Finger Poll Results

Well, let's have a look at the results for the finger length ratio poll (still running in the right-hand margin by the way). After over a hundred responses, it is clear that an unusual pattern is present.

Remember, in the normal population, we would expect men to have longer ring fingers than index fingers. In women, the two fingers should be the same length with the index finger sometimes longer. Population stats are hard to come by (for me, anyway) but I tracked down one report that suggests that 61% of men should have this longer-ring-finger pattern. What emerges from the poll is that only 42% of the male transvestites who responded have the typical male pattern, while 58% have the typical female ratio. This is almost the exact opposite of the usual distribution.

It's a very strong result and in the direction predicted, so I'm feeling quite pleased about it (because it suggests I'm right in thinking that pre-natal hormonal conditions in the womb may be a cause of transvestitism). However, the study is way too loosely-controlled to be anything other than suggestive. For a start, there may have been some bias in the way people took the test or in the way they reported their results. It could be, for example, that people wanting to find a biological cause for their condition unconsciously skewed their measurements, or were more likely to report a 'feminine' finger length ratio. It could also be that not everyone who took the test were transvestites, or even males! I'll just never know.

However, if there are any scientists reading this, I believe you now have a prima facie reason to suspect there are hormonal influences at work here. Do the experiment under controlled conditions and see if it replicates. There must be a PhD in this for someone – or at least a couple of publications.

Meanwhile, I'll leave the poll running – and a huge thank you to everyone who participated!