It was the first serious claim by scientists to have discovered a physiological characteristic that could distinguish lesbians from straight women. The study was published in the prestigious 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'. But it's hard to get excited about ear emissions. And, not surprisingly, this 1998 find attracted much less attention than a new study published last week which shows exactly the same hormonal influence on lesbianism. This time, University of California researchers claim that lesbian women have masculinised right hands, with ring fingers that are longer than their pointer fingers.
Most women have second and fourth fingers that are of equal length.
The team, led by psychologist Marc Breedlove, also found that gay men with two or more elder brothers have finger patterns that suggest they were exposed to increased levels of male hormone before birth, too. The extraordinary possibility that an adult or even a child's sexuality can be revealed simply by looking at their hands demonstrates why the scientific study of gayness inspires both fury and fascination. Fingers and ears are just the tip of the iceberg. This hints at a biological cause. Dunne is co-author of a major study just published on the sexual orientation of 5,000 Australian twins, which found that the genetic influences on homosexuality are weak.