Gaydar

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For the personal name, see Gaidar. For the website, see Gaydar (website).

Gaydar (a portmanteau of gay and radar) is the intuitive ability to determine whether another person is gay or bisexual. Whether anyone actually has such an ability is a debated question, especially in Western culture.

The idea of "gaydar" relies on indirect senses and intuitions rather than direct questions ("Are you gay?") or fact-finding (like researching the identity of previous romantic partners). It also relies on sensitivity to certain mannerisms: anything from flamboyant or overt rejection of traditional gender roles (including occupation, grooming habits, and so on) to more subtle clues, like one's style preferences or other personal tastes or habits.

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[edit] Stereotype reinforcement

Some feel the idea of "gaydar" has a negative effect on the perception of sexual orientation because it reinforces social stereotypes about gay people. [1] [2] [3]

The idea of gaydar as an ability is also complicated by homomasculinity (gay men exhibiting masculine characteristics) and the rise of the metrosexual (men with a strong aesthetic sense, regardless of sexuality).[4]

[edit] Scientific research

A study by the Philadelphia's Monell Chemical Senses Center, published in the Journal of Psychological Science found that "gay men were found to be particularly good at detecting the scent of other gay men".[1] [5] [6]

William Lee Adams, an undergraduate at Harvard, replicated earlier work by his advisor, Dr. Nalini Ambady who is now at Tufts University. Ambady's original study published in 1999 showed that homosexuals are better at correctly identifying sexual orientation than heterosexuals from silent videos and photographs. Adams' research, started in 2004, focused exclusively on the face, the focal point of most social interaction.[7] Similar work by Rudolph Gaudio in 1994 showed that men's sexual orientation can be reliably identified from their voices (gay lisp).[2] This finding was elaborated by Ron Smyth and colleagues in 2003. [8]

[edit] Gaydar in popular culture

The "Gaydar" given to Dwight on The Office.
The "Gaydar" given to Dwight on The Office.
  • In the Friends episode "The One Where Nana Dies Twice" (originally broadcast 1994), Chandler has a discussion with a gay work colleague about rumours that Chandler is gay. The colleague says he knows that he isn't, and that he can nearly always tell whether someone is or not, adding, with heavy irony, that "his people" have "a kind of radar" to tell.
  • In the Futurama episode "Love's Labours Lost in Space" Bender has what he claims is a literal gaydar - i.e., an actual electronic device that detects homosexuality. The device claimed nearly every man it evaluated as gay.
  • A segment on The Daily Show shows a man from England named David Eliot who created a Gaydar pager device to send vibrations to others carrying the same device. Another episode focusing on gay marriage in Massachusetts used a fictional "gay detection device" or "gay radar" called a Homometer that provides feedback by emitting louder gay mannerisms.
  • In The Office episode "Gay Witch Hunt" Jim told Michael and Dwight that they sell a gaydar device at The Sharper Image. Jim later sends a modified metal detector to Dwight, who believes it to be a genuine gaydar device. He becomes concerned when his belt buckle sets it off, thinking it is indicating that he is gay.
  • In The L Word season one episode Let's Do It, Dana acknowledges her lack of Gaydar after admitting to Alice and Shane she is unable to read the signals from people around her.
  • In the movie The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen's characters are playing video games while in a joking argument about how they know how the other must be gay. Rudd's character says, "You know how I know you're gay?" to which Rogen's character counters, "Because you're gay, and you can tell if other people are gay?"
  • In the ongoing Internet fan-parody series, "Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series", Ryo Bakura's Millennium Ring functions as a gaydar, pointing in the direction of gay people. (As opposed to other Millennium Items.)
  • In the show Gay, Straight, or Taken, a single female contestant dates three guys: one is gay, one is straight and the third has a girlfriend. Her goal is to identify the straight guy who is single in order to win a vacation with him. To do so, she must use her "Gaydar".
  • Saturday Night Live had a recurring sketch about a woman without Gaydar played by Rachel Dratch.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Martins, Yolanda; Preti, George; Crabtree, Christina R.; Runyan, Tamar; A. Vainius, Aldona; Wysocki, Charles J. "Preference for Human Body Odors is Influenced by Gender and Sexual Orientation." Psychological Science 16 (2005): 694-701.
  2. ^ Gaudio, Rudolph (1994) “Sounding Gay: Pitch Properties in the Speech of Gay and Straight Men.” American Speech 69: 30-57.
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