I am not surprised.
The narrative that women are less homophobic than men never made any sense to me, because why would they?
That claim always - to me - seemed to be stereotyping women into sacred princesses who shit rainbows and fart breeze.
The overall observation that men are more homophobic than women is pretty established (source below). I believe what is happening here is that the overall lower attitude towards gay men compared to lesbian women is overshadowing the gender difference in overall homophobia.
Since its about heterosexuals, the study is only looking at
Women -> bi men & Men -> bi woman,
so even though women might be less hatefull overall, this is overshadowed by societies' dislike of men who deviate from gender norms. Alternatively, being bi is less of a gender norm violation for women than it is for men (see last to sentences below).
Gender difference homophobia: Overview article (Godø et al, 2025):
Furthermore, studies have shown that on average, men tend to express more negative attitudes toward LGBT people compared to women (Cotton- Huston & Waite, 2000; Nagoshi et al., 2008). The cause of this gender difference may have various explanations. One potential explanation lies with the social construct of masculinity. Traditional masculinity is often associated with toughness, aggression, and dominance, and this may lead to men perceiving LGBT people as a threat to their own masculinity or power (Theodore & Basow, 2000). This resembles much of what is known as machismo, a culturally shaped and maintained belief in Latinx groups, con- sisting of both hypermasculine characteristics and familial responsibility (Hirai et al., 2014). Such beliefs may result in discomfort and hostility toward those who do not conform to traditional gender roles (Goodman & Moradi, 2008). This may also be connected to the fact that young men are often socialized to be more tough and competitive, while young women are encour- aged to be nurturing and empathetic. This can result in different attitudes toward LGBT people, with men being more likely to view it as deviant or abnormal. However, no single factor seems to be the cause of this gender difference; rather, it is a combined result of gender norms, socialization, and cultural beliefs.
Alternatively, being bi is less of a gender norm violation for women than it is for men
The other way around? More women express negative attitude toward Bi people than men?
studies have shown that on average, men tend to express more negative attitudes toward LGBT people compared to women
There is one more alternative explanation. Studies in question were shaped in a way that didn't record women negative attitudes.
1.) "for women [who are bi, perceived by whomever]". It's quite tricky to talk about this correctly, because we are talking about gender differences relating both to perceivers and the perceived. I didn't phrase that clearly.
2.) what you you mean with "shaped in a way that didn't record women's negative attitudes"? I don't quite get that. That the items are phrased in a way that women just have a harder time agreeing, no matter what it is about?
From the current study the topic is about, we can see that there is a subset of LGBT people that women have more often negative view than men.
This stand in contrast with previous studies you shared.
That means either this new finding augments the older notion about attitudes split across genders (men have on average more negative attitude toward LGBT+ people, but something changed and now for Bi it's women who are negativity forerunners), or how the old study was performed was inadequate to capture women negative attitude towards bi people since then, e.g. the study didn't check unwillingness to date bi people.
(Then being 2000 and 2008)
Edit: actually, now that I've read the 2000 and 2008 study - performed on undergrads I call both of those studies worthless. WEIRD bias is a thing.
For women to perform, not in women's views. I.e. being a bi woman is less of a violation of the idea of womanhood than being a bi man is manhood.
When I was at my university’s last year I had a FWB relation with a woman from my class.
One day I was venting about my lack of success on online dating apps and asked her to review my profile.
After reviewing it she said “You should remove that you’re bi, it is not serious”, like I wasn’t looking for a proper relationship.
I had it in my profile for starters after people matching with me and later rejecting when they learned I was Bi.
I think one of the contributing factors must be the deeply ingrained traditional relationship roles reinforced by culture.
Men often care more about "proxy" contacts (i.e. "my girl fucked with another man some time in the past, ew"), which is how we got so much virginity culture and all the unscientific bullshit around past contacts of women. They are also often easier to feel sexual about any given woman, and many want, secretly or openly, to have sex with many, either genuinely or as an internalized proof of superior masculinity.
Combine the two and you may get one of the answers. Some men enjoy having sex with their girl partner knowing she had engaged in it with other girls, that fuels their fantasies based on that "proxy sex" with other women, and there may also be fantasies about this arrangement turning into threesome.
At the same time, women are traditionally taught to laser-focus on a partner and keep them laser-focused on them, and so bisexuality feels like a man's excuse to slip from these norms and claim it's not the same. It's also fueled by misconception that bisexual people necessarily need partners of both genders at the same time instead of them just having a larger pool to choose from.
am a straight cis old guy, gf is bi (she had a gf before me). I've encouraged her to go explore with other women but she said no, we have together in the past but I said by herself is ok with me. I'm old enough now that I don't want her going to her grave wishing she had. She has a few gay friends and said shes never had any issues letting them know she's bi.
I'd also be happy to explore a poly relationship but that does seem like a lot of work :)
While it says only Britons participated in the online poll, IIRC this trend persists in the US. That said, It’s frustrated by recent alignment of social cleavages through extreme cultural polarization on top of the ongoing crisis of sexual violence by straight men. The favored explanation I recall pertained to fear of STIs and bisexual men being presumed gay in straight culture, but that may be an obsolete theory today.
Personally I had good experiences dating bisexual men, but I was never straight
People saying it's some male fetish thing also fall for the "girls and boys are entirely new species" idea a bit.
Women are people too. Women make up 47% of gay porn watchers. It's normal.
Real reason is likely something else. Should probably ask cis, hetero women instead of speculating.
Consuming gay porn is different than dating someone for the sexual acts they want based on the person’s sexual orientation.
It’s fine to watch threesome porn. Not ok to fetishisize someone you’re dating.
I remember when I was a teen trying to figure myself out I came out to my parents as gay and they were supportive. But eventually I had a couple of girlfriends and after I had brought one of them home mom told me I should pick one team and stick with it because bi guys are icky.
She said it in such an offhand way that she probably doesn't remember, but that's the kind of thing that sticks with you. She believed that bisexual men were willing to fuck anything without standards which would lead to me being either deranged or diseased.
Joke's on her though: I'm so bad at picking teams I didn't even grow up to be a man
“Pick a team” …..ugh I’m so sorry she was so flippant during such a formable time in your life.
Had a good laugh at your last line though :)
I’ve observed this in some women’s groups over time - this aversion to bisexual men - and it’s always so disappointing to see it come up. There are women I’ve had to pull away from because of these views that bisexual men are somehow tainted or too feminine or whatever flavor of homophobic reasons they use to reject people based on an immutable trait.
There is so much internalized biphobia in our society. A lot of men sexualize bi women and think dating one means they will get threesomes. On the other side, a lot of women are convinced that bi men are twice as likely to cheat, or that they will eventually leave you for a man. And this kind of biphobia is present as well within the LGBTQ+ community, this is not inherent to straight people.
Don’t forget they also think bi men are just making a stop before getting off at full-on-gay town.
You’re right, biphobia is not found in straight people alone. I’ve been rejected within my own community because I’m bisexual and not a “gold star” lesbian. It stings even more that way to be honest.
And what sucks is I've seen multiple times, men are generally more guilty of their homophobic views than women. Women will show a surface level support(most men don't do that) but they are almost as homophobic, and blatantly so when given a chance to open up.
Any bisexual man knows this. Painfully.
I never understood the bi hate. Even before I ever met a bi person, it seemed easy to understand - they're sexually attracted to either gender. Whether or not someone is a cheater type is completely separate and has nothing to do with it.
I think some people see cheating as not an attribute of the cheater, but rather an attribute of the person they cheat with. As in, they think that anyone would cheat if a sufficiently attractive person came along. And thus for bi people the chance is twice as high.
On the other hand, if you managed to get in a relationship with a bi person, shouldn't you feel doubly confident, since you were chosen from twice as large a pool?
Eh, I don't get it either
For real. It's like saying people who like all hair colours are gonna cheat because their partner has only one hair colour. It's just not how that works.
—A poly bi woman
Bi people are some of the coolest people I know. Their loss, more for us.
Straight guy here from /all. Unfortunately, a big chunk of my cohort will have responded favorably because they are dreaming of a female partner that will gift them a threesome.
When they get active about it, it's called unicorn hunting since women who are willing to threesome with a couple (or more exactly, with you and your partner) are rare like a unicorn.
My ex-wife of twelve years is bi, but also strictly monogamous, and certainly not interested in threesomes.
I thought the whole point of this last decade+ is that people should take what they can get.
Oh wait, I forgot about the homophobic propaganda.
This is especially interesting when you consider that a lot of people are on the bi spectrum. Straights who think gays can "choose" to be straight? Mkay, keep telling us how you're choosing to ignore that your gay desires.
I'm a straight woman who very briefly dated a bi guy. I never cared. It felt like none of my business who he had been with before me. He was an absolute sweetheart, and I miss him dearly.