Gaydar

[[File:London Gay Pride 2012 Gaydar.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Gaydar gladiators at a London Gay Pride 2012]]
{{cquote|<center>'''Amy:''' So what do you think of that guy by the bar?<br />'''Leela:''' I don't know. Maybe.<br />'''Bender:''' Forget it! He's [[Homosexuality|gay]].<br />'''Leela:''' What? How can you tell?<br />'''Bender:''' I just know these things. I've got what they call "gaydar."<br />'''Leela:''' There's no such thing.<br />'''Bender:''' No? ....Ok, I've got a lock on him. <beep> Yep, he's gay!<br />'''Amy:''' Are you sure?<br />'''Bender:''' Definitely! Unless I'm getting interference from a gay weather balloon.</center>|||''[[Fun:Futurama|Futurama]]'', "Love's Labours Lost in Space"}}
{{sex}}

'''Gaydar''' (a portmanteau of ''"gay"'' and ''"radar"'') is a neologism used to describe a person's alleged intuitive ability to deduce another's [[sexual orientation]].

[[Science|Scientists]] have conducted a number of [[experiment]]s to test if gaydar is more than a myth,<ref>{{cite journal |year=1987 |last1=Berger |first1=G |last2=Hank |first2=L |last3=Rauzi |first3=T |last4=Simkins |first4=L |title=Detection of sexual orientation by heterosexuals and homosexuals |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=83–100 |journal=Journal of homosexuality}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |year=1999 |last1=Ambady |first1=N |last2=Hallahan |first2=M |last3=Conner |first3=B |title=Accuracy of judgments of sexual orientation from thin slices of behavior |volume=77 |issue=3 |pages=538–47 |journal=Journal of personality and social psychology}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |year=2010 |last1=Rieger |first1=G |last2=Linsenmeier |first2=JA |last3=Gygax |first3=L |last4=Garcia |first4=S |last5=Bailey |first5=JM |title=Dissecting "gaydar": Accuracy and the role of masculinity-femininity |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=124–40 |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |year=2008 |last1=Rieger |first1=G |last2=Linsenmeier |first2=JA |last3=Gygax |first3=L |last4=Bailey |first4=JM |title=Sexual orientation and childhood gender nonconformity: Evidence from home videos |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=46–58 |journal=Developmental psychology}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |year=2010 |last1=Rule |first1=NO |title=Sexual orientation perception involves gendered facial cues |volume=36 |issue=10 |pages=1318–31 |journal=Personal & Social Psychology Bulletin}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |year=2008 |last1=Rule |first1=NO |last2=Ambady |first2=N |last3=Adams |first3=RB |last4=MacRae |first4=CN |title=Accuracy and awareness in the perception and categorization of male sexual orientation |volume=95 |issue=5 |pages=1019–28 |journal=Journal of personality and social psychology}}</ref><ref name="Doijesp">{{cite journal |title=Female sexual orientation is perceived accurately, rapidly, and automatically from the face and its features |year=2009 |last1=Rule |first1=Nicholas O. |last2=Ambady |first2=Nalini |last3=Hallett |first3=Katherine C. |journal=Journal of Experimental Social Psychology |volume=45 |issue=6 |pages=1245}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Brief exposures: Male sexual orientation is accurately perceived at 50ms |year=2008 |last1=Rule |first1=Nicholas O. |last2=Ambady |first2=Nalini |journal=Journal of Experimental Social Psychology |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=1100}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |year=2010 |last1=Colzato |first1=LS |last2=Van Hooidonk |first2=L |last3=Van Den Wildenberg |first3=WP |last4=Harinck |first4=F |last5=Hommel |first5=B |title=Sexual orientation biases attentional control: A possible gaydar mechanism |volume=1 |pages=13 |journal=Frontiers in psychology}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal  |year=2007 |last1=Johnson |first1=KL |last2=Gill |first2=S |last3=Reichman |first3=V |last4=Tassinary |first4=LG |title=Swagger, sway, and sexuality: Judging sexual orientation from body motion and morphology |volume=93 |issue=3 |pages=321–34 |journal=Journal of personality and social psychology}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |year=1998 |last1=Linville |first1=SE |title=Acoustic correlates of perceived versus actual sexual orientation in men's speech |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=35–48 |journal=Folia phoniatrica et logopaedica: official organ of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP)}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal  |title=Male voices and perceived sexual orientation: An experimental  and theoretical approach |year=2003 |last1=Smyth |first1=RON |last2=Jacobs |first2=Greg |last3=Rogers |first3=Henry |journal=Language in Society |volume=32 |issue=3}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |pages=30–57 |last1=Gaudio |first1=R. P. |title=Sounding Gay: Pitch Properties in the Speech of Gay and Straight Men |volume=69 |issue=1 |journal=American Speech |year=1994}}</ref> with generally mixed and inconclusive results. Gaydar often relies on [[stereotype]]s of [[LGBT]] people to assess non-verbal cues such as social behavior, mannerisms, body language, tone of voice, occupation, grooming habits, etc. This is problematic, especially in urban areas where it is more common and acceptable for heterosexual men to exhibit lifestyle habits stereotypical of gay men, and because many LGBT people do not behave in a stereotypically "gay" manner.

Other forms of gaydar are pure [[woo]]. For example, in the 1950s, the Royal [[Canada|Canadian]] Mounted Police used a device jokingly referred to as the ''"fruit machine,"'' which purported to reveal a person's sexuality by measuring their pupils as they watched [[pornography]]. During a campaign to rid the civil service of suspected homosexuals, the fruit machine was used as justification for firing as many as 9,000 government employees.<ref>Gary William Kinsman, Dieter K. Buse, Mercedes Steedman, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=2XBtBapxXrMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Whose+National+Security%3F:+Canadian+State+Surveillance+and+the+Creation+of+Enemies&hl=iw&ei=b6hmTau3PIWy8gPL0YnIDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false Whose National Security?: Canadian State Surveillance and the Creation of Enemies],'' (Between the Lines, Canada, 2000) ISBN 1-896357-25-3, chapter 10.</ref> Other similar "gay tests" were used in the US during the era of [[Joseph McCarthy]] to disqualify suspected homosexuals from civil service, since they were considered susceptible to {{wpl|blackmail}} and thus a security risk.<ref name=johnson>{{cite book|first=David K. |last=Johnson |title=The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2004 |ISBN=0-226-40190-1}}</ref><ref>Rodger McDaniel, ''Dying for Joe McCarthy's Sins: The Suicide of Wyoming Senator Lester Hunt'' (WordsWorth, 2013), ISBN 978-0983027591</ref> [[Roy Cohn]] must have called in sick that day, and no one would have dared to test [[J. Edgar Hoover]].

==See also==
*[[Toupée fallacy]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Sexuality]]
[[Category:Homosexuality]]

Categories: Sexuality, Homosexuality