Women’s Sexual Initiation in Same- and Mixed-Sex Relationships: How Often and How?

Abstract

Past research has demonstrated that women initiate sex less frequently than men in mixed-sex relationships, perhaps due to traditional sexual scripts that promote rigid gender roles in sexual interactions. However, there is no existing research on sexual initiation among women in same-sex relationships. This study investigated women’s frequency and proportion of sexual initiation behaviors within mixed-sex and same-sex relationships, as well as the strategies women commonly used for initiating sex. Data were collected through retrospective reports (N = 351; 242 women with male partners and 109 with female partners) and two-week daily diaries (N = 60; 29 women with male partners and 31 with female partners). Results indicated that, across relationship type, women reported fairly balanced sexual initiation with their partners, with women in same-sex relationships reporting higher rates of initiation than women in mixed-sex relationships based on retrospective reports but not based on daily diaries. Women in mixed-sex relationships reported using a higher proportion of direct initiation strategies than women in same-sex relationships in the retrospective portion but not the daily diary portion of the project. These results challenge a number of gender and sexuality-related stereotypes about women in general and women in same-sex relationships specifically.