Femme on the streets, butch in the sheets? Lesbian sex-roles, dyadic adjustment, and sexual satisfaction.

Abstract

Recent research suggests that butch-femme role playing in lesbian couples has diminished and been replaced with androgynous attitudes and behaviors. Are lesbians, however, able to maintain an androgynous approach when it comes to lovemaking? Or does the bedroom give way to the powerful influence of traditional gender-based norms for sexual behavior? What implications does the choice of sex-roles have for relationship and sexual satisfaction in lesbian couples? The present study of 111 lesbians explores the relationship between sex-role self-perceptions, sexual satisfaction, and sexual fulfillment. Findings indicate that lesbians perceive themselves as significantly more feminine when they are interacting sexually than their overall or global sex-role perception. Furthermore, lesbians who view themselves as either androgynous or feminine in a sexual context had the highest level of sexual satisfaction and dyadic adjustment among all four sex-role groups.