Rosario Margaret, Schrimshaw Eric W, Hunter Joyce, Levy-Warren Anna
Department of Psychology, The City University of New York-The City College and Graduate Center, Convent Avenue and 138th Street, New York, NY 10031, USA.
Arch Sex Behav. 2009 Feb;38(1):34-49. doi: 10.1007/s10508-007-9221-0. Epub 2007 Sep 26.
Research on lesbian and bisexual women has documented various biological and behavioral differences between butch and femme women. However, little research has examined whether differences exist in sexual identity development (i.e., the coming-out process). The present study examined longitudinally potential butch/femme differences in sexual identity formation and integration among an ethnically diverse sample of 76 self-identified lesbian and bisexual young women (ages 14-21 years). A composite measure of butch/femme identity classified 43% as butch and 51% as femme. Initial comparisons found butch/femme differences in sexual identity (i.e., nearly all butches identified as lesbian, but about half of femmes identified as bisexual), suggesting the need to examine this confound. Comparisons of lesbian butches, lesbian femmes, and bisexual femmes found that lesbian butches and femmes generally did not differ on sexual identity formation, but they differed from bisexual femmes. Lesbian butches and femmes had sexual behaviors and a cognitive sexual orientation that were more centered on women than those of bisexual femmes. With respect to sexual identity integration, lesbian butches were involved in more gay social activities, were more comfortable with others knowing about their homosexuality, and were more certain, comfortable, and accepting of their sexual identity than were bisexual femmes. Fewer differences were found between lesbian femmes and bisexual femmes or between lesbian butches and lesbian femmes. The findings suggest that sexual identity formation does not differ between butch or femme women, but differences are linked to sexual identity as lesbian or bisexual. Further, the findings that lesbian femmes sometimes differed from lesbian butches and at other times from bisexual femmes on sexual identity integration suggest that neither sexual identity nor butch/femme alone may explain sexual identity integration. Research examining the intersection between sexual identity and butch/ femme is needed.
针对女同性恋和双性恋女性的研究记录了阳刚气质和阴柔气质的女性之间存在的各种生理和行为差异。然而，很少有研究探讨在性身份发展（即出柜过程）方面是否存在差异。本研究纵向考察了76名自我认定为女同性恋和双性恋的年轻女性（年龄在14至21岁之间）这一具有种族多样性的样本中，阳刚气质/阴柔气质在性身份形成和整合方面的潜在差异。一项关于阳刚气质/阴柔气质身份的综合测量将43%的人归类为阳刚气质，51%的人归类为阴柔气质。初步比较发现阳刚气质/阴柔气质在性身份上存在差异（即几乎所有阳刚气质的女性都认定自己为女同性恋，但约一半阴柔气质的女性认定自己为双性恋），这表明有必要研究这种混淆因素。对女同性恋阳刚气质者、女同性恋阴柔气质者和双性恋阴柔气质者的比较发现，女同性恋阳刚气质者和阴柔气质者在性身份形成方面通常没有差异，但她们与双性恋阴柔气质者不同。女同性恋阳刚气质者和阴柔气质者的性行为和认知性取向比双性恋阴柔气质者更以女性为中心。在性身份整合方面，女同性恋阳刚气质者比双性恋阴柔气质者参与更多的同性恋社交活动，对他人知晓自己的同性恋身份更自在，对自己的性身份更确定、自在且接纳。女同性恋阴柔气质者和双性恋阴柔气质者之间以及女同性恋阳刚气质者和女同性恋阴柔气质者之间的差异较少。研究结果表明，阳刚气质或阴柔气质的女性在性身份形成上没有差异，但差异与作为女同性恋或双性恋的性身份有关。此外，女同性恋阴柔气质者在性身份整合方面有时与女同性恋阳刚气质者不同，有时又与双性恋阴柔气质者不同，这一研究结果表明，性身份本身或阳刚气质/阴柔气质本身都可能无法解释性身份整合。需要开展研究来考察性身份与阳刚气质/阴柔气质之间的交叉关系。
