The Curse of an Attractn to Olr Gay Men | Psychology Today

Contents:

• WHY STRAIGHT WOMEN ARE ATTRACTED TO GAY MEN
• WHY STRAIGHT WOMEN ARE ATTRACTED TO GAY MEN
• WHAT'S THE SCIENCE BEHD STRAIGHT WOMEN LIKG GAY MEN?
• I AM A GUY, AND I GET SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO OTHER MEN. AM I GAY?
• HELP! I'M GAY BUT I’M ONLY ATTRACTED TO STRAIGHT ACTG MEN
• AM I GAY?
• HOW TO GET A MAN (FOR GAY MEN)
• THE CURSE OF AN ATTRACTN TO OLR GAY MEN

WHY STRAIGHT WOMEN ARE ATTRACTED TO GAY MEN

In many ways, gay men and straight women are a perfect pairg. For the most part, relatnships between gay men and straight women are healthy and posive, wh one exceptn I'll get to later.

WHY STRAIGHT WOMEN ARE ATTRACTED TO GAY MEN

In the vast majory of s, relatnships between gay men and straight women are platonic. Sure, an ocsnal teenage girl falls for a boy who's gay, but don't take most girls very long to figure out that, this se, where there's smoke, there's most fely not fire.

WHAT'S THE SCIENCE BEHD STRAIGHT WOMEN LIKG GAY MEN?

In general, the attractn women feel for gay men tends to be emotnal nature, clearg the way for a highly satisfyg relatnship that outlasts most other relatnships gay men and straight women have.

To beg, I'll addrs how and why straight women are emotnally attracted to gay men—an attractn, by the way, that is returned by gay men spas. Reasons women may be attracted to gay men. First, bee most straight women don’t feel sexual toward gay men, the relatnship don’t rry the threat of sexual tensn.

I AM A GUY, AND I GET SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO OTHER MEN. AM I GAY?

Send, straight women love gay men bee closens wh gay men provis a wdow to how the mds of men work, somethg that women want to know as they navigate datg waters wh their straight male peers. Though there are, of urse, differenc between straight and gay men, gay men are neverthels men who share many characteristics and motivatns wh straight men.

When to the sexualy of young straight and gay men—meang, how equently they thk about sex, want , or feel impatient to get to the actual sex part—there are undoubtedly siari. When a straight woman hangs out wh a gay man, she begs to put the puzzle together that men, general, treat sex differently than women do.

Fally, straight women love gay men bee they are emotnally attracted to the fearlsns and lack of self-nscns gay men. In general, gay men, and gay women, too, tend to be more fearls than their straight unterparts—particularly straight men—bee they’ve ually experienced bullyg and prejudice bee of their sexual orientatn. The experienc fortify gay men wh thicker sk.

HELP! I'M GAY BUT I’M ONLY ATTRACTED TO STRAIGHT ACTG MEN

As out adults, gay men ually learn to accept themselv and stop tryg so hard to w the approval and acceptance of others.

Siarly, the iendship of gay men offers somethg different than the pannship of straight men. Meanwhile, gay men have the social license to be as outrageo or emotnal as they want to be bee gay men don't have to f to such a tightly prcribed role.

As I mentned at the begng, not all relatnships between straight women and gay men are healthy. While not the majory, some straight women love gay men for different reasons. The group of women I’m referrg to are often lled "f*g hags, " a term that manag to be rogatory toward two groups: women and gay men.

AM I GAY?

The term "f*g hag" refers to a woman, ually her 20s or 30s, who lov htg the gay bars wh her gay male iends.

Instead, they feel more fortable removg the sexual factor that exists at straight bars and prefer the harmlsns that wh socializg wh gay men gay surroundgs. This type of relatnship is often unhealthy, wh women choosg gay men as iends for superficial reasons: bee they're more fun and love to shop. Siarly, their gay male iends often treat their female iends as social accsori until the men fd a guy to hook up wh up later the night.

Overall, the relatnships between straight women and gay men are special, wh the ocsnal negative exceptns. If straight women and gay men foc on fdg iendships where there's te emotnal patibily and rpect, they n velop one of the most rewardg relatnships a person uld have.

HOW TO GET A MAN (FOR GAY MEN)

This article first appeared on The years, iendships between straight women and gay men have been a subject of pop culture fascatn. Books, televisn shows and feature-length films have all highlighted this unique relatnship, noted for s closens and wh society's attus toward gays and lbians changg, 's bee all the more important to build a holistic unrstandg of the relatnships between gay and straight a rearcher social psychology, I've often wonred: Why do straight female-gay male relatnships work so well?

Why are straight women so drawn to havg gay men as iends?

THE CURSE OF AN ATTRACTN TO OLR GAY MEN

Specifilly, I believe evolutnary psychology and human matg n help expla why relatnships between straight women and gay men tend to flourish. (After all, straight women and gay men don't mate wh one another.

Bee gay men don't mate wh women—or pete wh them for mat—women feel a certa level of fort wh gay men, and the procs of formg a close iendship n occur relatively heterosexual men (who, by fn, are sexually attracted to women), the procs is longer—and potentially more ght—bee men may be grapplg wh their own sexual other words, bee gay men are attracted to their own genr, they're a "safe bet" for women—at least, om a socblogil three years ago, I ially tted this theory a seri of experiments that have served as the foundatn of my rearch program on gay-straight the experiments, straight female participants were shown fict Facebook profil pictg eher a straight woman, straight man or gay man. I also reced gay male participants, and had them plete the same task (wh the gay men viewg Facebook profil pictg a straight female, gay male or lbian female) experiments, published the journal Evolutnary Psychology, monstrated that straight women and gay men perceived one another to be tstworthy sourc of relatnship and datg advice.