Gold star lesbians are a rare breed

If sticking to labels is so important, then most women who identify as lesbian are actually bisexual.

For women, it seems attraction is linked with emotional attachment. So are women more likely to have sex with another person because of an emotional attraction rather than a physical attraction?

We've beaten the labels thing to death, but maybe science shows us that the labels are useless because women are too complex. "we argue that future research on sexual minorities should undertake a large-scale shift from classifying individuals into sexual identity categories to describing the full range of men's and women's same-sex and other-sex desires, affections, and behaviors."

Where's my pot of gold?

Well then, hell, I LIVE AT THE END OF THE RAINBOW! that's so cool! haha. i feel absolutely NO attraction to men (emotional/physical/mental/whatever). i think this study is off by a longshot bc i'm sure there are a bunch of ladies out there that feel the same way i do! does anyone else live at the end of the rainbow?!?! i'm going to go find that leprachan from the Lucky Charms box now! :D

"I wish I could lie down beside you tonight & take you in my arms." -Eleanor Roosevelt

I don't think the study is saying that they don't exist. Just that the majority of women who identify as homosexual are also attracted to men.

It would be helpful if anyone else has some scientific data that showed the percentage of women who are only attracted to women (and have never had any attraction to the opposite sex).

Previously, I referenced a study done by the CDC that said only 1.3% of american females (ages 18-44) identifies as homosexual (out of the 9.7% of women who did not identify as heterosexual). But, only 0.7% of females are exclusively attracetd to women (out of 14.3% of women who are not exclusively attracted to men).

I am going to be sick, very sick.

I hope this study is off by a long shot, these numbers just can't be real. They just can't .

If it's true it mean I can't ever trust any Sister again, what a disgusting world that would be if.

Men just can't be winning so bably, this whole study is a fake,  nothing else. Just some weak attempt at conspiracy.

The article focuses on deviance among homosexual women. I would like to see a more balanced evaluation of female sexuality- how many heterosexual-identified women have had experiences/desires with/for other women?

That being said, I would like to note that I personally was born at the end of the rainbow, and have never lived anywhere else. I am very proud to say I've never been able to convince myself- or allow others to convince me- otherwise.

As a researcher I am always very criticial when reading about research discoveries. What especially annoys me is the difference between what the facts say and how it is interpreted.

For example, when counting the percentage of lesbians who are attracted to men one should not include those women who happen to have had a bf in highschool. Most people, whether gay, straight or bi, have lots of experiences in highschool and college, that do not necessarily reflect their orientation later in life.

This raises a more important limitation of this research, namely that the participants were adolescent and young adult women (ages between 16 and 25). I expect had this research been done on women over 30, instead on girls in highschool and college, they would have found different results.

-It's called sarcasm.

Who doesn't blog these days?

I think I've seen a pattern that's interesting.

It seems like women who have only been attracted to women are proud of this fact. I almost get the feeling that they think they are better than women who have been attracted to men. Just a thought not an attack.

To sort of address the heterosexual question:

"Notably, however, women’s definitions
of lesbianism appeared to permit more flexibility in behavior than
their definitions of heterosexuality. In all, 76% of the women who
switched to lesbian labels pursued sexual contact with both men
and women during the 2 years prior to the identity change, com-
pared with 30% of women who switched to heterosexual labels.
This provides further support for the notion that female sexuality
is relatively fluid and that the distinction between lesbian and
bisexual women is not a rigid one. For example, of the women who
identified as lesbian at T5, 15% reporting having sexual contact
with a man within the previous 2 years. In contrast, none of the
women who had settled on a heterosexual label by T5 reported
having sexual contact with a woman within the previous 2 years."

This is an interesting topic to me as all the lesbians i have come across im my life so far have at one point been in a relationship with a man or been attracted to one, I however never have been attracted to a man before or been in any kind of relationship with one. So i think more depth would need to be put into this area to get the correct figures, but I do tend to agree that most women tend to have had some experience with a man at some point in their life at least the women I know, but that doesn't speak for everyone. I do think its possible for women who are singularly attracted to women only to be in the small percentages. I also agree sexuality can be fluid for some people but i dont think it is for all people in my personal experience I am always going to be lesbian and I dont see that ever changing so i feel my sexuality isnt fluid but i know other women who i feel this term would apply to.

If Things Get Too Real, Promise To Take Me Somewhere Else

The study was on a group of 167 people. And well I hate to bash what seems to be well-intentioned and interestingly thought-out research (I appreciate the mindset of the researchers a little more now that I've read a bit more of it), having such a small group almost nullifies the research. Even more so if they were from similar/the same area(s), economic group(s), ethnic group(s), background, etc... You also have one of the most intrinsic problems of all studies (particularly those of a sexual nature-i.e., in our culture, forbidden nature). The people who participated in this study were only the sort of people that would be inclined to willingly participate in such a study. People who are comfortable with providing large amounts of (presumably) complete and accurate personal information, the content and interpretation of which they feel fairly certain of. People that felt comfortable with (and certain in) coming out and admitting themselves as those of sexual minority to people whom they did not know.

Thank you to Jackedup77 for the note on the whereabouts of the data table- although I still didn't find it, that just shows that you probably have better web-navigational-abilities than I, in addition to more patience. As for the proud-gold-star-lesbian phenomena, I would say that it has more to do with human nature than a lack of need of men (although I think I just might post a comment about that on the thread you just made). Part of the mind of every (healthy, functional) human being seeks to prove itself and it's existence. Having someone make a suggestion (or something that could be construed as a suggestion) that one's existence is lacking or uncertain creates an automatic reaction, and an inclination to prove the opposite. At least that's the reasoning behind my statements.

I understand the lack of reliability of scientific studies. This is a small sample group. And it is only one study. For any findings to be scientifically sound, a study has to have a large and diverse sample group; it also has to be successfully reproduced multiple times.

I do applaud her for being the first to do a study of this nature. I was thinking that it would be nice if this study could be distributed to the lgbt groups of colleges around the nation and lgbt community centers. I wonder how hard it would be to track the sexual orientation, attractions, and behaviors of a large group of women who are attracted to women.

I will say that I value this study because it is better than our anecdotal evidence. Some of the responses I've gotten were along the lines of, "well, all the women I know...". I use studies like this to cast doubt on the anecdotal experiences I hear all the time. For example, I will trust the evidence of this study over the personal experiences of anyone on this site.

The main point of this study is to cast doubt on the beliefs that bisexuals will eventually end up gay or straight. I think it's successful in that nature. I was also intrigued by the sexual attractions and behaviors of those who identified themselves as lesbian.

This study didn't solidify anything for me. It did support some ideas I had about sexuality. It did go against the anecdotal tales I've heard.

Though, this isn't the only study that found discrepancies between a woman's sexual orientation and her sexual behavior. I and Lisa Diamond knows that more studies need to be done on this subject. This is a good start.