Abstract
Research on lesbian and bisexual women has documented various biological and behavioral differences between butch and femme women. However, little research has examined whether differences exist in sexual identity development (i.e., the coming-out process). The present study examined longitudinally potential butch/femme differences in sexual identity formation and integration among an ethnically diverse sample of 76 self-identified lesbian and bisexual young women (ages 14–21 years). A composite measure of butch/femme identity classified 43% as butch and 51% as femme. Initial comparisons found butch/femme differences in sexual identity (i.e., nearly all butches identified as lesbian, but about half of femmes identified as bisexual), suggesting the need to examine this confound. Comparisons of lesbian butches, lesbian femmes, and bisexual femmes found that lesbian butches and femmes generally did not differ on sexual identity formation, but they differed from bisexual femmes. Lesbian butches and femmes had sexual behaviors and a cognitive sexual orientation that were more centered on women than those of bisexual femmes. With respect to sexual identity integration, lesbian butches were involved in more gay social activities, were more comfortable with others knowing about their homosexuality, and were more certain, comfortable, and accepting of their sexual identity than were bisexual femmes. Fewer differences were found between lesbian femmes and bisexual femmes or between lesbian butches and lesbian femmes. The findings suggest that sexual identity formation does not differ between butch or femme women, but differences are linked to sexual identity as lesbian or bisexual. Further, the findings that lesbian femmes sometimes differed from lesbian butches and at other times from bisexual femmes on sexual identity integration suggest that neither sexual identity nor butch/femme alone may explain sexual identity integration. Research examining the intersection between sexual identity and butch/ femme is needed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bailey, J. M., Kim, P. Y., Hills, A., & Linsenmeier, J. A. W. (1997). Butch, femme, or straight acting? Partner preferences of gay men and lesbians. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 960–973.
Brown, W. M., Finn, C. J., Cooke, B. M., & Breedlove, S. M. (2002). Differences in finger length ratios between self-identified “butch” and “femme” lesbians. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 31, 123–127.
Carr, C. L. (2005). Tomboyism or lesbianism? Beyond sex/gender/sexual conflation. Sex Roles, 53, 119–131.
Cass, V. C. (1979). Homosexual identity formation: A theoretical model. Journal of Homosexuality, 4, 219–235.
Chapman, B. E., & Brannock, J. C. (1987). Proposed model of lesbian identity development: An empirical examination. Journal of Homosexuality, 14, 69–80.
Cogan, J. C. (1999). Lesbians walk the tightrope of beauty: Thin is in but femme is out. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 3, 77–89.
Crawley, S. L. (2001). Are butch and fem working-class and antifeminist? Gender & Society, 15, 175–196.
Crowne, D. P., & Marlowe, D. (1964). The approval motive. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Diamond, L. M. (2000). Sexual identity, attractions, and behavior among young sexual-minority women over a 2-year period. Developmental Psychology, 36, 241–250.
Diamond, L. M. (2005). A new view of lesbian identity subtypes: Stable versus fluid identity trajectories over an 8-year period. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 29, 119–128.
Diamond, L. M., & Savin-Williams, R. C. (2000). Explaining diversity in the development of same-sex sexuality among young women. Journal of Social Issues, 56, 297–313.
Fassinger, R. E., & Miller, B. A. (1996). Validation of an inclusive model of sexual minority identity formation on a sample of gay men. Journal of Homosexuality, 32, 53–78.
Floyd, F. J., & Stein, T. S. (2002). Sexual orientation identity formation among gay, lesbian, and bisexual youths: Multiple patterns of milestone experiences. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 12, 167–191.
Goodman, L. A., & Kruskal, W. H. (1979). Measures of association for cross classification. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Hiestand, K. R., & Levitt, H. M. (2005). Butch identity development: The formation of an authentic gender. Feminism & Psychology, 15, 61–85.
Krakauer, I. D., & Rose, S. M. (2002). The impact of group membership on lesbians’ physical appearance. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 6, 31–43.
Kennedy, E. L., & Davis, M. (1989). The reproduction of butch-fem roles: A social constructionist approach. In K. Peiss & C. Simmons (Eds.), Passion and power: Sexuality in history (pp. 241–256). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Kennedy, E. L., & Davis, M. (1992). “They was no one to mess with”: The construction of butch role im the lesbian community of the 1940s and 1950s. In J. Nestle (Ed.), The persistent desire: A femme-butch reader (pp. 62–79). Boston: Alyson.
Kitzinger, C., & Wilkinson, S. (1995). Transitions from heterosexuality to lesbianism: The discursive production of lesbian identities. Developmental Psychology, 31, 95–104.
Levitt, H. M., Gerrish, E. A., & Hiestand, K. R. (2003). The misunderstood gender: A model of modern femme identity. Sex Roles, 48, 99–113.
Levitt, H. M., & Hiestand, K. R. (2004). A quest for authenticity: Contemporary butch gender. Sex Roles, 50, 605–621.
Levitt, H. M., & Hiestand, K. R. (2005). Gender within lesbian sexuality: Butch and femme perspectives. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 18, 39–51.
Levitt, H. M., & Horne, S. G. (2002). Explorations of lesbian-queer genders: Butch, femme, androgynous or “other.” Journal of Lesbian Studies, 6, 25–39.
Loulan, J. (1990). The lesbian erotic dance: Butch, femme, androgyny and other rhythms. Minneapolis, MN: Spinsters Ink.
MacCowan, L. (1992). Re-collecting history, renaming lives: Femme stigma and the feminist seventies and eighties. In J. Nestle (Ed.), The persistent desire: A femme-butch reader (pp. 299–328). Boston: Alyson.
Maguen, S., Floyd, F. J., Bakeman, R., & Armistead, L. (2002). Developmental milestones and disclosure of sexual orientation among gay, lesbian, and bisexual youths. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 23, 219–233.
Meyer-Bahlburg, H. F. L., Ehrhardt, A. A., Exner, T. M., & Gruen, R. S. (1994). Sexual risk behavior assessment schedule-youth. New York, NY: HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute.
Minton, H. L., & McDonald, G. J. (1984). Homosexual identity formation as a developmental process. Journal of Homosexuality, 9, 91–104.
Morris, J. F. (1997). Lesbian coming out as a multidimensional process. Journal of Homosexuality, 33, 1–22.
Nestle, J. (1992). The femme question. In J. Nestle (Ed.), The persistent desire: A femme-butch reader (pp. 138–146). Boston: Alyson.
Nungesser, L. (1983). Homosexual acts, actors, and identities. New York: Praeger.
Pearcey, S. M., Docherty, K. J., & Dabbs, J. M. (1996). Testosterone and sex role identification in lesbian couples. Physiology & Behavior, 60, 1033–1035.
Peplau, L. A., & Garnets, L. D. (2000). A new paradigm for understanding women’s sexuality and sexual orientation. Journal of Social Issues, 56, 329–350.
Rosario, M., Hunter, J., Maguen, S., Gwadz, M., & Smith, R. (2001). The coming-out process and its adaptational and health-related associations among gay, lesbian, and bisexual youths: Stipulation and exploration of a model. American Journal of Community Psychology, 29, 133–160.
Rosario, M., Meyer-Bahlburg, H. F. L., Hunter, J., Exner, T. M., Gwadz, M., & Keller, A. M. (1996). The psychosexual development of urban lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths. Journal of Sex Research, 33, 113–126.
Rosario, M., Schrimshaw, E. W., & Hunter, J. (2004). Ethnic/racial differences in the coming-out process of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths: A comparison of sexual identity development over time. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 10, 215–228.
Rosario, M., Schrimshaw, E. W., Hunter, J., & Braun, L. (2006). Sexual identity development among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths: Consistency and change over time. Journal of Sex Research, 43, 46–58.
Rust, P. C. (1993). “Coming out” in the age of social constructionism: Sexual identity formation among lesbian and bisexual women. Gender & Society, 7, 50–77.
Safren, S. A., & Heimberg, R. G. (1999). Depression, hopelessness, suicidality, and related factors in sexual minority and heterosexual adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67, 859–866.
Savin-Williams, R. C., & Diamond, L. M. (2000). Sexual identity trajectories among sexual-minority youths: Gender comparisons. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 29, 607–627.
Schneider, M. S. (2001). Toward a reconceptualization of the coming-out process for adolescent females. In A. R. D’Augelli & C. J. Patterson (Eds.), Lesbian, gay, and bisexual identities and youth: Psychological perspectives (pp. 71–96). New York: Oxford.
Schrimshaw, E. W., Rosario, M., Meyer-Bahlburg, H. F. L., & Shaft-Matlick, A. A. (2006). Test-retest reliability of self-reported sexual behavior, sexual orientation, and psychosexual milestones among gay, lesbian, and bisexual youths. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 35, 225–234.
Singh, D., Vidaurri, M., Zambarano, R. J., & Dabbs, J. M. (1999). Lesbian erotic role identification: Behavioral, morphological, and hormonal correlates. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 1035–1049.
Smith, C. A., & Stillman, S. (2002). Butch/femme in the personal advertisements of lesbians. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 6, 45–51.
Troiden, R. R. (1989). The formation of homosexual identities. Journal of Homosexuality, 17, 43–73.
Weber, J. C. (1996). Social class as a correlate of gender identity among lesbian women. Sex Roles, 35, 271–280.
Whitam, F. L., Daskalos, C., Sobolewski, C. G., & Padilla, P. (1998). The emergence of lesbian sexuality and identity cross-culturally: Brazil, Peru, the Philippines, and the United States. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 27, 31–56.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Center Grant P50-MH43520 (Margaret Rosario, Principal Investigator of research project “HIV Risk and Coming-Out Among Gay and Lesbian Adolescents”; Anke A. Ehrhardt, Principal Investigator of the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rosario, M., Schrimshaw, E.W., Hunter, J. et al. The Coming-Out Process of Young Lesbian and Bisexual Women: Are There Butch/Femme Differences in Sexual Identity Development?. Arch Sex Behav 38, 34–49 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-007-9221-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-007-9221-0