Poll: Is there really such a thing as gaydar?

[chadachada123]

I hardly think that sexuality exists to begin with, so it'd be a bit difficult to justify having a gaydar from my perspective.

 

[JoJo]

I think you often can tell, I'm pretty crap at reading other people and even I can make educated guesses a lot of the time. There are certain traits which seem to match up to being gay or lesbian a lot of the time, such as a woman being fairly 'butch' or man being effeminate, although of course straight people can have these traits too sometimes. Bisexuals seem harder to spot, funnily enough I'm bi myself but people don't seem to pick up on it, probably because I have a very masculine personality.

I now see you in a whole new light Captain.

Yup, the next IL communal bath is going to be that little bit more awkward ;-)

 

[The White Hunter]

I think you often can tell, I'm pretty crap at reading other people and even I can make educated guesses a lot of the time. There are certain traits which seem to match up to being gay or lesbian a lot of the time, such as a woman being fairly 'butch' or man being effeminate, although of course straight people can have these traits too sometimes. Bisexuals seem harder to spot, funnily enough I'm bi myself but people don't seem to pick up on it, probably because I have a very masculine personality.

I now see you in a whole new light Captain.

Yup, the next IL communal bath is going to be that little bit more awkward ;-)

Only for the other members ;-)

Knowing a handsome fellow like yourself swings that way is just fine by me.

 

[Deathmageddon]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/opinion/sunday/the-science-of-gaydar.html?_r=0

Yeah, gaydar is real.

 

[The White Hunter]

I think you often can tell, I'm pretty crap at reading other people and even I can make educated guesses a lot of the time. There are certain traits which seem to match up to being gay or lesbian a lot of the time, such as a woman being fairly 'butch' or man being effeminate, although of course straight people can have these traits too sometimes. Bisexuals seem harder to spot, funnily enough I'm bi myself but people don't seem to pick up on it, probably because I have a very masculine personality.

I now see you in a whole new light Captain.

Yup, the next IL communal bath is going to be that little bit more awkward ;-)

And for the record, the new light is pale magenta. Because why not.

 

[The Enquirer]

I think you often can tell, I'm pretty crap at reading other people and even I can make educated guesses a lot of the time. There are certain traits which seem to match up to being gay or lesbian a lot of the time, such as a woman being fairly 'butch' or man being effeminate, although of course straight people can have these traits too sometimes. Bisexuals seem harder to spot, funnily enough I'm bi myself but people don't seem to pick up on it, probably because I have a very masculine personality.

Yea, pretty much this. A lot of the time people are just more masculine or effeminate. Not that there is anything wrong with that at all. It's just one of those little things you pick up on people with. Like someone being a football fan because they wear a certain shirt. Well not exactly like that, but its just a trait you can pick up on.

 

[Tahaneira]

I have no idea how they do it, but I do have friends who are currently twelve for twelve on identifying homosexual people before they introduce themselves as such. So there must be something to it.

 

[JoJo]

I think you often can tell, I'm pretty crap at reading other people and even I can make educated guesses a lot of the time. There are certain traits which seem to match up to being gay or lesbian a lot of the time, such as a woman being fairly 'butch' or man being effeminate, although of course straight people can have these traits too sometimes. Bisexuals seem harder to spot, funnily enough I'm bi myself but people don't seem to pick up on it, probably because I have a very masculine personality.

I now see you in a whole new light Captain.

Yup, the next IL communal bath is going to be that little bit more awkward ;-)

Only for the other members ;-)

Knowing a handsome fellow like yourself swings that way is just fine by me.

...

And for the record, the new light is pale magenta. Because why not.

Oh, I'm blushing now... thank you Chief

*cough*

Now, back to planning how to take over the Escapist, these henchmen won't motivate themselves (sadly)!

 

[The White Hunter]

I think you often can tell, I'm pretty crap at reading other people and even I can make educated guesses a lot of the time. There are certain traits which seem to match up to being gay or lesbian a lot of the time, such as a woman being fairly 'butch' or man being effeminate, although of course straight people can have these traits too sometimes. Bisexuals seem harder to spot, funnily enough I'm bi myself but people don't seem to pick up on it, probably because I have a very masculine personality.

I now see you in a whole new light Captain.

Yup, the next IL communal bath is going to be that little bit more awkward ;-)

Only for the other members ;-)

Knowing a handsome fellow like yourself swings that way is just fine by me.

...

And for the record, the new light is pale magenta. Because why not.

Oh, I'm blushing now... thank you Chief

*cough*

Now, back to planning how to take over the Escapist, these henchmen won't motivate themselves (sadly)!

-cough-

Ahem.

Yes.

Conquest.

Be sure to beat the henchmen extra today!

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I wouldn't say there's Gaydar, rather generally great observation skills. Good criminal profilers have these skills, but they're not 100% accurate. Also good chiropractors, massage therapists and some doctors have this skill as well, but its applied to postural analysis, gait analysis and other medical things... you could say good therapists and counselors and psychologist/psychiatrists have this ability too as they do a lot of observational detective work.
Basically anyone who can read body language and human behavior are better at picking out gay vs. straight but like I said its no way 100% accurate, just a probable chance maybe around 85%.
I tend to say that nothing is certain in life except for death and taxes, none of which care if you're gay, straight, a minority, rich, poor, asshole or nice person.

 

[Dyllbert]

Generally I would say no, but sometimes you can just tell when some one is gay.

 

[norashepard]

I think gaydar exists for gay/lesbian people after a while, but it usually comes from experience. I mean, if you've been burned enough time falling in love with a straight girl, you're going to get better at recognizing who isn't straight. The indicators are usually a lot more subtle than most people can pick up on. And then even then, there is no 100% accurate gaydar.

Otherwise no, there really isn't a gaydar. There are heterosexists who think they can tell, but there really isn't any way to tell unless you ask.

 

[shootthebandit]

Fair play to tom. Im glad more people like him have the balls to come out like he did however I dont really think we were that surprised. I wouldnt exactly say its a "gaydar" or that there are "symptoms" of being gay but you could just tell. In the same sense that not many people were surprised when jimmy saville was found to be a peadophile. Not that im comparing homosexuality with peadophilia im just saying that saville just came across as a peado in the same way that tom just comes across as being gay. I guess say my intuition could be considered a "gaydar" but i think that phrase kind of trivialises the situation

Ideally we want to live in a world were we dont have to ask if someone is gay or not. Hell its hard enough expressing your sexuality as a straight white male god knows what it must be like for homosexuals, bi-sexuals and such like. In fact id take it one step further and say we should have a world where sexuality isnt something to be embarrassed or affraid of or turned into some sort of points scoring or competitive event.

 

[proctorninja2]

I do believe in it thought I think its wrong to call it an exact science, while most of it is biased on stereotypes, I would argue there is a large portion of intuition as well. It basically comes down to your own personal bias on what you think gay mannerisms and looks may be but its also not always right when guessing before you know the person.

 

[Spiridion]

BTW Tom came out as Bi, which is awesome as bi people really REALLY need more celebrities to put a face to. They need role models and community too and most people think they don't exist.

Well, he stated that he was in a happy relationship with a man but still found women attractive. He never self-identified as bi. For all we know he could identify as queer, omni/pansexual, or heteroflexible. Or none of these. I'm all for people being open about their sexuality, but that includes being able to define what it is for themselves rather than have everyone jump in and do it for them as soon as they reveal a relationship.

As far as gaydars go, especially among LGBT folks, there does tend to be a certain set of characteristics many of us look for including the cadence of their voice, facial features, haircut, the clothes they wear or don't wear, how they make eye contact, how they sit/stand/walk, and the length of fingernails in the case of lesbians.

It's generally a habit cultivated to minimize the potential social awkwardness/embarrassment as well as occasional danger that comes with hitting on a straight person. Having said that, it's very much a general thing and by no means has a 100% success rate. This tends to be particularly unreliable in liberal urban areas, as "hipster fashion and "gay" fashion tend to overlap in such places. However, at some point it's pretty much guaranteed there have been or will be people you meet that you're sure are gay but are actually straight and vise-versa. And, frankly (if my first paragraph didn't make it obvious) I'm fairly against the idea of stating someone's identity for them. Even if I'm as sure as I can be that someone's queer, I try not to refer to them as such until I received some form of confirmation on the matter from them.

 

[Odbarc]

It's pretty clear to see a sexual attraction between two people when it's obvious or if both persons are looking at each other with sexual intentions in mind. There's no reason two homosexual individuals would not be able to notice this from each other and it's likely they see a lot of heterosexual interactions all the time from their friends, co-workers, ect. that the odd-man out not ignoring signs unintentionally would stick out to them much more clearly.

It's not a magical device. It's instinct.