Genes Play A Part In Women Being Lesbian, Tomboys More Likely To Grow Up to Like Other Women

[w8liftinglady]

http://lezgetreal.com/2011/07/genes-play-a-part-in-women-being-lesbian-tomboys-more-likely-to-grow-up-to-like-other-women/

A cube is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a cube. That may seem like a weird statement to make, but it actually has some bearing on this issue. A new study out of London’s Queen Mary University has shown that girls who do not conform to gender stereotypes are more likely to grow up to be lesbian. According to the study by psychologists Andrea Burri and Qazi Rahman, genes may also be at least partially responsible for gender non-conformity and sexual orientation.

Rahman stated:

“We found that there is a connection between these mental traits and how sexual orientation develops. This is because they all develop under common biological drivers; like the development of brain regions under the influence of genes and sex hormones.”

“We think environmental factors and genetics drive other mechanisms, like exposure to sex hormones in the womb, to shape differences in gender nonconformity and sexuality simultaneously.”

Rahman was also concerned about the fact that this may just reinforce stereotypes, saying “Stereotypes like ’sissy’ or ‘mannish’ have not been helpful in promoting respect for gay people, and those who don’t match those stereotypes may find it hard to accept they are gay or lesbian.”

The study followed 4,000 female twins and asked about gender non-conformity and sexual orientation. According to several reports “They discovered genetic influences on sexual orientation (25 percent) and childhood gender nonconformity (31 percent).”

Rahman did, however, push for more psychological help for lesbians and gays saying “Poor mental health in gay populations is partly due to societal stigma and victimization. Our results suggest that being gender-nonconforming and lesbian comes from ‘within’; there is little you can do about it. So gender nonconformity does not cause mental health problems, but it may trigger negative reactions from other people (like parents and peers) leading to mental health problems.”

So, what does this have to do with rectangles and cubes? Well, let us face it, just because a girl is a tomboy doesn’t mean she’s a lesbian, or, for that matter, just because she’s femme doesn’t mean she’s straight.

[robcon]

1. We can safely say - as for almost every human trait - it is part genetics and part environment

n/t

[WatsonT]

2. Well . . . maybe

;)

[joeybee12]

4. Nope...being gay is completely genetic...the only part environment plays in

the admission of the gay person that he/she is gay, or remains in the closet.

[Kahuna]

3. I don't know about the tomboy business. I was as big a tomboy as

anybody until I turned 12 and got my lady parts. :)

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. I wouldn't hang my hat on the Tomboy theory.

I was a rabid Tomboy until the age of 16. I can remember two incidents that told me without doubt that I was unquestionably straight. The first occurred when I was standing in line at a carnival and a well-busted girl behind me ran into me. Feeling those squishy boobs on my back grossed me out. It was like sticking my hands in a bucket of squirming worms.

The second experience, I'll never forget either. I was probably somewhere in the 13 to 16 age bracket and sitting in the bleachers watching a boy's basketball game. I realized I was captured by the very adept legs of one of the neighborhood boys. The muscles had developed since the season before and it was just spring in motion that summer.

Also, very girlie girls like to prance around in their underwear in the sorority and it would be a crime to assume that they're prettying themselves up just to attract men.

[Evasporque]

6. But if they are forced to wear dresses and be girly...by religious parents...

They grow up to be Michelle Bachmann....

[Creideiki]

10. I don't want her on our team.

Can't we trade her to the straight people for someone reasonable?

[laconicsax]

7. FWIW: A cube is not a rectangle.

A cube is 3-dimensional, a rectangle is 2-dimensional. All squares are rectangles, not all rectangles are squares, and no cubes are rectangles.

[Cherchez la Femme]

8. Did they go as far into

this study as to asking or testing how deep this 'tomboy identification' was regarding lesbians who self-identified as Femme or Butch?
Within their test(s) -- I understand that Tomboy's aren't necessarily going to grow up to be homosexual;
in fact their conclusions sound, if not biased, extremely simplistic and way too pat.

I was 7 years old and in love with Marilyn Monroe,
not only in love & strongly attracted but wanted to be as 'sexy' as she;
so if I have to identify as such I'm definitely Femme and have been my entire life.

As for nature vs. nurture, I think if I had never seen a Marilyn Monroe movie in my youth, (or even 'sexy babe' movies) I still would have been lesbian; plus my entire family was (apparently) straight as the proverbial arrow
so I don't see any nurture in my history...
of course I could be wrong or forgetting something major, but I truly don't think so.


In any event, I sure wasn't a tomboy!
Yet, while 'Femme', I was not a feminine caricature either, as one could argue MM was.


In my maturing/adult years I found I just loved all wimmin -- all kinds, shapes & types: 'Butch', both of the soft & hard varieties,
'Femme',
and those one couldn't buttonhole or typecast -- just regular grrls

-- in other words it went from a childish physical attraction to loving the totale of womynhood.
Actually I was attracted to more mind over body, but I don't want to digress too much here


Still, unfortunately labels are somewhat important if even just to identify, to discover essences within our own selves....



Am I making enough sense to be understood?
Comprende'? :shrug:
I hope so... if not, just pass it by :hi:

[lightningandsnow]

9. I'm femme and bisexual, leaning towards women.

According to several studies, I don't exist! Yipeeee!

[w8liftinglady]

11. lol...that would be both of us!

[HockeyMom]

12. Both my daughter were tomboys

They both played sports. My older gay daughter dated boys, wore dress, went to the Prom, etc. My younger straight daughter did not. She went on scavenger hunts with the neighborhood boys, dug up dead birds, glued them together, and then invited the neighborhood girls to see it. The girls freaked at that. The boys all thought it was very, very cool. She was the first girl to play ice hockey on the school's team. Played D and checked the boys. The first time she ever wore a dress was at her college graduation. The second time was at her wedding.

My older daughter, although she dated, always had much closer relationships with her girlfriends. She would cry when she had a fight with one of her girlfriends. The boys she dated she never cried when the relationship was over. My younger daughter didn't have girlfriends. All her friends were boys, but it was very platonic and sports oriented until she was out of college. She married a few years after graduation.

I don't think it was the tomboy thing. It goes deeper than that. Superficially, one might have thought it would have been my straight daughter who would have been the one who was gay and not her sister.