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English 101-Smith
Robert Goode
Robert.goode@seattlecolleges.edu
11-06-2017
Persuasive Argument

Gaydar: Backed by Science, or Excused Homophobia? A Response to

Mark Hay

According to a 2014 report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 20.8% of all reported hate

crimes in America are aimed at homosexual men. On Monday, October 16, I nearly became one

of them. Walking down the escalator of the train station, a man followed me down, screaming

about trans people and faggots. I had never felt such anger in a person’s voice, anger and the

taste for violence. Quickly finding a police officer in a such a manner as to not acknowledge the

man behind me, I boarded the train and prayed to my god for safety. It was the man’s “gaydar”

that picked me out of the crowd. The definition of gaydar is a simple one, it is the term used by

people who claim they can use non-verbal cues to indicate the sexuality of another person.

Because it is based on stereotypes that all gay people inherently have characteristics of the

opposite sex, the concept of gaydar is, at its core, a homophobic idea, since it leads to baseless

assumptions and contributes to generalized hatred and violent actions towards homosexual

people.

Having previously defined “gaydar”, let us define other terms that are linked to it.

“Homophobia” is the irrational hatred, fear, or the holding of prejudice towards homosexual

people. Prejudice is quite literally, pre-judgement, preconceived opinions not based on fact or

reason. A hate crime or bias crime is an illegal act perpetuated against a person or group, usually
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based on minority status. Hate crimes are rooted deeply in prejudice which in turn is based on

negative stereotypes, such as “all gay men are pedophiles” or “all Muslims are fanatical

terrorists.” In times of crisis, a community may engage in “scapegoating” or the wrongful and

irrational blaming of a problem on another, almost always an outsider. Economic crises, as an

example, tend to fuel anti-Semitic(Jewish) prejudice thanks to ancient stereotypes about the

Jewish people secretly controlling the world’s finances. Inevitably, belief in generalized

stereotypes will turn into prejudice, and in extreme cases, will give rise to one or more

emotionally unstable members of society perpetrating acts of violence.

Now let us discuss some common gay stereotypes in Western culture. The most obvious are

that homosexual men are inherently more effeminate: Being better concerned about their

appearance, having higher pitched and more energetic voices, speak with a pronounced lisp

(which is, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, the misarticulation of the letters “s” and “z” to

the sound of “th”), are involved with performance art, are highly sexually active, are more likely

to abuse drugs and more likely to commit pedophilic acts.(Multiple research studies conducted

on convicted pedophiles have shown homosexual are less likely to engage in sexual acts with

minors than purported heterosexual men.) Stereotypes of lesbian woman tend to include the

following: Being more masculine in appearance and activity (Short hair, baggy flannel clothes,

playing sports), the “U-haul” (The idea that lesbian woman fall in love and move in together

after the second or third date) and that lesbian woman ultimately seek to seduce married,

heterosexual women to undermine and destroy the traditional, conservative, family unit. Other,

less common stereotypes may have a basis in scientific reality. Some examples include finger

length ratio between the index and ring fingers, a much higher degree of ambidextrousness and

left-handedness, a higher chance of a counter-clockwise hair whorl among gay men, slightly
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larger right hemispheres of the brains of lesbians and heterosexual men and gay men having

slightly larger penises, on average, when compared to heterosexual men.

Homosexual stereotypes across cultures largely remain the same, although minor alterations

do exist. In Japan, it is only quite recently that one’s sexuality and gender were two different

concepts. “Gay” in Japan meant anything from a man or woman engaging in homosexual acts, to

dressing as the opposite sex, and even to seeking gender reassignment surgery. Influence from

the Western world (Mostly America) have begun to change such an idea, although many older

Japanese hold to the belief that a homosexual person ultimately seeks to become the opposite

gender.

According to a paper published in 2016 in “The Journal of Sex Research,” researchers at the

University of Wisconsin performed various experiments concerning the concept of gaydar. One

such experiment showed that people who were told gaydar was a legitimate, scientific concept

were more likely to use stereotypical cues when making snap judgments about sexual

orientation. Consequently, people were told gaydar was based on stereotypes, with no additional

information, instructions, or qualifiers, were found to use stereotypical cues far less often.

Another experiment showed that people who were more likely to rely on stereotypes when

discerning sexual orientation were much more likely to display anti-gay prejudice and

aggression. In a highly disturbing electrical experiment, the previously discussed subset of

people was far more likely to administer shocks to a test subject they believed was gay, based on

their usage of certain stereotypes or “gaydar.” This is positive support of the idea that stereotypes

will turn into prejudice and eventually bias.

While multiple American media outlets have and continue to report there is scientific

evidence that the concept of gaydar exists and is apart from stereotypical profiling, deeper
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investigation shows that many of the cited sources committed unrefuted errors. A paper in the

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology by Nicholas O. Rule posited that snap judgements

of sexual orientation based on non-verbal cues(gaydar) were largely accurate. Further research

into their study showed that photographs of text subjects who admitted to being homosexual to

the research team were of a different, higher quality than photographs of heterosexual test

subjects. The outline of experiments into gaydar are generally the same: Participants are

presented with various stimuli (video and audio clips, photographs) and are asked to make

judgements about a subject’s sexuality. 50% of the stimuli come from admitted heterosexual men

and 50% from admitted homosexual men. The glaring flaw in these studies is apparent after

some thought: Half the subjects in these studies are homosexual, but half the population of men

are not homosexual. At best, recent evidence has indicated approximately 5% of the male

population is exclusively gay. Once these lab studies are translated into the real world, their

former accuracy rate of 55-65% drops to an accuracy of 7%, meaning 93 out of 100 assumptions

will be wrong.

As societal norms shift, we find that the stereotypical cues of sexual orientation are less and

less accurate. The colors pink and lavender are freely worn by heterosexual men, and deeper

concerns about personal appearance have become the norm. Fewer heterosexual women express

concerns over wearing plaid apparel, pantsuits, and desire to engage in physically active sports.

Among younger generations, sexual orientation and gender norms are becoming less and less

important: They view their homosexual and transgender friends as being no different than their

cisgender, heterosexual friends. While violence against perceived homosexuals is certainly on

the rise in the US and the world at large, history shows that these shifts into violent

conservativism are temporary at best. American society is becoming more sensitive to the trials
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faced in gay communities and are more aware and accepting than in the past. The desire to know

the sexual orientation of strangers is less important in the modern world because of more

accepting attitudes. Will the use of “gaydar” or snap judgements about sexual orientation fade

away? It is unlikely to disappear, animals by their nature seek to know who is different from the

pack to determine if there is any danger to themselves or others. It is a base, primal urge.

Ultimately, it seems American civilization is less interested in the sexual orientation of their

neighbors, unless they are seeking potential mates.

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Works Cited
---Latest Hate Crimes Statistics Report Released-- www.fbi.gov/news/stories/latest-hate-crime-
statistics-report-released.
--- LGBT Culture in Japan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_culture_in_Japan#Linguistic_history
Cox, William T.L., Devine, Patricia G, Bischmann, Alyssa A & Hyde, Janet S (2016) Ecological
Invalidity of Existing Gaydar Research: In-Lab Accuracy Translates to Real -World
Inaccuracy: Response to Rule, Johnson, and Freeman. Journal of Sex Research, 2017,
doi: 10.1080/00224499.2017.1278570
Rule, Nicholas O., Ambady, Nalini, Adams, Reginald B. Jr, & Macrae C. Neil (2008) Accuracy
and Awareness in the Perception and Categorization of Male Sexual Orientation. Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology, doi: 10.1037/a0013194