Pupil Study shows bi men exist, straight women don't?

[TallOne]

The way people's pupils react when they see other people is an effective way to assess sexual orientation, according to a new study.
The reactions of study participants' pupils revealed that heterosexual men responded most to images of women and homosexual men responded most to images of men.
Additionally, researchers found that homosexual women responded most to images of women, and heterosexual women expressed arousal in response to both men and women, though they were more likely to choose to watch men.
Previous studies have shown that people's pupils widen in response to seeing others who they find attractive; the new study showed that, indeed, a person's sexuality is evident in their pupils' responses.
Results also revealed that bisexual men were attracted to both men and women, an idea that has been disputed, and that heterosexual women may be aroused by both genders, despite being straight.
"The pupil reacts very quickly, and it is unconscious, so it's a method that gives us a subconscious indicator of sexuality," said lead study author Gerulf Rieger, a researcher at Cornell University.Sex researchers don't always want to rely on people's own reports about who they are sexually attracted to, because cultural and societal pressures can influence what people say, he explained.
The findings are detailed today (Aug. 3) in the journal PLoS ONE.
Reasons for women's arousal
Researchers asked about 300 study participants to watch 30-second videos of people of both sexes masturbating, and tracked the dilation of participants' pupils in response. The participants also watched simultaneous videos of males and females, and the researchers tracked where they spent more time looking.
The finding that heterosexual women are aroused by both genders is in line with other studies.
"The female brain is not as differentiated," said Sandra Witelson, a professor of psychiatry at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine of McMaster University. "They don’t have as strong a response for only men, as heterosexual men have for only women."
The female tendency to be aroused by both sexes may be because of female brain composition, Witelson said.
Study researcher Ritch Savin-Williams, a psychology professor at Cornell, said women's less-distinct preference for men may be the result of a defense mechanism that evolved to protect women from forced sexual intercourse. If a woman can become aroused with any sort of sexual simulation, the lubrication that results can protect her from injuries.
Bisexual men
The pupils of men in the study who identified themselves as bisexual responded similarly to videos of males and females, confirming that bisexuality truly exists in nature, Savin-Williams said.
This fact has been disputed because of past research suggesting that men who say they are bisexual actually respond only to men, in measurements of genital responses, he said. Some have suggested that being bisexual is not a true state of sexuality, and is instead a sign of someone transitioning to accept himself as being gay.
"I was surprised that the pupil tells us something more in line with what the people tell us, which is not what the penises tell us," Rieger said. In general, studies measuring genital responses are trickier, because such responses vary greatly between people, and are difficult to prompt naturally in a lab setting.
Studies on genital responses from Northwestern University researchers have also confirmed the possibility of male bisexuality, Rieger said.
Overall, the study results show that pupil dilation tests can be used to assess overarching trends in sexuality in a large population, not necessarily the sexual orientation of individuals, Savin-Williams said.
However, the researchers said pupil responses could possibly be used in the future for more specific measurements, like understanding the sexuality of someone on trial for a sex crime, Savin-Williams said.

http://news.yahoo.com/eyes-pupil-dilation-indicates-sexuality-225906910.html

Well it's good to know that I exist.

 

[njlauren]

There have been studies for a long time that suggest that women's sexuality is a lot more fluid then men's, in terms of what turns them on, and women in general are a lot more likely to have experimented in some way with same sex activities then men.

I think what you have to be careful with studies like this is it takes out the emotional element, it only indicates what the person finds erotic. I remember reading a study from almost 40 years ago where women found a lot more things erotic then men did, for example, that women were more fluid in what turned them on...and yes, women are generally a lot more experimentive than men when it comes to same sex experience, they are a bit more fluid, in part I suspect because in society the idea of two women is considered 'hot' whereas two men is not (at least that people will admit), so it gets difficult.

The other thing you have to be careful for with reactive studies like this is projection. A book I read years ago called 'Sexual Landscapes' talked about this, that a woman looking at let's say a nude picture of a woman, can be turned on projecting herself into being that woman in the image and in effect getting turned on by subconsciously thinking 'it would be hot to look like her'). Sometimes, too, images are simply erotic, and both men and women can be turned on without having the least desire, for example, to want to sleep with a same sex partner. A lot of women are turned on by gay male porn apparently, and one theory on that is they are projecting themselves as one of the partners (which is often claimed for men's attraction to two women having sex, but I am not entirely certain I agree with that one...).

The real problem with the study is it takes something out of sexuality that is important, the emotions. Yes, a lot of women can be turned on by erotic images of women, but have no desire, no attraction, to women as a sexual partner (they may fantasize or wonder, of course, but the 'thing that makes you do that' isn't there...), and I suspect it is because emotionally there is nothing there and can't be, that the 'lust' factor is there but not the 'desire' (those are approximate terms, couldn't come up with ones that really matches what I meant).

I do think women are more fluid, though, and I think there are a lot more women who are bi in the sense that they actually will explore or maybe even end up in a same sex relationship..I think it also shows with attitudes towards homosexuality, women by far are a lot more tolerant and/or accepting of gays then men are, by far.

 

[EMPRESSLAINIE]

I have read that women respond more to sexy stories and men to pictures and movies of sex or nude women.

I am not surprised that I never have been the least aroused by nudes of women, or men, or couples having sex; but I like to look and am very appreciative of the beauty of the women, the good looking men, their nice dicks, and different sexual positions. It still doesn't arouse me any.

BUT when I read a sex story (of which I have written a few), I always wind up with soaked panties.

Guess it does prove that we tgirls really do have a female brain. I know that all my life I have never ever thought or behaved as a guy, even a gay guy, but I was so obtuse I didn't realize it until I was 72.