I kissed a girl and I liked it!

Us girls we are so magical

Soft skin, red lips, so kissable

Hard to resist so touchable

Too good to deny it

Ain't no big deal, it's innocent

Katy Perry

Ladies, have you ever made out with a girl at a party? According to a recent study, a 33% of straight university women answer “yes” to this question. If your answer is “no,” you might be wondering whether or not you’re missing out.

Using mainstream media as your guide (Sandra Bullock and Scarlett Johansson at the MTV awards or Drew Barrymore & Liv Tyler at the Oscars), you might guess that Katy Perry’s lyrics with girls making out with each other (and liking it) represent the norm, rather than the exception. Despite the popularity of the idea that girls are publicly hooking up with each other at parties, at the bar, and, of course, on summer holidays, at rampant rates, there’s actually very little research documenting the frequency, causes, and consequences of this phenomenon.

A new paper published in Psychology of Women Quarterly began to examine these tantalizing questions. Lead authors Megan Yost and Lauren McCarthy sought to provide the first evidence of the prevalence of and reasons for heterosexual women kissing each other at parties. They found that 69% of university women and men have “been at a party at college and seen 2 girls kissing or making out” and a full 33% of uni women reported that they had “kissed or made out with someone of the same-sex at a party.” This means, the majority of uni students report seeing this behaviour and a significant minority of women report having engaged in this behaviour themselves, hmmmmm.

Yost and McCarthy also interviewed straight women who reported publicly making out with other women. The key findings include: All of the incidences occurred when the women were drinking alcohol as well as prompted by others (e.g., boyfriends or “dare” games). Yost and McCarthy also described first-hand accounts of women’s motivations behind this Girls-Gone-Wild behaviour. At the top of the list, 56% of women reported a desire for male attention, including “turning on” a boyfriend or communicating sexual availability to eligible bachelors. 43% reported wanting to contribute to a fun party atmosphere, while 42% reported hooking up with another girl because they were schnockered.

This research contributes to a growing area of study in psychology with investigators examining when and why women engage in a behaviour coined self-sexualisation.

One of the primary questions in this area of research is whether such self-sexualising acts are empowering or oppressive. Is this something you want to do or not? The answer to this seductively simple question is, well, complicated! Some women report that they enjoy being sexualised by men and women may feel like they can “fit in” and "stand out" when they self-sexualise. Yost and McCarthy offer some further insight in this regard, reasoning that hooking up with other girls doesn’t represent true empowerment if it occurs due to pressure from other people. While many women noted that they felt powerful from arousing sexual desire in men and engaging in sexual experimentation, only 16% of the women reported this in the absence of explicit pressure from others. Instead, most women (64%) reported that they felt sexually objectified or degraded during these experiences.

Fast forward if you will to Second Life, a world where sexual liberation is displayed as a badge of honour! Maybe it’s me however, there seems to be a disproportionate number of openly gay women and men for that matter. Why is this? Is it the demographic of SL inhabitants? Is it the fact that you are able “explore” fantasies, try things out, examine your inner “me” in relative safety? Is it that a large proportion of women in SL are in fact men hiding behind a dress, playing out their lesbian fantasies? Truth is nobody knows, but isn’t it interesting!

Although may appear to represent the sexual liberation that women have worked so hard for, is this the type of gender equality we’re really looking for (after all, when was the last time you saw two straight men locking lips for the enjoyment of women)? Sure, women can now sometimes openly display their sexuality (if they are young, attractive, White, heterosexual), but if it’s still directed toward garnering men’s attention, it sounds a bit more like oppression disguised as empowerment.

So, ladies, the next time you’re at a party considering hooking up with your best friend or that hot chick from across the room think twice about who you’re really doing it for!

So, as the post is about girls kissing I thought I’d enlist the support of the very beautiful MJ Jameson…… it was a tough gig but had to be done *grins*

What I’m wearing;

Head & Teeth - .LeLutka. Head.Simone 2.7

Eyes - CATWA UN-RIGGED EYE V1.1 - (Custom eye texture)

Hair - .Entwined. Amelia / Materials

Eyebrows - Glam Affair - Katya suggest eyebrows 01

Skin - LURE: Emily (Carnation)

Body, Hands & Feet - Maitreya Mesh Body - Lara V4.0

Rings & Hand Harness - Zaara : Siya hand-harness & Stacked Rings(maitreya) @ June C88

Nail Varnish - alaskametro<3 "Classic/Solid" Slink/Omega/Maitreya nail polish applier

AO - VISTA ANIMATIONS *HUD 4.14*MIRIAM BENTO AO-V1B

Physics - 2.- Sutile -Subtle.~ Physics by Temptation

Shape - Custom Made