Testosterone and sex role identification in lesbian couples

Within the lesbian community there exists a common perception that lesbians comprise two types, "butch," having more masculine characteristics, and "femme," having more feminine characteristics. The present study investigated the question of whether these perceptions are reflected in different levels of the predominantly male hormone testosterone. Salivatory testosterone levels and "butch/femme" ratings were obtained from 28 lesbian couples. Individuals within couples tended to be opposite in "butch/femme" ratings [intraclass r(26) = -0.77, p < 0.0001] but similar in testosterone levels [intraclass r(26) = 0.47, p <0.01]. Also within couples, individuals with higher "butch" ratings had significantly higher testosterone levels, although across all individuals as a whole (ignoring couple pairing) there was no correlation between testosterone and "butch/femme" ratings. The results indicate that testosterone is related to "butch/femme" characteristics, but only when regarded within the couple relationship.