Girls just wanna have fun

Being highly sexed changes men's and women's sexual orientation in startlingly different ways, an academic study has concluded.

Dr Richard Lippa, a sex expert at California State University, has found that highly sexed women are 27 times as likely as men to become attracted to their own sex.

The survey, of more than 3500 people, was published in this month's Psychological Science. It showed that 0.3 per cent of men and 8 per cent of women were attracted to their own sex.

For most women, a high sex drive increases sexual attraction to men and women. In men, a high sex drive simply exaggerates existing sexual orientation.

"Sexuality is more complex than we want to believe," said Dr Lippa. "It is more common for women to change their sexuality. My personal sense is that there are very few bisexual men, but there are significantly more bisexual women out there."

Researchers are finding evidence that there is a key biological difference, rather than just sociological factors.

Celebrities are leading the way in bringing sexual orientation out of the closet. Madonna, Angelina Jolie and Saffron Burrows are among those famous for their relationships with both sexes.

Data from last year's BBC Sex Survey is expected to show twice as many bisexual women (6 per cent) as lesbians (3 per cent) in Britain. Numbers of women who had tried lesbian sex more than doubled between 1990 and 2000.

- INDEPENDENT