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VIDEO: Sexual fluidity common among women
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PHILADELPHIA — In this video exclusive, Lisa M. Diamond, PhD, professor of psychology and gender studies at the University of Utah, discusses same-sex sexuality and sexual fluidity. Diversity in women’s health no longer means including just lesbian and heterosexual women, according to Diamond, but involves recognizing that women with same-sex attractions make up a much broader group than those two divisions.
“Historically, people who have done research on women and clinical approaches to women and their health have divided sexual orientation into some pretty rigid categories,” Diamond said. “The vast majority of women with same-sex attractions actually have bisexual patterns of attraction rather than exclusively same-sex attractions.”
These women identify in a variety of ways, including lesbian, bisexual and heterosexual, among others, that may not indicate to a health care provider what their behavior or relationships are like. Sexual fluidity — changing sexual attractions over a life course — is the norm, Diamond said, and providers should not make assumptions based on past behavior.