A recent article from New York Magazine (June 25) ‘The Science of Gaydar’ lists more and more ways sexual orientation is indicated by biological characteristics: hair whorls (with gay men tending to have a counterclockwise twirl), left-handedness, relative length of fingers, the way we hear, spatial reasoning, the ring of our voices and fingerprints. Besides the obvious political implications—with even some evangelical groups re-thinking their thoughts re the possibility that homosexuality is not chosen—the article points out some other implications: 1) the famous ‘gaydar’ of lesbigays may partly be their unconscious notice of these physical traits and, 2) there is a notable reluctance to do research on this whole issue because it suggests ways to prevent the occurrence of gay people.
Kevin Nance,in the Chicago Sun-Times’ (June 24) Controversy section, says in an article entitled ‘Faggot vs. Queer’ that ‘queer’ is becoming more accepted, even in academic circles, while ‘faggot’ is quickly evolving (or devolving) to the new ‘n’ word that nobody should use. Nance lists former ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ star Isaiah Washington, right-winger Ann Coulter and White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen as having run into trouble with the ‘F’ word. ”Queer’ retains its power to hurt in certain settings’ but there’ll never be a ‘faggot studies’ at a university or a TV show ‘Faggot Eye for the Straight Guy.’
The New York Times Book Review (June 24) looks at Uncommon Arrangements: Seven Portraits of Married Life in London Literary Circles, 1910-1939, by Katie Roiphe. There, front and center in the book and the review, is famous lesbian novelist Radclyffe Hall and her ‘wife,’ Lady Una Troubridge. For the record, Hall looks as butch as any male novelist (and considerably more masculine than, say, Henry James). Troubridge and Hall were by no means the most unusual of the couples portrayed—Clive and Vanessa Bell would probably win that prize, but read the book and find out how Una handled Radclyffe’s pursuit of ‘… a nubile Russian nurse.’
From the ‘For-Dykes-to-Watch-Out-For’ file, the Chicago Sun-Times (June 27) says studies have shown lesbians have just as high a risk of STDs as straight women.
And from the ‘Snarkiest-Remark-from-a-Reviewer’ file, The New York Times (June 27), in a review of the ballet Swan Lake, imagines the Prince’s not-so-nice mother re his reluctance on picking a fiance as saying, ‘But dahling, if you don’t marry one of these dreary girls, all these frightful yobs will think you’re gay.’