Can the fingers provide a clue to a patient’s sexual orientation?
Maybe. In a recent Nature study, researchers from Berkeley suggested that the length of the index and
ring fingers might indeed statistically predict sexual orientation. According to their theory, womb exposure
to high levels of androgens would shorten the index fingers of males, causing them to become a little
smaller than the ring fingers. Women would have instead indices that are either longer or, at least, equal
to their ring fingers. Researchers carried out their study by going to street fairs in San Francisco and persuading more than 700 fairgoers to have copies of their hands made on portable photocopying machines.
They also inquired about family histories and sexual orientations. By doing so, they discovered that gay men have indices even shorter than those of straight men. And, more interestingly, that gay men also have a much greater number of older brothers. And so their theory speculates that womb exposure to even higher levels of androgens (as in cases of many preceding male siblings) would paradoxically induce a gay sexual
orientation.
This hypermasculinization would be the reason why, according to the same researchers, gay men often have longer genitalia and subtle differences in brain structure. It would also explain the finger pattern of gay women, which is very similar to that of straight men (i.e., indices shorter than ring fingers), similarly related to high womb exposure to androgens.
What is really interesting, though, is that the role of the middle finger hasn’t yet been clarified. Maybe in a
future study. On a partially related note, Romans-of-old also believed in connections between fertility and fingers—especially the fourth finger of the left hand, which they thought linked to the heart through a unique nerve.
That is why they used to “chain” it at time of marriage by putting a ring around it, as a sign of enslavement of both heart and passions. And inside that ring they engraved the words: “Ubi Tu Gaia, Ego Gaius; Ubi Ego Gaius, Tu Gaia” (When you are happy, I am happy; and when I am happy, you are happy”). In other words, reciprocal tolerance is key to a successful marriage—good advice for all times.
Maybe. In a recent Nature study, researchers from Berkeley suggested that the length of the index and
ring fingers might indeed statistically predict sexual orientation. According to their theory, womb exposure
to high levels of androgens would shorten the index fingers of males, causing them to become a little
smaller than the ring fingers. Women would have instead indices that are either longer or, at least, equal
to their ring fingers. Researchers carried out their study by going to street fairs in San Francisco and persuading more than 700 fairgoers to have copies of their hands made on portable photocopying machines.
They also inquired about family histories and sexual orientations. By doing so, they discovered that gay men have indices even shorter than those of straight men. And, more interestingly, that gay men also have a much greater number of older brothers. And so their theory speculates that womb exposure to even higher levels of androgens (as in cases of many preceding male siblings) would paradoxically induce a gay sexual
orientation.
This hypermasculinization would be the reason why, according to the same researchers, gay men often have longer genitalia and subtle differences in brain structure. It would also explain the finger pattern of gay women, which is very similar to that of straight men (i.e., indices shorter than ring fingers), similarly related to high womb exposure to androgens.
What is really interesting, though, is that the role of the middle finger hasn’t yet been clarified. Maybe in a
future study. On a partially related note, Romans-of-old also believed in connections between fertility and fingers—especially the fourth finger of the left hand, which they thought linked to the heart through a unique nerve.
That is why they used to “chain” it at time of marriage by putting a ring around it, as a sign of enslavement of both heart and passions. And inside that ring they engraved the words: “Ubi Tu Gaia, Ego Gaius; Ubi Ego Gaius, Tu Gaia” (When you are happy, I am happy; and when I am happy, you are happy”). In other words, reciprocal tolerance is key to a successful marriage—good advice for all times.