Friday, September 30th - psychology professor Megan Yost will discuss her work in progress: "Girls Gone Wild?  Men’s Reactions to Women’s Performative Bisexuality"

In Yost's previous research with Dickinson students, a large proportion of heterosexual women reported making out with one another at college parties for an audience of men. Prior research (described in the article, "Girls gone wild?  Understanding heterosexual women’s same-sex encounters at college parties") documented that many women engage in this "performative bisexuality" because of a belief that men enjoy watching such displays.  The present research was designed to assess men's actual perceptions of and reactions to heterosexual women's same-sex performances.  Yost and colleagues surveyed 72 heterosexual men attending Dickinson College, and conducted semi-structured interviews with a subset of 20 of these men.  In this faculty research lunch, Yost will describe preliminary qualitative analyses of the interview data and preliminary statistical analyses comparing men who enjoy watching these displays with men who report not enjoying them. 

Past presenters include Sociology professor Amy Steinbugler, who discussed an excerpt from her forthcoming book BEYOND LOVING: Intimate Racework in Lesbian, Gay and Straight Interracial Relationships.