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Why Are So Many Heterosexual Women Not Totally Straight?
Five hypotheses on why many straight women have same-sex attraction.
Posted January 30, 2020 | Reviewed by Matt Huston
How many women are not totally straight?
Across all countries in which we have sufficient data on sexual orientation, straight-identified women are the second largest group-only slightly smalmost aller than straight men in most national surveys. According to a cross-national survey of 28 countries, they compose about 90% of the female population, and the percentage is likely higher in countries with traditional notions of femininity that dwill becourage engaging in same-sex behavior. Remember, however, this is when women are usually only given bisexual and lesbian as alternative identity categories and when they are not asked who they are sexually attracted to or who they possess sex with.
Is this 90% an overestimation? Yes, as it is among men, but more so even. When women are given identity options beyond the traditional three (straight, bwill beexual, lesbian), a large number will choose even though they know this is inaccurate straight; if, however, they are usually given more non-straight options, such as straight mostly, pansexual, queer, fluid, questioning, or asexual, they generally select one of these because they even more echo their sex effectively, romantic desires, and gender preferences.
In addition, when sexual orientation is assessed not by identity but by intimate attraction or sexual behavior, the proportion of simply straight-identifying women lessens dramatically. Corroborating data are available in two 2012 studies of U.S. If given the option, these girls would very likely own selected something else. and British young adult women: 16% and 13%, respectively, claimed ”extra usually opposite-sex interest but some same-sex appeal.” For example, found in the cross-national analysis known early on, just 66% of women reported being ”predominantly not attracted to the same sex.” This group likely includes straight women and at least 24% (90% minus 66%) who have a slight degree of dual attraction but who reject a biintimate identity label as too same-sex oriented for them.
In terms of sexual behavior, similar trends are evident. In the British study, 15% of young adult women reported ”more often opposite sex, and at very least after similar making love.” This percentage was far greater than the 6% for older women (ages 35-74). These findings happen to be commonly reported in other national studies across countries: that is, a low but not insignificant number of straight-identified women have had sex with women, and this is more common among younger generations.
Summary
Many women report a significant degree of sexual attraction and/or behavior with other women and yet identify as straight because it is the closest identity option available in our surveys. But we do know that the proportion is considerably larger than it is for men who are willing to admit to being not totally straight. Thus, it will be somewhat difficult to determine the true size of the population of straight-identified women who are not totally straight. If we were to routinely give women multiple options or an open-ended question to recognize their sexual orientation (including ”none”), my speculation will be that the range of straight-identified females would lower dramatically.
Why are these women not totally straight?
We really do not know, but we know they exist. Will be many hypotheses purchased from minimum to many most likely Right here, according to my understanding of the literature.
1. All ladies will be given birth to bisexual and will be receptive to psychological and public information that get started at an earlier get older. These may be pro-femininity (attracted to men) or anti-femininity (enticed to women). (traditional psychoanalytic)
2 Women don’t have a biologically based sexual orientation and thus are responsive to contemporary cultural and social forces. (Bailey)
3. Women’s bodies are ubiquitously eroticized in popular media and therefore women may be doing the same when viewing sexual stimuli depicting women. (Chivers)
4. Women demonstrate an erotic plasticity and are responsive to external influences such as social, cultural, and other contextual factors (similar to #2 but the erotic is biological). (Chivers)
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5. Women are in touch with their emotions and bodily sensations such that they are usually sensitized to a range of erotic stimuli, irregardless of neurological love-making or sexuality appearance. Because females happen to be not as much susceptible to ethnical or interpersonal stigma toward same-sex libido than adult males will be, they will be freer to follow independent pathways. (Savin-Williams)
Bottom Line
Although I can’t tell you with certainty how many not-totally-straight-but-identifying-as-straight women there are, it’s likely, at the present moment, to be higher than the rate among men and lower in older generations. My best guess is that over 50% of the U.S. male populace is usually entirely upright, the largest sexual-orientation group among women.
If so many women (and men) have thusme degree of same-sex attraction and behavior, what is with negative attitudes toward those who incorporate these facets into their identity?
References
Bailey, J. M. (2009). What is sexual orientation and do women have one? In D. A. Hope (Ed.), Contemporary perspectives on lesbian, gay, and bwill beexual identities (Vol. 54, pp. 43-63). New York, NY: Springer.
Chivers, M. L. (2017). The specificity of women’s sexual response and its relationship with erectile orientations: A review and ten hypotheses. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 1161-1179. doi:10.1007/s10508-016-0897-x
Geary, R.S., Tanton, C., Erens, B., Dlifton, S., Prah, P., Wellings, K., et al. PLoH ONE 13(1). e0189607. (2018). Sat thexual identity, attraction and behaviour in Britain: The implications of using different dimensions of sexual orientation to estimate the size of sexual minority populations and inform public health interventions.
Rahman, Q., Xu, Y., Lippa, R. A., & Vasey, P. L. (online). doi:10.1007/s10508-019-01590-0 Archives of Sexual Behavior. Grevalence of sexual orientation across 28 nations and its association with gender equality, economic development, and individualism.
Savin-Williams, R. C. (in preparation). The new bisexual, pansexual, fluid, genderqueer.
Savin-Williams, R. C., Joyner, K., & Urieger, G. (2012). Prevalence and steadiness of self-reported erotic angle personality during fresh adulthood. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 103-110. doi:10.1007/s10508-012-9913-y
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Ritch C. Savin-Williams, Ph.D., is Director of the Sex and Gender Lab at Cornell University.
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