| 5/22/2007 |
JOHNNY, ARE YOU QUEER?
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60 Minutes tackles the big questions. Can you tell if someone is gay by the way they move or speak? How young can you predict sexual orientation? Is there a gay or straight way of speaking? Can you create gay rats?
UPDATE: I understand that some of you may not have the time to watch the entire video. (Or the patience, because 60 Minutes decides to break up the video in 2-minute segments.) Here are a few thoughts about what was reported.
In looking at two sets of twins, where one identified with more feminine traits, there were obvious superficial differences. The boys were asked how they would describe themselves to someone they'd never met. The boy who had been identified as Childhood Gender Non-Conformity (typically these children grow up to be gay) said he would describe himself as a girl. Pink bedroom. Painted nails.
In a set of experiments done at Northwestern University, people were interviewed on camera and asked to say the same phrase. Their images wer rendered and outlined in black and white. Volunteers were then asked to identify which participants they thought were gay or straight based on mannerisms and speech. It wasn't 100% conclusive, but on average people were able to pick out who was gay or straight.
This type of research is controversial because it is said that it's just reinforcing the stereotypes. I personally think this is true and here's why. I have terrible gaydar. This isn't to say that I don't try to make calls, but I'm typically wrong. I have known several straight guys who have feminine mannerisms who are quite straight. Conversly, I know some gay men who you would never guess were gay by looking at them or interacting with them. They give off a masculine vibe. So the typical 'clues' one might perceive aren't infallible. I think the idea that you can tell based on certain stereotype isn't always the case. But promoting the idea that gay men are catty queens and lesbians are rough-necked bad-asses seems like the easiest way lump people together. All gays act like this... All lesbians act like this...
Along the same lines, I've known some guys who 'queen it up' when they are around other gay men. Yet, when you get them one-on-one they are totally different. As if it was all a show. Why bother with the show to begin with?
Back to 60 Minutes. A scientist claims he can make a lusty rat go for the guys by injecting him with hormones. This leads in to the topic of hormones that are present in the womb. The idea that sexuality might be determined during pregnancy. An interesting theory mentioned later on is that the more older brothers a boy has the more likely that he will be gay. The theory being that perhaps a mother's body treats the pregnancy as a foreign body, thus producing various levels of hormones, not present otherwise. Also adding that it's predictable in right handed boys, but not the case with left handed boys. Also, the same idea can not be applied to girls.
No matter where you fall in the spectrum of believing Nature vs. Nurture, it's an interesting report. Nothing conclusive, but interesting speculation just the same.Labels: gay |
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I posted this @ 5/22/2007 06:48:00 AM.............Need a link?..........
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