This just in: Americans are a lot gayer than they’d like you to believe.
Seth Stephens-Davidowitz is the author of Everybody Lies, a new book that examines data on America’s online searching habits, from Google to PornHub, to gain deeper insight into our national consciousness.
Among his findings: There are way more closeted men in America than you might think, and a lot of married women are extremely concerned their husbands might be gay.
“Sex is a big part of human nature,” Stephens-Davidowitz tells Vox. “Some reviews of Everybody Lies have criticized me for being obsessed with sex. Everybody is obsessed with sex. If they say they’re not, they’re lying.”
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And he’s got the data to prove it.
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Stephens-Davidowitz pored over the nation’s porn searches. According to his analysis, around 5% of American males are predominantly attracted to men, a whole 2% higher than is commonly believed.
“It’s clear that a lot of gay men remain in the closet,” he explains. “In places where it’s hard to be gay, such as Mississippi, far fewer men say that they are gay than in places where it’s easy to be gay, such as New York. But gay porn searches are about the same everywhere.”
He adds, “I think porn is a pretty good measure of people’s sexual fantasies, even if they never act on them.”
As for married people, Stephens-Davidowitz tells Vox that the number one question married women have about their husbands is whether he is gay.
Women are eight times more likely to ask Google if their husband is gay than if he is an alcoholic and 10 times more likely to ask Google if their husband is gay than if he is depressed. And these questions are much higher in the Deep South, where my research suggests there are indeed more gay men married to women.
But, ladies, you can rest assured, he probably isn’t.
Stephens-Davidowitz explains, “It is far more likely that a woman is married to a man who is secretly an alcoholic or secretly depressed than secretly gay. About 98 percent of women’s husbands are really straight. Trust me.”
Related: Your XXX Searches Aren’t Private, And Here’s Why Everyone Is At Risk
So what’s the takeaway from all this?
“I have always wondered how homosexuality made it through evolution,” Stephens-Davidowitz says. “Like, isn’t evolution supposed to make people desire heterosexual sex with fertile people?”
But after seeing some of the things people are searching for, his opinions on the matter have changed.
“After studying porn, I realized homosexuality is hardly the only desire that doesn’t make sense from an evolutionary perspective,” Stephens-Davidowitz explains.
“Modern conditions take sexuality in all kinds of directions.”
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KaiserVonScheiss
Here we go again….
You guys are obsessed with straight guys being gay, aren’t you?
Mo Bro
I’ve met a number of gay men who believe all men are a little homosexual, but not all men are a little heterosexual, so yeah . . . it’s definitely pathological.
Deepdow
@MO
If some gay guys, the ones that you speak of, believe that all men are a “little homosexual” – then that means that they also believe that that they are a “little heterosexual”
So maybe it’s just you being pathological about your own brand of homophobia.
Mo Bro
@DD:
My point was plain, I thought.
Some gay men believe straight-identifying men have a little bisexuality going on, while at the same time acknowledging many gay-identifying men are all gay, no straight.
Hope I cleared that up.
Deepdow
@Mo
Why is your ire always directed towards gay men?
Do straight men also believe that other straight men are a little gay? If they don’t, is it also pathological?
Justhereforthefapfuelman
Yeah, IA. Didn’t even bother to read the BS before skipping straight to the comments. Gays who [s]beleive[/s] fantasize about this might as well get “thirsty ass-loser” tattooed on their forehead.
Justhereforthefapfuelman
Deepdow false comparison. It’d only be pathological if they believed that lesbians are a little straight and obsessed over it to this degree cause they’re a desperate bitch with a paraphilia.
Also, 1/10 with your effort to distract from the actual argument — which is the writer’s shameful fetish for straight men. At least you relied on something besides just attempting to mind screw him.
Paco
Umm, Queerty. I read the original article and nowhere does the author say that the data suggests that “there are way more straight dudes into gay sex than you might think”.
He said “It’s clear that a lot of gay men remain in the closet,” he explains.
But then to think of them as anything other than straight would ruin your fantasies.
Xzamilloh
No, they aren’t. Give it a rest, Queerty.
Richard 55
Porn is prostitution. It is not real sexuality. Judging a porn watcher’s sexual orientation by the type of porn he watches is fallacious.
Just because I look at pictures of Mt Everest on the computer, it doesn’t mean I want to become a mountain climber.
The other point is that many straight-identifying men are able to swing both ways in certain conditions. Women fear this male ability because it destroys girl power.
The natural homophobia expressed by women forces their husbands into the straight side of the binary, creating the illusion that male bisexuality does not exist or is rare among married men.
I would have thought that Stephens-Davidowitz would have picked up more on the homophobic attitudes of women and how they shape male behavior.
Chevelter
I think looking at a picture of a mountain (or clouds or kittens or whatever) on a computer is different than looking at porn. As a gay man I never look at straight porn. A female in porn is a turn off for me. I definitely think you can judge a man’s sexuality by his sexual fantasies.
Prax07
Post on Craigslist (in northeast Pa) that you’re looking for a married guy to hook up with and you’ll have twenty+ replies in no time. It’s crazy how many “straight” married guys here are looking for sex with another guy.
Richard 55
Male bisexual feelings are common but women don’t approve. Married men keep it on the down low for that very reason.
Males are more accepting of female bisexuality than women are of male bisexuality. In many cases, married couples who attend swingers parties will go only on the condition that male-male touching is banned but female-female is allowed.
Women are mainly to blame for this double standard.
stevetalbert
Correct that
ALL guys having sex with other men are not straight as a matter of fact.
DistingueTraces
Queerty editors, would you like a a sip of this cool glass of lemonade to help you with YOUR DESPERATE THIRST?
Donston
I don’t remember this site being this bad when I first started somewhat paying attention to it several years ago. Was it always this thirsty, click-bait-y, hetero-worshiping and promiscuity promoting?
Sluggo2007
@Donston – Somewhat paying attention to it? I believe you’re one of the top posters here.
Donston
I meant that several years ago I was also somewhat paying attention. Rarely visited more than a couple times a month. So, I wasn’t able to legitimately get a feel for the site. I only started visiting and posting on a regular late last year.
scotshot
@Donstan
This is a tabloid website with lots of gossip, men’s asses and sensationalized news headlines.
To be complaining about it possibly means you consider going to other websites for someone in your level of society.
Mikah92
Seems like just another person pulling statistics out of thin air.All he did was state the obvious.In more homophobic places,men are more likely to hide their same sex attractions.Also,it’s not always about being gay. It’s obvious that A LOT of men have bisexual tendencies.LGBT statistics will never be very accurate while homophobia exists.
Donston
This is exactly why Graham sucks.
No where in the article or in the “study” does it say anything about straight men being into gay sex. Once again, this Graham twit with the hetero worship, click-bait and desire to be subversive. Although, yes, there are hetero men and men whose sexual attractions lie almost entirely with women that get a kick out of gay sex or gay fantasies mostly due to megalomaniac/narcissistic based fetishes and instincts. Just as there is a decent amount of gay men and men whose attractions lie greatly with men who enjoy straight sex and hetero fantasies because of those fetishes and instincts but also internalized homophobia. However, this article, the original study and those sketchy stats aren’t actually about those things at all.
A recent Times article estimates that a bit over 6% of men are homosexual/have attractions that lean greatly towards men. That sounds about right. But yes, stats on sexual orientation will never be close to being accurate, especially with men. The amount of closet cases, and the amount of people who use sexual behavior and sexual “identity” for the sake of sociology and to indulge their egos and fetishes will always keep the number wildly warped.
I also see that “Richard” is back to his old ways after being relatively chill for a couple weeks. I mean, he was still unabashedly homophobic and female resentful during that time but not nearly as pathological and redundant.
Mo Bro
No, Graham, this is way LESS proof that there are straight guys out there salivating over you, despite your insistence that they exist.
I hope one day you can consummate your fantasy for sex with a dude who tells you he’s straight, if for no other reason than you’ll finally tone down your endless obsessions regarding them.
DCguy
Hey Queerty,
I have to say, if Mo Bro and I agree on something, it means two things….hell has frozen over and maybe the obsession with “Straight” has pretty much worn out it’s welcome for everybody.
This article stated that there are way more CLOSETED GAY MEN, nowhere did it say that “Straight Men” like gay sex.
There really should be a self examination of the obsession with this.
ingyaom
Where do these “data” come from? Are google-searches a matter of public record? How does the author know who’s searching for what on the internet?
DMRX
In short, yes.
Every single thing you do online is tracked and can be compiled into metadata. Every website you visit sells or gives away your history on their site. It’s just a fact of life.
Where do you think those targeted ads come from?
Ruhlmann
“Closing Time Bisexuality” It manifests mainly on the weekends.
Ken A.
Oh for heaven’s sake. Of course they are, what this is not telling is that many straight dudes–not every–jerk off for guys on sites like Chatterbate or whatever it is called the other like websites. It is old news. Some consider that sex, others just consider it entertainment.
Lookyloo
Not this dumb thing again:
— “I have always wondered how homosexuality made it through evolution,” Stephens-Davidowitz says. “Like, isn’t evolution supposed to make people desire heterosexual sex with fertile people?” —
Hey dumb guy doing ‘science’ — There are TONS of biological anomalies in the populations of every living thing which hinder procreation – but they make it through evolution, none the less, because they only occur to MINIMAL MINORITY of said population.
Notice people like this guy never say; “how did all the various biological infertility causes make it through evolution?” —
And how people with an anti-gay mindset never say; “Straight men with no sperm count are abominations to God because we’re meant to be-fruitful-and-multiply”
Somehow they realize it’s not an issue because the vast majority of people are fertile. Just like how the vast majority of people are sexually attracted to the opposite sex.
It doesn’t need to be 100% of the population for successful populating – just an advantageous majority.
Why do some people inherently get this when it comes to everything but gayness?
Latinoguy008.5
I can’t believe people are still convincing themselves that this is news. It has been so since forever. Not just men but women as well. We are sexual beings and sex is a very large part of the human condition, being human. There are a lot of self hating married gay men at every social, professional, economic strata and always has been. It’s friendship, companionship, attraction, common interest, curiosity, sexual attraction , being horny, drinking, drugs, any and ever human situation, occasion, loneliness, depression, societal pressures to conform, religion, simply giving a Care what anyone may think, family , friends, co-workers, anyone and anything. Who can say with absolute certainty what the reasons are in any given situation. Why are people so afraid of their sexuality, their beed, desire, wanting, sexual contact, connection especially through pornography. There are many millions of individuals who due to injuries, illnesses, poverty, etc., who are still alive and who still are sexual beings. If they use pornography to satisfy a basic human need, so what, and who give a damn what anyone else may think. If such use of pornography is used to shame, chastise, as an excuse to label a person as deviant, or a reason to deny people who are qualified for any job, profession, no matter what it may be public service, private, Judges, Jurors, prosecutors, defense attorneys, doctors, blue collar, white collar, no collar, stand up for yourself and for your Constitutional Right to pursue happiness and if that happiness is sex with a consenting person of age, who cares about so called scandals. No one, nuns, teachers, kindergarten teachers. Your sisters , brothers, Mothers, fathers, grandparents, neighbors, best friends everyone is a sexual being. Get over it World, for those married heterosexual couples who are afraid, suspect that their spouse may be gay or having sex with someone of the same sex, why the Shane? Chances are you had suspicions before you married. Through rumor, talk, actions You choose to ignore. All of the many social taboos related to sex in general are absurd.
Wake up, this is by no means some New revelation. As those who come from generations where society, religion, etc., dictates The Who what when where and why of sexual expression get older and die off, there will be the same pressures from them upon the many generations that follow. Those mind fold Manacles that people place upon themselves and all of society will always remain to so extent throughout time,. However, it will not stop people from their sexual needs and desires which are all so very much human and natural.