The bit about lesbians being ready to move in after just one intimate encounter is a joke that is actually pretty old by now, but still fuels one of the more prevalent stereotypes about lesbian relationships. However, like most jokes that play upon stereotypes, it is not exactly true. Yes, there are certainly more than a few lesbian couples that are engaged in largely asexual, but deeply committed, relationships. However, just like couples of other sorts, there are also examples where the long-term is hardly a consideration and the lesbians involved are more interested in the physical aspects of interaction than the emotional ones. Still, studies into women’s sexual health have presented some degree of proof that two women in a relationship are less inclined to keep up the sexual intimacy that they had initially. What do the findings say, you might ask? Blame oxytocin.
It should be noted that, regardless of any sort of sexual orientation or preference, couples still bond with one another in largely the same manner. This also extends into the neurochemical arena, with science showing that men and women both release large amounts of oxytocin and dopamine into the body during sexual intercourse and orgasm. According to experts in both men’s and women’s sexual health, the amount of oxytocin released into the bloodstream for both sexes is roughly the same, though the more intense the orgasm is, relatively speaking, the more of the chemicals are released. What makes the difference, however, is what the body does with the released chemicals.
One thing that should be recalled is that homosexual couples are more alike in their neurochemical mixes than heterosexual ones are, even if each couple – straight or otherwise – is really a unique combination of hormones and chemicals. Oxytocin, for both males and females, is a chemical that induces generosity, positive emotions, and social memory. In other words, it is one of the key ingredients needed to form the social connection that is considered a component for the emotion of love. For men, the high amounts of testosterone dilute the effects of oxytocin, making it last little more than a few hours post-orgasm. For women, however, estrogen does the exact opposite. Women’s sexual health experts speculate that, given a large enough amount of dopamine and oxytocin, the effects might last anywhere from hours to days.
It might help that science has recently found evidence that people release trace amounts of hormones in their breath. In same-sex couples, that means that the partners would well be basking in each other’s hormones – testosterone for men, estrogen for women. There is evidence that suggests that this transfer of pheromones and hormones is made even more intense with the exchange of saliva and sweat during sexual intercourse. While this is a long way from proving homosexuals are wired differently, it does show that both heterosexual and homosexual couples respond to the same stimuli in roughly the same manner. It just seems to matter where the stimulus is coming from.
Women’s sexual health experts are quick to point out that, while all men and women run the gamut of relationships in extremes on both sides, lesbian love does have a neurochemical tendency to be more emotional than physical. The tendency is there, but like most possibilities, it does not always make itself manifest. They have also been quick to note than an adrenaline rush can rapidly erase the effects of oxytocin, which might be something that would be good to keep in mind for future reference.
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