Gaydar Exists (And You Have It)

Charlotte York had to get her gay friend Standford’s opinion before deciding whether her boyfriend was gay or not in an episode of Sex and the City. She must lack women’s new sixth sense – gaydar.

When 40 female students looked at 80 pictures of men’s faces, half of them straight and half gay, the women who were closer to ovulation were better able to decipher a man’s sexual orientation, according to a new study conducted by the University of Toronto.

Researchers also found a correlation between pure sexual desire and the strength of women’s gaydar. Out of another group of 40 women, 20 were given “hot and heavy fiction” to read before they looked at the men’s faces and 20 were not. The women who were “primed with a mating goal” by reading the romantic stories were also better able to pick gay men out of the lineup.

Scientists boil the correlation down to the fact that women who are ovulating or just sexually stimulated are more inclined to pinpoint the gay men because “their heightened desire to find a mate increases their accuracy.” They have an innate power to see whether a man is gay so they don’t pursue him. Rather, they identity straight men to follow the path to conception.

But this doesn’t account for the many women who do marry men that end up coming out of the closet later in life. Maybe these women are not equipped with the gaydar power of perception or maybe they have a connection with their gay husbands that goes beyond the desire to conceive. After all, not all women want to have children.

The gaydar study breaks down relationships to an evolutionary science, but there are a host of other reasons why we pick a certain person. We look for qualities like sense of humour, loyalty, faithfulness, intelligence and sincerity when we choose a mate.

So although this study may tap into the ebb and flow of a woman’s intuitive knowledge as it relates to her fertility cycle, many more factors are at play when we choose our mates.

Contact the author here: tinybart@morningquickie.com