Most women are either bisexual or gay but “never straight”, a study suggests.
Research has found that though lesbians are much more attracted to the female form, most women who say they are straight are in fact aroused by videos of both naked men and naked women.
The study, led by Dr Gerulf Rieger from the Department of Psychology at the University of Essex, involved 345 women whose responses to being shown videos of naked men and women were analysed.
The results, which were based on elements such as whether their pupils dilated in response to sexual stimuli, showed that 82% of the women tested were aroused by both sexes.
Meanwhile of the women who identified as straight, 74% were strongly sexually aroused by videos of both attractive men and attractive women.
Lesbians showed stronger sexual responses to women than to men
This was in contrast to lesbians, who showed much stronger sexual responses to women than to men.
The researchers said lesbians were the most like men in their responses because it is usually men who show distinct sexual responses to their favourite sex.
Dr Rieger said: “Even though the majority of women identify as straight, our research clearly demonstrates that when it comes to what turns them on, they are either bisexual or gay, but never straight.”
Dr Rieger also said his study showed that lesbians who may dress in a more masculine way may not have more masculine behaviours.
“Although some lesbians were more masculine in their sexual arousal, and others were more masculine in their behaviours, there was no indication that these were the same women,” he said.
“This shows us that how women appear in public does not mean that we know anything about their sexual role preferences.”