Perceptions of Gender and Bisexuality: An Exploration of the Relationship Between Perceived Masculinity, Femininity, and Sexual Ambiguity

Abstract

One of the most enduring stereotypes of gay and lesbian individuals is that they are cross sex-typed, meaning that each group possesses gender characteristics that we typically assign to the other gender: Gay men are typically perceived to be more feminine than straight men and lesbian women, and lesbian women are typically seen as more masculine than straight women and gay men. However, few have investigated whether these same stereotypes apply to bisexual (or sexually ambiguous) individuals. The authors explored the question of how people perceive the level of masculinity and femininity of a target whose sexual orientation is ambiguous, and whether there is a difference in perception depending on whether the target is male or female. Results suggest that people's perceptions of the degree to which a bisexual individual is masculine or feminine depend on how masculinity and femininity are measured. However, there is also some support for the contention that bisexual people are generally perceived to be androgynous as opposed to cross sex-typed.