Chemical sexuality

[andrewducker]

Reuters reports on another link between sex hormones and sexuality.

PCOS is strongly linked to high levels of androgens (like testosterone). It's now also strongly linked to lesbians:
"The prevalence of PCOS is two and a half times, almost three times, as high in lesbian women compared to heterosexual women."

The London clinic was among the first centers in Europe to offer fertility treatment to lesbians and single women. In a study of 618 women treated at the clinic, Agrawal discovered that 38 percent of the lesbian women had PCOS, compared to 14 percent of the heterosexual women.

Now, 518 isn't a huge sample size by anyone's standards, but it's yet another link between testosterone levels and sexuality.

Comments

[kpollock.livejournal.com]

Maybe where the "fat lesbian" sterotype comes from?

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

But making correlations between menstrual/ reproductive disorders and lesbian-ness is always a bit dodgy. In this specfic case, what springs to mind is: many people with PCOS are treated by going on the contraceptive pill. Many more heterosexually-active women than homosexually-active women take the pill. How many undiagnosed cases of PCOS are being unknowingly treated into a symptomless state among women on the pill for contraceptive reasons?

There's other stuff, like lesbians apparently having more irregular periods than straight women, on average, that can be really well explained by the lower rate of taking the pill.

That's not to say I don't think there are correlations between high testosterone in women and lesbianism. I know too many butch dykes not to think there's something there. It's just really not clear what that is.