For Women, Same-Sex Experimentation In College A Myth

A study (PDF) on sexual behavior, attraction and identity released earlier this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that women with at least a bachelor's degree are less likely to have had a same-sex experience than less-educated women.

Between 2006 and 2008, the study's authors asked 13,495 individuals aged 15 to 44 to answer a number of questions about their sexual habits and found that while 9.9 percent of college-educated women said they'd had a sexual experience with a female, 14 to 15 percent of women without a college degree said the same. According to the New York Times, only 1 percent of the 13 percent who reported having had same-sex encounters identified as homosexual, and only 4 percent as bisexual.

The report's findings call into question the popular notion that college campuses are a place for young women to explore their sexuality. Officer of the Council on Contemporary Families and University of Illinois at Chicago professor Barbara Risman says the Lesbian-Until-Graduation (LUG) stereotype has long been exaggerated. "I always thought the LUG phenomenon was overblown, in the context of it being erotically titillating for young men," she told the Times.

The study shows that although educational differences in same sex experience for males were less pronounced than for females, men with some college were nearly 3 percent more likely than men with no college to have had a sexual encounter with another male, and that women are almost twice as likely as men to have had same-sex encounters.

Read the full report here.

What do you think of the study's findings? Are LUGs a myth, or is there some truth to the old stereotype? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Comments

[tree hugger extra]

10:25 PM on 03/21/2011

who cares?

[D Johnson]

05:09 PM on 03/20/2011

suspect validity issues on the self reporting. Bi-sexual 4%, while lesbian only 1% - those stats are typical. I've never really understood bi-sexual identification, always just seemed like "horny, so I'll take where I can get it" rather than a real sexual identification. I may have that all wrong though due to limited knowledge!

[Lily99]

08:28 PM on 03/20/2011

It means we are attracted to both men and women. I usually describe it as being attracted to people rather than genitalia.

[Kathryn K]

08:59 PM on 03/21/2011

Saying bisexuals are just horny or greedy is like saying that straight people have sex with every person of the opposite gender they meet. All it means - if I understand correctly, as I am not bisexual myself - is that whether a person is a man or a woman doesn't impact whether they feel attracted to that person. There's being ignorant, and then there's refusing to learn even the most basic facts about the matter you're discussing before you shoot your mouth off. I think it's pretty clear which one is you, D Johnson.

[Krisgi]

02:52 PM on 03/20/2011

My thoughts are that the difference is negligible and that this is a non-story.

[hypnotoad72]

11:50 AM on 03/20/2011

So a Bachelor's degree is the cure for homosexuality?!

So the claim here is that women with Bachelor's degrees are less likely to get involved in same-sex sexual situations?  Seems a bit of a loose association...

But let's accept the notion, ridiculous as it is, at face value:  Maybe the fundies will pay for the education for everyone that nets everyone a Bachelor's degree when all is said and done.  :rolleyes:

(Hint, peoples' sexual orientation has NOTHING to do with the level of college degree earned, but don't tell the fundies.  College is downright expensive, especially if the return on investment for the students isn't there...)

[Refreshed]

08:02 PM on 03/20/2011

Or it could be that lesbians are less likely to go to college to get a Bachelor's degree.
Or it could be that women in college are busier studying or in a serious relationship that they don't even think about their sexuality.

[greenearthman]

10:09 AM on 03/20/2011

OK, if you say so, but the LUG culture is pervasive at women's schools. Ask the students.

[truly moderate]

09:58 AM on 03/20/2011

Experimentation and curiousity earlier in life are normal and to a degre expected. By the time we are in our mid 20s, we pretty much know what we want. Those Hmmms and curiosities are fully figured out.

Many people who are bi in their early 20s are really just curious. Women are more open about bi-curiosities and tend to explore them more. Guys definately have those curiousities to, but we tend to not explore them. Once our hormones are in order, we either usually stop our curiousities and lead a straight life, or we discover that we are gay and decide to be open and honest with others and ourselves.

[Lily99]

08:30 PM on 03/20/2011

Or we accept that we're bisexual and spend the rest of our lives dealing with people like you who think we're either deluding ourselves and that we're really gay.

[truly moderate]

06:59 AM on 03/21/2011

Wow defensive much? Please don't take offense to this but some within the GLBT community seem to always think they are under attack, or that even when a law promotes equal rights, its still not enough.

As to your response, yes I do believe some people are actually bi-sexual or pan-gender in their sexual identity. I however believe the majority of people eventually realize their full sexual identity is either straight or gay. I don't think you are deluding yourself, but for some people, their full sexual identity is not revealed until their mid 20s. Thats just life hon.

[Drew Becker]

09:21 AM on 03/20/2011

the truth of the matter is i know i have seen a lot of girls makeout at parties...i never though thought girls did anything really past that in college except for maybe a 3 way with 2 girls which i expected to have low numbers like reported

[SilentSolidarity]

03:24 AM on 03/20/2011

Interesting indeed. I wonder where that stereotype came from....

[wandering girl]

04:31 PM on 03/20/2011

straight frat boys

[Mahi Joe]

07:10 PM on 03/20/2011

straight frat boys....that can't get a date.

[way2sunny]

06:36 PM on 03/19/2011

And in other news, pizza delivery boys and UPS guys aren't being indecently propositioned as often as previously thought. What a drag, real life isn't like cheap pron plots!

[Jason McDonald]

04:53 PM on 03/19/2011

For Women, Same-Sex Experimentation In College A Myth.

Really? Let me loan you some films I own.

[VirginiaJeff]

09:46 AM on 03/20/2011

 
Maybe it's the crowd you hang out with.

[The Albany Kid]

04:28 PM on 03/19/2011

I wonder if one relevant wrinkle might be that lesser-educated women are more likely to have spent time in juvenile detention, jail, and/or prison (i.e., places in which lesbian relationships are commonplace) than well-educated women.

[VirginiaJeff]

09:47 AM on 03/20/2011

 
Flagged for your, um, handicap.

[truly moderate]

10:11 AM on 03/20/2011

If a person choses to be gay, its their choice and has no impact on you personally. You might be a "little offended" at PDA, but deal with it. Its called TOLERANCE.

[KathConserv]

04:03 PM on 03/19/2011

WHat does degree and sexual preference have to do with one another? Another Huff Post ridiculous story.

[VirginiaJeff]

09:48 AM on 03/20/2011

 
The story's not about "preference."  It's about experimentation.  Different topic.

[NonPrawf]

02:24 PM on 03/19/2011

College lesbian girls are numerous in my mind.

[catsanon]

06:50 PM on 03/19/2011

But outside of your mind is perhaps a different story.....

[Franken Stine]

01:53 PM on 03/19/2011

Arrest all right wingers and outlaw the republican party!

[Mahi Joe]

07:09 PM on 03/20/2011

OT but faved regardless.

[Kathryn K]

09:03 PM on 03/21/2011

Outlaw all political parties. They're all dogma anyway.