 While homosexual contact is common in both male and female prisoners, female inmates tend to emphasize an emotional connection, sometimes displaying affection without any intention of sexual contact, male inmates tend not to display any affection despite frequent sexual interaction.This phenomenon is caused partially by the extreme stigmatization of homosexuality in male prison populations.Prison conditions encourage young male inmates to emphasize their masculinity, causing participants in homosexual relationships typically explain their actions as purely physical to avoid homophobic bias against themselves.