Why Are More and More Girls Becoming Lesbians?

  • Thread starter zoobyshoe
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In summary: Back in the day", there were just as many females who were attracted to the same sex, but they were less inclined to admit it due to social perceptions and stigmas.It's interesting that this observation is coming from someone who's been around for quite a while. I know from personal experience that there's been an increase in girls who are practicing lesbianism. It seems the younger the age group you sample the more likely you are to find girls who prefer other girls as their sex/romance partners.
  • #1
zoobyshoe
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It's my perception that more and more girls are practicing lesbianism. More than was ever previously the case in my lifetime. It seems the younger the age group you sample the more likely you are to find girls who prefer other girls as their sex/romance partners.

First off, does anyone know of studies that confirm this, or am I just paying more attention to it as I get older?
 
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  • #2
Matter of perception? Is it possible that more and more young ladies are willing to come out about their sexual preferences? I knew a lot of lesbians in HS back in the '60s, perhaps because I was heavily involved in band, chorus, etc, and got to be friends with a lot of girls that I had no sexual interests in. Well, some of them, but as soon as I found that they had girlfriends that weren't just friends, we took it to a different level. Back to just friends (no benefits).
 
  • #3
I don't have any data, but here's my guess:

Homosexuality is more socially acceptable these days. It's possible that, "back in the day", there were just as many females who were attracted to the same sex, but they were less inclined to admit it due to social perceptions and stigmas.
 
  • #4
I personally only know 1 lesbian. Is it possible that we think we know more because it's much easier to know of a lot more people thanks to social media and the internet?
 
  • #5
Dembadon said:
I don't have any data, but here's my guess:

Homosexuality is more socially acceptable these days. It's possible that, "back in the day", there were just as many females who were attracted to the same sex, but they were less inclined to admit it due to social perceptions and stigmas.

Very apt. Over 20 years ago, I started hosting open-mic jams in local taverns, and I got to be friends with a lot of young ladies. One in particular was very clingy not just because of the music, but because she loved my Harley. She always got around on a 600cc sport-bike and almost always had a very cute underaged hugger on the back of the seat. I asked her not to buy me drinks after she did a few times, because any place that I played would give me drinks in addition to paying me to play and hosting the jams. Anytime you can get $30+/hr for doing something that you love, plus free drinks, life is good.

Still, some areas seem more tolerant of lesbians than others. None of my musician friends were jealous of my relationship with this young lady. The were generally tending toward "introduce me and fix me up" instead.
 
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  • #6
This Wiki article has an "original research" disclaimer, but I thought the following list of "measurement difficulties" made perfect sense, and expands on and confirms Dembadon's guess:


Measurement difficulties

Measuring the prevalence of various sexual orientations is difficult because there is a lack of reliable data, and because of the numbers of those who believe that homosexuality in itself is a disease. Problems gathering data include the following:

*Survey data regarding stigmatized or deeply personal feelings or activities are often inaccurate. Participants often avoid answers which they feel society, the survey-takers, or they themselves dislike.

*The research must measure some characteristic that may or may not be defining of sexual orientation, and that may involve further testing problems. The class of people with same-sex desires may be larger than the class of people who act on those desires, which in turn may be larger than the class of people who self-identify as gay/lesbian/bisexual.[1]

*In studies measuring sexual activity, respondents may have different ideas about what constitutes a "sexual act."

*There are several different biological and psychosocial components to sex and gender, and a given person may not cleanly fit into a particular category.

*Studies with random samples containing sufficient numbers of representatives of small sexual minorities are expensive to do. Hence, most studies rely on volunteers who are willing to talk about their sex life, but who do not necessarily reflect the general population.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_sexual_orientation

Whatever the actual percentages are, I find it amazing that Penguino can only know one lesbian personally while I can't seem to walk down the street without tripping over a lesbian. I hang in coffeehouses all the time, so it may be that non-corporate coffeehouses tend to be in those hipper, 'lesbian tolerant' areas Turbo speaks of.

This point: "*There are several different biological and psychosocial components to sex and gender, and a given person may not cleanly fit into a particular category," from the Wiki article, strikes me as an important confusion factor. The choice of gay or straight is pushed pretty hard by those who are militantly one or the other. Some lesbians I know don't want to discuss "Bi", as if it's an illusory, non-category, while others will admit they've had attractions to, and even positive experiences with, guys. Militantly straight people will maintain that if a girl has had one lesbian experience she should be labeled "lesbian".

So, a situation arises where a girl would self-identify as "lesbian" on a questionaire if she happened, at that time of her life, to be hanging out with a militantly lesbian crowd, and as "bisexual" if her current circle of friends was OK with that. The social politics when it comes to this issue are some of the most convoluted I've encountered.
 
  • #7
zoobyshoe said:
It's my perception that more and more girls are practicing lesbianism. More than was ever previously the case in my lifetime. It seems the younger the age group you sample the more likely you are to find girls who prefer other girls as their sex/romance partners.

First off, does anyone know of studies that confirm this, or am I just paying more attention to it as I get older?

I'm not sure this deserves an answer, but I'll give it a go.

There are a few possible scenarios.

1. Like a few have already said, perhaps the number of lesbians is not increasing, just the number of out of the closet lesbians is increasing.

2. The number of lesbians is increasing because women have realized that men fail them in the home and in the bedroom.

3. You're not actually seeing lesbians. Short hair is actually very trendy right now.

4. You can't get a date, so you're bitter, and you're blaming the lesbians.
 
  • #8
shelovesmath said:
I'm not sure this deserves an answer, but I'll give it a go.
Why wouldn't it deserve an answer, and why the trollish response?
 
  • #9
This kind of observation is in itself becoming more and more common. Undoubtedly, most or all of the suggested answers already offered are factors. It is also possible that homosexuality itself is becoming trendy. And it is even possible that there are cases where outward personas assumed are a challenge to family / friends / peers / broader society rather than a spontaneous expression of feelings. But perhaps all of it, including the tendency for the mystified questions about it, is symptomatic of a growing misalignment between active human reality and prevailing paradigms.
 
  • #10
Ken Natton said:
This kind of observation is in itself becoming more and more common. Undoubtedly, most or all of the suggested answers already offered are factors. It is also possible that homosexuality itself is becoming trendy. And it is even possible that there are cases where outward personas assumed are a challenge to family / friends / peers / broader society rather than a spontaneous expression of feelings. But perhaps all of it, including the tendency for the mystified questions about it, is symptomatic of a growing misalignment between active human reality and prevailing paradigms.
I follow up to the last sentence which is, maybe, too general for me to get traction on it. You think there is more of a misalignment than ever before? If so, why would that be?
 
  • #11
zoobyshoe said:
Why wouldn't it deserve an answer, and why the trollish response?

I'm not a troll. I've posted enough times on this site. It's called sarcasm my dear.
 
  • #12
There are several different biological and psychosocial components to sex and gender, and a given person may not cleanly fit into a particular category.

Well I don't know zoobyshoe, but I think that particular quote might be getting closest to it. Clearly homosexuality has been around for a long time, there is plenty of evidence in the literature of past ages that it is nothing so new. And yes, undoubtedly, in the days when it was socially unacceptable there were those who felt the need to suppress their true feelings to avoid opprobrium not to say incarceration. But I am not entirely convinced that there were the kind of numbers of closet homosexuals in the Victorian era that the modern fashionability for homosexuality would suggest that there might have been.

So society has been forced to change its expectations of gender roles, but society has not given up its tendency to apply labels and then attach a whole raft of expectations to those labels. So we have learned to accept that homosexuals are people too. We have learned not to attach notions like ‘unnatural’ to such behaviours. But we cannot stop ourselves applying labels like ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’ and ‘bisexual’ and then still find ourselves struggling to fit square pegs into round holes. Is that not the very point of your anecdote about ‘militant’ straight people defining someone as lesbian because of one encounter?

The whole of human society can be divided into two – the purest dichotomy: Those who have never eaten carrot cake and those who have. Once you have eaten a piece of carrot cake you cannot ever go back, you are a carrot cake eater for the rest of your life, even if you never touch another crumb. Gotta watch those carrot cake eaters you know. I’ve heard that these days there are some places where they do it in public. Never seen it myself but nowadays anything seems to go…
 
  • #13
Causes for an increase can be divided into two categories:
1] accuracy and interpretations of data (that may include gathering data but it may also include subtleties such as self-identification)
2] bona fide changes in frequency

Discussions of 1] will take care of themselves.

This one is the only hypothesis so far that assumes the data is accurate, and that there is a real change:
shelovesmath said:
The number of lesbians is increasing because women have realized that men fail them in the home and in the bedroom.
So, assuming there's some truth to this, what is the proposed cause of this change? How are men failing women worse than they were previously?
 
  • #14
DaveC426913 said:
How are men failing women worse than they were previously?
:tongue2: Reminds me of the question "have you stopped beating your wife?"

Zooby, are they true lesbians, or bisexual? We were discussing this yesterday in chat. The guys were saying that on a dating website that the majority of women in their 20's listed themselves as bisexual. Movies and tv have lead us to believe (and perhaps correctly) that men find women kissing or engaged in sexual activity with another woman to be a "turn on", so younger women have grown up believeing that claiming to be bisexual is a sure fire way to attract men.
 
  • #15
From several personal experiences with male friends who pushed girls to have girl on girl interaction that, at times, the ladies eventually became comfortable with it and either became bisexually or completely lesbian.

It's ironic because in two instances the girlfriends ended up leaving the boyfriends to be with the other females monogamously.
 
  • #16
zoobyshoe said:
It's my perception that more and more girls are practicing lesbianism. More than was ever previously the case in my lifetime. It seems the younger the age group you sample the more likely you are to find girls who prefer other girls as their sex/romance partners.

First off, does anyone know of studies that confirm this, or am I just paying more attention to it as I get older?

because more and more boys are becoming gays:yuck::eek::biggrin:
 
  • #17
Evo said:
Zooby, are they true lesbians, or bisexual? We were discussing this yesterday in chat. The guys were saying that on a dating website that the majority of women in their 20's listed themselves as bisexual. Movies and tv have lead us to believe (and perhaps correctly) that men find women kissing or engaged in sexual activity with another woman to be a "turn on", so younger women have grown up believeing that claiming to be bisexual is a sure fire way to attract men.

czelaya said:
From several personal experiences with male friends who pushed girls to have girl on girl interaction that, at times, the ladies eventually became comfortable with it and either became bisexually or completely lesbian.

It's ironic because in two instances the girlfriends ended up leaving the boyfriends to be with the other females monogamously.
I have met a lot of girls whose lesbian experiences and "bi" status, I suspected, were for show, only. The point seemed to be much like the point of getting a tattoo: to define themselves as counter-culture.

I once happened upon a TV show where a girl was being interviewed and she asserted that girls kiss each other at parties a lot because guys say it turns them on. This (from czelaya) is the first I've heard that a lot of guys may be pushing girls into taking it further. Not that that would completely take me by surprise. Just such behavior was explored in the movie Lenny with Dustin Hoffman back in 1974. It's strange to think that a lot of this might have been cultivated deliberately by guys, themselves.

Still, this whole "fad" aspect of it started without my being aware of it. I didn't see the evolution, and there are gaps in my grasp of how it happened, what contributed. When I first became aware that it was chic for girls to claim bisexuality I thought this was just a Goth thing, and that it had probably gotten mixed up with Goth via the informal Rocky Horror/Goth merger. Goth seems to have fizzled out now but the bisexuality of girls has, apparently, bled over into the mainstream.
 
  • #18
Ken Natton said:
So society has been forced to change its expectations of gender roles, but society has not given up its tendency to apply labels and then attach a whole raft of expectations to those labels. So we have learned to accept that homosexuals are people too. We have learned not to attach notions like ‘unnatural’ to such behaviours. But we cannot stop ourselves applying labels like ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’ and ‘bisexual’ and then still find ourselves struggling to fit square pegs into round holes. Is that not the very point of your anecdote about ‘militant’ straight people defining someone as lesbian because of one encounter?
Actually that remark was about how hard it is to collect data, and why. But I see, since you point it out, that it also illustrates a broader misalignment of reality and paradigm. Labels, yes. Huge issue. I may start a thread.
 
  • #19
DaveC426913 said:
Causes for an increase can be divided into two categories:
1] accuracy and interpretations of data (that may include gathering data but it may also include subtleties such as self-identification)
2] bona fide changes in frequency

Discussions of 1] will take care of themselves.

This one is the only hypothesis so far that assumes the data is accurate, and that there is a real change:

So, assuming there's some truth to this, what is the proposed cause of this change? How are men failing women worse than they were previously?
Here's the thing. On this issue, for scientific purposes, the collection of data is fraught with problems. However, some advertising company might have no problem sending a spider into FaceBook or some dating site to slurp up all the self reporting on sexual orientation and identify a useful demographic from it. How does anyone know when the times are right to put out a TV show that has three lesbian characters in it? Or two Asians? Etc? Babbling off the top of my head here, it seems there is some kind of informal pulse taking that people who stand to make or lose money are better at than sociologists.
 
  • #20
zoobyshoe said:
Here's the thing. On this issue, for scientific purposes, the collection of data is fraught with problems. However, some advertising company might have no problem sending a spider into FaceBook or some dating site to slurp up all the self reporting on sexual orientation and identify a useful demographic from it. How does anyone know when the times are right to put out a TV show that has three lesbian characters in it? Or two Asians? Etc? Babbling off the top of my head here, it seems there is some kind of informal pulse taking that people who stand to make or lose money are better at than sociologists.
Well, the key is "make or lose money". It's a gamble.

And they don't have to be right; they just have to be at the right time.

And that's got nothing to do with the reality of the data.
 
  • #21
Years back, a guitarist friend of mine was recommending some music by Melissa Etheridge. Then he topped it off by saying "She's a lesbian." I told him that ME was a kindred spirit because I loved playing guitar and singing and I loved women, too. It kind of set him on his heels.
 
  • #22
It seems more and more men are becoming gays, as well!:tongue2:
 
  • #23
Some are truly lesbians, some are bisexual and just lean more towards homosexuality. I think a lot of young girls know that boys drool over that stuff, so they say or act like they're a lesbian or bisexual when they're not.
It's so stupid for a few reasons. The boys are too dumb to realize that lesbians don't like them. I guess they think lesbians have occasional threesomes with guys. Idiots.
And it's stupid from the girl's side because it's so pathetic to lie about something like that for the purpose of trying to attract guys. Even the girls who really are bisexual seem to go out of their way to mention it so everyone knows they're trendy, or whatever.

A guy at work was telling me about how his girlfriend told him about how she was at a party and kissed a girl. He didn't seem like he cared, he just said that was hot. He's a young kid, but apparently not too bright. She told him she cheated on him and he didn't care because he doesn't consider that cheating.
 
  • #24
I have a net acquaintance on another forum who is bi and involved in gender studies and feminism. He is fairly adamant that people are "naturally" bisexual and that there is some sort of formative triggers that make us lean one way or the other. From various conversations with him I would hazard he might suggest: Our modern patriarchal society has given women some degree of allowance to be bisexual because it satisfies a male sexual fantasy and this has perhaps resulted in more women not being conditioned to fit into heteronormative "either-or" sexual roles.

Mainly I mention it because I find it interesting that he is a bisexual gender studies student and does not believe that people are "born gay" which seems to have become the standard opinion outside of those who don't like homosexuals. It could also broaden the possible answers to the OP to not assume that people are born with their sexual preferences.
 
  • #25
Lisa! said:
It seems more and more men are becoming gays, as well!:tongue2:

It seems more and more men are becoming Lesbians, as well!:tongue:
 
  • #26
TheStatutoryApe said:
I have a net acquaintance on another forum who is bi and involved in gender studies and feminism. He is fairly adamant that people are "naturally" bisexual and that there is some sort of formative triggers that make us lean one way or the other. From various conversations with him I would hazard he might suggest: Our modern patriarchal society has given women some degree of allowance to be bisexual because it satisfies a male sexual fantasy and this has perhaps resulted in more women not being conditioned to fit into heteronormative "either-or" sexual roles.

Mainly I mention it because I find it interesting that he is a bisexual gender studies student and does not believe that people are "born gay" which seems to have become the standard opinion outside of those who don't like homosexuals. It could also broaden the possible answers to the OP to not assume that people are born with their sexual preferences.

I saw an episode of Oprah, I think it was, where they were talking about sexuality and mentioned the Kinsey scale, which shows range from 0 to 6 on sexuality. 0 being completely heterosexual and 6 being completely homosexual. They said that women are more likely than men to be in the middle. And men are more likely to be at the extremes, 0 or 6, than women are.

I think that's pretty accurate.
I would have to rank myself as a 0. I can admit when a man is good looking, but will only look at them in an envious way, not a sexual way. I can't even fathom myself being sexually attracted to a man. That has nothing to do with societal pressures, that's really how I feel. Even at home by myself, I can't even watch porn that has a man in it. It ruins it for me.
 
  • #27
leroyjenkens said:
I would have to rank myself as a 0. I can admit when a man is good looking, but will only look at them in an envious way, not a sexual way.
That's at least a 1.

I haven't the faintest idea when a man is good-looking, to the point of obtuseness. And I have zero-gaydar, also to the point of obtuseness.
 
  • #28
I have a relative (daughter of a cousin) who is so curvy and cute that she is irresistible to men. She went through a phase in college when she would plant passionate kisses on female classmates. Why? She was already a guy-magnet. A couple of times, she gave me full-on lip-locks when I was just trying to hug her to say "hi". These things come and go.
 
  • #29
DaveC426913 said:
That's at least a 1.

I haven't the faintest idea when a man is good-looking, to the point of obtuseness. And I have zero-gaydar, also to the point of obtuseness.

If a man had no idea when a man is good-looking, how could you know when you're good looking or not? If you go out, I'm sure you fix your hair, put on some nice clothes, and admire yourself in the mirror a little bit. If someone was truly a zero, then they would have no idea when they themselves looked good or not.

If you saw a picture of George Clooney next to Rodney Dangerfield, you couldn't tell me which one of those men was better looking?
 
  • #30
leroyjenkens said:
If a man had no idea when a man is good-looking, how could you know when you're good looking or not? If you go out, I'm sure you fix your hair, put on some nice clothes, and admire yourself in the mirror a little bit. If someone was truly a zero, then they would have no idea when they themselves looked good or not.
Yeah. A lot of men have no idea whether they're goo looking or not.
leroyjenkens said:
If a man had no idea when a man is good-looking, how could you know when you're good looking or not? If you go out, I'm sure you fix your hair, put on some nice clothes, and admire yourself in the mirror a little bit. If someone was truly a zero, then they would have no idea when they themselves looked good or not.

leroyjenkens said:
If you saw a picture of George Clooney next to Rodney Dangerfield, you couldn't tell me which one of those men was better looking?
Oh certainly. My wife and I have a standing agreement, if I come face-to-face with George, I will offer to bear his children. And she has the same freedom. :biggrin:

But seriously, those are extremes. And they're taught by society and celebrity.
 
  • #31
Hyperspace2 said:
because more and more boys are becoming gays:yuck::eek::biggrin:

hahahaha seriously, we do not know their reason. Let's just respect their personality and the way they wanted to be.
 
  • #32
Because the pool of males worth dating is becoming sh*ttier and sh*ttier, they have to resort to dating each other.

All in jest, of course.
 
  • #33
jduster said:
Because the pool of males worth dating is becoming sh*ttier and sh*ttier
Yo! You talkin' ta me?

111+gangsta+pants.jpg
 
  • #34
I imagine so...
 

1. Why do more and more girls identify as lesbians?

There is no single answer to this question as there are many factors that can contribute to a person's sexual orientation. Some possible reasons could include a greater acceptance and understanding of LGBTQ+ identities, a growing representation of queer individuals in media and society, and a shift towards more fluid and diverse understandings of sexuality.

2. Is it just a trend or phase for girls to identify as lesbians?

Sexual orientation is not a choice or a trend, it is a fundamental aspect of a person's identity. While some individuals may question or explore their sexuality at different points in their lives, for many people their sexual orientation remains consistent throughout their lifetime. It is important to respect and validate a person's self-identified sexual orientation, regardless of whether it aligns with societal norms or expectations.

3. Are girls influenced by their environment or peers to become lesbians?

While external influences may play a role in shaping a person's understanding and expression of their sexuality, ultimately an individual's sexual orientation is determined by their own personal feelings and attractions. It is important to recognize that being a lesbian is not a choice or something that can be influenced or changed by external factors.

4. Are there any health risks associated with being a lesbian?

No, there are no inherent health risks associated with being a lesbian. Sexual orientation does not impact a person's physical health. However, LGBTQ+ individuals may face discrimination and lack of access to healthcare, which can have negative impacts on their overall well-being.

5. How can I support and understand girls who identify as lesbians?

The best way to support and understand someone who identifies as a lesbian is to listen to and validate their experiences and feelings. Educate yourself on LGBTQ+ issues and be an ally by standing up against discrimination and promoting inclusivity. It is also important to respect a person's privacy and not make assumptions or stereotypes about their identity.

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