OKCupid goes Gay Vs. Straight, With Graphs!
OKCupid, the online dating site launched in 2004, just completed an exhaustive survey of over 600,000 members. Its results were both entertaining and surprising, showing that there's not much difference between the orientations, except maybe in their likes and interests. In a blog post on its site, they give a rundown of some of its findings, debunking many "gay myths", one of them being the idea that gays are somehow predatorily seeking out to convert heterosexuals. Not true says OKCupid, citing that of over four million searches, only 0.6% of gay men have ever searched for straight matches.
Another misconception is that gay men are somehow more promiscuous. The median number of partners for all surveyed (including hetero and gay men and women) is six. I believe this to be a big fat lie across the board, but at least everybody is lying! Another big shock was that thirty-four percent of heteros surveyed have either had or would like to have a sexual encounter with someone of the same sex.
The only glaring discrepancy was not between the orientations but between the genders. When asked what is bigger, The Earth or The Sun, five percent of men, and TEN percent of women (both straight and gay) answered THE EARTH!
The most telling research is, of course, the differences in the "Likes" listed by all four gender/orientation breakdowns. It is here that you see a vast difference between gay men, gay women, straight men, and straight women. Of course, this research only shows what each breakdown wants to be seen as, not who they really are. The straight men are decidedly macho, the gay men more artistic. Gay women like Tegan and Sara, and straight women (sigh) like Lip Gloss.
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Above: What Gay Men Like
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Above: What Gay Women Like
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Above: Straight Men Like
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Above: Straight Women Like
