ESSAY
Body Norms in Lesbian Culture
JEANINE C. COGAN
The following is adapted from an article that first appeared in the
Journal of Lesbian Studies, Volume 3, Number 4, 1999.
I
N a number of open forums I conducted on the topic of
lesbian beauty, enthusiasm and ambivalence collided to
create a dynamic conversation among the participants.
Some lesbians talked about the freedom they experi-
enced after coming out—freedom to abandon traditional
beauty expectations that forced them into high heels,
dresses, and big hair, styles that for some felt uncomfortable and
even clown-like. As one woman stated, "Lesbian beauty is a
release. We are not tied to the beauty of dominant culture—the
36-24-36 Barbie ideal. There is more of a freedom and ease."
And yet, lesbians also shared their frustration with the unwritten
rules of lesbian beauty whereby certain styles are considered
appropriate for lesbian presentation while others are rejected. In
one participant's words, "With my feminine appearance I get a
strange dual reaction from other lesbians. Either a repulsion to
my femininity, which they associate with weakness, or a hungry
and judgmental objectification. Both are uncomfortable."
Why, after escaping oppressive traditional beauty norms,
would lesbians create similarly confining norms within their
own communities? To answer this question we must consider
how lesbians are influenced by and respond to beauty construc-
tions of dominant culture and how they simultaneously redefine
and create their own meanings of beauty within lesbian commu-
nities. That was the purpose of this research study.
At a summer gay pride fair in Sacramento, California, 181
women ranging in age from 17 to 58 years, with a mean age of
34, completed an anonymous questionnaire. Eighty-eight per-
cent of the women self-identified as lesbian and twelve percent
as bisexual. Education ranged from high school or less to a doc-
torate degree, with the mean education of an associate's degree
or the equivalent. The mean annual income was a range of
$20,000-25,000 (but the distribution was bimodal). Most of the
women were employed (81 percent), and 25 percent were stu-
dents. Almost three-quarters of the sample identified as white,
with the balance comprised of Latina, Asian, African-American,
and Native American women. This racial composition reflects
the demographics of the larger gay, lesbian, and bisexual com-
munity in Sacramento,
EXERCISE AND THE "BARBIE MANDATE"
In a culture where beauty is an important currency of success for
women, exercise is often seen as a strategy for losing weight and
becoming more physically attractive. Do lesbians also strive
toward this "Barbie mandate," or do they exercise for other rea-
Jeanine Cogan, Ph.D., is executive director of the Eating Disorders
Coalition for Research, Policy & Action in Washington, D.C.
26
sons? One researcher (Heffeman, 1996) found that lesbians were
most likely to exercise for health and fitness reasons rather than
to lose weight.
To address this question further, a 24-item scale was adapted
from Silberstein et al. (1989), which examines why people exer-
cise along seven dimensions. For the purposes of this study these
seven were organized into two categories: exercising for aesthet-
ic reasons and exercising for non-aesthetic reasons. /Esthetic rea-
sons included weight control, physical attractiveness, and to
improve body tone, while non-aesthetic reasons included
improving overall health, for fitness, for mood control, and for
enjoyment. Women rated how important each reason was in
determining why they exercise on a 4-point rating scale, with 0
defined as "not at all important" and 3 as "very important."
The results showed that the women were significantly more
likely to exercise for non-aesthetic reasons than for aesthetic
ones. Less than ten percent were more likely to exercise for
aesthetic reasons. Their mean scores on the seven dimensions
were as follows:
To maintain health (non-aesthetic) 2.32
For fitness (non-aesthetic) 2.14
To improve mood (non-aesthetic) 2,01
To attract others (aesthetic) 1.68
To tone one's body (aesthetic) 1.67
For weight control (aesthetic) 1.64
For enjoyment (non-aesthetic) 1.21
An athletic female in our society is likely to be perceived as a
lesbian at least some of the time. Stereotype would have it that,
because all lesbians like to play softball, all softball players are
undoubtedly lesbians. But what do we really know about the
amount and types of physical activity that lesbians enjoy? To
answer this question, I designed a questionnaire in which women
indicated on a six-point rating scale the number of hours spent
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engaging in each of fifteen possible activities over the past ninety percent who were Jwsatisfied with their current weight,
month. 86 percent wanted to weigh less than their current weight and
On average, the women had engaged in four different activi- four percent wanted to weigh more. Dissatisfaction with one's
ties in the past month. Contrary to the stereotype, only ten per- current weight was associated with both age and Body Mass
cent played softball. Other activities, such as walking, dancing, Index: older women and heavier women were more likely to be
hiking and weightlifting, were more popular. dissatisfied. Though weight dissatisfaction was high, the per-
centage of women who were dieting to lose weight was relative-
ly low (compared to national samples of women), with just nine-
Participation Rates by Activity
teen percent of the lesbian sample currently dieting to lose
ACTIVITY NUMBER PERCENT MEAN HOURS weight.
PARTICIPATING OF TOTAL PER MONTH Did lesbians display eating disorder symptoms? To answer
this question, respondents were asked to complete three sub-
Walking 168 96% 4-5 scales of the 64-item Eating Disorder Inventory developed by
Dancing 94 55 4-5 Gamer, Olmsted, and Polivy (1983): "Drive for Thinness,"
Hiking, camping 69 40 4-5 "Bulimia," and "Body Dissatisfaction." Items were scored on 6-
Weightlifting 67 39 4-5 point rating scale (1 = never, 6 = always), where high scores cor-
Biking 66 37 4-5 responded to more negative body image. The mean score on the
Swimming 55 32 2-3 Bulimia subscale was 2.10, indicating that women in this sample
Running 42 25 2-3 rarely manifested bulimic symptoms. However, it is also worthy
Other 34 20 6-10 to note that ten percent of the sample said they currently engaged
Aerobics 29 17 2-3 in bulimic symptoms (such as bingeing, thinking of vomiting to
Basketball 19 11 2-3 lose weight, and eating in secrecy). The mean score on the Drive
Softball 18 11 4-5 for Thinness subscale was 2.78, indicating that women some-
Tennis, racquetball 17 10 2-3 times strived toward thinness (e.g., "I think about dieting"). And
Roller blading 17 10 2-3 the mean score on the Body Dissatisfaction subscale was 3.97,
Martial arts 12 7 4-5 indicating that women were often dissatisfied (e.g., "I think my
Volleyball 9 5 2-3 stomach is too big"). When compjiried to a sample of U.S. het-
erosexual women (see Cogan et al., 1996), the lesbians in this
Note: Of those who specified an "Other" activity (31 respondents), the sample were less likely to manifest symptoms of Bulimia and
most common response was sex, followed by indoor exercise (such as Drive for Thinness, but evinced similar levels of Body
the StairMaster or treadmill) and golf. Dissatisfaction.
These findings corroborate other research suggesting that les-
BODY IMAGE bians do struggle with body image issues. Negative evaluations
A key question for research to date has been, do lesbians inter- of their bodies and a desire to weigh less, characteristic of nor-
nalize and pursue the dominant culture's ideal body with its bias mative female discontent, are common to lesbians as well. And
toward thinness? The answer, while complex, has generally been yet, for lesbians there seems to be a special tension between
in the affirmative. Many lesbians do yearn for the Barbie image, internal experience and social expectations. As one woman
and lesbians have similar rates of body dissatisfaction to hetero- wrote on the survey, "How can I know so much about women
sexual women. To make sense of the complex and at times con- and body image and still have so much loathing for my own
tradictory findings, it may be useful to distinguish the extreme body?" The small number of women who were dieting or used
forms of body dissatisfaction (eating disorder symptoms) from exercise to lose weight—in contrast to the large number who
what has been called normative female discontent (feeling too were dissatisfied with their weight—may be a manifestation of
fat). Body image was assessed accordingly among the women in this tension. As Striegel-Moore (1990) hypothesized, lesbians
this sample. are less likely to diet because it is not socially sanctioned within
Through weight and height data, the Body Mass Index (BMI) their lesbian communities for it is seen as "buying into" domi-
was calculated. BMI is the most reliable and valid measure of nant culture's definitions of beauty.
weight, which accounts for height and is calculated by dividing Additional evidence for this potential tension can be found in
weight by height squared. Additionally, individuals were asked the preliminary results of data I am currently analyzing with
what their ideal weight was, allowing for the calculation of the more than 700 lesbians. The women in this sample rated what
Weight Discrepancy Score, which was the difference between would be considered the ideal figure for lesbians as significant-
their current and ideal weights. A last question asked whether ly bigger than what they perceived to be ideal for women in gen-
individuals were currently on a diet to lose weight. eral. Yet similar to the findings in this study, body dissatisfaction
Are lesbians satisfied with their weight? No, the average was common. If the expectation is that "lesbians should accept
woman wanted to be thinner than she currently was. With an and love large bodies" yet their inner experience of their own
average weight of 168 pounds, the women's actual weight dif- bodies is quite the contrary, then there is little room for lesbians
fered significantly from their ideal weight of 137 pounds (a to seek support for negative body image, which thus remains
mean discrepancy of 31 pounds). Only ten percent of women hidden. The prevalence of negative body image and eating dis-
indicated no difference between their real and ideal weights, order symptoms among lesbians needs to be openly addressed
suggesting they were satisfied with their current weight. Of the within our communities.

28 The Gay & Lesbian Review

 Is FEMINISM A BUFFER? Did women adjust their appearance to identify with other les-
bians? The results showed that the women did so to some extent
How can positive body image be promoted? One answer that
(mean = .88). Almost two-thirds of the sample endorsed the
others have also hypothesized, though with mixed findings, may
question, "I dress in such a way that I may be identified as a les-
be feminism. Inherent in feminist philosophy is the value of
bian by other lesbians," as true for them. More than half
women in all their diversity. The process of identifying as a fem-
endorsed the question, "I wear certain jewelry, buttons, or pins
inist includes a critical analysis of social institutions that serve to
so that I may be identified as a lesbian by other lesbians." More
disempower women and limit their social, economic, and politi-
than half also endorsed the question, "I dress in such a way that
cal freedoms. Many feminists challenge socialized female beau-
I can feel a sense of belongingness within the lesbian commu-
ty mandates that serve to trap women into striving to attain the
nity."
unattainable.
As for what markers women used to be identified as lesbian,
Following this logic, lesbians who identify with such feminist
they were somewhat more likely to adopt a certain style of dress
ideas might be expected to have a healthier body image. To test
(mean = .94) than a specific haircut (mean = .79). And their rea-
this hypothesis, I employed two measures of feminism: first, the
son for doing so had more to do with being identified as lesbian
degree of feminist self-labeling; and second, attitudes toward the
(mean = 1.0) than with feeling a sense of belongingness to the
women's movement. Analyses on both measures indicated that
group (mean = .70).
women who identified strongly with feminism were more likely
These results lend empirical evidence to Rothblum's (1994)
to be satisfied with their bodies than those who did not.
theory that lesbians use beauty to provide visible markers for
The first measure was accomplished with the question, "How
identifying one another. These findings also offer a plausible
much do you consider yourself a feminist?" On a zero to nine
answer to the question raised earlier, "Why, after escaping
scale, the mean score was 6.2, indicating that women self-iden-
oppressive traditional beauty norms, would lesbians similarly
tified as fairly feminist. Women scoring low on this scale had
create confining norms within their own lesbian communities?"
significantly higher means on the Bulimia subscale, the Body
Confining beauty norms may be an unintentional outcome of les-
Dissatisfaction subscale, the Drive for Thinness subscale, and
bians using beauty as an important function within lesbian cul-
Weight Discrepancy scores. In addition, low feminist scorers
ture. Establishing identifiable markers for recognizing one
were significantly more likely to exercise for aesthetic reasons
another is a creative solution to invisibility. The trade-off may be
than high scorers.
a certain amount of pressure to conform to these markers on pain
The second measure, the ten-item "Attitudes Toward
of invisibility.
Feminism and the Women's Movement" scale (developed by
Fassinger, 1994), measured affective attitudes toward the THE COMING-OUT EFFECT
women's movement on a five-point rating scale. Women who
strongly endorsed the women's movement were more satisfied One avenue for examining the unique expressions of lesbian
with their bodies than were low endorsers, and the latter had sig- beauty is to address how their presentation changed after coming
nificantly higher levels of body dissatisfaction. And, again, out. Respondents were asked whether their dress, style, or
lower endorsers were significantly more likely to exercise for appearance changed since they came out as lesbian or bisexual,
aesthetic reasons than were strong endorsers. and more than a third of women said "yes." Of those women, 45
Contrary to other findings, for the lesbians in this sample both offered an open-ended response to how their dress, style, or
identifying as a feminist and endorsing the women's movement appearance had changed. Responses were grouped into eight cat-
had a healthy influence on body image. This suggests that femi- egories, with results as follows:
nism may be a useful tool for unlearning internalized negative
body image. Appearance Change n %

Cut hair 16 36
BEAUTY NORMS AS FUNCTIONAL
Comfortable dress 10 22
To enable lesbians to recognize one another in public, codes of Gave up traditional beauty rituals (e.g.,
recognition have emerged. As a form of safety, to establish an shaving, make-up, dresses, and high heels) 9 20
identity, and to feel a sense of community, lesbians have estab- Wore something to make self identifiable
lished outward markers. These include such items as pinkie (e.g., jewelry, pins, boots) 7 16
rings. Doc Martens, triangle earrings, and certain haircuts—les- Got a tattoo or piercing 5 11
bian beauty norms help us find each other. Went from dressing for others to dressing
In her review article on lesbians and physical appearance for self 4 9
Esther Rothblum (1994) theorized that lesbian beauty norms More femme 4 9
serve two specific functions: first, to allow us to identify each More butch 3 7
other; and second, to confer a sense of belonging to the group.
To examine the degree to which women create their appearance In this and other research, a common thread is the sense of free-
to be identified by other lesbians or to establish a sense of dom women felt from the constraining beauty expectations of
belonging to the group, I designed the five-item "Appearance as dominant culture after coming out (e.g., comfortable dress, no
Lesbian Identification Scale." Women rated on a 4-point rating more traditional beauty rituals). A second common thread is that
scale how true each statement was for them (with 0 = "Not at all many women changed their appearance in visible ways consis-
true"; 3 = "Very true"). tent with lesbian beauty norms, notably by cutting their hair.

July-August 2001 29
 Moving beyond simply responding to traditional beauty pres-
sures, lesbians in tbis study used beauty markers as a creative
strategy to find and identify eacb otber. Witbin tbis context, one
purpose of lesbian beauty is clearly functional. A possible side-
effect of tbis redefinition of beauty norms, bowever, is tbat tbose
wbo don't conform to expected lesbian looks may be invisible.
If it turns out tbat lesbian beauty norms are as confining as tbe
ones we've escaped in mainstream society, tbe question
becomes. How do we bonor individual styles and expressions yet
maintain tbe functional role tbat beauty markers serve?
REFERENCES
Cogan, J.C., Bhalla, S.K., Sefa-Dedeh, A., & Rothblum, E.D. "A compar-
ison study of United States and African students on perceptions of obe-
sity and thinness." Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 27, 1996.
Fassinger, R.E. "Development and testing of the attitudes toward femi-
ESSAY
Hustler-izcd
DAVID STEINBERG
I
T all started innocently enougb. I got a call from a guy
named Stepben Jobnson. He was writing a story about
sex and developmental disability, a topic tbat bad
interested me for some time. He bad done a Web
searcb and come across a couple of articles I had writ-
ten on tbe subject. One was a report I bad done on a
conference run by an organization called Tbe Committee on
Sexuality, an excellent group tbat bas been trying to bring
attention to tbe issue of tbe sexual rigbts of developmentally
disabled people for over 25 years. The otber was an interview
I bad done witb Dave Hingsburger—tbe wise, funny, gener-
ous-bearted Canadian wbo is one of tbe leading spokesmen on
tbis issue.
Jobnson was trying to get some background. He wanted to
interview me over tbe pbone, even after I explained that I was
no expert on the subject, tbat I didn't have any first-band expe-
rience working witb developmentally disabled people, that I
was merely a journalist who had taken a couple of small steps
toward talking about an important, ignored issue. But Johnson
was having trouble finding anyone wbo wanted to talk to bim
at all. Tbe bitcb was tbat be was writing bis piece for none
otber tban Hustler magazine. As soon as be mentioned tbe
magazine's name, he explained, people backed away in a
burry.
I was sympatbetic to bis plight. For the last eight years I've
been a columnist and contributing writer for Spectator,
"California's Original Adult Newsmagazine." Spectator is a
San Francisco Bay Area tabloid that regularly publisbes
interesting, tbougbtful, (dare I say?) intelligent articles about
David Steinberg is the author of "Comes Naturally," a monthly column
dealing with the culture and politics of sex in America, available free
from eronat@aol.com (archived at www.sexuality.org/davids.html).
30
nism and the women's movement (FWM) scale." Psychology of Women
Quarterly, 18, 1994. Pp. 389-402.
Gamer, D.M., Olmstead, M.P. & Polivy, J. "Development and validation
of a multidimensional eating disorders inventory for anorexia nervosa
and bulimia." International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2, 1983. Pp.
15-34.
Heffeman, K. "Eating disorders and weight concem among lesbians."
International Journal of Eating Disorders, 19, 1996. Pp. 127-138.
Rothblum, E.D. "Lesbians and physical appearance: Which model
applies?" In B. Greene and G. M. Herek (eds). Psychological
Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Issues. Sage Publications, 1994.
Silberstein, L. R., Mishkind, M. E., Striegel-Moore, R. H., Timko, C. &
Rodin, J. "Men and their bodies: A comparison of homosexual and het-
erosexual men." Psychosomatic Medicine, 51, 1989. Pp. 337-346.
Striegel-Moore, R.H., Tucker, N., & Hsu, J. "Body image dissatisfaction
and disordered eating in lesbian college students." International
Journal of Eating Disorders, 9, 1990. Pp. 493-500. S
sex—tbe kind tbat sbould be all over tbe place but aren't,
because "respectable" papers won't publisb mucb of any-
tbing tbat deals witb sex from a radical or controversial point
of view. Despite its serious editorial content, bowever.
Spectator looks very much like just another sex rag, and most
people aren't paying enough attention to notice tbe differ-
ence. So, wben I'm researcbing a column, I've often gotten
exactly tbe arcbed-eyebrow response tbat Johnson was expe-
riencing.
What's more, Jobnson sounded like a serious, well-inten-
tioned young reporter. He responded entbusiastically wben I
spoke about tbe sexuality of developmentally disabled people
as an issue of sexual civil rigbts. I explained tbat developmen-
tally disabled people had as much right to have their sexual
needs and desires treated respectfully as anyone else. He
agreed with me that the widespread institutional neglect and
outright suppression of tbe sexuality of developmentally dis-
abled people reflected our culture's tendency to relate to sex as
a danger ratber tban as an opportunity for joy. And be took par-
ticular note of my interest in the sexual perspectives of devel-
opmentally disabled people as lessons about our essential sex-
ual natures, about tbe primal nature of our sexuality before it
becomes acculturated to the seriously distorted expectations of
our sex-phobic society.
I felt good about my conversation witb Johnson, and came
away feeling tbat be had understood and respected my posi-
tion. I told him that I thought tbese issues needed to be dis-
cussed more openly, even in as unlikely and potentially dis-
tasteful a forum as Hustler. He, of course, agreed. He told me
tbat Hustler bad done other articles about sex and disability.
The issue, he said, was of particular relevance to Hustler pub-
lisber Larry Flynt because Flynt bas been in a wbeelcbair ever
since bis near-assassination by a right-wing sniper in 1977.
The Gay & Lesbian Review