The Science of "Gaydar"

[groovedaddy]

When people claim to have an acute “gaydar,” they may not be referring simply to their intuition. Long accepted as a fact in pop-culture lore, the ability to perceive homosexuality in others could be scientific. The Jan.-Feb. issue of Psychology Today (not available online) reports on a study by the Monell Chemical Senses Center where volunteers sniffed the armpits of sweaty T-shirts and rated how attracted they were to the scent. Lesbians were most attracted to the scent of other lesbians, gay men to the scent of other gay men, and straight people to the scent of straight people of the opposite sex. “This kind of scent-based gaydar enables gays to pinpoint potential partners instantaneously,” writes Psychology Today of the study. In the same vein, an article from Science Daily reported that homosexuals can be identified by gender-incongruent body types and walking styles. However, the way these ideas of gaydar differ from “straightdar,” if such a term existed, remains unclear.

http://tinyurl.com/yrwd2s

[xchrom]

1. i smell gay people.

[orleans]

2. so if we lose our sense of smell then we lose our gaydar? n/t

[Musty]

3. As a dyke...

I think my gaydar is more able to tell if men are gay, but sometimes these guys are often married or have girlfriends. Maybe this isn't the same gaydar which is referred to in the study.

[Vanje]

4. Cool!

Maybe I'd better stop using the "Lady Speed-Stick" and let my pits sing out un-muzzled, their sweet siren song.

[Vanje]

5. Hey Baby! Can I smell your sweater? nt

[islandmkl]

6. sports-talk guy in tampa has 'roidar'...

he can detect steroid, HGH, etc....

[Sal Minella]

10. Whew. I was afraid it was going to be "hemorrhoids."

[qb]

7. The last guy I dated smelled so good it drove me crazy.

I think I kind of freaked him out :(

[DGoldman1212]

8. So what does it mean...

if you immediately dislike the smell of...anything sweaty? Call me crazy! Oh, and for the record. I would hate the smell of Hillary sweat just as much as Obama. : )

[Warpy]

9. Imagine the practical application of these data

Instead of going into a dating bar of any type and asking a lame question about work or astrological sign, we'd just grab an arm, lift it, and have a good whiff of the old armpit. It would certainly cut through a lot of the social sparring we all have to do in the beginning; we could just cut to the chase.

It would certainly save some folks a lot of wasted time spent mooning over a person of a different orientation.

[Cronus Protagonist]

11. I think dogs have the right idea - go right for the privates and sniff around

You'll know instantly whether or not you'll hit it off with that person.

[moose65]

12. Interesting

My gaydar has never included identification by smell. To me, it's more of a gut feeling, some indescribable something that tells me I am talking to a fellow queer. Mine is usually spot-on; in fact, I've never been wrong in pegging a gay man. My dyke-detector needs some work, though. :hi:

[rusty fender]

16. It's more complex...

...than smell. I can pick out another gay person on the teevee, from across a room, etc. Well, and some people are multisexual so that complicates the whole gaydar thing. Alot of times I'm wrong, though.

[Tresalisa]

13. That was very interesting. Thanks for posting!

I'm not very good at telling a fellow lesbian when I meet her, but I do get turned on when I smell my ex-lover's perfume on somebody. I don't think that would be a good reason to approach someone, though.

[groovedaddy]

14. You're welcome! I find it fascinating too! n.t

[HumanBeast]

15. Useless hair.

I still do not like having the stink from armpits, so I shave the hair off.

[zingaro]

17. My gaydar works pretty well.

It's usually reliable on guys but with girls it's so much harder.

Maybe it's because I only have bi-dar? Or should I have bloodhound-like gaydar because for me, it's all good?

Oh now my head hurts from the contemplation.