Okay, so I have a question. Do you think Gaydar is used for stereotyping people? I think it is in a way. For an example if me and some of my friends go out to eat and a guy comes in. My friends try to use their "gaydar" and say.."Hey, I think he's gay. I have great gaydar." I am like why do you think he is gay. "Well, look at the way he is walking, and using his hands a lot. He is definitely gay. Plus, like I said I have great gaydar". This conversation actually happened. I do not like using gaydar because I think it is used to stereotype a group of people.
Well, people DO like to label stuff... even other people! and ye I agree its mostly based on stereotypes, that what "gaydar" is about, no?
Some people will claim to have gaydar superpowers when noticing someone's got a dozen rainbow-coloured accessories (i.e. the more obvious ones)... or behave in very stereotypical ways - that's not gaydar that's being able to see the obvious I think actual gaydar (not sure if anyone's done serious scientific studies into this) works on much more subtle clues, and can "detect" people who are hiding it, even from themselves
Agree with awesomeyodais. I think too many people use the word "gaydar" to basically mean "that person is acting in a way, or looks a certain way, that stereotypically means gay". The person isn't *really* getting any type of "gaydar vibes" or anything, they just see the "obvious" signs and assume. The subtle type of gaydar, though, is something I believe some people possess even if they don't know it. And personally I don't think it's a bad thing, or even confined to people who identify on the LGBTQ spectrum. For instance, I think a friend of mine has much better "gaydar" then I do because she, while straight, tends to be able to pick out certain people as lesbian looong before I would've realized it (with no obvious signs in sight).
Yeah i agree with the others, some people just base shit off stuff that doesn't have anything to do with sexuality. Now me, I will base someone being somewhere on the spectrum based on body language and all that towards someone. Like these two wwe wrestlers, it's obvious they're into each other cause of their body language/actions and also the general vibe/tension you can sense. But even then, I don't assume their sexualities, cause they can be anything really. One could be gay, but the other bi; or both bi; and so on.
Stereotyping is any form of labeling someone based on specific queues that would point toward that person fitting those labels. I would agree with you that gaydar is used to stereotype people. I am honestly surprised, now that you bring up the topic, that more people haven't gotten beaten up or attacked because of it. If we were to call someone a jew, and I recently encountered someone who was offended by the word gyp, we would be put in our place. Why should the idea of gaydar or even the term itself be any different. I totally agree that it is an example of stereotyping.
I agree with this. Also, I think a person who can read another person's body language towards the same sex possesses some gaydar.
I think so too. The thing is the people who say they just know someone is gay because they know does not hold any kind weight with me. I know when I started at my job over 6 years ago I had several people say to me when you first walked in to apply I knew you were gay. And I asked them how they knew, and they said they just knew. They also brought up that they had great gaydar. How can anyone possibly know for sure about someone's sexuality unless they ask the person and the person answers honestly?
I don't believe there is such a thing as a gaydar. There is intuition and attention to detail. Some people are better at it than others. Perhaps they've met a lot of gay people before and are able to pick out certain mannerisms. Of course, none of that is 100% sure. It's merely a hunch. You can't assume someone's gay based on that.
while i wouldn't say a gaydar is a real thing but someone i'm close to once called me out on my sexuality with absolutely no reason to think i was bi. i was surprised but just shrugged it off. though to say a person is gay because of how they act is stupid. though it doesn't help that up until recently(last decade or so) the only known gay people in the media acted like your stereotypical gay.
