuality are fluid. The character can be played by people of either gender during live performances of the show.

Although the film celebrates Janet's sexual awakening, audience participation scripts often call her "slut," thereby condemning it.