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Bisexual men are perceived as sounding more masculine than straight men, according to research
- The University of Sydney asked 70 participants to rate the masculinity of voices
- Bisexual men were believed to have more “dominant” voices than all other men
Bisexual men sound more masculine than both straight men and gay men, a new one study Has claimed.
Researchers at the University of Sydney asked 70 Australians to guess the sexuality and rank the “femininity” of 60 men reciting lines from the national anthem.
While participants were able to distinguish between gay and straight male voices with 62 percent accuracy, they often had trouble identifying bisexual males.
“Naïve listeners can distinguish the voices of gay and straight men faster than chance, although this was not the case for bisexual men,” the authors wrote.
“In addition to the finding that bisexual men were rated as most exclusively female attracted, they were also rated as most masculine.
Bisexual men sound more masculine than both straight and gay men, a new study finds (stock image)
“These findings further support that perceptions of male vocal masculinity and heterosexuality go hand in hand, regardless of the sexual orientation of the speaker.”
Differences between the way straight men and gay men talk have been reported in previous studies.
In Italy, Germany and the US, analysis shows that gay men tend to speak with a higher pitch and often pronounce words more accurately than straight men.
This was often seen as more ‘feminine’ because it deviated from the rigidly enforced ‘masculine’ norms of a deep, low voice.
It’s unclear exactly what causes this, but many suggest that biological processes in the brain and even internalized stereotypes may play a role.
In the latest study, experts initially thought bisexual men would fit somewhere in between these perceptions — being seen as “more feminine” than straight men, but “less masculine” than gay men.
Although bisexual men made a “unique impression” in the study, researchers say this was an impression listeners didn’t associate with bisexuality.
Bisexual men were believed to have more “dominant” voices than gay and straight men
Scientists believe that this phenomenon may actually lead to bisexual men being misidentified as straight more often, contributing to “bisexual erasure.”
First coined in 2000, this refers to a lack of acknowledgment that bisexuals exist despite clear scientific evidence that they exist.
Many believe this stems from a pervasive tendency to view sexual orientation on a very black and white basis, in which people can be gay or straight.
This norm makes any other sexuality, including bisexuality and pansexuality, just a phase or illegitimate feelings.
“Deletion poses a pressing dilemma for bisexuals on a day-to-day basis, with bisexuals reporting fewer connections to other sexual minorities than their gay and lesbian peers, and also greater concealment of their sexual identity,” the researchers said.
“Future studies should strive to understand the complex relationship between sexual identity and speech patterns.”