I Kissed a Girl: Do Women Feel Pressured to Engage in Public Same-Sex Sexual Behaviour? by Lucinda Leanne Brown M.A., University of Victoria, 2000 B.Ed., University of Calgary, 1988 B.A., University of Calgary, 1986 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies © Lucinda Brown, 2014 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee I Kissed a Girl: Do Women Feel Pressured to Engage in Public Same-Sex Sexual Behaviour? by Lucinda Leanne Brown M.A., University of Victoria, 2000 B.Ed., University of Calgary, 1988 B.A., University of Calgary, 1986 Supervisory Committee Dr. Joan Martin, (Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies) Supervisor Dr. Susan Tasker, (Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies) Departmental Member Dr. Carmen Gress, (Faculty of Graduate Studies) Outside Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Joan Martin, (Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies) Supervisor Dr. Susan Tasker, (Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies) Departmental Member Dr. Carmen Gress, (Faculty of Graduate Studies) Outside Member “Girl-on-girl” behaviour is portrayed as sexy, liberating, and edgy in contemporary popular culture, mass media, and public settings such as bars and parties. This study looked at the relation of women’s participation in public same-sex sexual behaviour (PSSSB), age, and sexual orientation (heterosexual versus some degree of same-sex orientation) with the following dependent variables: perceptions of PSSSB pressure, reasons for and feelings after engaging in PSSSB, sexual depression, sexual assertiveness, sexual self-efficacy, sexual locus of control, sexual monitoring, and use of PSSSB to explore sexual orientation. Of the 451 women (ages 19- 40) who completed the online questionnaire, 54% reported having engaged in PSSSB. Most participants agreed that young women feel pressured to engage in PSSSB and listed media, popular culture, male friends, and peers as sources of this pressure. Exclusively heterosexual women who had engaged in PSSSB (n=100) reported significantly higher perceived social pressure, more subsequent negative feelings, higher sexual depression, greater external sexual locus of control, lower sexual assertiveness than all other participants, and lower scores on sexual self-efficacy than PSSSB women with same-sex orientations. Emerging adult, but not older heterosexual PSSSB women, had significantly higher sexual compliance scores. Heterosexual and same-sex orientation PSSSB women had the highest rates of sexual monitoring, and although their reasons for engaging in PSSSB were different, a majority of both listed alcohol and exploration as factors that contributed to their public girl-on-girl behaviour. Heterosexual women who had not engaged in PSSSB indicated the lowest rates of sexual exploration. Reasons for these differences are discussed. iv Table of Contents Title Page ....................................................................................................................................i Supervisory Committee ........................................................................................................... ii Abstract ................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ...........................................................................................................................vii List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... x Dedication ................................................................................................................................xii Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review .................................................................................................. 5 Theories of Female Sexuality Development ............................................................................ 5 Sexual Identity Development .................................................................................................. 7 Sexual Self-Concept ............................................................................................................. 12 Homosexuality and the Luscious Lesbian .............................................................................. 16 Bisexuality or Transitional Sexuality? .................................................................................... 21 Sexual Orientation ................................................................................................................. 24 Sexual orientation measurement ....................................................................................... 25 Difficulties measuring sexual orientation and sexual behaviour ......................................... 29 Media Influences on Female Sexuality ................................................................................... 31 Theoretical mechanisms underlying media influences on sexuality .................................... 33 The effects of TV’s sexual content on sexual behaviour and sexual self-concept ............... 36 Media, sexual content and the “super-peer” ....................................................................... 38 Media and sexuality: Challenges and confounds ............................................................... 47 Pornography and the Cost of Idealized Sexual Imagery.......................................................... 49 Pornography, idealized beauty, and plastic surgery ............................................................ 51 Pornography’s influence on music videos .......................................................................... 55 v Sexualized Media and Mental Health ..................................................................................... 56 Female Same-Sex Behaviour, Fluidity, Coercion, and the Media ........................................... 59 “Lesbian Chic” and the increase in female same-sex sexual behaviour .............................. 59 Female PSSSB and “flexible” sexuality ............................................................................. 65 Female PSSSB: Coercion, empowerment, or manipulation? ............................................. 67 Alcohol and Its Influence on Sexual Behaviour ...................................................................... 71 Theories related to alcohol consumption and sexual behaviour .......................................... 74 Research Questions and Hypothesis Testing .......................................................................... 81 Chapter 3: Methodology ......................................................................................................... 85 Procedure ............................................................................................................................... 85 Participant Recruitment .......................................................................................................... 86 Sample Description................................................................................................................ 86 Survey Development ............................................................................................................. 88 Data Collection ...................................................................................................................... 90 Measures ............................................................................................................................... 91 Data Reduction and Analysis ................................................................................................. 97 Chapter 4: Results .................................................................................................................. 99 Preliminary Analysis .............................................................................................................. 99 EFA of sexual identity exploration and commitment items ................................................ 99 EFA of sexual self-concept items..................................................................................... 103 Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 108 Chapter 5: Discussion .......................................................................................................... 149 Summary of the Findings ..................................................................................................... 149 Pressure to Engage in PSSSB ............................................................................................... 149 Developmental Period When PSSSB most Frequently Occurred..........................................