What makes a person tick? What makes a gay man bottom? Researchers from the University of Toronto Mississauga say they may have found the answer.
In a groundbreaking study published by the online journal PLOS ONE, researchers claim they’ve unearthed specific biological markers that can indicate gay men’s preferred sexual positions.
The study’s 598 participants were recruited either on Facebook or at the 2015 Toronto Pride festival. According to the scientists, self-identifying bottoms more often than not had older brothers, were “non-right handed” (a.k.a. left handed), and/or didn’t conform to gender stereotypes as kids.
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Researchers also claim that men who demonstrated more “masculine” personality traits were more likely to be tops, while those with more “feminine” often identified as bottoms:
Self-identified tops rated themselves as more masculine compared to bottoms, and tops were more likely to score higher on male-typical cognitive styles, while bottoms were higher on female-typical cognitive styles.
And this could be linked to the amount of prenatal testosterone they received in utero:
In males, female-typical gender expression and same-sex attraction are thought to result from a relative lack of prenatal testosterone exposure, resulting in female-typical brain development and, thus, female-typical behavior and sexual partner preference (i.e., a preference for men).
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One of the study’s authors explained: “These findings suggest that the developmental processes underlying handedness act in a nonlinear fashion to influence male same-sex sexual orientation and childhood gender nonconformity.”
We can think of absolutely nothing to say about this other than:
Donston
This isn’t particularly Earth-shattering. Men who only bottom are more likely to have forms of gender dis-morphia (though it’s certainly not a guarantee). And many gay men fit (or at least attempt to fit) hetero dynamics into gay relationships.
This mode is becoming less typical with time and with the younger generation. But the dynamic is hardly dead nor should it be.
But once again, people act like verse don’t exist, when that’s a largest demo at this point. In general, I’m annoyed with the top/bottom obsession.
Prax07
I’m right handed, a single child, and I played with Star Wars toys, Tonka trucks, and pretended to be Indiana Jones as a kid. I’m also a non-vers bottom. By this article I guess I should’ve been a top…lol.
fireman452
My husband is a total bottom – and he is right handed, Oldest Child of two (has a sister) and most people would not even guess he is gay if he is not holding my hand – guess he should be a top too.
Captain Obvious
Wrong and riddled with stereotypes. Boring.
ErikO
Exactly, it’s basically akin to the “Bottoms take the role of a woman during sex, or are feminine” myth.
fireman452
My husband is right handed, VERY masculine, the oldest of three in his family, and NO ONE ever saw him playing with anything like dolls etc as a kid – guess we are both tops – NOT!!!
lester_lasa
I don’t agree with the study as i have found most men who bottom i find attractive are many of them bottoms..and straight guys when i was younger liked bottoms as the penis rubs their prostate gland so this study to me is bull shit.i have also found very feminine men who wanted me to bottom sorry but the study must have been a small group of men totally bullshit
lester_lasa
I don’t agree with the study as i have found most men who bottom i find attractive are many of them bottoms..and straight guys when i was younger liked bottoms as the penis rubs their prostate glandin so this study to me is bull shit.i have also found very feminine men who wanted me to bottom sorry but the study must have been a small group of men totally bullshit
Donston
These types of “studies” are always flawed as selections are always random, always skews toward the more stereotypical, and yeah, people lie. These stereotypes do persist for a reason. But “more of than” doesn’t equate to most. And they didn’t even give specific numbers in their results just a summation.
I do fear the comment section is bound to turn into a fem-phobic mess.
dwes09
The thing I find most interesting about this study is the finding about handedness. It has been long known that a greater percentage of gay men are left handed than would be found in the general population of men. What I don’t like about it is the ignoring of versatile men, and men who do not engage in anal intercourse who (taken together) make up the majority of gay men.
Here is the summary of the research, very different than the take Queerty has on it, with most emphasis being on the effect of handedness and SELF-PERCEIVED gender conformity:
“The present study found that handedness, a sexually differentiated trait, mediates the relationship between sexual orientation and gender nonconformity, suggesting that the prenatal mechanisms underlying handedness also influence male same-sex sexual orientation and gender nonconforming behaviors. Furthermore, the present findings suggest that the biological mechanisms that underlie handedness differentially apply to subgroups of gay men delineated by their anal sex role behavior. Lastly, a curvilinear relationship was found between handedness and gender nonconformity, suggesting that high and low handedness scores are associated with more gender conformity compared to participants with intermediate/mixed handedness.”
dwes09
Though not specifically mentioned in the summary, the abstract and text make it clear the authors are referring to the subjects’ perceptions rather than some absolute criteria of masculinity applied by them.
Mike999
What a pile of crap. I am a fairly aggressive top in my late 30’s and I can tell you I have almost never met a “top” who
wasn’t willing – usually eager – to bottom. (I flip now and then myself.) Totally tops are very rare and most tops flip easier than a coin.
What I have found is that most very successful “manly” men with high power careers only bottom. I have no idea why, but I could name any number of well known power brokers whose name you would recognize who only bottom.
1898
Interesting observation. I’ve also known quite a few guys who identify as tops but are willing to bottom “with the right guy” or “when in a relationship,” but now that I think about it, the bottoms I’ve dated or been in relationships with were never willing to flip, even though they initially described themselves as vers bottoms (maybe because adding the word vers creates less stigma?).
tdh1980
This study is about as scientific as backwoods witchcraft. “Self-identified tops rated themselves as more masculine compared to bottoms[…]” tells me everything I need to know.
Xzamilloh
Girl, I’m a top. hunty. I’m sooo masc, mama!!! *tongue pop*
Sotzume
Since all the men I meet end up as bottoms, even the ones who “claim” they are “total tops”, I find this article amusing.
davey14
Every single military man I’ve had sex with had his feet in the air within 5 minutes. Okay, not every one. Some of them bent over
Lvng1Tor
Cause all “masc” men tell the truth about being studly tops! HAHAHA!
baggins435
Who funds this crap? “Tops are masculine and bottoms are feminine.” Sounds like right wing bs as they are the only ones who fixate on who does what in the bedroom.
My family has 6 kids. We grew up in the 60s and 70s. 5 boys and one girl. Hunting, fishing, working on cars, building things using power tools. None of us played sports. We would happily live in jeans and plain shirts and couldn’t care less about fashion. The oldest 3 of us are gay and the youngest admits to topping a few bi-buds and their GFs in 3-ways. He’s helpful that way…LOL 2 of us are lefties. We aren’t uber masculine, but none of us are “feminine,” although one is in a dom/sub relationship that I, quite frankly, don’t care to know more about. We’re regular guys who happen to be gay, but like most gays I know, don’t look or act stereotypical. I’ll bottom in a relationship to please a partner, but it doesn’t do anything for me. My younger brother is a total top. That’s us.
I know of muscle guys and tattooed tough guys who are bottoms. I also know total flamers who are tops. Most guys I know are versatile because it’s the most fun. If bottoming made me moan and groan like those guys in porn, I’d happily throw my legs up to feel like that. Who wouldn’t? Labels are for clothes.
kittyconrad
Some “studies” simply reek of bullshit. This is one of them. But it got Queerty to publish it.
OzJosh
“Scientific” study? Really? There’s not a shred of evidence that there’s anything legitimate about this “study”. Nothing about the size of the sample, methodology, or – more to the point – how they “scientifically” measured degrees of masculinity and femininity, which are largely social constructs. Even more tellingly, the “study” seems only to allow for gay men being either “top” or “bottom”, which seems like a peculiarly narrow and unrealistic notion. Few men are exclusively one or the other. Many are totally versatile. Many find that they are predominantly top or bottom only at certain times in their lives, in particular relationships, or in certain circumstances. Sexual relationships and identities are far more complex than this bogus study acknowledges and implies. Also, anecdotally (and based on forty years intensive study!) I’ve found that the most dedicated exclusive bottoms are very often the most uber-masculine guys.
tdh1980
Exactly. By which metric did they assess “masculinity” and “femininity,” and how did they define “male-typical” and “female-typical” cognitivie styles — all of which are wildly subjective to one degree or another? Where is the actual biology? All they seemed to use as a standard was gay men’s heteronormative social conditioning.
SportGuy
Sounds about right
bahntemps
“Do you have an older brother? Are you left-handed? Then you are probably a bottom.”
Are you a headline writer? Do you work for Queerty? Then you probably don’t know how statistics work.
Jack Meoff
If they are going to recruit participants from a damn pride parade then of course they are going to have a larger percentage of total bottoms. Recruiting men from a pride parade is not a true representation of the greater gay community it is only a microcosm of the gay community.
mossolbtraf
What a load of horse shit.
BriBri
I’d rather have a load in my ass!
James
A quick run-through of gay people I know and have known (hardly a representative sample, I’m aware, but still), doesn’t really fit this at all. And it belies the old standby, of both the burly bear with helium heels, and the twink who’s a top. I’ve known too many people who proclaim themselves bottoms or “power bottoms” who span the gamut of flamboyant to “are you sure that guy is gay?” And the handedness thing? Has anyone really noticed a high incidence of left-handed gay people?
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Unfortunately I fear the pseudoscience from the trans camp (I support them as a group just not the bad science BS ) is infiltratiting. This will go the same way as the the “gay brain” hypothesis from the 90s that was jumped on as fact.
inbama
While sexual orientation is in the brain, when it comes to top/bottoming, they may be looking to the wrong organ.
I’ve known dozens of once young top studs who at 30 were only interested in being plowed by some version of their former selves. But they are not the REAL bottoms.
Those bottoms really only respond to anal stimulation, and it gets them rock hard. Many can’t have an orgasm without someone inside of them – which is why any decent top makes sure the bottom gets off first.
jdboston617
Sorry, this is ridiculous, pointless and frankly bad science.
cutterq
I’m lkeft handed. a real blond and love to f… the hell out of bottoms especially straight bottoms.