Female homosexuality and body build.

A recent report utilizing self-reported and small-small-size data suggests that group differences in body build between heterosexual and homosexual women are likely to be minor. The data presented in this paper do not support this contention. Interviews were conducted with 241 nonpatient, exclusively homosexual women to determine their socioeconomic status, their psychosexual identification, and their overt sexual behavior patterns. The entire sample was then divided into seven psychosexual/behavioral categories derived from the interview data. Anthropometric data were collected for five subsamples and included (1) height measurements, (2) biacromial and bi-iliac measurements, (3) androgyny scores, (4) arm and leg girth measurements, (5) bicondylar diameters of the femur and humerus, (6) triceps, subscapular, and suprailiac skinfolds, and (7) somatotype profiles. These data indicate that the homosexual women have narrower hips, increased arm and leg girths, less subcutaneous fat, and more muscle than heterosexual women.