Posted on 09/08/2015 10:23:53 AM PDT by Jan_Sobieski
A new study suggests that 'gaydar' -- the sixth sense by which many insist they can just tell that someone they meet isn't heterosexual -- is bad in two big ways. For starters, it doesn't work. But more importantly, the concept of gaydar may be pretty harmful. It may -- big surprise here, guys -- just be an excuse to revel in harmful stereotypes about LGBTQ people.
In a paper published in the Journal of Sex Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison psychologist William Cox argues that gaydar just isn't really a thing. "Imagine that 100 percent of gay men wear pink shirts all the time, and 10 percent of straight men wear pink shirts all the time. Even though all gay men wear pink shirts, there would still be twice as many straight men wearing pink shirts. So, even in this extreme example, people who rely on pink shirts as a stereotypic cue to assume men are gay will be wrong two-thirds of the time," Cox said in a statement.
Previous studies have come out claiming that gaydar is very real, and perhaps even based on cues as innate as facial shape. So a single study can't debunk all of those. It's possible there's some detectable difference that's common, if not inherent or universal, in people of different sexual orientations. But in his own team's studies, Cox found that any facial gaydar people seemed to have could be attributed to something pretty trivial: Photo quality...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
A certain tone of voice can sometimes be a tip; also some effeminate hand actions, etc. I do agree that many gay men do not appear to be gay by these criteria. OTOH, there are some gay men that seem to be obvious to me.
Ha, I just finished posting, and then you throw Obama at me with all his girlie actions.
My wife's gaydar is far more sensitive than mine, but has a high false-positive rate, as she classifies all effeminate men and all female softball players as gay, out of the gate.
Yes, I suspect most of these “gay” studies are done by sodomites like the scatological “hypothalamus study” done by sodomite Simon Levay.
One study shows that homosexual marriages are more healthy, loving, and stable than cissexual ones. Better for raising children.
One possible reason for that is women are much more likely to be bi-sexual than men.
“My wife's gaydar ... has a high false-positive rate ...”
A former male co-worker of mine had all of the outward manifestations of gayness, including effeminate mannerisms and speech, and an unusual interest in fashion and interior design. He also didn't appear to date women, although he had many female friends with whom he spent time. Several years after I left the organization, I learned that he had married the most beautiful woman in the building, they had two children, and have been happily married for more than 20 years. Go figure.
See, that's the problem. If only this were true. But, because it is not true, that's why you need...Gaydar.
Right brained men are not all gay. Non-athletic men are not all gay. Philosophical and intellectual men are not all gay. Even “low T” does not guarantee gayness. (Remember “bears” who don’t relate to dames, because they don’t regard frail femininity as valid.) If someones community disses them as gay for the above reasons, they should move. There are more sensible communities.
Haha, “totally”.
Well I’d give it 40%. Small framed men who have weak social skills, and therefore travel with one another, are not all gay.
Hehe, that trap. You know , “normal is wrong” bs.
Caricature of female. Real females are offended.
My gaydar is pretty good. Especially for men. Perfect, no, but very good.
Anyone flaming, or lisping, is too obvious. You don’t need gaydar for that. But my gaydar has to do with hair and smile. I can’t pinpoint it. The very wide smile really sets off my dar.
I’m not as good at sensing lesbians unless they look pretty butch.
My jewdar is quite good: only a few have ever slipped through. Funny thing: Jews growing up in America have pretty good jewdar. My Israeli friend is clueless. She simply can’t tell. I had so much fun sitting with her in public and playing Guess Who is Jewish, and dying laughing at how wrong she was. I guess in Israel they assume everyone is Jewish, and they don’t distinguish.
Barack Obama DEFINITELY sets off my gaydar. Absolutely. He’s gay.
Once when Bush 43 was first running, someone asked on FR why he didn’t choose congressman Cox as his running mate. Which teed up my answer so perfectly: “The yard signs.”
Heh heh heh ...
I believe Ricky Martin had a very poor gaydar himself. Or he would have known not to bother “coming out.”
Sexual orientation starts in the brain in the womb and it isn’t genetic. But whether you act on it is your own choice.
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