I'm curious as to whether "Gaydar" actually exists or not. Over the years, I've met a few people who can somehow detect certain "mannerisms" of a homosexual person. I sometimes doubt that Gaydar actually exists, since I recognize the fact that sexual orientation alone does not immediately affect one's mannerisms. It should be known that a lesbian for example does not automatically embody masculine behaviors because of their orientation. Aimed at those who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, how do you perceive the increasingly popular notion of the "Gaydar?" Do certain "signs" actually indicate orientation as perfectly easy to detect? Does Gaydar invoke paranoia for those who don't wish to "come out" to strangers and the like? Or is it a flawed set of systems which only success at judging the surface? From the likes of it, it seems that the gaydar might have much to do with reading body language. Then again, it is probably susceptible to shallow judgments. What do you think of it?
Well - firstly, no; gaydars don't exist. It's a term for a concept, rather. My gaydar's not even that good, for one, lol. Gaydars are just what people call, not restricted to, an invisible radar that detects if one's homosexual through signs. I personally wouldn't legitimise certain signs as being giveaways, or dead giveaways, of sexualities. I've read accounts of people who have had sex with the same gender, even, and they've been straight the entire time or realised they still were afterwards. This can be interchanged with straight people who have had sex with the opposite gender and been gay or lesbian, even during it. As much as I question this, I question the notion of a legitimate gaydar. All gaydars, and even mine, are not really to be taken seriously (I'd compare gaydars to a pseudoscience as they're both just fun-intended and not to be taken as legitimate). My gaydar's personally based off the stereotype of a homosexual. Signs on people's gaydars can be different, and are by all no means correct. Some people's "symptoms", if you will, are based on appearance purely and others through their personality or interests. I do believe that most of the time, it's superficial and hence why the concept of a gaydar is not serious. I think the whole idea of a gaydar is weird, but I can't speak for everyone or myself, because I still have one and deep down, still credit it even though I logically know it's not a tell-tale 101 signs and symptoms book.
I think it's definitely a real thing, and even if I do say so myself mine's pretty damn good--I've clocked people years before they came out and in several cases I'm pretty sure I could tell before they could. As for how it works I don't know. In my experience it really isn't based on stereotypes and the idea that you could tell by just looking at someone seems sort of silly to me--it's a gestalt sort of thing, a combination of a whole bunch of tiny cues, some of which I'm pretty sure are subconscious, and I just know (oftentimes I'm not even fully aware of what makes me know).
