Lesbians and "Male-type" Brains: Article from "The Economist"

russkayatatu · 14-10-2003, 05:13

A few months ago there was a thread about girls' ring fingers and what the length means for their sexual preferences (here) - if anyone is interested, here's an article from this week's "Economist" about the same kind of topic, from a more scientific viewpoint: what characteristics like ring finger length and blinking patterns suggest about sexual preference and what in turn that says about how sexual preference relates to the brain...let me know what you think; I thought it was kind of a neat hypothesis actually.

A lesbian's sexual identity seems to be established before her birth

Men and women blink differently when startled. That simple and well-established observation has led Qazi Rahman of the University of East London, in England, and his colleagues to evidence supporting the idea that homosexuality is a characteristic which people are born with, rather than one they acquire as they grow up. The team's research, just published in Behavioral Neuroscience, shows that lesbians blink like heterosexual men. That, in turn, suggests that the part of their brain that controls this reflex has been masculinised in the womb.

Anyone who is startled by an unexpected noise tends to blink. If, however, the startling noise is preceded by a quieter sound, this blink is not so vigorous as it would otherwise have been. It is this lack of vigor which differs between the sexes. Men blink less vigorously than women when primed in this way.

Given such a clear and simple distinction, testing the responses of homosexuals to noise seemed an obvious experiment to do. So Dr Rahman and his colleagues did it. Their subjects, men and women, gay and straight, were sat down one by one in a dimly lit room. The muscles that cause blinking were wired up with recording electrodes, and the subjects were fitted with headphones through which the sounds (sometimes a single startling noise, and sometimes a combination of soft and loud) were fed.

In the latter case, as compared with the former, straight men had blinks that were 40% less vigorous. In the case of straight women the drop was 13%. Lesbians dropped 33% which, statistically, made them more similar to straight men than straight women. Gay men were also intermediate, although in their case the difference was not statistically significant. Even in this apparently trivial matter, it seems, lesbians have male-like brains. So what is going on?

By default, people are female. Without the influence of testosterone in the womb, a fetus will develop into a girl. The way testosterone acts to turn a fetus male is still poorly understood. It seems likely, though, that different organs respond independently to the hormone, and may do so at different times. Hormonal surges at critical moments could thus cause particular organs in an otherwise female body to become "male." (A lull in hormone production might have the opposite effect). If the organ concerned is the brain, the result is more male-like behaviour including, possibly, male-type sexual preferences.

Previous research has provided some evidence for this idea. Lesbians, for instance, are more accurate throwers of objects such as darts than straight women. In this they resemble straight men in a way that has nothing to do with sexual preference. And tissues other than the brain's might be affected, too. On average, lesbians have ring fingers that are longer than their index fingers, a feature that is typical of men but not of heterosexual women. In that context, a difference in the blink of an eye is no surprise at all.

taty994945 · 14-10-2003, 07:38

interesting article russkayatatu.

any lesbians here good at darts?

denial · 14-10-2003, 14:33

thanks russkayatatu

.. interesting! would love to do the blink test but how?

Post edited

girl_into_music · 14-10-2003, 15:05

Quote:

Originally posted by russkayatatu

On average, lesbians have ring fingers that are longer than their index fingers, a feature that is typical of men but not of heterosexual women.

I've just looked at my my ring and index fingers..They are exectly the same length...What does that mean?

parrish122 · 14-10-2003, 15:30

*Laughs* And here I thought the reason I did so well at darts was because the people I played against were drunk. Who knew?

And before you ask, yes--my ring finger is longer.

Parrish

prostrel · 14-10-2003, 16:13

Okay, so now all females who don`t know for sure are they lesbians or not can/should go to that test and then it will be all clear and settled then. No more wondering anymore...

iluvjulia84 · 14-10-2003, 16:46

I have the ring finger longer than my index finger and i'm a lesbian.
Hey, i was looking at pix of Lena and Julia, Lena has the index finger longer than her ring finger so...i guess she's straight. Julia, i couldnt realy tell from the pix i had.

Kappa · 14-10-2003, 17:21

Quote:

any lesbians here good at darts?

O_ф I'll consider myself offended.

The influence of testosterone on the womb can also affect a female fetus. Butches exist, y'know, and it's not because they're lacking hormones.

Mossopp · 14-10-2003, 18:15

I wouldn't say I was good at darts. Although I am a lot better than all my straight girlfriends.
Makes you think, don't it...?

Lena410 · 14-10-2003, 19:54

blinking huh?

hm..what does it mean when my ring finger is shorter than my index but I'm good at throwing darts?

Well my mum is good at throwing darts.

*shakes head*

hm..I don't know what to think about that article..It depends how wide the research was.

QueenBee · 14-10-2003, 20:10

Well there we go. I suck at throwing darts. *Goes and hides in corner*

I wouldn't quite say Lena is lesbian just because she has a ring finger longer than her index... My ring finger is longer than my index finger aswell and.. well.. I'm straight.

guesshoo · 14-10-2003, 22:55

well, we have a situation at hand:

my right index is longer than my ring finger, whereas my left index is shorter than my ring finger.

so what am i?

karxwp · 15-10-2003, 02:09

I'm good at darts...in fact any kind of accuracy games....but I'm bisexual...mm what happened here?

haku · 15-10-2003, 03:01

Quote:

Lesbians, for instance, are more accurate throwers of objects such as darts than straight women. In this they resemble straight men [...] lesbians have ring fingers that are longer than their index fingers, a feature that is typical of men but not of heterosexual women

Ok, i suck at throwing things and my index fingers are longer than my ring fingers...

What does this mean? That i have a female brain in a male body? Shouldn't i be attracted to men then? But, i'm not. I like girls. So i have a lesbian brain?! I'm confused...

Seriously though, the part of this article saying that all fetuses are created female and then some of them are turned into males by certain hormones is accurate. It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of what we are sexually is determined at that moment.