Federal survey--Survey Finds More Women Try Bisexuality

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050915/ap_on_go_ot/bisexual_women;_ylt=AvwwNyQG4xA_VnlXQpzWQGsGw_IE;_ylu=X3oDMTA4NGRzMjRtBHNlYwMxNjk5

Survey Finds More Women Try Bisexuality



By MARTHA IRVINE, AP National Writer 1 hour, 16 minutes ago

More women — particularly those in their late teens and 20s — are experimenting with bisexuality or at least feel more comfortable reporting same-sex encounters, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The survey, released Thursday by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, found that 11.5 percent of women, ages 18 to 44, said they've had at least one sexual experience with another woman in their lifetimes, compared with about 4 percent of women, ages 18 to 59, who said the same in a comparable survey a decade earlier.

For women in their late teens and 20s, the percentage rose to 14 percent in the more recent survey. About 6 percent of men in their teens and 20s said they'd had at least one same-sex encounter.

While those who conducted the survey took measures to protect respondents' privacy, researchers say it's unclear whether the figure for men was lower because they're are more likely to avoid same-sex experiences or whether they're not reporting them.........


Federal survey results: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/ad/361-370/ad362.htm

[WI_DEM]

1. for some reason and I'm not sure why

but lesbianism seems to be more accepted than gay sex between men. Of course fundies hate anyone who is gay, female or male. But I also think that women are more open than men about it, and more open than men generally. I think the 6% number is higher for men, I think men have a harder time admitting it.

[rodeodance]

2. yes, I agree.

[rodeodance]

4. well this is new label: LUG

........"It's very safe in the academic community; no one thinks anything of it," said Elayne Rapping, a professor of American studies at the University of Buffalo who has written about sexuality.

"But to some extent there's more talk than action," she added, noting that the bisexuality label has become a "badge of courage" for some college women, even those who only date men. Meanwhile, she said, men who have same-sex experiences are often less likely to talk about it publicly.

The trend among college women has prompted some sexual behavior experts to light-heartedly refer to the term "LUG," or "lesbian until graduation," said Craig Kinsley, a neuroscientist at the University of Richmond who studies the biology of sexual orientation and gender.....

[northzax]

21. LUG dates from at least the early 80's

according to stories I've heard from people who were at all-women's schools at the time. and I'm sure it's older than that.

[justiceischeap]

3. I have a theory

Being a lesbian, my theory about acceptability is this... Men still think they have a shot at sex with lesbians, period. They are also turned on by "faux" lesbians (those porn ones), therefore making it more acceptable.

As far as women are concerned, I'd say most women have had some sort of intimate encounter with another woman, whether in adulthood or childhood. Doesn't make them gay or bisexual but makes them understanding. Of course, that's all just my opinion so take it with two or three grains of salt.

Men are threatened by gay men and there is still that horrible "pansy" stereotype. No one likes an emasculated man, it's how we've been raised.

[Iris]

7. Actually, a common thing to learn in sex education years ago

when sex ed was educational is that many teenagers have same sex experiences at some time during adolescence.

Perhaps today's rampant homophobia (against gay men) has something to do with men not getting this information and feeling some sort of shame.

[WI_DEM]

8. very good points

[cwydro]

9. I'm gay too

and agree with your post. Well put.

[Barrett808]

12. Welcome to DU, cwydro!

:hi:

[cwydro]

13. Thanks!

I like it here...

[Barrett808]

19. Great -- it's mostly a comfy place for progressives. n/t

[Spinzonner]

10. Oh come on now

This "men are threatened by gay men" is nonsense as a generalization. There are some that are, some that are gay, and a great number that simply don't care about other people's sexual preferences.

That said, are women's relationships less precise nominatively because there is a greater range and diversity of emotional and sexual relationships than is typical among males ?

[justiceischeap]

14. Two or three grains of salt remember?

This has just been my experience and yes, many men I've encountered think lesbians are "cool" and gay men are "pansies." If that isn't insecurity, I don't know what is...

But as I stated in my original post it's just my opinion and take it with a grain of salt.

[JustSayNO 2 Sheeples]

65. Intimacy

I think you have pretty much hit the nail on the head but a couple of other points come to mind:

It's a man's world (no offense here). Men are the "leaders", the "lawmakers" and the "bosses". I can guaruntee you that men think it is cool to watch two women (even if you are hard-core Southern Baptist. Admitting to it, though, might be a different thing for them.).

Secondly, men are just not intimate. In our race conciousness, us men have been taught to buck up, show no emotion, be "hard" (no pun intended) with our feelings.

Hence, the heterosecual lovemaking act is typically not an emotional one for a man but a physical. For a woman, it is darn near the opposite. And for that reason, I believe, women easily seek out another woman for that feeding of emotions.

And thirdly, I think men are usually frightened of themselves and their ability to engage in some type of homsexual activity because they "might like it". I say this because, at the age of 50, I cannot tell you how many freinds I have had throughout my life who were complete, hardcore homophobes.... until they came out of the closet for one reason or another.

No debate needed here, just my personal thoughts.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

29. Actually it is true...

On the Drew Pinsky show on Discovery he met with a doctor who is doing research on the brain and where sexual responses happen in the brain.

The experiment consisted of a subject (straight men and woman) getting a brain scan while viewing various sexual images -- naked women, naked men, various couplings, etc. The scan followed what part of the brains were "lit up" by the imagery. The experiment showed that men and women responded to sexual stimuli in completely differant parts of the brain.

And the interesting thing that the doctor had not anticipated was the response straight men had to seeing sexual imagery involving other men. When viewing such imagery, ALL of them had a response in the "threat" part of the brain. It didn't matter how nonhomophobic the straight man was, he still had a basic threat response to male sexual imagery. Pinksi himself took the test and was very surprised to see that he also had that response, even though he views himself as a very open and accepting of gay men.

Interesting, straight women had no such threat response when viewing sexual imagery involving other women.

[Don1]

37. What threat?

Let's assume that the "science" mentioned here on the Discovery channel is not a bunch of pop culture bunk.

Such a correlation needs a mechanism for explanation. So what is it that straight men are threatened by about gay men? And is it only straight men that are threatened and not gay men by gay men, too? And are straight men also threatened by straight men?

Where was the ceteris paribus test?

And some alternative hypotheses:
Perhaps, all men are threatened by other men, being some kind of hormonal alpha male trait;
Perhaps, all men are threatened by gay men, because the images shown are a cultural taboo and so viewing them puts men into fight/flight mode;
Perhaps, the above hypothesis only applies to straight men or to straight men more.

[iam]

39. This is very simple

Men are always in competition with each other to be selected by women to have sex so the males DNA will survive. Women increase the chances of their babies (their DNA) surviving if they pick the winner of a male-male competition. Women don't feel threatened by other women as men do because they don't do the competing, they do the selecting. That's also why older men like younger women and younger women like older men, younger women are more capable of producing healthy young and older men are better at keeping them alive. Everything is simple if you only remember that civilization is in our DNA.

[closeupready]

41. That's actually a kind of post-facto rationalization, a theory

devised by social scientists to explain away as "natural" Judeo-Christian social conventions like homophobia which work to heterosexuals' advantage in order to preserve them.

No offense, you probably didn't mean it that way - you probably picked that up from those PBS Nature shows or something. :hi:

[daleo]

54. I think many women wouldn't agree with this

"they (women) don't do the competing, they do the selecting"

As far as I know, sociobiology includes the notion that women do compete for the attention of men, in particular high status men. So there is no reason to think women wouldn't feel competitive toward other women.

[iam]

60. A different kind of competition,

Male challenges are mostly overt displays of power over other men and the environment. Female challenges are covert and consist of discrete displays of fertility or sexual responsiveness to attract the "winner" between males. So, women don't compete directly with each other like men do, so they are less likely to be threatened by one another. I'll get the guy above tomorrow. It's getting late.

[daleo]

64. If competition is hard wired into the brain through evolution

What matters is whether it has survival value and/or reproductive value, not whether it is direct or indirect. So, the primary female competition pre-supposed by socio-biology (i.e. maintaining more or less exclusive access to a competent male's resources for a period of years) would still be operative and have survival value.

I am no fan of socio-biology though. I think it is far too simplistic and reductionist to capture the complexity of human existence. Tens of thousands of years (at least) of human culture have superseded simple biological explanations for most human behaviors, in my opinion.

[Henny Penny]

55. "ALL of them had a response in the "threat" part of the brain."..

that could be conditioning as much as anything. As pointed out above, society as a whole is very accepting of female "experimentation"... but for some reason there seems to be a view that men who experiment are gay, end of story.

My view, unsupported by any science, is that sexuality, like most human traits, is a continuum. And where you are on that continuum depends a little on both nature and nurture.

[NashVegas]

36. It's a Good Theory

Most of my male friends admit up front, they'd love to watch some girl/girl action. In their fantasy, the women sooner or later turn their attention to the guy.

[ozarkvet]

51. Wonder if race/culture plays into it

I just had a related discussion with a female SGT (E-7) who would flunk the don't ask don't tell policy.

I (black male) have met plenty of black gays, male and female. Plenty of black male bi-sexuals, but never a black female bi-sexual (that I know of anyway, not exactly a point of questioning).

She hadn't met one, either.

We, in our so-worldly experience, decided they don't exist.

[wickerwoman]

63. I think your last sentence is spot on.

Our culture still priviledges masculinity above femininity which is lumbered with all the icky stereotypes men want no part of. So there is a lot more understanding for women who reject femininity (who wouldn't want to after all?) than for men who reject masculinity. Tom-boys are a lot more acceptable to a masculinist culture than sissies.

[kwyjibo]

6. It's sexy, that's why.

Guys are so fascinated with girl-on-girl action, but how many women out there think gay men fucking is hot? If it's acceptable to guys, maybe women are more open about sharing their experiences. Maybe they're even more open about participating in them because it's thought of as cool or kinky rather than homosexual.

[Kailassa]

22. been asking around (more)

I don't know how many, but it's at least 7. :loveya:

[Chovexani]

44. "How many women think gay men fucking is hot?"

Me! And thousands more where I came from. See my post further down.

[mntleo2]

71. My favorite fantasy...

wow...I thought I was all alone here...

Cat In Seattle

[DuaneBidoux]

69. Actually you would find, very ironically, that many gay women

are turned on by watching two gay men get it on. I know this sounds crazy but I've experienced it more than once. Perhaps too anecdotal but I think there is something there.

[txaslftist]

32. Oh, I know why.

'Cause straight men pop wood watching two babes get it on.

Not a great reason, but the reason nonetheless.

[iam]

38. The reason is...

babies. Women having sex with women doesn't prevent pregnancy if men still have sex with them. Girl-girl sex actually produces more babies because it stimulates men to have sex with women. If men have sex with men the opportunity to cause pregnancy is wasted. Personally, I find it extremely arousing when women have sex with each other, I would join in in a second. Also, women can have sex constantly and have no effect on fertility, after men have sex it takes time to produce more sperm and is more difficult to become aroused. The woman does not need to be aroused to have sex, just ask my wife. Keep one thing in mind and a lot of mysteries will be explained, civilization is in our DNA.

[closeupready]

40. Watch any modern gay porn film - there's always the obligatory lesbian sce

scene but no gay scene between the men. I think that speaks to cultural hang-ups.

I disagree that women are more open to lesbianism than men are to gay sex, however. Don't have studies, just anecdotal evidence, if you know what I mean.

[Arkana]

68. I know why.

1) Men run the government (for the most part). The people that support those men? Mostly homophobic, sexist, chauvinistic men.

2) Most of those men are faux-moralistic closet-case pricks who secretly have stockpiles of lesbian porn on their computers, under their mattresses, etc.

3) These men secretly know that if lesbianism wasn't accepted, they wouldn't get their porn.

So, they accept lesbianism.

[Iris]

5. Well, yeah, because the entertainment industry tells them it's "cool"

[sadiesworld]

25. Next you'll be telling me that all those "Girls Gone Wild" videos

aren't really documentaries of this startling trend, but are soft core porn for men. Sheesh!

[Iris]

56. yeah. I'm such a spoil-sport.

[phylny]

58. Heh. GGW is the first thing I thought of after reading the OP n/t

[Soup Bean]

11. Man, they roll out the sex stuff when Bush is in trouble.

lol...I said "sex stuff" and "Bush"....huh huh

[mitchum]

15. That's so 90s

remember LUGs and BUGs?

[Algorem]

16. story like this really needs pics.you know,like lots of pics.

so,any pics?

[shadowknows69]

18. I don't know what the stats are

I'm just glad my wife tried it. :applause:

[adigal]

17. It's all them damn lib'ruls, ya' know??

Doing that bad stuff. Judge Roberts will bring our country back to God and morality, thank Jeezus! <snark>

[Prodemsouth]

20. Men are less likely to acknowledge a same sex relationship

even in blind studies. Even when in fact it has occurred.

[corporatemedia]

23. I've thought a lot about this story... what was I gonna say? n/t

[DLnyc]

24. then again, some people might just enjoy intimacy with nice people,

wether same sex or not. Why do we need to label everyone so much?
Just a thought.

[RedCloud]

26. Some problems with sex studies

Is the inherent bias of the person writing a report.

It seems they frame their study to suit the needs of their pre-established views.

One study reports (it was famous but my bias against her bias does not allow me to use her often quoted name!) male-female problems in relationships but does not ask similar questions of female-female relationships.

Her conclusions are for women to dump men, get some stimulator or try lesbianism.

There is no utopia out there folks and problems abound regardless of the gender(s) involved.

[Rich Hunt]

27. you can't 'try' lesbianism

You're either oriented toward same-sex relationships or you're not.

I think some straight women just go through a period where they're not happy with hetero relationships, and so they think they might be lesbian, it might seem 'safer' at that time in their lives.

[slackmaster]

28. Some people think you can - brief anecdote from my youth

When I was about 10, the mother of my best friend (married, four children, nice house, female lover on the side) told my mom "Every woman should try being a lesbian at least once!".

My poor innocent mom was shocked at first but quickly learned to laugh about it.

[K-W]

30. Is trying lesbian behaviors the same as being a lesbian?

It just seems weird to me to define someone as a lesbian or bisexual simply for trying out certain behaviors.

[slackmaster]

46. I think it was couched words for a semblence of politeness

This was the 1960s and not everyone would speak directly about specific sexual behaviors.

Come to think of it, the title of this thread is the same way. Trying a sexual act with a person of the same sex isn't the same as being bisexual.

[K-W]

50. Yep.

And I think in the case of the headline, the use is stigmatizing. As if you cant try something without aquiring a lable.

[txaslftist]

31. And we are paying for this survey why, exactly?

I mean, aside the entertainment value from its admittedly juicy topic.

[K-W]

33. The CDC tracks sexual behavior for STD prevention afaik. EOM

[txaslftist]

34. Well that makes sense, I guess.

Is the report illustrated?

[K-W]

35. Lesbians Until Graduation

As a recent college graduate with a bisexual girlfriend I can attest that this is a very big phenomenom.

And as the article says i is something of a right of passage for hip girls to at the very least express a desire to experiment with other girls. Something that is tremendously frustrating to my girlfriend who is constantly being flirted with and led on by girls who in the end seem to have no real interest in other females, but want to look cool and sexy.

[Zhade]

42. "Try" bisexuality?

Uh, more like discover - it's not something you just try on, like clothes. It's something you are born as.

I should know!

[DiverDave]

43. Um, I don't have a problem with it.

Now if I could get my wife involved...

[soda]

45. American values

remember this poll is only covering Americans and there sexual expression in what is acceptable or not, taboo still is sex with animals..for now

[shrike]

47. It doesn't interest me

But I far more prefer men as companions, as well as sex partners. I can't imagine lying there, after sex, and talking to a woman. I can't imagine a day-to-day partnership with a woman, having a life with one. All in all, I prefer my husband's company to that of any female friend.

Ergo, I have always imagined gay sexuality to have an emotional component as well as a sexual one. Gays and lesbians find emotional AND sexual intimacy with their own sex. Chemistry, if you will. A meeting of minds and hearts. Although I may be totally off base here.

[Chovexani]

48. For all the people repeating the lie that women don't find gay men hot

Clearly you've never been exposed to slash fandom, or its Japanese equivalent, shounen-ai/yaoi/BL fandom, 95% of which is female.

Some edumacation for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaoi

Oh, and another thing...I am so beyond sick and fucking tired of this rash of articles lately implying bisexuality doesn't exist or is simply something one tries on like a damn pair of shoes. For some people it is a phase and they experiment, just like some people experiment with heterosexuality or homosexuality, but for many, many of us it's an inherent part of who we are and we were born this way. I believe sexuality is fluid to some degree but I get incensed when people use that as an excuse to say "real" bisexuals don't exist, only these fake ass wannabe trendy Girls Gone Wild bisexuals. It's 2005, for fuck's sake you'd think people would be a little less ignorant.

[shrike]

49. I may as well admit it

I'm a woman and I have been turned on by men-on-men sex scenes. Woman-on-woman does nothing for me, but guy-on-guy, well ...

[soda]

52. i may as well admit it?

hey where are all the animal ¨lovers¨?

[DuaneBidoux]

70. You may have stumbled onto the wrong website n/t

[mantis49]

66. same here........n/t

[Iris]

57. uh, yeah. Who wouldn't find a man who takes care of himself, knows

how to dress, and can carry on a conversation sexy?

And as I hear you loud and clear on the rest of your post, too!

[VegasWolf]

53. and the problem is???? nt

[Sacajawea]

59. "Doubles your chances of getting a date..." I think Jerry Seinfeld

said that quite a while ago. It struck me as humorous at the time.

[orleans]

61. hey.......

[TheStates]

62. Pat Robertson's head just exploded.....

Sex is bad and dirty.....Don't you know it!!!! :crazy:

If you ever do it with more than one person, it always is oh dear.

[Fire Walk With Me]

67. The Great American Bubba may become an endangered species.