Hmm: New Science Research Says Gáy Men Look More Masculine Than Straight Men

The findings were made at the Center for Theoretical Study at Charles University, Prague, and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Interestingly, the data indicated that the faces of gáy men were consistently ranked as more masculine than those of straight men.

The study’s abstract was published by the US National Institutes of Health. It reads: “Previous studies have shown that homoséxual men differ from heteroséxual men in several somatic traits and lay people accurately attribute séxual orientation based on facial images.

Thus, we may predict that morphological differences between faces of homoséxual and heteroséxual individuals can cue to séxual orientation. “The main aim of this study was to test for possible differences in facial shape between heteroséxual and homoséxual men

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Further, we tested whether self-reported séxual orientation correlated with séxual orientation and masculinity-femininity attributed from facial images by independent raters. In Study 1, we used geometric morphometrics to test for differences in facial shape between homoséxual and heteroséxual men.

The analysis revealed significant shape differences in faces of heteroséxual and homoséxual men. “Homoséxual men showed relatively wider and shorter faces, smaller and shorter noses, and rather massive and more rounded jaws, resulting in a mosaic of both feminine and masculine features. In Study 2, we tested the accuracy of séxual orientation judgment from standardized facial photos which were assessed by 80 independent raters.

Binary logistic regression showed no effect of attributed séxual orientation on self-reported séxual orientation. However, homoséxual men were rated as more masculine than heteroséxual men, which may explain the misjudgment of séxual orientation.

Thus, our results showed that differences in facial morphology of homoséxual and heteroséxual men do not simply mirror variation in femininity, and the stereotypic association of feminine looking men as homoséxual may confound judgments of séxual orientation.”