Gayish Podcast Gayish: 228 Gaydar
May 20, 2021
Is gaydar a real thing? The hosts dive deep into the concept, debating its accuracy and origins. They explore studies on cues like voice and appearance, and the biases in research. Discussions range from whether gay people have better gaydar to how attraction influences perception. The ethics of assumptions about orientation and the implications of technology in detecting sexual orientation add depth. By the end, they conclude that while gaydar shows some signals, it’s far from reliable and fraught with stereotypes.
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What Gaydar Means And Where It Came From
- Gaydar refers to judging sexual orientation from observation, a portmanteau of gay and radar coined in the 1990s.
- The concept entered mainstream culture via TV and dating sites, making the idea socially prominent.
Lab Accuracy Is Above Chance But Not Perfect
- Lab studies typically show 55–65% accuracy at categorizing sexual orientation from limited cues, above chance but far from perfect.
- Researchers debate whether photographic confounds (lighting, pose, background) inflate that accuracy.
Base Rates Make Gaydar Misleading In Real Life
- Even 60% lab accuracy can translate to very low real-world precision because most people are straight, producing many false positives.
- Bayesian base-rate effects make perceived gaydar reliability much lower in typical populations.
