Tag Archives: Study

Say What?! Controversial Study Claims Women Are Lesbians Because Men Want Them To Be

Researcher Menelaos Apostolou is puzzled as to why women are attracted to one another, therefore has blamed it on men. No really.

According to Apostolou the male penchant for women who have sex with women drove the evolution of homosexuality in women.

My argument in the paper is this: A considerable proportion of men desire same-sex attractions in women, and this is one possible reason why many women have such attractions.”

According to a study by the Cypriot researchers, from the University of Nicosia, about 15% of heterosexual men in long-term relationships say that they would want their partner to have a sexual encounter with another woman. This figure goes up to about 30% of men in short-term relationships. The figures for heterosexual women who found same-sex attraction a turn on in their male partners were much lower in both types of relationship.

The researchers argued that one of the reasons for men being attracted to women who experience same-sex attraction could be to increase their certainty of being the father of a potential child if their partner sleeps with someone else.

The paper reads:

A woman, driven by her sexual desires, may seek sexual contact outside of her long-term intimate relationship. When this woman has sex with another woman she does not have sex with another man which translates into same-sex contact reducing the risk of cuckoldry.”

To say the least, the theory has been called a bit of a stretch.

Diana Fleischman, a psychologist at the University of Portsmouth, points out;

The paper totally ignores a lot of other possible hypotheses and makes claims that are really not supported by the evidence they provide. If you ask men about all kinds of sex fetishes their partner might have – so, how would you feel if a woman had a foot fetish – more men wouldn’t care than if you asked women about male partners.”

But even though men are typically more accepting of women’s fluid sexuality, fetishes or paraphilia, women do not have higher rates of them than men do, Fleischman said, which introduces a bit of a hole in the hypothesis.

Another problem is that the study doesn’t account for the effects of porn.

Apostolou argued;

I can’t really see how cultural factors would make some men be turned on when their partners tell them I want to have sex with another woman. These kinds of sexual traits are more instinctive. It’s a mechanism that has been selected to serve a purpose – to make you reproduce. For me, these things are expressions of old mechanisms.

I’m not sure that factors like the media have an important effect. This is not something that is promoted, for instance, having a girlfriend who also has same-sex attraction. I don’t see it there.”

Apostolou did recognise some of the limitations of his arguments and accepted that more research needs to be carried out if we are to understand the complexity of same-sex attractions.

He told PinkNews:

I believe also that there are additional factors that need to be taken into consideration if same-sex attraction in women is to be understood.

The publication of my theory gives the opportunity for a fruitful academic dialogue, where another scholar may attempt to refute, alter, or expand it and replicate my findings.”

 

Bisexual And Questioning Young Women More Susceptible To Depression

A study exploring the prevalence of mental health symptoms in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and questioning (LGBQ) community, found that the oft-overlooked questioning and bisexual youth face significant challenges, particularly when it comes to depression, anxiety and traumatic distress.

Annie Shearer, a research assistant with Drexel’s Family Intervention Science program within the College of Nursing and Health Professions, explained

I think the failure to include bisexual individuals in research studies reflects a larger culture of bisexual invisibility. And with regard to questioning individuals, I think people assume that is a temporary identity, causing them to be overlooked, too. But during adolescence and young adulthood, when many individuals are still exploring their sexuality, it’s particularly important to include both the bisexual and questioning groups.”

Shearer and a team from Drexel’s Department of Couple and Family Therapy published their findings in the Journal of Adolescent Health under the title, Difference in Mental Health Symptoms Across Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Questioning Youth in Primary Care Settings.

During routine visits with physicians, participants in the study – numbering 2,513 between the ages of 14 and 24 – took a survey through Behavioral Health Screen, a tool designed to uncover mental health concerns in patients.

Every participant was screened for depression, anxiety, traumatic distress, substance use and suicide ideation, both current and over their lifetime.

Each was also asked to report their sexual attraction, which was organized into the categories of gay, lesbian, bisexual or questioning.

Data from the screening indicated that female bisexual and questioning people had significantly higher scores for depression, anxiety and traumatic distress than female heterosexuals.

When it came to suicide, bisexual, questioning and lesbian female respondents reported significantly higher scores for lifetime suicide ideation – meaning whether they’d ever thought about suicide – than heterosexual females; bisexual females reported the highest scores for current suicide ideation.

Shearer explained

I think one point is important to point out: with the exception of lifetime suicidiality, women who reported exclusive attraction to other women were actually no more at risk than women only attracted to men for depression, anxiety, traumatic distress, current suicidiality or substance abuse. I think this contradicts previous findings that same-sex attraction is always a risk factor for mental health symptoms. This may reflect an increasing societal acceptance of same-sex attraction and relationships.”

On the male side of the study, gay and bisexual respondents displayed significantly higher scores for depression and traumatic stress.

Gay males also scored significantly higher for anxiety than heterosexual males.

Bisexual males trended higher than heterosexual males for anxiety, but only slightly. Their lifetime suicide ideation scores were significantly higher than heterosexual males, however.

A key difference between the male and female survey-takers was that questioning males did not exhibit any significant risks for the mental health symptoms in the screening.

In the Journal paper, the research team admitted it wasn’t sure why the difference existed, theorizing that the “intersectionality of sexual and gender identity creates unique risks for women who are questioning” which may not exist as distinctly for men.

The team believes that its study demonstrates a clear need for medical providers and researchers to be sensitive to differences across the LGBQ community without lumping them all together. While a general risk of mental health issues remains for the entire community, it would be best to stay mindful of certain groups’ susceptibility to particular issues.

I think bisexual persons and, perhaps, questioning individuals as well, experience prejudice and stigma from gay and lesbian communities in addition to heterosexual communities. Furthermore, some people still refuse to acknowledge bisexual and other non-binary identities as legitimate, which I think can be very harmful to those who can’t — and shouldn’t have to — identify as exclusively heterosexual or homosexual.”

Scientists Say They’ve Found The Answers To Age Old Question: Are We born Gay Or Is It A Choice?

Scientists at North Shore Research Institute say they have uncovered the strongest evidence yet in the debate of whether people are ‘born gay’.

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This was seen as the largest ever study into the existence of a so-called ‘gay gene’, which looked at 409 sets of gay brothers in an effort to finally put the debate to rest.

The study identified two genetic regions – Xq28 an 8q12 – which seemed to be correlated to homosexuality in men.

Lead scientist Alan Sanders said that the work “erodes the notion that sexual orientation is a choice” – but said the study also did not identify a single gene which was the direct cause of homosexuality.

He stressed that a variety of factors – including genetics, upbringing and environment play a part in developing sexual orientation, which is complex and emerges over time.

However some remain cynical about these results. Neuroscientist Simon LeVay told the New Scientist:

His study knocks another nail into the coffin of the ‘chosen lifestyle’ theory of homosexuality. Yes, we have a choice in life, to be ourselves or to conform to someone else’s idea of normality, but being straight, bisexual or gay, or none of these, is a central part of who we are, thanks in part to the DNA we were born with.”

Richard Lane of Stonewall told the Independent:

While some people may choose to focus on the continuing debate of whether people are born gay or not, we’ll continue to focus on making sure everyone has the same rights and opportunities regardless of who they love.”

Study Claims Women ‘Three Times More Likely To Be Bisexual’

A study has found that women have a more fluid approach to relationships and sexuality, and therefore more likely to change their sexual preference over time, compared to men.

Scientists in the US followed 5,018 women and 4,191 men through adolescence and into young adulthood for a major study into sexual behaviours.

While the vast majority of men claimed to be 100% homosexual or heterosexual, women have a much more open-minded approach, and base their relationship choices on the personality of a partner rather than their gender.

They found that women were more likely to become bisexual if opportunities arose to explore same-sex relationships, while men were more likely to stick to their originally stated sexual orientation.

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Lead researcher Dr Elizabeth McClintock, University of Notre Dame, suggested many women might feel some attraction to both genders, even if they never act on it.

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Women with some degree of attraction to both males and females might not be drawn into heterosexuality if they have favourable options in the heterosexual partner market.

Women who are initially successful in partnering with men, as is more traditionally expected, may never explore their attraction to other women.

However, women with the same sexual attractions, but less favourable heterosexual options might have greater opportunity to experiment with same-sex partners.”

Five-Year Study in Australia Finds Parents in Same-Sex Relationships Are Among Happiest Families

A new five-year study of family life satisfaction in Australia has concluded same-sex parents are some of the happiest and most supported family set-ups in the country.

Dr Bronwyn Harman, a researcher from Edith Cowan University, Perth, studied hundreds of parents, aiming to discover how resilience, social support and self-esteem contribute to a family’s overall happiness levels.

Despite a positive shift in attitudes to equal marriage and LGBTI parenting in Australia, the study found same-sex parents were less concerned about public perceptions after battling stigma and discrimination in the past.

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As a result, same-sex parents were found to be the most resilient of family set ups, which also included straight couples, older first-time parents, single parents, step-parents, parents of children with a disability, parents living in rural areas, parents of large families and teenage parents.

Talking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Dr Harman said

They have to go to a lot of effort to get these children, so these children are very, very much desired. Often when same-sex parents do have a child they feel like they’ve hit the jackpot because they didn’t think it was going to be possible because of their sexuality.”

Big families, she found, are the happiest, with parents of four or more children coming out on top for their overall satisfaction levels.

Despite dealing with comments including ‘do they all have the same father’, and ‘are they all yours’, the larger families benefitted from increased levels of support, with the older children taking on some of the responsibility for the younger children.

Single fathers were found to be the least satisfied with their lot, due to negative societal perceptions.

The study revealed they believed themselves to be the ‘lesser parent’, with many being mistakenly blamed for the break up of the two-parent family unit, and others struggling to take time off work to look after their children.

Dr Harman said government services need to account for the fact that not all families are the same.

We need to remember that different groups of parents have different needs to contribute to their life satisfaction. It would be much better if we were able to separate the needs of different families and tailor services towards those individual cohorts.”