I like the Urban Dictionary because it captures people's understanding and use of words and phrases independent of their actual meaning; it's therefore as much a gauge of human psychology as it is a compendium of slang. There were several definitions of "gay face," including this derogatory doozy:. Now, that one's rather silly and sensationalized—even politically suspect—and there's certainly no scientific evidence in support of these claims about the "mongoloid" features of homosexual men's faces. But perhaps there is a kernel of truth to another definition of "gay face" in the Urban Dictionary:.
Again, a tad derogatory—but that doesn't mean there isn't some logic there, as well.
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On the one hand, the "muscular activation hypothesis" seems plausible enough to me. But on the other hand, remember that Rule and his co-authors largely controlled for these superficial giveaways in their stimulus photos. For example, in the second experiment, participants could still ferret out the gay face when shown the eye region sans eyebrows and cropped to the outer canthi. And I'm not entirely sure how to fashion—let alone scientifically operationalize—a "surprised-looking and predatory" eye expression.
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I think I would get a headache if I attempted that. In addition, contrary to this urban definition, there may indeed be subtle, yet presently unknown, differences between gay and straight faces. For example, one of my PhD students, David Harnden-Warwick, has a casual hunch that gay men may have sharper, clearer irises than straight men.
If so, this would add to a growing list of physiological and biological markers of sexual orientation. It was only a few years ago that researchers discovered that, unlike straight men, gay men tend to have hair whorl patterns that run in a counterclockwise direction. Such differences may evade conscious detection while registering at some level in people's social awareness. All we know at the moment is that there's something endemic to our faces in particular, our eyes and mouths that betrays our "hidden" sexual orientation.
In this new column presented by Scientific American Mind magazine, research psychologist Jesse Bering of Queen's University Belfast ponders some of the more obscure aspects of everyday human behavior. Ever wonder why yawning is contagious, why we point with our index fingers instead of our thumbs or whether being breastfed as an infant influences your sexual preferences as an adult? Sign up for the RSS feed or friend Dr. Bering on Facebook and never miss an installment again.
The views expressed are those of the author s and are not necessarily those of Scientific American. To learn more about Jesse's work, visit www.
There were several definitions of "gay face," including this derogatory doozy: But perhaps there is a kernel of truth to another definition of "gay face" in the Urban Dictionary: Rather, the use of certain expressions can become ingrained in the musculature of the face over time. Since effeminate gay men utilize similar facial expressions as women, they develop female aging and muscle contraction patterns in their face.
For example, gay face includes tightness around the mouth from pursing the lips, a facial expression common to gay men and women—but not to heterosexual men. Also, gay men are more emotionally expressive, leading to a general 'tightness' and muscular activation throughout the entire face.
Gay face includes an eye expression that is both surprised-looking and predatory. Eyebrows are usually arched higher than that of straight men, and eyebrow hair is manicured. Lesbians also have a version of gay face that emulates the facial muscular usage patterns of straight men.
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They exhibit an underexpression of emotion, relaxed brows, relaxed eyes, and less taut mouth and cheek muscles than straight women. The skin is usually pale and splotchy. Sex and Suicide: One Last Goodbye: My neck was frail. Skin hung over the band of my underwear and, on top of that, I was hairy. I began to panic. This was the first night my boyfriend saw me naked. He had that godlike body to offer me—and all I could give him was The tendency of gay men to emphasize physical appearance is "hard to dismiss," says Dr.
In his article "Out of the Closet and Into the Gym," Duncan acknowledges that the idealized male physique is "a major point of cultural reference in the dominant representation of gay men. David Brennan, a clinical social worker from the University of Toronto. And the question is, does that affect us? Obviously, this question is politically charged. Anti-gay politicians are more than ready to pathologize any traits gay men may have in common.
On the flip side, many gay-rights activists go to great lengths to deny altogether that there are any identifying features of what opponents pejoratively term "the gay lifestyle. But even then, it seems as if the methodological frameworks underpinning the studies are influenced by one of these political extremes. Brennan, a gay man himself, insists gay culture's preference for a specific physical ideal does indeed affect those who fall short of the prevailing standards.
Some of these negative effects include low self-esteem, eating disorders , and body dysmorphia. Brennan also says some gay men who don't measure up might even develop "an increased use or dependency" on drugs and alcohol. And even though the research into this area is fairly recent, Brennan suggests the literature we do have shows that gay men on average tend to experience more body dissatisfaction than heterosexual men. Some research suggests that gay men and straight men share similar concern for their bodies, but because of the pressures of heterosexual society, straight men don't feel comfortable talking about it.
In other words, the differences might be more announced than pronounced, which is the argument offered by the authors of The Adonis Complex. But while a conclusive decision has yet to be reached, contemporary gay trends certainly lend credence to Brennan's theory. Take, for instance, Grindr -a gay social networking app that helps you "find gay, bi, curious guys for free near you. Users can scroll through several hundred pictures—an assortment of faces, biceps, and abs—until they find the one guy that tickles their fancy.
Senthorun Raj, a writer at The Guardian , recently described his Grindr experience:. Sorting through each profile makes me feel like I'm a kid in an adult candy store: I'm in control of who I respond to, how quickly I respond, and the nature of the conversation I am having.
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The term "window-shopping" immediately jumped out at me. I've gone "shopping" for men in similar ways, both on and offline. That one has gay-face. Oh, the one with big shoulders carrying a briefcase down Fifth Avenue--follow him! In other words, there are times when I act like I'm on Grindr even when I'm not. What's troubling about this is that, without being aware of it, I've helped to perpetuate the same exclusivity that Brennan says "makes some gay men feel left out or without value.
There's no doubt that there are some benefits to Grindr. In a phone interview, Grindr founder and CEO Joel Simkhai said his company "creates a virtual community" for people who might otherwise feel isolated and alone—think the Middle East or the Republican National Convention. But when you think about some of the language that characterizes the Grindr experience—"No Asians or Fems!
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The tendency to conflate muscularity and masculinity is widespread throughout gay culture, according to Dr. Murray Drummond. In his article " Men's Bodies: Listening to the Voices of Young, Gay Men ," Drummond argues that we often take for granted that muscularity signifies both physical and emotional strength.
In gay communities, he says, muscle means something very specific—such as "a sense of control It's easy to begin to psychoanalyze why this might be the case. There are several different theories about gay muscularity, each one less politically correct than the next. Brennan suggests a view most notably argued by A.
Klein in a book titled Little Big Men. After the AIDS crisis, he says, many gay men hit the gym to avoid looking thin and frail, which might have been taken as signs of being diseased. This new drive to achieve an athletic body was described by Drummond as a form of "protest muscularity. Another motivation might have been to overcome the homophobia--internalized or otherwise--that saw gay men as weaker than their straight counterparts.
Yet another opinion is that in the late s, the growing physical strength of gay men mirrored the continued social strength they were achieving.