Sexual Orientation Body Image and Sexual Functioning

Comparisons were made between 78 heterosexual men, 113 heterosexual women, 55 gay men, and 54 lesbians (N = 300) on a variety of body-image and sexual-functioning measures. In comparison to heterosexual men, gay men were more cognitively invested in their appearance, less satisfied with their muscularity and physical fitness, and were less invested in their fitness. Gay men also evidenced a relatively stronger sex drive and experienced premature ejaculation less frequently and inhibited orgasm more frequently. In comparison to heterosexual women, lesbians were more satisfied with their body areas, less cognitively and behaviorally invested in their appearance, and less worried about being or becoming overweight. Lesbians also evidenced a relatively stronger sex drive, were more orgasmic, and experienced problems with arousal and dyspareunia less frequently and problems with sexual aversion or avoidance more frequently. Correlations between body-image and sexual-functioning measures suggested unique relationships among groups. A discussion of the findings and suggestions for future research are given.