Study links sexuality to length of fingers
PR Newswire 

BERKELEY, Calif.—Gay students have expressed skepticism about a University of California-Berkeley study that claims sexual orientation can be revealed through finger length.

     Led by psychology professor Marc Breedlove and undergraduates Terrance Williams and Michelle Pepitone, the study found that the hands of lesbian women closely resemble those of men.

     The study indicates that on women the index finger tends to be equal in length to the ring finger, but on men and lesbians the index finger is slightly shorter.

     Differences in finger lengths are evident in young children, researchers found, implying that lengths are determined by hormones in the womb.

     “Our results suggest that events before birth (or even before conception in the case of older brothers) influence human sexual orientation,” the study states.

     The researchers, however, found no difference between the hands of gay and straight men.

     The study’s authors set up booths at street fairs and gay pride events, and paid subjects to fill out questionnaires and photocopy their hands.

     They then used the copies to measure differences in finger length.

     But some students questioned the validity of the study and said the researchers’ methods seem imprecise.

     Poj Gavinlertvatana, a sophomore who participated in the study, said setting up booths at gay parades is not a random sample of the population.

     “It just seems so targeted,” he said. “I would need to know more information before I actually believe it. It just seems kind of ridiculous that someone would take the trouble to do this.”

     Bella Grigoryan, co-coordinator of the Queer Resource Center, said researchers’ attempts to use appearance to determine a person’s sexual orientation demonstrates a wariness of those who do not fall into specific categories.

     “The difference in fingers is so noticeable,” she said. “It could have something to do with a cultural anxiety that’s really prevalent—people want to be able to read someone as gay or not. It’s just the same as associating a certain mannerism or dress with being queer.”

     She added that comparing finger lengths displays a need to judge people by appearances.

     “All these studies that plan to pin sexuality down to some sort of a physical characteristic shows this need that people have to sequester themselves into one group,” she said. “People find comfort in that, and it motivates this type of research.”

     Other students said the study took the complicated issue of sexuality and reduced it to a single physical trait.

     “It’s overly simplistic,” said sophomore Alexei Othenin-Girard, an English major. “Sexuality is such a more widely varied thing than people give it credit for.”

     Researchers suggest that the differences in finger length stem from the presence of male hormones, called androgen, in the womb. This could make newborn baby girls more masculine—and more likely to become lesbians.

     “Here we find evidence that homosexual women are exposed to more prenatal androgen than heterosexual women,” the researchers wrote.