Study Says Men Prefer Women Who Are Attracted To Other Women

Women who date, sleep with, or are just physically or sexually attracted to other women don’t do it for the male gaze (at least most of them don’t). Bisexual, lesbian, and pansexual women enjoy relationships with each other because it’s what feels right for us, and I think it’s safe to say that men are the furthest things from any of our minds while we’re in them. Still, new research has revealed that a significant number of straight men are more attracted to queer women. Wait, what?

The cross-cultural study performed by researchers from the UK’s Aberystwyth University, Shanghai’s Fudan University, and the University of Nicosia in Cyprus drew on data gathered from 1,021 Chinese men and 390 British ones to find that “a substantial proportion of men preferred a partner who was attracted to both sexes.”

To get down into the nitty-gritty, one in four Chinese men and one in three British men wanted women who were occasionally interested in other women though still predominantly attracted to men. Because of course, women should only ever want to be with other women when a guy thinks it’s sexy/OK. Ugh. Of course, none of this is surprising given that men love lesbian porn so much—something in their brains is hard-wired to want to see us together… so long as we don’t enjoy ourselves TOO much and totally replace them.

Incidentally, this preference doesn’t work both ways. Men were 6.49x more likely to be into their partner having same-sex attraction than women were. This could be in part because most women don’t view men’s sexuality as performative, and partly because many of us don’t GAF who a guy’s attracted to as long as it’s us he’s with. I mean, that doesn’t take rocket science.

As study co-author Menelaos Apostolou explained, “I believe that same-sex attraction in heterosexual women constitutes a normal variation in sexual attraction, and it is not something abnormal that women should feel shame for or worry about.”

“Similarly, a male preference for same-sex attraction in women constitutes a normal variation of male sexual preferences and should not be considered abnormal. This preference is probably one of the reasons why many women have evolved same-sex attraction in the first place.”

I can’t say I particularly agree with the study co-author. Newsflash, bro: not everything women do is about men or because of them. We are indeed our own unique individuals capable of evolving and developing and feeling entirely outside of men’s desires, preferences, and ideals. Get a grip.

Bolde has been a source of dating and relationship advice for single women around the world since 2014. We combine scientific data, experiential wisdom, and personal anecdotes to provide help and encouragement to those frustrated by the journey to find love. Follow us on Instagram @bolde_media or on Facebook @BoldeMedia
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