Presentation by Cierra (WRTG 3020 – Fall 2012)
My project, titled PING, is directed toward anyone who has ever questioned somebody else’s sexual orientation; that just because somebody’s physical appearance matches their perceived sex, that doesn’t mean their not gay.
I took four gay college aged students: one boy and one girl who looked gay, and the other boy and girl who did not look gay, and asked them the same three questions based upon their appearance to see if people perceived them as gay or not. One of the boys, who is very athletic, and one of the girls, who is very feminine, both said that their appearance wasn’t the “typical” gay look so people did not perceive them as being gay. One was unsure as to whether his look made people perceive him as gay, but said his voice definitely gave it away. The other girl said that because of how she dressed (like a boy) and had a boy’s hair cut, people definitely perceived her as gay.
Using their photos and personal responses, I was able to show that one can not know a person’s sexual orientation based upon physical appearance; that there are feminine lesbians and masculine gay men out there.