David France, who is so gay that he -wrote Jim "Gay Amerin" McGreevey's The Confsn, has a long examatn of the (psdo)science behd gaydar New York mag. It's endlsly long and ntas few revelatns—the ultimate ncln is that sexualy is "about your soul." But if you're really terted lookg for physil signs of a gay gene, the article talks about three fun on: "gay accent," lbo-hands (x fger longer than rg fger), and hair whorl (gay men's may tend to go unterclockwise). The article c a whorl study of "more than 50" short-haired gay men that took place at a pri ftival, about 23 percent of whom had unterclockwise hair whorls. How scientific and nclive! We cid to aid the rearch by takg a long, hard look at (who else?) ourselv.
Contents:
- THE SCIENCE OF GAYDAR
- WHAT DO GAY LOOK LIKE? SCIENCE KEEPS TRYG TO FIGURE THAT OUT
- WHAT DO GAY LOOK LIKE? SCIENCE IS WORKG ON
- JENNA LYONS ON BEG OUTED (AND HER FAKE TEETH)SHE OPENED UP ABOUT THE GEIC DISORR THAT LED HER TO G FAKE TEETH, HAIR, AND EYEBROWS. “MY HAIR IS ALSO FAKE, I N TAKE OFF, ’S LIKE A HAT."BY KASE WICKMANJULY 20, 2023FROM NATHAN CONGLETON/NBC VIA GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEJENNA LYONS, FORMER HEAD SIGNER AND PRINT OF J. CREW, MAY BE A STYLE IN, BUT, EVEN OVER A LATER, BEG OUTED BEFORE SHE WAS READY TO SHARE HER SEXUALY STILL SMARTS.IN AN TERVIEW WEDNDAY ON THE VIEW, LYONS RELLED BEG PUBLICLY OUTED, THE MIDST OF HER 2011 DIVORCE OM VCENT MAZE. WHEN AN OUTLET LLED AND ASKED FOR NFIRMATN OF WHETHER SHE WAS GAY, SHE SAID, “I WAS SO OVERWHELMED WH EVERYTHG THAT WAS HAPPENG MY LIFE THAT I JT SAID Y.”SHE LLED BEG ASKED BY THE NEW YORK POST TO NFIRM OR NY WHETHER SHE WAS A LBIAN “AN OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCE.”“I DIDN’T EXPECT ANYONE TO RE ABOUT WHAT I WAS DOG MY PERSONAL LIFE, AND ALL OF A SUDN EVERYONE RED,” SHE SAID, RELLG THAT THE STORY WAS MA PUBLIC BEE “SOMEONE LLED THE POST AND SAID LOOKED LIKE I WAS HAVG AN TIMATE DNER WH SOMEONE AT A RTRANT.”“I DON’T KNOW WHY,” SHE SAID, “BUT I JT SAID ‘NFIRM.’”THE NEXT DAY, SHE H THE NEWSSTANDS OF NEW YORK AND SOPED UP ALL THE PI OF THE POST SHE ULD FD. “FOR THE RERD, I WENT AND BOUGHT ALMOST EVERY SGLE ONE MANHATTAN,” SHE SAID.THOUGH THE CIRCUMSTANC SURROUNDG HER OUTG STILL STG, LYONS SAID THAT SHE’S PROUD TO BE A POSIVE REPRENTATN OF QUEER PEOPLE THE WORLD AND RELLED HOW YOUNGER EMPLOYE AT J. CREW WOULD TELL HER, “MY MOM IS SO RELIEVED TO SEE SOMEONE SUCCSFUL WHO’S OPENLY GAY.” NOW, TOO, SHE'S THE FIRST OPENLY GAY ST MEMBER ON THE REAL HOEWIV OF NEW YORK.DURG THE APPEARANCE, SHE ALSO OPENED UP ABOUT A GEIC DISORR SHE WAS BORN WH, NTENTIA PIGMENTI, THAT VISIBLY IMPACTS A PERSON’S SK, HAIR, TEETH, AND MORE.“ALL MY TEETH ARE FAKE,” SHE SAID, LGHG AT A PLIMENT AND RPONDG THAT “I PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR THEM.”“MY HAIR IS ALSO FAKE, I N TAKE OFF, ’S LIKE A HAT,” SHE SAID. “MY EYELASH ARE FAKE, I HAVE NO EYEBROWS, I ALSO HAVE SRS ALL OVER MY SK.”HER NDN HAS SPIRED HER: WHEN SHE ULDN’T FD FAKE EYELASH THAT SHE FELT SUED HER, SHE MA HER OWN AND CREATED HER PANY, LOVESEEN. COPG WH HER HEALTH IS ALSO PART OF THE ORIG STORY FOR HER ONGOG, EPIC LIFE FASHN.“IT’S ONE OF THE REASONS I WENT TO FASHN,” SHE SAID, “BEE I WANTED TO LOOK BETTER. I WAS NSTANTLY TRYG TO FD WAYS TO F .”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIRHOW FOUR BILLNAIRE TECHNO-OLIGARCHS ARE CREATG AN ALTERNATE REALYEXCLIVE NEW DETAILS ABOUT MEGHAN MARKLE’S WEDDG DRSA BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF EVERYTHG HAPPENG AT THIS FALL’S FILM FTIVALS—WHOUT THE STARSA SER SETBACK FOR TMP’S PLAN TO GET REELECTED AND PARDON HIMSELFMEET KYLE DCHANEL, THE PRETEND PLAYBOY WHO SEEMS TO HAVE FOOLED HALF OF MANHATTANTHE ULTIMATE GUI TO FALL MOVIFROM THE ARCHIVE: A FATHER’S ACUNT OF THE TRIAL OF HIS DGHTER’S KILLEREND-OF-SUMMER SALE! TAKE 25% OFF AT THE VF SHOPMOST POPULARKYLE DCHANEL, THE ROTHSCHILD WHO WASN’TBY NATE FREEMANAND JT LIKE THAT: MICHAEL PATRICK KG KNOWS WHEN THE AUDIENCE TURNED ON CHE DIAZBY CHRIS MURPHYADAM SANDLER FDS LOW-KEY TRIUMPH YOU ARE SO NOT INVED TO MY BAT MZVAHBY SAVANNAH WALSHKASE WICKMAN
THE SCIENCE OF GAYDAR
Counterclockwise slp hair-whorls appear more equently gay men than the general populatn, apparently * hair whorl and gay *
The thors took digal photographs of parietal surface hair whorls om 100 heterosexual men and 100 homosexual men who were predomantly right-hand.
The thors found no signifint difference between heterosexual and homosexual men hair whorl directn, but the thors did replite the aternal birth orr effect (more olr brothers for homosexual men).
"This is the first study, " he wr, "that shows a highly signifint associatn of blogilly specified unterclockwise hair-whorl rotatn and homosexualy a nsirable proportn of men sampl enriched gays.
WHAT DO GAY LOOK LIKE? SCIENCE KEEPS TRYG TO FIGURE THAT OUT
If sexual orientatn is blogil, are the tras that make people seem gay nate, too? The new rearch on everythg om voice pch to hair whorl. * hair whorl and gay *
Klar explas that he, for one, got lucky:"By chance I happened to be vatng at a beach where a preponrance of gay men was fortuoly noticed. The subjects were nsired to be homosexuals bee of their public display of stereotypil terpersonal relatnship emed typil of homosexual men.
Such nsiratns ma relatively easy to llect the data on groups of predomantly gay men wh great nfince even though the subjects were not asked for their sexual preference. "A year later, Klar returned to the same beach and llected another load of reports that "altogether a bed sample of 272 mostly gay men observed, 29. I know this om strangers who fd gay people offensive enough to elic a remark—tlls om b wdows, to e a recent example—as well as om untls sual social engagements which people easily assume my orientatn, no sensive gaydar necsary.
WHAT DO GAY LOOK LIKE? SCIENCE IS WORKG ON
Some studi have shown that sexualy n be rrelated more or ls strongly wh certa blogil markers, for example the unterclockwise hair whorl beg 30% likely gay men and only 8% likely the general populatn. () I thought might be ter... * hair whorl and gay *
I once placed a personal ad which I scribed myself as “gay-actg/gay-appearg, ” partly as a jab at my peers who prefer to be thought of as “str8” but mostly bee ’s jt who I am. Maybe a better way to phrase would have been “third-sexer, ” the tegory advanced by the gay German sexologist Magn Hirschfeld 100 years ago. That’s what we mean by gaydar—not the skill of the viewer so much as the telltale signs most gay people project, the set of tras that make unmistakably one.
JENNA LYONS ON BEG OUTED (AND HER FAKE TEETH)SHE OPENED UP ABOUT THE GEIC DISORR THAT LED HER TO G FAKE TEETH, HAIR, AND EYEBROWS. “MY HAIR IS ALSO FAKE, I N TAKE OFF, ’S LIKE A HAT."BY KASE WICKMANJULY 20, 2023FROM NATHAN CONGLETON/NBC VIA GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEJENNA LYONS, FORMER HEAD SIGNER AND PRINT OF J. CREW, MAY BE A STYLE IN, BUT, EVEN OVER A LATER, BEG OUTED BEFORE SHE WAS READY TO SHARE HER SEXUALY STILL SMARTS.IN AN TERVIEW WEDNDAY ON THE VIEW, LYONS RELLED BEG PUBLICLY OUTED, THE MIDST OF HER 2011 DIVORCE OM VCENT MAZE. WHEN AN OUTLET LLED AND ASKED FOR NFIRMATN OF WHETHER SHE WAS GAY, SHE SAID, “I WAS SO OVERWHELMED WH EVERYTHG THAT WAS HAPPENG MY LIFE THAT I JT SAID Y.”SHE LLED BEG ASKED BY THE NEW YORK POST TO NFIRM OR NY WHETHER SHE WAS A LBIAN “AN OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCE.”“I DIDN’T EXPECT ANYONE TO RE ABOUT WHAT I WAS DOG MY PERSONAL LIFE, AND ALL OF A SUDN EVERYONE RED,” SHE SAID, RELLG THAT THE STORY WAS MA PUBLIC BEE “SOMEONE LLED THE POST AND SAID LOOKED LIKE I WAS HAVG AN TIMATE DNER WH SOMEONE AT A RTRANT.”“I DON’T KNOW WHY,” SHE SAID, “BUT I JT SAID ‘NFIRM.’”THE NEXT DAY, SHE H THE NEWSSTANDS OF NEW YORK AND SOPED UP ALL THE PI OF THE POST SHE ULD FD. “FOR THE RERD, I WENT AND BOUGHT ALMOST EVERY SGLE ONE MANHATTAN,” SHE SAID.THOUGH THE CIRCUMSTANC SURROUNDG HER OUTG STILL STG, LYONS SAID THAT SHE’S PROUD TO BE A POSIVE REPRENTATN OF QUEER PEOPLE THE WORLD AND RELLED HOW YOUNGER EMPLOYE AT J. CREW WOULD TELL HER, “MY MOM IS SO RELIEVED TO SEE SOMEONE SUCCSFUL WHO’S OPENLY GAY.” NOW, TOO, SHE'S THE FIRST OPENLY GAY ST MEMBER ON THE REAL HOEWIV OF NEW YORK.DURG THE APPEARANCE, SHE ALSO OPENED UP ABOUT A GEIC DISORR SHE WAS BORN WH, NTENTIA PIGMENTI, THAT VISIBLY IMPACTS A PERSON’S SK, HAIR, TEETH, AND MORE.“ALL MY TEETH ARE FAKE,” SHE SAID, LGHG AT A PLIMENT AND RPONDG THAT “I PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR THEM.”“MY HAIR IS ALSO FAKE, I N TAKE OFF, ’S LIKE A HAT,” SHE SAID. “MY EYELASH ARE FAKE, I HAVE NO EYEBROWS, I ALSO HAVE SRS ALL OVER MY SK.”HER NDN HAS SPIRED HER: WHEN SHE ULDN’T FD FAKE EYELASH THAT SHE FELT SUED HER, SHE MA HER OWN AND CREATED HER PANY, LOVESEEN. COPG WH HER HEALTH IS ALSO PART OF THE ORIG STORY FOR HER ONGOG, EPIC LIFE FASHN.“IT’S ONE OF THE REASONS I WENT TO FASHN,” SHE SAID, “BEE I WANTED TO LOOK BETTER. I WAS NSTANTLY TRYG TO FD WAYS TO F .”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIRHOW FOUR BILLNAIRE TECHNO-OLIGARCHS ARE CREATG AN ALTERNATE REALYEXCLIVE NEW DETAILS ABOUT MEGHAN MARKLE’S WEDDG DRSA BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF EVERYTHG HAPPENG AT THIS FALL’S FILM FTIVALS—WHOUT THE STARSA SER SETBACK FOR TMP’S PLAN TO GET REELECTED AND PARDON HIMSELFMEET KYLE DCHANEL, THE PRETEND PLAYBOY WHO SEEMS TO HAVE FOOLED HALF OF MANHATTANTHE ULTIMATE GUI TO FALL MOVIFROM THE ARCHIVE: A FATHER’S ACUNT OF THE TRIAL OF HIS DGHTER’S KILLEREND-OF-SUMMER SALE! TAKE 25% OFF AT THE VF SHOPMOST POPULARKYLE DCHANEL, THE ROTHSCHILD WHO WASN’TBY NATE FREEMANAND JT LIKE THAT: MICHAEL PATRICK KG KNOWS WHEN THE AUDIENCE TURNED ON CHE DIAZBY CHRIS MURPHYADAM SANDLER FDS LOW-KEY TRIUMPH YOU ARE SO NOT INVED TO MY BAT MZVAHBY SAVANNAH WALSHKASE WICKMAN
A small nstellatn of rearchers is specifilly analyzg the tras and characteristics that, though more pronounced some than others, not only make gay but also make appear gay. Statistilly, for stance, gay men and lbians have about a 50 percent greater chance of beg left-hand or ambixtro than straight men or women. But some rearchers have noted that gay men are likely to have fger-length rats more le wh those of straight women, and a study of self-scribed “butch” lbians showed signifintly masculized rats.
What is there Ruf Wawright’s “unhibed, yearng, ugly-ducklg voice, ” as the Los Angel Tim wrote a few weeks ago, that we regnize as uniquely gay?
“The are all part and parcel of the ia that beg gay is different—that we are different animals to some extent, ” says Simon LeVay, the Brish-born nroscientist who has dited himself to studyg the issu. Richard Lippa, a psychologist om California State Universy at Fullerton, is one of the leadg taloguers of the many ways which gay people are different.