GAYDAR

EXISTE VERDADERAMENTE EL GAYDAR?

(NO TENIA GANAS DE TRADUCIR, ASI QUE A AGUDIZAR EL INGLES)

At best, "gaydar" sounds like a joke, a snarky combination of the words "gay" and "radar" that people use to explain a self-proclaimed power to detect sexual orientation. At worst it sounds like a knee-jerk way to perpetuate stereotypes about homosexuals.

But, for better or worse, there might really be some accuracy in it.

"Gaydar absolutely exists," said Northwestern University psychology professor Michael Bailey.

"It's not a perfect indicator. A lot of gay men don't give off the right signs, but a substantial percentage do."

In experiments, Bailey has shown videos of men talking and walking, then asked people to rate whether the subjects are gay. The viewers were right about 70 percent of the time, he said.

His research tries to isolate what people intuitively focus on.

The giveaways, he said, include a narrower, more feminine gait and distinct, lispy pronunciation of words.

Not exactly subtle. You might as well say the giveaways include singing old show tunes and taking the time to pick out especially thoughtful greeting cards.

His findings have been widely criticized.

Lynn Conway, a transsexual retired electrical engineering professor who is one of Bailey's most vocal critics, calls his research ``outlandish and unscientific.''

Bailey agrees that many gaydar signals are much-parodied stereotypes, ``but there is some basis behind it.''

In a gay spectrum that includes people from Liberace to Rock Hudson, gaydar is by no means foolproof, he said. Many openly gay men exhibit none of the traits he has documented.

"You can watch football, hook worms and fish, spit on the sidewalk, shoot Bambi's mother, scratch your ass in public, and still be gay as the month of May," gay author Donald F. Reuter wrote in his book "Gaydar." Or you can be thin, neat and fabulously dressed, "and still be straight as an arrow."

Reuter noted that gay men are known to gravitate toward such professions as hairstyling and fashion design, but straight-seeming institutions such as churches and the military are as attractive to gays as they are to heterosexuals.

Bailey agrees.

"The church is a more feminine pursuit," he said. "It may attract a disproportionate number of gay men."

Bailey said he watched the TV footage of Ted Haggard saying he got a massage from a gay prostitute.

"I didn't see him as a flaming gay man at all," he said.

The one blip on his Ph.D.-caliber gaydar was Haggard's broad grin.

"This is total speculation, we haven't done studies yet, but I think gay men tend to have much more expressive smiles. That's one thing that struck me about Haggard."

So who has the best gaydar? Gay men? Straight men? Women?

In a study by William Lee Adams, an undergraduate at Harvard College, volunteers were asked to view photos and videos of people's faces.

The study found gays are better at correctly spotting other gays, and they make up their minds in about two seconds.

Another study, by researchers at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, asked participants to sniff the underarm odors of gay and straight men and women.

Researchers found gay men strongly prefer the smell of other gay men, while lesbians and straight men and women find the scents of gay men least appealing.

Olfactory gaydar? Perhaps.

With everybody beaming out their gaydar waves, why are we shocked again and again when we learn someone in a political office or pulpit is gay?

Maybe the right person didn't give the right armpits a good, strong sniff.

Vía: Pantagraph