Homosexuality In Women Research Articles

A Novel Method for Studying the Effect of Older Brothers on Sexual Orientation and Its Robustness to Stopping Rule Distortions

ABSTRACT In a recent article, Ablaza, Kabátek, and Perales describe a novel statistical methodology for studying the relation between sibship composition and sexual orientation, and they report the results of applying that methodology to a fresh sample. Research conducted for this commentary investigated whether Ablaza et al.’s method would be robust to the distorting effect of stopping rules, that is, quasi-rules that parents follow in deciding whether to have another child. Results obtained with an archived sample in which stopping rule distortion was known to be present indicated that their method probably is not robust to this particular problem. On another topic, it is argued that Ablaza et al.’s finding that older brothers increased the odds of homosexuality in women needs to be confirmed with further research, because past studies have been inconsistent in this regard. It is further argued that, even if an effect of older brothers on women’s sexual orientation is confirmed, this would not necessarily falsify the hypothesis that maternal immunization underlies the effect of older brothers on men’s sexual orientation. That hypothesis would need to be extended but not necessarily abandoned.

Not Straight and Not Straightforward: the Relationships Between Sexual Orientation, Sociosexuality, and Dark Triad Traits in Women

Two studies examined the connection between women’s sexual orientation, their sociosexuality (i.e. willingness, attitudes, and desires associated with uncommitted sexual behaviour), and Dark Triad traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy). Both studies found that moderately bisexual women reported less-restricted sociosexuality, as well as higher levels of Dark Triad traits––particularly psychopathy. In both studies, sexual orientation differences in Dark Triad traits were mediated by sociosexuality. Study 2 confirmed that the relationship between women’s sexual orientation and sociosexuality is curvilinear, with moderately bisexual women (i.e. Kinsey 1–2) reporting heightened sociosexuality compared to other groups. These results are consistent with the conclusion that moderate levels of female bisexuality may be a by-product of selection for traits that result in less restricted sociosexuality. At either end of the orientation continuum, women who report exclusive or near-exclusive homosexuality or heterosexuality report more restricted sociosexuality and lower Dark Triad scores, compared to women nearer to the middle of the continuum. As such, the aetiology of moderate bisexuality in women may be distinct from the aetiology of exclusive or near-exclusive homosexuality in women.

Control upon homosexuality in women's prison. The interest of differentiation of the space of prison

Lieu caractérisé par la coercition, la prison est couramment associée à l’exercice d’une sexualité spécifique proscrite et hautement contrôlée. Appréhender les établissements pénitentiaires comme des espaces sociaux invite cependant à remettre en cause cette assertion. La perspective de différenciation spatiale s’avère féconde pour étudier la sexualité en prison de femmes. La réalisation d’une recherche qualitative m’a amenée non seulement à rappeler que la détention féminine est enclose dans un espace plus vaste comprenant une détention masculine et des parties communes ; mais surtout à signaler l’existence d’espaces publics (coursives et salles d’activité), semi-publics (cour de promenade et douches) et privés (cellules) en son sein. Or les pratiques et les représentations des acteurs carcéraux – qu’il s’agisse des femmes détenues ou des agents pénitentiaires – se modifient selon les espaces. Plus précisément, les conduites homosexuelles donnent lieu à des processus de contrôle distincts selon les espaces dans lesquels elles surviennent. On observe une stricte prohibition dans les espaces publics, renvoyant au contrôle formel conceptualisé par Erving Goffman. Dans les espaces semi-publics, on retrouve des mécanismes de contrôle informel relevant de l’expression de désapprobation et de menace de sanction. Enfin, dans les espaces privés réservés à l’usage personnel des détenues, on relève une tolérance de la part des agents pénitentiaires, ainsi qu’un jeu de normalisation douce visant à transformer les représentations et les comportements et à favoriser le contrôle personnel. La prise en compte de l’espace invite à remettre en cause les analyses affirmant hâtivement l’existence en prison de femmes d’un système coercitif fondé sur le non-droit à la vie privée et qui viserait à endiguer indistinctement toute forme d’homosexualité. Le contrôle exercé revêt des formes variées, le système formel de règles et de sanctions et les mécanismes d’autocontrôle apparaissant comme les pôles extrêmes d’un continuum. L’entreprise de différenciation spatiale invite finalement à considérer la prison de femmes comme un espace caractérisé tout à la fois par la mise en œuvre d’une discipline et par la délégation de la gestion des conduites homosexuelles aux détenues elles-mêmes.

The Impact of Prior Heterosexual Experiences on Homosexuality in Women

An abundance of unwanted sexual opportunities perpetrated by insensitive, physically and sexually abusive men may be a factor in the expression of homosexuality in some women. In the present study, we examined self-reports of dating histories, sexual experiences, and physical and sexual abuse among lesbians and heterosexual women. Lesbians with prior heterosexual experience reported more severe and more frequent physical abuse by men. Lesbians also reported more instances of forced, unwanted sexual contact perpetrated by men, and this sexual abuse occurred at a significantly earlier age. These data show that adverse experiences with the opposite sex are more common in lesbians than heterosexual women, and therefore negative heterosexual experiences may be a factor in the expression of a same-sex sexual orientation in women. We propose an evolutionary psychological interpretation of this phenomenon based on the cardinally different mating strategies of women and men that have evolved for maximizing the likelihood of reproduction.

Gender Identity and Creativity

Abstract This paper is intended as a modest contribution to conceptualizing the construction of gender and sexual role identity as well as its role in creative activity. Whether we are considering homosexual or heterosexual object orientation, there is no evidence that a psychic representation of core gender identity is inborn. Core gender and sexual role identity are shaped in large part by the experiences of early childhood and the parental discourse on sexuality and sexual role. Many years ago, the author wrote a paper entitled “Homosexuality in Women” which was based on a small number of analysands and the author mistakenly drew conclusions that she believed could apply to female homosexuality in general. As the years went by, her increasing experience, both with her ongoing self-analysis and what she learned from her lesbian analysands, led her to conclude that the generalisations she had proposed earlier were inappropriate and applied only to the analysands quoted in that paper. The criticisms stirr...

What causes low rates of child-bearing in congenital adrenal hyperplasia?

Women with classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) have relatively low fertility rates (1–4). The largest clinic population was studied by Mulaikal et al. (2) who conducted a questionnaire survey of the Johns Hopkins Hospital sample of women with classical 21-hydroxylase deficiency and obtained responses from 80 of them (71% of the eligible women; age range, 18–69 yr; mean, 33 yr), evenly split into the simple virilizing (SV) and salt-wasting (SW) forms. Half of the women were not heterosexually active. Those who were heterosexually active nevertheless appeared to have low fertility. Among the 25 SV women who reported both adequate vaginal reconstruction and heterosexual activity, the fertility rate was 60%. Only 15 became pregnant, and 13 of these gave birth (9 by cesarian section because of cephalopelvic disproportion); the other 2 had an abortion, 1 spontaneous and the other induced. Among the 15 SW women with both adequate introitus and heterosexual activity, the fertility rate was 7%. Only 1 reported a pregnancy, and that ended in an elective termination. Mulaikal et al. suggested three mechanisms underlying the low fertility in CAH women overall: 1) insufficient hormonal control of the hyperandrogenemia by glucocorticoid replacement therapy (and possibly long term effects of prenatal and postnatal androgen excess), 2) insufficient vaginal reconstruction resulting in inability to engage in coitus, and 3) absence of heterosexual activity, which in some women was associated with homosexuality. In an accompanying editorial, Federman (5) suggested potential additional factors that might contribute to the low fertility in CAH: an impaired reproductive self-image related to vaginal inadequacy and “a male psychosexuality” as a consequence of putative masculinization of the fetal brain. The purpose of the present paper is to revisit the issue, review the status of the empirical evidence, especially the role of behavioral determinants, and suggest additional hormone-related psychological factors that may contribute to the low fertility rates of CAH women. The most widely recognized cause of the low rate of fertility among CAH women remains nonoptimal hormonal control. Ovulatory failure secondary to steroid excess is an important barrier to conception in many CAH women. There is considerable evidence suggesting that the steroid excess is not just an outcome of ACTH oversecretion (6). Among the other contributing factors appear to be 1) a mild degree of ACTH hyperresponsiveness to CRH; 2) altered enzyme kinetics, namely reduced catalytic efficiency of the mutated 21-hydroxylase with resulting increases in the precursor hormones progesterone and 17-hydroxyprogesterone even in the presence of excess glucocorticoid administration; 3) overactivation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone axis with ensuing stimulation of adrenocortical biosynthesis; and 4) alterations of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis as indicated by abnormal gonadotropin dynamics, polycystic ovaries, and excess ovarian production of progesterone, 17hydroxyprogesterone, and androgens (6). Consequently, new combination treatments that go beyond mere ACTH suppression are being developed to improve the overall quality of hormonal control in CAH (7). Much evidence has accumulated that implicates psychological factors in the overall reduction of fertility in women with classical CAH. Reduced heterosexual activity compared to controls has been documented in a number of studies. During adolescence, women with classical CAH as a group tend to have delayed (or absent) heterosexual milestones, such as dating, sexual initiation, and falling in love (3, 8–13). In adulthood, fewer are heterosexually active, in steady relationships, or married (2, 9–13). For all of these behaviors, it is predominantly women with the SW variant who differ from controls, much more so than those with the SV variant (4, 9, 11). Not only overt sexual activity with a partner is delayed or reduced. The frequency of sexual imagery, such as romantic/ erotic fantasies and dreams, the intensity of experienced sexual motivation (drive, libido), and the capacity to fall in love also seem to be markedly lower in CAH women as a group, especially those with the SW condition, than in controls (9, 10, 12, 13), although a few CAH women complain of excessive libido, especially when untreated or when treatment lapses. The reduction of heterosexual activity is likely to stem from several causes. One is an increased rate of bior homosexuality in women with classical CAH, as demonstrated especially in sexual imagery such as erotic/romantic fantaReceived January 11, 1999. Accepted February 24, 1999. Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. H. F. L. Meyer-Bahlburg, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Unit 15, New York, New York 10032-2695. 0021-972X/99/$03.00/0 Vol. 84, No. 6 The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Printed in U.S.A. Copyright © 1999 by The Endocrine Society

Homosexuality in Women: Considerations for Evangelical Missionary Recruitment, Missions Administration, and Clinical Intervention

Evangelical mission organizations are dealing increasingly with in-service female missionaries or with female missionary applicants who present with a variety of homosexual experiences and orientations. Because missions is a character profession and missionaries are religious ministers as well as professional persons, homosexual behavior requires an organizational response. This article discusses causes of homosexual orientation from a developmental perspective. Implications of this perspective are explored, with a continuum of homosexual behavior presented, accompanied by suggested administrative approaches.

Family dynamics in homosexual women

Subjects for this study were drawn from an informal social group of young, relatively well-functioning lesbians. Overall scores on a projective questionnaire (the Elias Family Adjustment Test) confirmed the prediction that homosexual women would show more evidence of adverse factors in their upbringing than would a matched heterosexual comparison group. Statistically significant differences were also found between the homosexual and heterosexual groups on subtests measuring negative attitudes toward mother, negative attitudes toward father, struggle for independence, parent-child friction, interparental friction, family inferiority, rejection of child, and parental qualities. No differences were found on subtests tapping preference for one parent over the other or oedipal concerns. Inspection of significantly differentiating FAT items revealed a remarkably consistent picture of the childhood homes of these lesbian subjects. The homosexual women described a neglecting and churlish father, a martyred and preoccupied mother, and children who felt angry and spiteful. Discussion is focused upon the implications of these findings for construction of a valid general theory of the genesis of homosexuality in women. Inferences drawn from this study—particularly those concerning the importance of negative childhood experiences with the father—are compatible with some previous studies of lesbian women and with many investigations of female role development in general.

Homosexuality in women.

HOMOSEXUALITY in women has been a strikingly neglected clinical entity, when contrasted with the very considerable attention given to male homosexuality. Indeed, a survey of the literature reveals little in the area of comparison or control studies with nonhomosexuals. Socarides' survey of the literature¹will provide the interested reader with the requisite background of theoretical constructs in the field. Feeling a deep void in basic knowledge and research in this area, a Research Committe on Female Homosexuality was established by the Society of Medical Psychoanalysts. The committee undertook the task of acquiring basic clinical data within the psychoanalytic framework, leaving the more highly inferential theoretical constructs to wait upon the acquisition of more concrete factual information. We are presenting our preliminary findings in this paper. We initially polled the more than 150 psychoanalysts in the society to ascertain the number of female homosexuals who

Perceptual investigation of psychoanalytic theory concerning latent homosexuality in women.

Female Ss were divided into two groups, High-Latent and Low-Latent Homosexual, on the basis of MMPI Scale 5. Both groups were shown tachistoscopically 6 pictures which had been chosen as being threatening or nonthreatening on the basis of psychoanalytic theory. The high group had longer latencies on each of the high-threat pictures and shorter latencies on each of the low-threat pictures than the low group. The results were accepted as supporting psychoanalytic theory concerning female homosexuality.

III.—Homosexuality in Women

III.—Homosexuality in Women