[jen1447]

I also wonder how they defined aroused, was is self reporting and if it was a physical response test, really, how does that work

I think I read about the same study, and IIRC they used self-reporting and some clinical tests/monitoring. Interestingly, I think the results found that women were not always honest (at least the arousal contradicted their own reports) about what they found arousing. I recall that there was a lot of positive response anatomically with women when observing two women together specifically, but not near as many backed that up verbally. That's one of the impressions that leads to my opinion about near universal bisexuality in women, and I don't think it's only cultural. I seem to recall reading about theories that propose that for some reason it's a viable biological or genetic 'strategy' for the species.

Anyway I suppose it wouldn't be tough to look that study up, but from memory the basic results were along the lines of -

Two women together - universally appealing (except to gay men)
Two men together - appealing only to gay men
Man and woman together - appealing to straight men and women (and also gay women or something like that - I recall there was a bit of an unexpected twist somewhere)

That's as applies to the anotomical response test.

edit - updated the list with further recollections

[Trixareforkids]

Why does homosexuality make men seem less masculine? My (horribly stereotyped) image of a gay man is someone who spends way to much time in in the gym trying to sculpt the perfect body.

LOL, this made me chuckle. I think it would be because of the pretty boys, the effeminate ones. My favorite uncle, Herb was as he liked to say "queen as a 3 dollar bill", he swished, he had limp wrist gestures, he was pale and thin and a florist, actually he looked quite a bit like John Waters, without the mustache. Man how I miss him But for every Herb there's probably 2-3 bears, big burly hairy guys. I think it's also because it's assumed that every gay man is a receiver, so if you're taking the "female" roll then you must be more female than male. It's all bunk but all things I've heard over the years spending as much time as I have in the gay community. Attitudes are changing some but people like to hold on to their stereotypes.

[Trixareforkids]

To me, masculinity is associated with headship and desire for a woman. Desire for a man is feminine. Union with a man is feminine.

LOL, I honestly hadn't read this comment yet when I replied to rcoreyus.

[Trixareforkids]

I'll have to do some more searching this evening, but the only study I could find was crap, bad data and questionable conclusions. That was a male only study though so it can't be the one that's been referred to here. I looked up how they measure arousal and it sounded like the best measure was thermo scanning so I'll see if I can find any studies that used that as a measure. I have to say I'd still be skeptical of any data for this because a large part of arousal is mental and frame of mind changes what we find arousing. Personally there are times when almost everything is arousing and other times when only a couple of things are, knowing this about myself I can't believe it's not true of others...

[Trixareforkids]

Ok, so here's what I found on the Psychology of Human Sexuality website:

"let me tell you a little about a talk I recently attended given by Dr. Lisa Diamond entitled “I Was Wrong! Men’s Sexuality is Pretty Darn Fluid Too” (this talk was part of the 2014 SPSP Sexuality Pre-Conference). Diamond conducted the original groundbreaking research on the concept of sexual fluidity in women and, until recently, was one of many who believed that this was something that pretty much only applies to women (although she has never argued that fluidity is characteristic of all women—rather it is just something that a number of women seem to experience).

In this talk, Diamond presented the results of a study of 159 women and 179 men in Salt Lake City, Utah who were equally divided among those who identify as gay/lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual. What she found was that a substantial number of participants appeared to be sexually fluid and, further, that there did not appear to be any major differences between men and women in this regard.

Before we get into those results, I think it is first important to note that in most sex studies, participants are only given the option of selecting one sexual identity label. What we see in those studies is that men are more likely than women to select gay, whereas women are more likely than men to select bisexual—and these findings are often then used as further evidence of men’s “fixed” sexuality and women’s “flexible” sexuality. In Diamond’s new study, however, participants could choose more than one identity label if they desired, and this yielded some interesting findings. Of those women who identified as lesbians, 35% selected at least one other identity as well (e.g., bisexual, queer, unlabeled). Among the men who identified as gay, 36% selected at least one other identity too. What this tells us is that forcing people to choose a single identity label overlooks a lot of important variability, which may incorrectly lead us to believe that men’s sexuality is more “fixed” than it really is.

That said, if we move on to the sexual attraction results, less than half of self-identified gay men and lesbians in this study said that they were only attracted to people of the same-sex during the last year—thus, most reported at least some degree of attraction to people of the other sex. Moreover, 42% of lesbians said that they had masturbated to a male fantasy recently, while 31% of gay men said they had masturbated to a female fantasy recently. Perhaps even more fascinating is the finding that 9% of self-identified lesbians and 12% of self-identified gay men reported actually having sex with someone of the other sex during the last year.

So was this variability in sexual attraction and behavior unique to gays and lesbians? Nope. Self-identified heterosexuals exhibited it too! Believe it or not, 50% of heterosexual women and 25% of heterosexual men reported having at least some recent same-sex attraction. Likewise, 35% of heterosexual women and 24% of heterosexual men reported masturbating to a same-sex fantasy in the last year. And not just that, but 2% of heterosexual women and 9% of heterosexual men reported actually having same-sex contact in the last year."

[Justice]

And just so we're clear, I cannot deep throat, I can't mouth much below the head so I'll lick and use my hand for the lower portion. Mouth f-ing is possible but has to be VERY controlled which we do by combining with boob f-ing. That was probably TMI, but it seemed like you were asking about the logistics and that the best way I know how to describe it.

No Trix not TMI. There was another post a while back that made me think that even though my mouth would not accommodate ... that some sad that many (most?) would be please with more external like much of what you were describing (skipping the mount f...)
But then with other posts where guys seemed kind of adamant that women should MF or DT for their men - it sue seemed otherwise.

[Justice]

Justice, while we both have small mouths and jaw/gagging issues there's probably enough differences in our issues that what would be fine for one of us would make the other gag.

I'm curious, is your gag reaction constant? Mine changes, like my lactose intolerance, sometimes it's fine as long as I'm mindful of it and other times the slightest thing sets it off. Also, how often do you gag when brushing your teeth? When my gag reaction is acting up I can only brush the fronts and do a light mouthwash swish.

Trix - I can brush my teeth no problem - thank God since I have had a lot of dental work.

Having impressions is sheer hell/torture and always has bee (I had braces when I was young) but even worse is when they do top and bottom impressions at the same time. And this is even though they use the kid sized tray. I could not wear my retainer - there is a weird thing about my sinuses and any pressure on the roof of my mouth. I also need to be able to swallow/close my mouth. Since I do have sinus issues I know that I feel like I am suffocating if cannot also breath through my mouth. Interestingly I have had a lot of dental work (genetics) ... my sibling is the one terrified of dentists. I just need to have some measure of control and be able to close my mouth/swallow as needed.

I think rcoreyus mentioned gagging over some disgusting foods - I have that too.

(Since I am emetophobia, gagging is to tied into it.)

[Trixareforkids]

Well I think it would totally depend on the guy. Some actually prefer a BJ to penetration so for guys that are really hot for BJs it would probably be more important than it is for my hubby. Like I said, for me it's a fun little power trip and the hubby knows and respects my issues so I don't have to worry about it going somewhere I'm not able to handle. If you wanted to give it a try make sure it's with someone you trust and layout the rules beforehand. I'd suggest a 69 situation, with a flavored lube you like, for your first explorations, that way you're both a bit distracted and there's not a lot less pressure and if it doesn't go well you can just use hands and tongue.

[Trixareforkids]

Trix - I can brush my teeth no problem - thank God since I have had a lot of dental work.

Ugh, I gag at least a couple of times a week when brushing my teeth and I use a tiny brush head (love my cybersonic toothbrush) it's really annoying. It happens so quickly and seemingly randomly that with my mouth already open I've got no chance of stopping it so I can't brush my teeth after I eat, I have to wait at least 2 hours or bad thing man, bad things.

[rcoreyus]

On the male vs. female study, my memory matches Jen's pretty well. I don't remember where it was from though.

For BJs and the like, different men like different things. I have no interest in my wife doing DT, or MF. It does matter though that she take at lest the head in her mouth and lets me finish that way, though I couldn't care less if she swallows. (no I have no idea why these things matter or not). Other men like different combinations of things.

Drifting back to the original topic, while getting a BJ is my favorite sexual activity and I get it very rarely, I would have no interest in getting one from a man. In fact (again I can't explain this) I'd rather give a man a BJ than receive one from a man. (I have no desire to do this, but I don't find the idea especially repulsive).

As I think about it, I think that male vs. female is more important in face than in genitals. I could more easily imagine being intimate with someone with a female face and male genitals than the reverse. I'd still much prefer all female. This brings up a question - in fantasy how do people feel about hermaphrodites etc. If you fantasize about someone who is a mix of male and female, what parts do you imagine as what genders.