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By José Gabriel Sánchez R. March 2, 2018
Outside of a moral or religious consideration, human sexual behavior in general, and female homosexuality in particular, can be the object of a scientific approach. In his study, the effects of several factors can be observed quite clearly: physiology, culture, personal motives, among others. Among all these, it has been observed that some have greater impact, for example, that of education and culture tends to be considerable; but the question remains about some others, particularly in the manifestations of female sexual behavior.
Therefore, the objective of this work consisted of investigating around questions of the following type: is it possible to find a stereotype of female homosexual behavior? What elements characterize it? How are variables such as schooling, occupation associated, religion and sexual development? Regarding their sexual activity, how does the lesbian woman qualify the degree of pleasure in heterosexual versus homosexual conditions ?, among others. 152 lesbian behavior women, ranging in age from 15 to 58 years, selected by accident sampling were surveyed. The instrument used was an expressly designed questionnaire , composed of 119 variables grouped into 6 categories. The analysis of the results, roughly suggests that female homosexuality, like heterosexuality , presents a complex variability in its manifestations.
In this PsicologíaOnline article, we will talk about A characterization of homosexual behavior: the female case in Mexico City.
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- Methodology
- Analysis of data
- Discussion
Summary
Sexuality has been a human concern from ancient times to the present day; It has been captured in different works, examples of which are repetitive paintings, stone sculptures such as the Venus of Willendorf and Egyptian ones, Hindu temples, and Greek paintings, which project their philosophy to live and practice it.
However, until relatively recently, human sexuality was the object of systematic and scientific study for different sciences such as physiology, anatomy, philosophy, psychology, anthropology, etc; the first works are due to W. Reich; M. Mead; Hite; S. Freud; Kinsey, Master and Johnson, among others, being pioneers in this area and therefore the main contributors to bringing to light, data concerning this issue.
Within sexuality there are variants that can be detected and therefore classified. Far from any moral consideration, it is possible to find various manifestations that are promoted by the social or cultural group, such as the heterosexual relationship, which is the most frequent in the human species and the animal kingdom. Other possibilities are pedophilia, gerontophilia, necrophilia, homosexuality, etc.
Regarding the latter, it has received different definitions, ranging from the popular to the scientific, and in this case they all coincide, such as that sexual relationship that occurs between people of the same sex (cf. Mccary, 1983. pp. 266). Homosexuality has been treated throughout history in a characteristic and peculiar way, which responds to the emphasis and spirit of the time and place. Some explanations suggest it as a ritual issue, others a malignant manifestation, a heresy, a mental disorder or disorder, a disturbance, a perversion, a deviation, until the current consideration of being a different orientation of sexuality is reached. According to DW Cory (1970), he states that the word homosexuality for both men and women will be used to refer to the practice,sexual activity and psychological arousal that makes the sexual act or establishing an affective relationship with people of the same sex desired.
Little information is available regarding homosexuality in women. Female homosexuality or lesbianism is characterized by the relationship and sexual or emotional attraction between women.
The term lesbianism comes from the name of the Greek island of Lesbos, the place where Sappho lived, the main exponent who alludes to this by writing love poems addressed to women. Example: "With the soft Venus, In a delicious bed, I slept among roses, I slept loving dreams…" (O'neill, C.1960). Alfred Ch. Kinsey (1939) observed that there is no clear separation between heterosexual and homosexual behavior. In surveys of the time, 10% of women and 28% of men admitted to having homosexual behaviors and 37% of men to be interested in homosexuality.
Another example in research on sexual behavior was Masters and Johnson who worked on sexual response in 1954. There is no doubt that there are morphologically very feminine men and viriloid women, it may even happen that this coincides with homosexual tendencies and in that case we cannot We would think that such tendencies result from the organic situation, however, it is not uncommon to find morphologically ambiguous subjects, including the voice that have exclusively heterosexual tendencies, it is still more common to see homosexuals who present a completely normal morphology, the gestural behavior can be deceiving. Such a boy speaks like a woman, he sways when he walks, he is effeminate… in short, he does constantly, usually without unconscious desire and in spite of himself,the role of a cartoon woman. Indeed, when you observe it, you immediately notice that it acts and that it exaggerates. Now, the somatic, genetic and hormonal examination is completely normal (cf. Oraison, M. 1978, pp. 97).
Apparently the issue of homosexuality refers to a stereotype of behavior and personal grooming, in addition to locating it exclusively in the masculine mode, but what happens in the feminine part? Is it possible to find a stereotype of feminine homosexual behavior? What elements characterize it? What about schooling, occupation, religion, sexual development and sexual activity, how do you rate the degree of pleasure in heterosexual versus homosexual conditions? What other variables would be associated with female homosexuality ?, among others. Therefore, the objective of this work was to inquire about homosexual behavior in women around these questions. It was intended to have a first approach to this issue due to the lack of research in this regard,specifically in the Mexican population.
In Mexico, hardly any attempts have been made to approach the study of sexuality, in general, and even less with respect to its variants (cf. Gómez Robleda 1948; Muñoz, 1961; Ramírez S; 1977; Döring, 1994; Santiago H., and Sánchez, G., 1996, among others). The importance of developing this type of studies lies in: knowing the sexual response, in general, and of female homosexuality, in particular, of Mexican women.
Methodology
Subjects: 152 women, who admitted to being lesbians, members of lesbian organizations, discos and cafeterias, between 15 and 58 years old, participated, and they collaborated voluntarily. The type of sampling was accidental. There was no type of incentive or economic remuneration.
Setting: The social gathering center called El Closet de Sor Juana , a lesbian organization that offers cultural activities and group therapy. Las Virreynas cafeteria and discos for homosexuals.
Materials and instruments: Stationery material. Structured type printed questionnaire composed of 119 variables, designed for the exclusive purposes of this research, divided into questions that were classified into 6 categories: General data. Tastes and preferences Development and sexual activity Social and family relationships Courtship and emotional relationships Self-concept and perception of their sexual preference.
Procedure: The questionnaires were applied in the form of an interview, individually in a period of approximately 30 minutes each. All were applied in the evening, from Tuesday to Sunday, without the presence of third parties. The instructions were in writing and included the objectives of the investigation. When the interview was in a disco or cafeteria, it was always ensured that the interviewee had not ingested alcoholic beverages.
Analysis of data
With the data obtained, a frequency analysis was carried out to establish which are the variables that characterize lesbian behavior. The results obtained were the following:
Regarding the age variable, the mean is 25 and the mode is 24 years old, the minimum value was 15 and the maximum was 58 years.
Mexico, this is the religion that most predominates in the population.
For religion, it can be seen that the highest value was 63%, which refers to the Catholic category. It is surely due to the fact that in Mexico it is the predominant religion.
For schooling, a higher percentage 28.3% have completed high school and 11.2% have a bachelor's level in the area of visual arts ( qv, figure 3).
It is striking that in the order of progeniture, the maximum values correspond to the last place with 24% and 23% are first-born.
Considering that in this sample most of the subjects are adolescents or young people, for the marital status variable, it is found that 90.1% are single and 5.3% live with their female partners.
For the occupation variable, 33% are students, 20% work professionally, and 18% are employees.
Regarding their sexual development, there are the following variables, first the age at which the menarche appeared , the mean was 12.5 years and the mode was 13 years.
Regarding the variable , age at which he was hammered for the first time, it was found that 29% were up to 15 years, 25% were up to 20 years, and 23.7% commented that they had not.
For the variable age of the first arousal they experienced, the mode was 12 years and the mean was 15 years.
Regarding the reason that caused that first excitement, 26% responded that it was when they saw a woman, without having contact with her, 22% was contact with a woman (a touch, kiss, hug), and 15% were contact with a man.
The variable with whom they had their first non-coital sexual contact, yielded 60% that it was with a man, while 37% that it was with a woman.
The variable relative to what age they had their first non-intimate or coital lesbian contact, a mode of 15 years and a mean of 17.5 years was obtained.
Regarding the age variable at which they were fully aware of their sexual preference, which did not imply accepting themselves as homosexual, the average was 20 years old and the mode was 18 years old.
Regarding what makes them lesbians, 71.1% consider that it is because their sexual orientation is towards women and 15.8% answered that it is due to nature because they were born that way, it was not something that they chose.
In the variable age at which they had their first intimate or coital relationship with a woman, 45% had their first relationship between 16 and 20 years, 18% between 21 and 25 and before 15 years, 16%.
The variable have had coital sexual relations with men, 21.1% report that they have not had them because they are not interested in being with a man in any condition, 12.5% said that they have had them for love; and with the same value of 10.5% each, they commented that they did have them to define themselves and out of curiosity.
Regarding the level that women reached after having a coital relationship with a man, 25% rated satisfaction as fair, while 24% rated it as low; 23% rated it as null; 13% did not reply.
Regarding the variable that exposes the level reached when having an intimate or coital relationship with a woman, 67% reached the intense level and 23% a high level; 5% mark it as regular and 5% do not answer. Low and null frequencies are not obtained.
The variable, which are the elements that a woman possesses, which awaken her sexual desire, 30.3% answered that, the beautiful body, "good", 13.8% argued that their feelings, and 12.5% said that the feminine that projects his person.
Discussion
The data suggest that female homosexuality, like heterosexuality, presents a wide variability in its manifestation and in this it coincides with that reported by Sánchez et al. (2001), for female sexuality. Behavior patterns are essentially the same between homosexuals and heterosexuals, for example, for a couple relationship to begin (so named by themselves), one of the parties takes the initiative by courting, flirting, in general attending to the other party, while the assisted party plays a rather passive role; although it should be noted that they do not recognize the existence of roles such as those that occur in a heterosexual relationship. Another aspect that confirms the above, refers to the element that aroused their sexual desire, since the answers they provided are of the type that heterosexual people give: the physical appearance, mainly. Data that coincides with that reported by Kinsey (1939).
There are variables that attract attention, for example the place of the offspring, it is found that the first-born and the last have a frequency greater than 20%, it would be convenient to investigate this variable more exhaustively. Like the age at which they were discovered or fully aware of their sexual preference. Another interesting variable turned out to be the level of excitement reached in a relationship, in the case of those who have had heterosexual relationships, the maximum level reached is that of regular with 25%; whereas, when the relationship has been with a woman, 67% report having reached the level of intense. This line should be explored further, since it suggests a manifest hedonism.
In general terms, this turns out to be a first approximation for the elaboration of a characterization of the sexual behavior of lesbians, although it should be noted that some variables concurred, which could make this an exploratory or pilot study. In general, it is convenient to expand the size of the sample, regionalize it, reduce the period of the investigation and modify some variables and include others, such as those, which allow to inquire about the social and intimate relationship they have with their social circle and with their partner respectively. In addition to paying particular attention to each of the areas of this work, eventually developing other instruments to obtain specific data.
The lack of information regarding sexual diversity implies a poor knowledge, understanding and understanding of it, in this sense, addressing the variants of homosexuality would be worthy of another study, for example so that when talking about homosexuality it is not confused with transvestism; That the reference was for men and women in the same way, that it is not attributed to gestures, gestures or mannerisms devoid of other elements that people assume for this, is a determining factor in talking about it or assuming it. Therefore, researching more about the social, psychological and biological elements, as a cause or causes that generate this preference, is something that should also continue to be done.
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