Gay, Straight, or Taken Strategies Defy Stereotyping

Gay, Straight, or Taken Strategies Defy Stereotyping by Roxanne McDonald

Blind dates, questionable mates, and personalized rates, oh my!

The format and function of the show “Gay, Straight, or Taken?” turns anti-stereotyping on its head, for the woman trying to figure out who is who tries to rely on her intuition, then tries to play a guessing game, then resorts to which guy fits the “stereotype”.

But here’s the tricky thing: stereotyping, or any sort of generalizing, won’t work. Straight men, gay men, married

or taken men can exploit a stereotype (by exaggerating an affect, for example), they can be the one individual of their group who is atypical to their orientation, or better, they can of course lie—which is possible for any male of any sexual orientation or relationship status.
A kind of “Third Wheel” meets “Playing it Straight,” “Gay, Straight, or Taken?” puts one woman in touch with three men—one of whom is gay, one of whom is straight, and, yes, a third who is taken. As soon as she meets the three men, she receives two phone calls—one from one of the guys’ girlfriend and one from another of the three’s boyfriend.

Cause the wrong choice on the woman’s part means the gay or taken goes on the prize trip instead of her and her chosen.

So how does she choose? How does she distinguish? Sherial, a budding starlet, considers
-who is best dressed—who, she wonders, wears coordinating shoes
-basketball-playing skills, body language, and comfort with displaying physical prowess (ahem, on the court)
-how comfortable one guy is using her as a paintbrush to paint a skyline
-how uncomfortable another is doing an interpersonal communications exercise—whereby the two have to stand really close and talk

Jackie tries some alternative tactics to discern the status and sexuality:
-what kinds of questions they ask her
-how one responds to having his legs waxed
-how another performs a church revival kind of show, including his choir-singing grandma
-whether the men know how to talk to women

So “Gay, Straight, or Taken?” might just be one of the most challenging dating shows on TV now. I mean, how many

gay men are not athletic? How many straight men can not communicate with the opposite sex? And how many taken guys will not tell the woman a small, medium-sized, or huge and obvious lie?
Good luck to all. I can’t figure out men in real life, never mind men on reality TV.

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