Women’s Sexual Initiation in Same- and Mixed-Sex Relationships: How Often and How?

Abstract

Past research has demonstrated that women initiate sex less frequently than men in mixed-sex relationships, perhaps due to traditional sexual scripts that promote rigid gender roles in sexual interactions. However, there is no existing research on sexual initiation among women in same-sex relationships. This study investigated women’s frequency and proportion of sexual initiation behaviors within mixed-sex and same-sex relationships, as well as the strategies women commonly used for initiating sex. Data were collected through retrospective reports (N = 351; 242 women with male partners and 109 with female partners) and two-week daily diaries (N = 60; 29 women with male partners and 31 with female partners). Results indicated that, across relationship type, women reported fairly balanced sexual initiation with their partners, with women in same-sex relationships reporting higher rates of initiation than women in mixed-sex relationships based on retrospective reports but not based on daily diaries. Women in mixed-sex relationships reported using a higher proportion of direct initiation strategies than women in same-sex relationships in the retrospective portion but not the daily diary portion of the project. These results challenge a number of gender and sexuality-related stereotypes about women in general and women in same-sex relationships specifically.

Funding and Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Jayne Stake Feminist Research Award from the University of Missouri–St. Louis. The authors are grateful to Ann Steffen, Susan Kashubeck-West, and Matt Taylor for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper.