Saturday, 19 May 2012
-
How Good is Your Gaydar?
Have you ever asked someone out who replied, “Sorry, I’m gay.” If you have it’s time to shake the dust off your gaydar. Research has found we guess someone’s sexuality in the first few seconds of meeting them.And more often than not we guess right.When I read this article in The Daily Mail I was not impressed. People have been battling against sex stereotypes for years, and this kind of research can only strengthens ideas that there is a ‘gay face’ or that all lesbians ‘look like this’.
But if this research is to be believed, maybe there's a place for stereotypes if our gaydar success rate is higher than what can be put down to chance.
The research from Washington University can’t be ignored. 129 students were shown photos of male and female faces and asked whether the person in the photo was gay or straight. All the faces had no makeup or piercings and even hairstyles were cropped out. The students guessed correctly 57 percent of the time for gay men, and 65 percent for lesbians.The researchers believe we have an instinctive feel about whether someone is gay or straight the moment we meet them. But I don’t know if I buy it. Sure there’s men and women who you could guess from a mile away are gay. But a lot of the time I wouldn’t have a clue.
And I think its great not having a clue. I’m fed up reading about the actress Amber Heard, where every headline runs along the lines of “Bisexual Amber Beard attends film premiere”. Should I give a fuck that she has sex with women? Not really. Especially as I would never be expected to give a fuck if she was straight.
What do you think? Do you believe in gaydars? Have you ever treated someone differently after finding out they were gay?
Image Source 1 2
RecommendRelated Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to datingish's Datingish Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in datingish's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
About the Author
-
- From: lovelife
- Name: Iona
- About Me: I love lots of things, although at the top of my list is Harper Beckham, possibly the best dressed baby ever. Aside from creeping Harper I love Stumbling, running, weight training, and eating chocolate pudding whenever possible. I'm not a relationship expert but I'm happy to throw my two cents in
Stats: This Week All Time Posts: 0 53 Views: 0 214129 Comments: 0 1547 View all posts by lovelife
Comments (45)
My gaydar is usually 100% cause when gay guys come up to me and try to hit on me, I know they are gay.
:)
I can only tell if someone is gay when they act/look like your stereotypical gay and lesbian. So if they fit that stereotype, I'm going to assume. They do exist for a reason.
My gaydar is pretty spot-on most of the time.
I have really bad gay-dar...well unless their looks and demeanor is that obvious. I still can't tell if Ryan Seacrest is gay despite many rumors going about.
Where I come from, there were hardly and "gays". So I grew up not assuming anyone was gay. To this day, unless someone tells me they are gay, I typically won't assume anything. Though if they act stereotypical "gay" that is portrayed in the media, then I assume as much.
this kinda made me laugh.. a good friend of mine is gay (my uber adorable shopping buddy.. He is actually awesome at picking out gifts for my hubby). I first met him when we were in grade 11, so its been a long time. At that point he was just coming out, and he was one of those very gay, gay guys. He would do Carson proud, and he had fun with it. But then his whole family just accepted him and that was it. He has toned down quite a bit.. last time i was hanging out with him a girl came up and asked me if he was taken. I said no, but he wasn't her type (the girl looked like a hooker for one).. she got annoyed and said asked why. I very politely told her he was gay. Her response? "Like I'd believe that. He is too macho to be gay".... yea.. gaydar fail!
my gaydar is pretty good but there was just this one guy at work who stumped me... usually it's obvious to me when someone is gay but i didn't know this guy was gay until i was told so. i guess it was because i thought he was rather cute, but i didn't notice his style of walking til later.... :(
girls tell me i'm effeminate all the time, though it's (fortunately) pretty rare that they think i'm gay. one chick was particularly offensive about it, but she was also fat, so it was difficult to get myself to take her seriously.
Isn't "gaydar" just another term for stereotyping someone?
You know what I've always wanted? I've wanted someone with excellent gaydar to come up to me and tell me what the heck I am because I still have no freaking clue.
I had a woman ask me if I was gay once. I think she was wondering why I wasn't more aggressive with her.
they usually have an effeminate and gentle voice. the ones that I know are super nice to me and call me sweetie or honey. there's this gay guy at work and he is so gorgeous and well dressed. he never forgets to say thank you. I don't treat them differently. I become annoyed, not at them, but at straight guys for not dressing as nicely. some straight guys that I've seen/known dressed nice but compared to gay mens' style, they just look better. this gay man at work doesn't dress flamboyantly, but his style is simple yet so well put together and coupled with his likeable persona and manners, I just smile when I see and hear him say hi to me. he resembles brandon flowers from the killers, and this is probably the closest that I'll come to meeting brandon; his gay doppelganger
I think I can tell when people are "obviously" gay but I'm aware that there are plenty of gay/bi/whatever people I wouldn't be able to "detect."
The weird thing is, I've had people say that when they met me they just KNEW that I was gay, or that they were so sure I was a lesbian. Which is funny, because that would mean they would be more sure than I am about my own sexuality!
@thelittlebrat@xanga - Amen.
My gaydar is pretty accurate when it comes to guys. As for girls, if they aren't your stereotypical lesbian I have no fucking clue. I think my gaydar is just fine tuned to my needs/desires.
It isn't about stereotyping, it's about a certain feeling/ intuition.
Gays give me a feeling of sexual disconnect (because I'm straight,) while if someone's straight I will feel a sexual connection... meanwhile if a person's bi I just feel confused about the sexual connection. It's like a primal intuition.
It's not that a person "looks gay" because I've met some guys who are really femme but I knew right away they were straight. However, I will say this: stereotypes are there for a reason. Use them at your own discretion.
this website is very good, you can go and see it
http://www.shoes4world.com/
i have the WORST gaydar. 2 of my close friends are gay, and i was shocked to find out when i did. so many things made sense all of a sudden! lol.
@hollowhopes@xanga - @thelittlebrat@xanga - ...you...are...pan-SEXUAL! But seriously, good luck with that guys. When you find your "category", just add it to the list of things that make you you :3
I think I have pretty good gaydar. I don't usually pay attention at first, but if asked later on in the evening, I'll guess and usually be right. There were some effeminate straight guys I've accidentally mislabeled though.
im lesbian and i have the worst gaydar for women. (i know right.)
but my gaydar for men is excellent.
what a perfectly useless talent.
My gaydar isn't completely horrible. I could probably tell like half of the time, but sometimes I stereotype. I've told some gay people I was bisexual and they were totally baffled that I was gay. I guess I skipped over their gaydar hahaha
Unless I'm interested, I don't care what a person's orientation is. There have been a few people that I've said, "yep, he's definitely gay", but I don't really bother with it. I'm also not a very observant person.
Stereotypes exist because most people fit them. There's nothing wrong with that. It probably has roots in survival. The problem is when you take action against someone based on an assumption.
@wing_stock@xanga - No. Not really. I can usually tell (with men at least, admittedly not that great with picking out lesbians), by what attracts their attention. Mostly because the same things equally attract my attention.
Well, some guys make is obvious. I guess my gaydar is okay. That being said, I keep whatever gaydar readings I have to myself until the person confirms them. Why? Sometimes straight people get offended and even if they don't, there is always the "why". And then you end up giving into stereotypes. Sometimes people are confused or still in the closet and assuming or asking probably isn't doing any good. Unless I want to date them or they are a good friend, it's really none of my business.
I have such good gaydar, I've realized someone was gay even before they realized it themselves. Seriously... It's happened twice now...