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Though feminist theory asserts that women's sexuality influences their general relationship with heterosexual men, the leading psychological measure of women's attitudes towards heterosexual men, the Ambivalence towards Men Inventory (AMI), has not yet accounted for sexual orientation as a meaningful individual difference. In this current United States-based research (N = 318), we revisited the AMI to examine women's attitudes towards heterosexual men as a function of women's sexual orientation (i.e. lesbian, bisexual, or heterosexual). Drawing from feminist and psychological theories of attitudes towards men, we 1) tested competing hypotheses regarding whether lesbian and bisexual women or heterosexual women would be highest in hostility, and 2) hypothesised that heterosexual women would hold more benevolent attitudes than lesbian and bisexual women. When controlling for feminist identity, lesbian women held more hostile attitudes towards heterosexual men, specifically on subscales of Resentment of Paternalism and Heterosexual Hostility. However, there were no differences in benevolence towards heterosexual men between groups. We discuss hostility as a reaction to gendered oppression and the utility of benevolence in modern times. Testing the AMI with a sexually diverse sample reveals nuanced understandings of intergroup relations and demonstrates a need to establish more inclusive measures of gendered attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Women differ in how they psychologically respond to the end of menstruation and onset of menopause; however, little empirical evidence exists for understanding how sexual orientation and gendered dynamics contribute to menstrual experiences in middle-to-late adulthood. We investigated if women's attitudes toward the cessation of menstruation vary by their sexual orientation. Methods: Using data from the Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS, N = 3471), we examined the relationship between women's sexual orientation and attitudes toward menstruation cessation. We also assessed their femininity concerns, such as their worries about attractiveness and fertility in the context of aging. Results: Sexual minority (SM) women, compared with their heterosexual counterparts, expressed less regret of their menstrual periods ending. SM women also expressed lower concerns about femininity compared with heterosexual women, and concerns about femininity mediated the relationship between sexual orientation and regret. That is, SM women felt less regret about menstrual periods ending than heterosexual women, and this finding was partially explained through SM women's lower concerns about femininity (attractiveness and fertility). Conclusions: Our results contribute to a growing body of research on the psychological strengths of sexual minorities by highlighting SM women's potential strengths in an aging context. We propose implications for understanding aging stigma and women's health, and we discuss how menopause may be differently experienced by women based on sexual orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual minority women (i.e., women minoritized for their sexualities) are identified as high risk for mental health and substance use problems; however, there is no consensus on the criteria by which women are categorized as sexual minority. Though there is some evidence suggesting that certain subgroups of women are at higher risk than others based on sexual orientation, different categorization schemes for sexual orientation have yet to be compared within the same sample. Using data from the National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions–III (N = 19,528), we examined how multiple categorization schemes (i.e., identity, behavior, recency of sexual behavior) for categorizing women who have sex with women (WSW) yield different estimates of prevalence of mental health and substance use issues. We used chi-square and logistic regression to analyze the link between sexual orientation categorization schemes and health, categorizing by 1) self-identification only, 2) behavior only, and 3) the combination of self-identification and behavior (recent vs. past). We discovered high prevalence rates of health problems among heterosexual-identified WSW who reported no recent sexual activity with women (i.e., previously had sex with women but not within the past 12 months); this category of women comprised 35% of all WSW. Step by step, we found more detailed information about these women's experiences by moving to the complex categorization scheme (the combination of self-identification and behavior). Heterosexual-identified women who have had sex with women in their past (though not recently) presented as a large group with high prevalence rates of substance use and mental disorders. These women remain invisible to researchers who categorize sexual orientation only by sexual identity or by behavior and ignore the role of behavior change over time—imprecisely categorizing such women as heterosexual or as women who have sex with men. They thus are underserved by health research and represent a significant population for further study and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]