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Is Gaydar real?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by MayaBee, Nov 24, 2015.

  1. MayaBee

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    Question above.

    For those who dont know what Gaydar is, it's basically the ability(radar) to know if someon eis gay or nah.
     
  2. Secrets5

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    I got that Luke Smith off Sarah Jane Adventures (BBC, R. T. Davis et al) like-liked Sanjay before I found out the head writer intended to make him gay. Now, I'm not sure how someone genetically engineered to destroy the world can love someone - but it's a TV show, and their relationship would have been good until the BBC said 'no'. They wouldn't need to mention 'homosexual' as the youngest age for watching is 7 so sexuality of any kind would be a bit too old for them, but having them lightly kiss and hold hands would have been age appropriate. Sorry, a bit of a tangent, but I love this show.
     
  3. Alder

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    I don't think that a magical all-reliable ability to sense sexuality exists, but I do believe in people being able to subconsciously pick up on certain subtle behaviours/actions/reactions that might be indicators, and that contributes to the gut feeling in knowing whether somebody is gay or not.

    Even in day to day life some people are able to sort of sense how another is feeling quite well (you know how you can just sometimes tell that someone is angry even without it being obvious? Or you might be able to tell if someone is flirting with you or somebody else? You can pick up on unconscious signs), and it's maybe a similar sense that might contribute to gaydar. Perhaps that might be it.

    Either way, it's never completely reliable, certainly not enough so that I would place all my trust on it myself- but I can't deny that some people are excellent at guessing these things. And I don't know how true this is, but it's usually the people who aren't straight that have whole lot better gaydars. Probably since they might be more aware of these kinds of things than others. In the past my gaydar has been fairly accurate in some cases, that I can say. But I have been wrong in others. And irrelevant of all that, I try not to discuss it- just in case I am right and it'll cause trouble to anyone who wants to remain closeted for their own reasons. Unless they're ready to safely and comfortably come out themselves, I'm not going to use my gaydar to start making bets here and there.
     
    #3 Alder, Nov 24, 2015
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2015
  4. LogicNoSense

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    To a certain extent, yes, it does. However, I don't think everyone has it, and even so, it's not very accurate at the best of times. I'll try not to rattle too much (I'm too tired to do it, anyways...)

    Humans naturally have an ability to 'sense' things from other humans-small signs that tell us what they're feeling. Tact, really. Some can 'feel' it better then others, and some are also affected by other factors such as how 'experienced' they are at examining? Watching? Lost the word for now. I would say older people who have experienced more in life or those who are trained in psychology-it does affect how easily they can pick up on another person's emotions. The same goes for the gaydar-subtle movements or actions that lead us to make guesses at another person's sexuality.

    Real or not, it's damn fun to gossip about it. In my school, anyway.
     
  5. LogicNoSense

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    To a certain extent, yes, it does. However, I don't think everyone has it, and even so, it's not very accurate at the best of times. I'll try not to rattle too much (I'm too tired to do it, anyways...)

    Humans naturally have an ability to 'sense' things from other humans-small signs that tell us what they're feeling. Tact, really. Some can 'feel' it better then others, and some are also affected by other factors such as how 'experienced' they are at examining? Watching? Lost the word for now. I would say older people who have experienced more in life or those who are trained in psychology-it does affect how easily they can pick up on another person's emotions. The same goes for the gaydar-subtle movements or actions that lead us to make guesses at another person's sexuality.

    Real or not, it's damn fun to gossip about it. In my school, anyway.
     
  6. guitar

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    There are studies which have examined the gaydar, and you can often - but certainly not always - tell if someone is gay or not.
     
  7. Mental

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    I believe people are a bit less sutle about their sexuality than they think. I quite easily pick up on the fact that someone is bi or gay up to three years before they tell me.
     
  8. PlantSoul

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    For the most part, yes. Accuracy greatly depends on how you utilise it. If you go by gay stereotypes, you're bound to get some inaccurate readings.

    I've had a lot of success with telling if a man is gay by looking to see if he has a feminine "air" in the face. I'm not talking about feminine facial features. It's hard to describe. There's just something that I can spot in the faces of some gay men that lets me know if they're gay.


    It's too hard tell with women! I'm often guilty of assuming that if they're really butch, that they're probably gay. If I see them being very affectionate with another woman or if I'll hear language that would suggest that they're living together.
     
  9. WhereWeWere

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    "I can determine your sexuality by stereotypes that occur in your behavior."

    No, it's not. I'm guilty of the whole "gaydar" thing, too. I thought my brother's friend was gay in the past. He had "gay voice", acted very flamboyant, shaved his armpits etc. Dude ended up being as straight as an arrow. It was quite a shock to me.
     
  10. Open Arms

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    Yes, I think gaydar is real. I can spot a gay man very easily 9 times out of 10. I'm not nearly as accurate detecting gay women though.
     
  11. Steve FS

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    I think "straightdars" are more inaccurate from my experience, haha.

    The only for-sure way I can know if someone is gay is if they're a male and if they're showing interest in me. Other than that, I can never be too sure of someone's sexuality. I can rely on stereotypes, but we all know how those can turn out...
     
    #11 Steve FS, Nov 27, 2015
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2015
  12. ZestyLion

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    I believe in it... I have a strong one :wink:
     
  13. BookWriter1994

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    When I watch tv sometimes I can kind of tell if someone is gay or lesbian but in real life? I have a sucky gaydar even though I knew that two of my co-workers were lesbians but they were stereotypical lesbians.
     
  14. MCairo

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    I believe the gaydar is simply picking up stereotyped behaviours expressed by someone and linking it to their possible sexuality. In other words, I don't really think there's anything subconscious about it. So it might work for the most stereotyped ones or, if someone is a very good observer, they might notice some small details that give away to those that are more ''straight-acting''. And then that are those who express certain stereotyped behaviours and turn out to be straight.
     
  15. crystalgem

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    I wish it was.
    Stereotyping people is though.
     
  16. Andrew99

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    Yes it is.
     
  17. littleraven

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    No idea. It's not always accurate, but an actual gaydar would make finding other LGBT people easier.
     
  18. Fighter694

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    It's as real as intuition, sometimes you just know! Sometimes you have no clue !
     
  19. Barb31

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    I think the gaydar is real. I have gay friends who always thought I was a lesbian, I'm pretty femenine and I dated guys my whole life, I mean, there's no reason why they would think that. Even though I'm questioning right now I'm pretty sure I'm into women.
     
  20. SeerOfHeart

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    Unless my straight girl crush of two years now turns out to be not straight, I'm seriously skeptical.

    On a serious note though - I think it depends? Maybe there are "cues" based on how someone acts, but I don't believe there's any tried and true way to look at someone and go "oh yeah, they're definitely this sexuality." I go to a school with a ton of LGBT+ people, and I've been wrong before. (Though a good portion of my friends are those people - birds of a feather flock together, maybe?)