US women 3x more likely to say they are bisexual

Women are about three times as likely as men to say they are bisexual, and increasing numbers of US women say they have had sexual contact with other females, new data showed on Thursday.

More than 9,100 adults aged 18-44 took part in the 2011-2013 National Survey of Family Growth. Respondents entered their answers on a computer instead of directly telling an interviewer. Among women, 5.5 per cent said they are bisexual, compared to two per cent of men. Fewer people said they were bisexual in the last survey of its kind.

In 2006-2010, 3.9 per cent of women and 1.2 per cent of men described themselves as bisexual. Compared to the same survey taken from 2006-2010, researchers found “significantly higher percentages of women in the 2011-2013” reporting that they had same-sex sexual contact. In the most recent report, 17.4 per cent of women had such contact, compared to 14.2 per cent years earlier. Among men, 6.2 per cent said they had experienced sexual contact with another man, according to the latest data. Identifying as strictly straight, or having feelings of attraction only to members of the opposite sex, was also more common in men (92 per cent) than women (81 per cent).