Dr Zuleyka Zevallos

Study picks up same trend we see in OECD nations: more women *report* same-sex attraction. Researchers want to know why & jump to evolution

There is plethora of research that already explains this: it is *relatively* more socially acceptable for women to admit same-sex attraction

#Sociology studies 3 broad elements of sexuality: identity, attraction and behaviour. These 3 do not always match up in ways people expect.

People may have heterosexual identity but experience desire for same gender, or may have one or several sexual encounters with same gender

Heterosexual women are more willing to report same sex attraction & have acted on it. Hetero men less likely to act on same sex attraction

Heterosexual men experience higher psychosocial distress when they have same sex attraction because homophobia is stronger for them

Norms about desire in Western culture have changed over time, shaping sexual behaviour. Women's sexuality was once pathologised as excessive

Laws governing age of sexual consent today are different for hetero people, gay men & lesbians because of the legacy of Queen Victoria

Queen would not consider that women would have sex with women, so medicalisation of homosexuality initially focused on men. ∴ different laws

Over time, as fiction & pornography changed, heterosexual male norms appropriated women having sex with women as a sexual fantasy.

Back to the study: it asks: why do more women report attraction to women? Well, sexuality studies have answered this: sanctions have changed

While it is more socially acceptable for women to report same-gender attraction, the sanctions are tougher on lesbians & bisexual women

That is heterosexual women may fantasise & act on same-gender attraction, but they do so b/c it doesn't really disrupt heterosexual identity

Greek study does not take this into account. Instead, it argues that men's desire & approval of seeing women together is evolutionary drive

So its hypothesis is already flawed: it forces an evolutionary perspective that does not take into history & culture, as I've just shown.

Study begins by considering that same-gender attraction in women may be a genetic mutation. To put it another way: that it's abnormal. WRONG

Taking a leaf out of Queen Victoria handbook, study does not consider gay men's sex with empiricism or how gay sex fits with this evo theory

Study does not ask (under their warped logic): has gay men's sex evolved to satisfy heterosexual men's evolution?

Consider why this was not even hypothesised: homophobia prevents a male-led team to apply same (erroneous) evo psych logic to gay men

Study then admits that gene mutation is not the whole story- mind you the references cited DO NOT have emprirical evidence for this theory

In fact, of the 7 sources cited, 3 are general texts on sexuality NOT proof of gene mutation & rest are the 1st author citing himself (!).

Study then develops its "male choice hypothesis" for same-gender attraction among women using the NON SCIENTIFIC concept of cuckoldry.

Cuckoldry is the idea that hetero men need to protect themselves from women who may trick them to raise kids that aren't biologically theirs

Cuckoldry is a historical idea that stems from Christianity & colonialsim. It transformed institution of marriage to protect men's assets.

Study argues that since violence against women is tough to maintain (!), having same-gender attracted partner increases evolutionary fitness

Authors argue this is because women who have sex with women don't get pregnant, so they won't trick men into looking after extra babies