Counterclockwise scalp hair-whorl in homosexual men

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2356814

This thread is sooooo long I wanted to post this scientific study here so it wouldn't get lost. I think it is interesting.


Genet. 2004 Dec;83(3):251-5. Related Articles, Links

Excess of counterclockwise scalp hair-whorl rotation in homosexual men.

Klar AJ.

amar.klar@gmail.com

While most men prefer women as their sexual partners, some are bisexual and others are homosexuals. It has been debated for a long time whether a person's sexual preference is innate, learned, or due to a combination of both causes. It was recently discovered that the human right-versus-left-hand use preference and the direction of scalp hair-whorl rotation develop from a common genetic mechanism. Such a mechanism controls functional specialization of brain hemispheres. Whether the same mechanism specifying mental makeup influences sexual preference was determined here by comparing hair-whorl rotation in groups enriched with homosexual men with that in males at large. Only a minority of 8.2% (n = 207) unselected 'control' group of males had counterclockwise rotation. In contrast, all three samples enriched with homosexual men exhibited highly significant (P < 0.0001), 3.6-fold excess (29.8%, n = 272) counterclockwise rotation. These results suggest that sexual preference may be influenced in a significant proportion of homosexual men by a biological/genetic factor that also controls direction of hair-whorl rotation.

PMID: 15689627

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15689627&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum

Pun intended.

.....mmmk?! :crazy:

on edit...that will be as identifing as which ear they wear an earring in too I suppose?! :silly:

are connected to the genes that determine if you are gay or straight. It does not mean that you can tell a person's sexual identity just by the way his/her hair whorls.

....seems like a waste of funds to study *hair whorlin' genes* instead trying to CURE DISEASE?! :sarcasm:

there is a point on the surface of the earth where the wind is not blowing? (Yes, you're post reminded me of that.)

It can only exist if the air is in motion. :evilgrin:

and I never knew. I guess I fall into that inevitable small percentage that fails to get the word...

:rofl:

My son's hair doesn't have a part... it's has whorl from the back that runs clockwise.

Of course, none of anything is an indicator of sexual orientation, which I do think is genetic, but this seems sort of, well, stretching it...

:shrug:

and I'm gay as it's possible to get. On the other hand, my ring fingers are significantly longer than my index fingers. Frankly, I think that's my best feature! :evilgrin:

And vice-versa.

Since that particular gene also controls hand preference, is this study trying to suggest all left handed males be suspected of (gasp) homosexuality?

I really think researchers need to look elsewhere. They're not going to find homosexuality lurking in physical characteristics.

Or maybe folks just don't remember from high school biology that there is no one-to-one correlation between genetic traits. It seems to me that studies like this one support the argument that homosexuality is not a cultural choice. Therefore, it is genetic. The likelihood that the specific gene that codes for sexuality not coding for anything else is not high. It also makes sense that specific traits may be linked. And if certain traits can be shown to be linked, that suggests that other traits exist that are also linked, but not yet identified. Thus, any attempts by conservatives to argue that the "homosexual gene" - if ever identified - be culled from the gene pool can easily be countered by the fact we don't know what other functions the gene serves in combination with other genes, and to attempt to alter its function may have unforseen, disasterous consequences.

"The likelihood that the specific gene that codes for sexuality not coding for anything else is not high."

It's not all that black and white.

is genetic. They seem to be pretty sensitive about it, too.

Conditions in the womb, such as exposure to the mother's hormones, are biological, but not necessarily genetic.

Thought I should point that out, because there are sets of one gay/one straight identical twins.

(So I guess not totally identical, but yes, genetically identical.) The straight one was right handed, and the gay one left handed. Wish I could check their hair whorls, because they were almost like mirror images of each other...

I don't think scientists should be basing claims while using words that don't exist.;)

At least in cosmetology, it is. The whorl is the growth pattern on the crown of the head.

As far as whorls and sexuality, I have no friggin clue. I will say that as a former cosmetologist, I had many families as clients and I saw lots of whorls passed down from parent to child.

Richard Simmons, you're busted!

Just for fun.

but I'm bisexual.

Good Grief, why does ANYONE waste her/his time on studies like this??!!

It is one more example of the scientific community favoring MEN!

I mean, did they study traits common to homosexual WOMEN???

I don't see any reference!

More proof (if you needed it) that the scientific community has an obsession with MEN!

It disgusts me!

:hi:

But go back and re-read the study in the Original Post to this thread.

It speaks of using hair whorls as a partial indicator of homosexual MEN -- not WOMEN -- MEN!!!

I would not mind it so much if they had studied Men AND WOMEN -- but they just left women out of the study altogether!!!!

It makes me SICK!!

:eyes:

I am certainly NOT hysterical, and I REEAAALLLLLYYYY resent you even suggesting that I am!!!!!

Take a deep breath and think about it. In science, you need to control for variables. So OF COURSE they only looked at one sex. A good follow-up study, and one that probably will be done since this study got peer-reviewed and published, would be to examine a group of women for the same effect.

I will admit that I did not consider the effect of hormones in addition to genetics in determining sexual orientation. However, I'm not sure that hormones would effect the direction your hair whorls.

I do like hormonal influence as a possible explaination for why it seems more likely to be gay if you have been preceded by a number of males - perhaps something tells the mother's body that while another body to help out the family group is great, another body that will breed isn't as necesarry. Could be some form of population control. I don't know, that's just wild speculation on my part.

No, I am not a scientist -- just a progressive person who gets REALLY tired of seeing women always being somehow "forgotten" by the scientific community -- or being treated as some sort of "afterthought" by the scientific community.

It's especially bad for lesbians -- most of the studies on homosexuality deal with homosexual men -- it's as though lesbians don't even EXIST!!

"weird" studies like these are mostly for popular consumption in order to keep politicians to not cut thier funding. Non-defense industry research is often some of the first funds to be cut when conservatives do a token act of spending cuts to appease thier base.