💷Bisexual Pay Gap 💶

🌈Equal earnings increases the stability of same-sex couples but decreases the stability of opposite-sex couples (Weisshaar, 2014)

Some studies find that bisexual women earn more than straight women (Badgett et al., 2021; Klawitter, 2015; Valfort, 2017) & others find no difference (Aksoy et al., 2018) or that bisexual women earn less than straight women (Drydakis, 2022).

This confusion could be resolved by looking at the sex of bisexual women’s lovers.

There’s no question that bisexual men experienced a higher sexuality wage gap than bisexual women (Drydakis, 2022).

Bisexual men are paid less than straight men (Bryson, 2014; Uhrig, 2015)

Bisexual Wage Gap (Thekla Morgenroth et al., 2021)

Lesbians make more than straight women in nearly every country where the lesbian wage premium has been investigated. The assumption that straight women are more feminine/communal & that lesbians are more masculine/agentic leads employers to assume more long term commitment from lesbians & thus a higher salary.

Preferences for masculinity also influence how people see bisexuals (Morgenroth et al., 2021). People with androcentric views tend to assume bisexual men secretly prefer men & that bisexual women secretly prefer men… because everyone must apparently prefer men 🤦‍♀️

In addition, bisexual men & women face significant pay discrimination (Mize, 2016), bearing more semblance to the experiences of gay men than lesbians.

— Lesbians’ income is considerably higher than heterosexual women’s (Black et al., 2000; Carpenter, 2008; Dilmaghani, 2017; Mueller, 2014).

— “[Straight] women out-earn their husbands 22.1% of the time (Murray-Close & Heggeness, 2018).

Abundant evidence, spanning three decades, exists on the labor market attainment gaps related to sexual orientation (Badgett, 1995; Badgett and Frank, 2007; Berg and Lien, 2002; Carpenter, 2008; Dilmaghani, 2017; Klawitter, 2015).

Lesbians tend to make more & work more than heterosexual women, whereas gays tend to make less & work fewer hours than heterosexual males. Moreover, lesbians are more likely to be employed in male-dominated and higher paying occupations, while gay males are more likely to be employed in female-dominated jobs and occupy lower ranks (Antecol et al. 2008; Blandford 2003; Dilmaghani 2018; Elmslie and Tebaldi 2007; Plug et al. 2014).

🏳️‍⚧️ Pay Gap — Lydia Geijtenbeek & Erik Plug, 2018

“MTF workers experience a 20% fall in earnings as a registered female, whereas FTM workers experience an 8% rise as a registered male”

Sexuality Pay Gaps (Revisited)

Lesbians earn more than straight women & gays earn less than straight men

(Ahmed & Hammarstedt, 2010; Allegretto & Arthur, 2001; Antecol et al., 2008; Arabsheibani et al., 2004, 2005; Badgett, 1995; Berg & Lien, 2002; Black et al., 2003; Blandford, 2003; Carpenter, 2008; Christopher, 2007; Clain & Leppel, 2001; Drydakis, 2014; Elmsie & Tebaldi, 2007; Frank, 2006; Jepsen, 2007; Jepsen & Jepsen, 2022; Klawitter & Flatt, 1998; Klawitter, 2015; Köllen, 2016; Levendis & Lowen, 2022; Ozeren, 2014; Plug & Berkhout, 2004; Schuitemaker, 2021).

A few other studies also found lesbians are paid more than straight women (Carpenter & Eppink, 2017; Cushing-Daniels & Yeung, 2009; La Nauze, 2015; Laurent & Mihoubi, 2012; Sayers et al., 2017).

Gay men earn less than straight men (Badgett et al., 2021; Burn, 2018, 2019; Levendis & Lowen, 2022; Martell, 2013).

“For the United States, Tilscik (2011) found strong evidence of discrimination against fictitious applicants who appeared to be gay. Similar experiments in other countries have returned evidence of differential treatment against lesbians in Austria (Weichselbaumer 2003), against gay men in Greece (Drydakis 2009), and against gay men and lesbians in Sweden (Ahmed, Andersson, and Hammarstedt 2013).”

Sidenotes = will likely be relocated to future article

Straight men who make less than their partners are more likely to cheat than men who make more than their partners (Munsch, 2015). Crouch & Dickes (2016) suggest that the primary reason for close to 50% of divorces is infidelity.

“Nearly 75% of separated lesbian mothers are sharing custody“ (Gartrell et al., 2011), whereas about 75% of children from separated opposite-sex parents “lived primarily with their mothers” (Emery et al., 2005, p. 5).

LGBT Veterans & Service — Janelle Downing et al., 2018

Lesbians & bisexual women are more likely to serve in the military than straight women (Blosnich et al., 2012; Gates, 2004, 2010; Herek et al., 2010; Muirhead et al., 2017; RAND National Defense Research Institute, 2010), and, “when compared to bisexual and gay men they are more likely to serve” (Muirhead et al., 2017).

Transmen are “nearly 5x times more likely to be veterans than cisgender women (7.9% vs. 1.7%).
Transwomen are “less likely to be veterans than cisgender males (11% vs. 19%).”

Downing, J., Conron, K., Herman, J. L., & Blosnich, J. R. (2018). Transgender and cisgender US veterans have few health differences. Health Affairs, 37(7), 1160–1168. https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2018.0027

Manhood & Housework — Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka et al., 2020

“Manhood is built along the lines of agency & an anti-femininity mandate which discourages men to be involved in activities which are feminine & communal like childcare and domestic work (Bosson & Vandello 2013; Caswell et al 2014; Kosakowska-Berezecka et al 2016; Schneider 2012).

Avoiding housework can be thus one of the ways in which men compensate for threats to their masculinity and avoid negative appraisal from other society members who expect men to be manly and refrain from feminine tasks (Caswell et al. 2014; Kosakowska-Berezecka et al. 2016).

As a result, masculine partners do not take up enough share of gendered household obligations, which would allow women to be more visible in the labour market (Kosakowska-Berezecka et al. 2016).”

Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., Jurek, P., Besta, T., Korzeniewska, L., & Seibt, B. (2020). De-gender them! Gendered vs cooperative division of housework–cross-cultural comparison of Polish and Norwegian students. Current Psychology, 39(6), 2276–2284.

Meat & Manhood — Cara MacInnis & Gordon Hodson, 2013

“Meat consumption is generally associated with masculinity (Adams, 1990; Gelfer, 2013; Kramer, 2011) & “feeling manly” (Rothgerber, 2013). As such, both vegantarian men were evaluated more negatively than vegantarian women” (Cara MacInnis & Gordon Hodson, 2013).

Everett et al., 2019

Women are 90%+ of horse owners, 80%+ of dog trainers, & more likely to oppose animal research (whereas most men support it), & women are less speciesist than men (Everett et al., 2019).

“Most kids grow up with animalia, from pajamas to cartoons, toys, songs, blankets, storybooks, socks, & even wallpaper. It’s part of our collective biophilia (Edward Wilson, 1984) (e.g., the internet is full with cat videos). “

— 40% of married women maintain that their pets give them more emotional support than do their spouses

Lesbians show sensitivity for women’s faces (not men’s) during ovulation (Brinsmead-Stockham et al., 2008