I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone the other week when I read the pseudo-scientific psychobabble that spewed forth from Psychology Today‘s blog, “Sax on Sex.” In this particular entry, psychology and physician Leonard Sax posits that there’s a reason why so many girls are lesbian and bisexual nowadays:
Psychologist John Buss estimates that for most of human history, perhaps 2% of women have been lesbian or bisexual (see note 1, below). Not any more. Recent surveys of teenage girls and young women find that roughly 15% of young females today self-identify as lesbian or bisexual, compared with about 5% of young males who identify as gay or bisexual
Sax also thinks there’s a connection between the rise in young boys having ready and available access to pornography and this rise in female lesbian/bisexuality:
Maybe there is. A young woman told me how her boyfriend several years ago suggested that she shave her pubic hair, so that she might more closely resemble the porn stars who were this young man’s most consistent source of sexual arousal. She now identifies herself as bisexual.
Ah, okay. So we intermingle sketchy historical data with a few shocking anecdotes, and suddenly we have an explanation for this “sudden” rise in female bi-sexuality and lesbians. Or do we?
Of course we all know the value of anecdotes — they help relay a good story. Folks like Malcolm Gladwell like to couch scientific data in anecdotes to make that data more accessible and understandable (hence why he’s so popular).
But Gladwell tends not to drawn sweeping conclusions from the anecdotes themselves. That’s reserved for that actual empirical data.
Sax admits that we really don’t know what the historical rate of female lesbianism or bisexuality has been. His only citation for suggesting there’s been this crazy increase is a single citation from a psychology 101 textbook. Not exactly journal-level science there.
The simple and more probable explanation is found buried in Sax’s notes — that in different times, different standards were more acceptable. Therefore reporting of one’s sexuality is likely to be biased toward those standards. In other words, it’s not that there are necessarily more lesbians and bisexuals today, it’s that people feel far more free and open to identify with that label without as much fear of societal or criminal prosecution.
It’s amazing what general societal acceptance will do for reporting of nearly anything. Look at mental health issues, for instance. Even just twenty years ago, the stigma was such that many people had a difficult time acknowledging their mental health concern. In many parts of the country, this same fear is still very much prevalent when it comes to acknowledging one’s sexual orientation.
So the answer is likely far simpler — we have “more” lesbians, bisexuals and gay men because it’s easier in today’s society to acknowledge that you’re a lesbian, gay man or bisexual. It also won’t result in your criminal prosecution or rejection from society as it did in the past. The impact of reporting bias is significant for this issue, because in the past people simply didn’t talk about these things openly. Or with researchers.
As for more women who don’t identify with the pure “heterosexual” label as compared to men, perhaps it’s just as likely because women don’t feel the stigma associated with the alternative labels as readily as men do. To be a young adult male and to self-identify as gay or bisexual puts you into a certain, ready-made category. To be a young adult female and to self-identify in the same way just acknowledges your “openness” to new experiences. Women don’t seem as hung up on such labels as men are. The reason? Not because “guys are such losers,” as Sax suggests, but rather because, as Sax noted earlier in his article, “sexual attraction in many women seems to be more malleable.”
All the data were there, yet Sax got it incredibly wrong. Which is too bad, because you can proclaim, “I kissed a girl and I liked it,” and not have it mean something greater — that men are losers, or that we’re in an epidemic of female lesbians and bisexuals.
42 comments
I posted my own response on Sax’s blog, but yours is miles better! Thank you!
As, a possible sociology major, I agree with your point, I was in fact thinking similarly when I read Sax’s article. I personally feel that the number of people who choose to identify as non-heterosexual has more to do with how society preceives sexuality. In terms of more girls identitfing as being not heterosexual, it should have more to do with the fact the it is more socially acceptable and less stigmaized for females to identify as non-heterosexual as opposed to males.
I think that it is a pretty good article.
Dr John is consistent in trying the emphasise the value and importance of objectivity in the reporting of matters of concern to the field of behaviour and mental health. He isn’t really expressing any value judgements beyond this that I can see, other than the importance of showing compassion and undestanding to people with mental health problems.
We all know that these areas of human knowledge are a complete “Free for all” with anyone making whatever claims they want, without being subject to even a fraction of the scrutiny of a scientist making a claim about physics or chemistry or whatever.
It seems pretty legitimate to me that someone concerned about people being able to access accurate and reliable information about behaviour and mental health, and trying to take responsibility for this, should want to keep track of what is being said and to try to reign in some of those wild claims.
It looks pretty good to me. Dr John is making a stand for the importance of objectivity in the reporting of matters to do with human behaviour and mental health.
As it’s been said, just twenty years ago people were more concerned what people would think about someone’s mental health problems. But it is not only a period of time that matters. It’s also a culture that should make an influence on results of similar survey, or where people were born, even how they were raised.
These factors hardly can (or really can’t) make someone to become bisexual or lesbian, but can influence someones attitude about it, thus willingness to openly speak about it or behave that way. And that can make a huge impact on results of a survey.
And, as I can see, this one is not done scientifically.
Yes, changes in societal acceptance may be one factor that is playing a role in these changing demographics. However, there are also important shifts in the definitions of these constructs that also can play a role in their measured prevalence.
Sexual identity is a complicated issue, and many people struggle with adopting a single label as a means of conveying their interests, activities, experiences, and fantasies. By labeling oneself as gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc., Cross (2001) points out that there is a risk of being seen as only a member of that single category, thus constraining ones full humanness. On the other hand, labels can be a means of “defining a new, unique, and whole self” (Cross & Epting, 2005).
It is therefore important to remember that prevalence rates regarding different sexual preferences is about more than society permitting an individual to honestly admit that they “are” or “are not” heterosexual, lesbian, or bisexual. These statistics are also related to the ever-changing nature of these labels as well as whether or not people adopt a label to define a single aspect of their whole self.
References:
Cross, M. C. (2001). The appropriation and reification of deviance: Personal construct psychology and affirmative therapy. A response to Harrison. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 29(3), 337-343.
Cross, M., & Epting, F.(2005). Self-obliteration, self-definition, self-integration: Claiming a homosexual identity. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 18(1), 53-63.
Here is a bit from my experience on the issue. http://proyouthworker.blogspot.com/2010/04/sexuality-and-youth.html
I couldn’t help but comment on this! I am reminded of one of my favorite research studies, conducted in 2007 by Chivers, Seto, and Blanchard, which sheds some light on female bisexuality.
In a nutshell—Participants: 20 lesbians, 27 straight women, 17 gay men, and 27 straight men. Method: Participants viewed a series of film clips while seated comfortably in a recliner in a private room. The content of the film clips were 1. Control (landscapes + relaxing music), 2. Nonhuman sexual activity (bonobos (chimpanzees) mating), 3. Female nonsexual activity (nude exercise), 4. Female masturbation, 5. Female-female intercourse, 6. Male nonsexual activity (nude exercise), 7. Male masturbation, 8. Male-male intercourse, and 9. Female-male intercourse. While viewing, the participants genital arousal was measured by a physical device, as well as by self-report.
The results…
Both gay and straight men exhibited significantly greater penile responses to their preferred sexual stimuli than to their nonpreferred stimuli. Their subjective responses were also in line with this finding. Neither gay nor straight men responded genitally to the bonobos. No surprises here.
The results for women, however, were not so clean cut. Sexual ACTIVITY was a stronger determinant of sexual response than the gender of the individual(s) portrayed. Lesbian women did show greater vaginal responses to female stimuli than to male stimuli (though activity was still a greater predictor than gender). Straight women, however, experienced similar patterns of arousal in response to both male and female stimuli! Altogether, women also self-reported greater sexual arousal to the female stimuli than the male stimuli. And the mating bonobos? Women responded genitally to them, too!
So what do we make of these findings? I like what Matt pointed out—that categories constrain one’s “full humanness.†Perhaps the “15%†of women who identify as lesbian or bisexual are not so different sexually from the supposed 85% who don’t. Perhaps it is really more of a matter of self-awareness.
The next question for study: Why do we see this ambiguity among women, but not among men?
Reference: Chivers, M. L., Seto, M. C., & Blanchard, R. (2007). Gender and Sexual Orientation Differences in Sexual Response to Sexual Activities Versus Gender of Actors in Sexual Films. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(6), 1108-1121.
I find the entire Sax on Sex site to be full of similar sensationalist crap.
Thanks for pointing out the obvious hole in his logic.
I don’t want to come across as narrow minded or chauvist, but many of these bi-sexual women do what they do with women to get the attention of men.
I think Sax makes a good point about the porn. Do a study on the lengths women will go too to make a male they like happy.
This is in fact a awesome experiment. Isn’t there any study that explores the concept in the perspective of endocrinology or through functional MRI.
@Sharlie Patch
@ Sharlie Patch
Your an idiot saying all women are bi. I am a straight female and find other “private” parts of women nasty.
jen you are one of the very few women out there today that is normal. god bless you.
I notice that most of the bisexual men and women I know are fairly intuitive and can reflect on there inner experience. I have known many “straight” boys in high school who played with their friends penis, “joked around”, got in sexual positions, and really to some degree it wasn’t a “joke”. I was the football captain I came out as bisexual in highschool and knew at 13. At 11 I had sex dreams of women. As an introspective listener these “straight” men all confided that they had “feelings” but to my knowledge never went further. But then I started to go to men’s groups, and men’s group therapy as out bisexual there was one gay man all others were “straight” and it was rare to find a person that did not have some sexual attractions to men but they were “straight”. Furthermore I rarely use the identity label of bisexual because it greatly reduces the chances of getting a date. If you don’t believe me try an experiment and put two profiles on okCupid one straight one bisexual – with the straight profile I got tons of visits from women. With the bisexual profile very few. With these odds I would rather just say I am straight. The point being if a girl/women has the identity of bisexual she can date men and women. If a man has the identity of bisexual he would have to work extra hard to get a date with a woman. The logical solution is what many men do don’t endulge their attractions to men or go on the down low.
where are the straight women today?
Well, I’m sitting in front of my PC in Guildford, a pretty town about 26 miles from London.
I know lots of straight women. In fact I don’t know any women who aren’t straight, probably because most of my friends are mothers like me.
Widowed and divorced mums find there’s a shortage of nice men – the ones who are single at our age tend to be single for fairly obvious reasons: booze problems, an overly relaxed attitude to work, personal hygiene issues…
where can straight men like me go to meet straight women today?
Anywhere but the modern world. Today’s modern women are crap
there are so many women out there today more than ever that are lesbians. what a disgusting shame to see two women making love together. with all of us good straight men that are out there that are looking to meet a good woman, i can now see why it is so difficult. these women are just dirty no good, diseased pigs for what they have become. i lost all the respect for these type of women. i have a very bad attitude with women, and now you can see why i do. these women are just, and always be be the garbage that god created. i wonder what he was thinking when he created filth like them. as far as us straight men go, it will be a lot harder now meeting normal women now for us. i was married twice at one time and was a very caring and loving husband that never cheated on them, but they cheated on me. i was also very committed and very happy at the time, and look what happened to me. i have a right to be very bitter now, because when i do go out i seem to come across the low life women instead of the good ones. going out now, and trying to meet another woman is like a game that can’t be won.
I am a straight woman and I have to say that I have come across many men that were only out for their own personal pleasure. I am a very good hearted person with great looks and having met so many deceptive men I never gave up or became bitter. That’s the problem with people today. It’s much easier to give up and seek out a different sex but I think it’s gross and the easy way out. Never give up on finding your better half. He or she is out there.
Thank you for this well pit together post. I design surveys and do health research for a living. It is a much more legit explanation that you pose. I read the psych today article and came to a similar conclusion. To the above posters, sounds like you are uncomfortable with your own sexuality. If you were comfortable with yourself you wouldn’t be so freaked out about others.
I’d like to point out the strange fact, that only statistics made from 2000 to 2011 show a higher number of female bi/homosexuals than male bi/homosexuals. From Kinsey to the 90’s all statistics showed that more men than women had same-sex experiences. Take a look at this, for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_demographics_of_the_United_States
How is this possible, then? Male homosexuality has been always as much frowned upon (if not more)as female homosexuality, but still more men reported same-sex contacts.
I think that this current “trend” of lesbianism has more to do with cultural and media influences than real natural tendencies. Take a look at the way current media portray lesbianism: sexy, glamourous, appealing to the men…While male homosexuality is portrayed as comical or disgusting.
No wonder then, that this trend is particularly visible in the U.S.
the way that i see it now, it is much harder for us good straight men that are truly looking to meet a good straight woman today. i have to say that when i go out, i do come across many nasty women with their no good attitude now. why should that be? i did not do anything wrong on my part to cause this to happen to me. i come to the conclusion that many of these women have been very badly abused by men at one time, and now many of them do hate men. now with more than half of the women out there that are lesbians, it is going to be much more difficult to meet a good woman today for men like us. this seems to be the new trend. what about the women that are leaving their husbands for other women now? i just do not understand it at all. since i am alone and single now, i would like very much to have another woman in my life to be with, instead of having no one. i am one of many men that know how to treat a woman, unlike the ones that do not.
it this trend continues, us straight men will become obsolete. so many lesbians taking over now will be the absolute reason why us men cannot meet straight now, if there are any good ones left. the next generation that comes along will be same sex couples. any men and women together will be considered abnormal.
No, the next generation will fight it. People are starting to wake up to all the PC nonsense & are getting tired of being pushed around by the Liberal elite.
Guarantee you in a generation or so, this bisexual/lesbian fad will fade into oblivion & things will become normal again. But that won’t occur until the damage has already been done.
it seems to me that once women’s lib took over, it really messed up their brain. i would say there are much more women that are lesbians, than bi. what is the attraction that you women have with other women? were you women very badly abused by men a long time ago? were you born this way? as a straight man that loves women, and that would like to meet that special woman for me has now become a challenge for me. i never would have thought that i now have to compete with other women as well, very disgusting to me. i feel like i want to vomit, after reading a lot of these stories now. as far as i am concern, you women are a disease that keeps on spreading. even if you were straight to begin with, you would not know how to handle being with a good man and would scare him off. to all you lesbians that are out there, go hang out at your own gay clubs, and stay away from ours.
Look there are 7 billion people on the planet.. half or more are women or girls who will soon become of age.. there are plenty of hetero ladies to go around.. don’t be bitter.. or aggressive.. lots and lots of girls still love men.. The real problems with between the sexes today, is that its all about the Benjamin’s and euros…I have seen some very scruffy looking Lesbians who look exactly like men with beautiful girls and I have seen some dried up old dudes with some real lovelies.. people will stomach most anything for money.. We men have too look what our fathers and their fathers and so on have also wrought women.. historically … girls and women today are now fully aware that they are far more devious and cunning when it comes to wheeling and dealing with the world, men and money.. they have their own, and a penis can be bought and shared for a few spare coin.. No one wants babies anymore.. a smart phone costs as much as a months supply of diapers.. most would rather have the former.. University Education is through the roof – who wants to save for that.. no one.. The babyboomers have screwed us all.. so what the hell .. girls just want to have fun. and they certainly do not need a man for that.. Girl Power..
I say good on them.. Men who sleep with men.. great! the more the merrier.. that means more straight girls in a dwindling pool for me..
Man Up! all you straight guys.. either become an alpha male .. or die a lonely death.. one piece of advice.. shave everything.. and exfoliate..
i am a straight man that lives down the shore, and i have seen my share of very nasty women. they have that SHIT DON’T STINK OF AN ATTITUDE, and have become so very hard to communicate with. i walk on the boardwalk a lot, and i will say good morning to many women, but they have their NOSE up in the air, if you know what i mean. it has become so difficult just to get them to say good morning back. the women down here without a doubt are LESBIANS, just by the way they act. i would guess that these women have been so VERY BADLY ABUSED by men at one time, and many of them do seem to hate us STRAIGHT MEN TODAY. that is why it has become so very hard for us men to meet a GOOD DECENT WOMAN nowadays. where in the world can a good man go that is SERIOUSLY looking to find love with a straight woman, if there are any left. i never would have never thought that there are so many GAY women now, which adds to the problem.
Well, I thought Dr. Sax’s article was pretty good. His findings and suggestions were backed up by data, and at the end of the day it seems he was trying to draw a theory or hypothesis to which we might be able to measure. Or better yet, maybe his conclusions have some type of value to them that may make more of us…uncomfortable. Maybe that explains why we are so quickly to criticize his findings and opinions.
My question, that still remains for me, and perhaps this is the real question that is placed before us, I will put in simplified form. But why? That is my question to all members of the Social, Psychological and Biological professional communities. Why are more men and women turning to same sex relationships? What is the evidence and data from all combined professions, that can help us to measure this trend to which can justify why two members of the same sex are shedding their biological, social, and psychic roles in society.
So as a scientist, that is what I am pursuing. This isn’t about, “Because I said so,” or “Because that’s what’s trending today” or “Because that’s my belief.” Those are all great short answers for the average Joe. If same sex partnership is your thing, ok. That’s your affair. But what is the data that supports the beliefs and urgency to shed the roles assigned to people, to abandon opposite sex attraction and desires and to engage same sex lifestyles? The DATA, please.
respectfully, Matt.
boy have the times changed today, more and more women these days are into other women and i just do not understand it at all. i was married myself at one time, and my wife left me for another woman. since i am a straight man, this hurt me so much. i was a very caring and loving husband, and never mistreated her in anyway. i was very happy with my life at the time, thinking that i was going to spend the rest of my life with her and even have a family. now divorced and single again, it is very hard for me to meet a good woman again. and being close to the age of sixty years old, it is certainly not easy. most of my friends are settled down with their own life, and most of the time i am by myself. it hurts to be alone, especially when i see so many other men with their families walking around. it is much worse when they have family commercials on T.V. for trips to florida, i mean who in the world would want to go there by themselves. that is certainly no fun at all. for families yes, for me, no. when they have those type of commercials on T.V. it gets me much more upset and i will change the channel. the people that have their life together, should go to church and pray to god GOD how very lucky they are. it is the people like us that are certainly hurting now. now i just go out and hope for the best. PEACE.
If we are all called ‘guys’ by everyone as in ‘hey you guys’ then surely the world is becoming one gendered. This consistent usage of the masculine for everything from wild life program’s preference to call every animal seen as ‘he’ to the usage of ‘mankind’ as all inclusive of the worlds population. This not so subtle neurolinguistic programming and generalisation must surely have deep psychological effects on everyone. Why wouldn’t a woman want another woman or a man another male? What does it matter? When a man has a relationship with a woman and calls her ‘guy’ is he subliminally wishing she were male?
To be same gender attracted and have full knowledge of your preferences is less complicated and far more freeing. Far too many women live within the strictures of
heterosexual dogma and yet retain female sexual relationships and fill in their census papers to show that they are straight. The estimated figures for same gender attracted women will be significantly higher when persecution on all levels is eliminated. When women are represented as half the population of the world in every sphere of life, only then will they feel freer to express themselves fully.
I never realized that there are so much more Gay Women nowadays since it is really very hard for us Straight Men looking to meet a Good Normal Woman now, and with many women that are Gay today it certainly makes it Tougher for us men. Why would we ever Blame ourselves since women have become so very Pathetic.
Com’on people. Get real. It’s a phase. Gay is the new “in thing” nowadays.
Once these women realize they need men, they will quit these [abominable] questionable lifestyles
This is disgraceful!
This is disgraceful! Women today should be ashamed on themselves. Not only are they violating the laws of nature, but they are also violating the laws of G-d. Men where designed to be with women. Women were designed to be with men. These women are obviously stupid. This gay BS is nothing more than a sick perversion. Abominations—all of them. Good men out there should avoid these kinds of women because they are very insecure. There’s plenty of fish in the sea that don’t engage in these deviant lifestyles. And I refuse to be with these kinds of women because they are so messed up in the head. Like a broken wheel, they are damaged
I question this quack’s credibility. According to the Census, gays & lesbians make up 2% of the population. Where did he get the 15% figure from? TV? The media? The mainstream media distorts everything.
Nothing new to see here folks. Just another quack try to push the gay agenda onto normal folks. Moving on…
If I ever find out my woman is batting for the same team, I will kick her out & shun her. Pretty sure she’d do the same for me. Women who goes bi/lesbian are BROKEN by my standards
Doesn’t matter. It’s still wrong.
This lesbianism is a cry for help. You “straight” ladies who are having relationships with other women are ultimately setting yourselves up for failure.
Few things I learned about bisexual/bicurious women:
1. They are never monogamous.
2. They are promiscuous
3. They aren’t girlfriend material
Sure, a threesome may sound great, but most decent men don’t want those kinds of women. I’ve known men who have dated bisexual women & they all tell me the same things: That bi women aren’t faithful, twice as likely to cheat, tons of drama, & are never satisfied with just 1 partner. Not to mention, if you’re looking for a faithful man, chances are his religion or code of honor will be against it. So already the odds are against you. And if you’ve had relationships with other women in the past, it will more than likely show you cannot be trusted. Most men will not see you as a suitable partner, nor will they take you seriously.
The problem is you ladies are dating the wrong men & are simply “giving up”. Maybe if you gals stopped dating asshole men in the first place, there wouldn’t be a need to bat for the other side.
And no, it is not something you are “born” with. You made the CHOICE the bat for the other side. So just admit it, dammit!
Well as a straight man i always wondered about that myself since i always meet very nasty low life loser women when i will try to start a normal conversation with a woman that i would really like to meet since i am still single today, and i really do want to find love since there are so many Gay And Bi women nowadays everywhere unfortunately. Even a few friends that i know are single and they’re having trouble finding a woman as well, and they came across quite a few very nasty women as well. So what in the world happened to these very pathetic women today? There are many of us good single men that never expected to be single this very long to begin with, and it is very sad how very awful that most single women have become nowadays. Since Feminism is like cancer now that is caused by women which i can really say that this really has a lot to do with it. And it is very obvious why many of us men have trouble meeting women today since a great deal of these very pathetic women are just real men haters altogether unfortunately. I always wanted to get married and have a family which i can certainly see why it hasn’t happened yet for me since i have no reason to ever blame myself to begin with. There are times when we will get Cursed at by these women as well for just saying good morning or hello to them which really doesn’t make any sense at all. It is very sad the amount of very severely mentally disturbed women that are everywhere now just adding to the problem since they’re very much to blame to begin with.
The male stimuli in the experiment were probably not the males women are actually attracted to.
Many women like the more feminine appearance , far less muscle and height in men.
I suspect most men are not honest with polls when it comes to this topic. I know I wouldn’t be.
I’m a bi-sexual man but no one knows it, not even family. No one can. I work in a high level position in a primarily male environment (Engineering & Construction) and have heard the snickers and comments about other males who someone suspects might be or is gay or bi. It is also essentially career ending when a guy admits it or is discovered. The few that have come out, suffer constant ‘mild’ borderline harassment (making reporting it hard), are ignored for teams and special assignments, no one wants to room with, get low raises and most leave the company shortly after being discovered. Few other males want to associate with them out of fear of being accused as being gay too. It is not fair, and even in today’s business world, a gay or bi male is only tolerated (not accepted). Acceptance does vary from industry to industry too so I’m not speaking for all industries.
I have girlfriends and was married for a while. With most girlfriends I don’t even push for sex. In between girlfriends I enjoy male company for sex, but it’s never someone I work with or is in my circle of friends. I actually prefer a guy for hot sex (taboo) over a woman, but I cave into society when it comes to outward appearances. I have been seeing the same guy secretly for the past 4 years, and have gone through 3 girlfrends, none of which reached the having sex stage. If you ask me, I’ll tell you I’m 100% Straight. My ‘significant other’ would answer the same way.
With the guys I’ve been with, we cannot go out as couple. We just play the part of 2 buddies until we get back to his place. We can’t use my place, as I have too many friends who stop by unannounced and nosy neighbors.
I have a couple of gay friends in my large circle of friends, one of whom I’d love to get to know better, but it just cannot happen. I envy women who can be so open about it and suffer no consequences.
Things haven’t really changed much for men who come out or show PDA for other men, especially in the white or blue collar fields. Even in Hollywood, when a guy comes out, his roles tend to shrink as you don’t hear much about them later unless it’s gay related.
So I will stay in the closet until my maker calls. I suspect I am not alone.
Comments are closed.