The words we use

What are the biggest differences between gay people and straight people?
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Based on stereotypes, I suspect the first thing most people would say is that gay men are more promiscuous than the straight average.
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Well, last week an online dating site, OKCupid, which claims 3.5m active members both heterosexual and homosexual, published the latest in a series of statistical analyses on its user data.
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And it seems that the gay men, straight men, gay women and straight women on OKCupid have all had exactly the same median number of reported partners: six.
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The distribution of the number of partners is also virtually identical for the gay and straight populations.
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There is also some analysis of personality types, based on the answers people gave to pre-set questions, which confirmed some—though by no means all—the popular stereotypes.
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But the biggest differences were in the words people used in the free-form text they wrote about themselves on their profiles.
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OKCupid created word clouds showing the most common words and phrases, and they provide great instant snapshots of the main preoccupations and items of popular culture for each group.
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Some of the top words and phrases from gay men, in decreasing order of frequency:
the devil wears prada • britney spears • mean girls • kelly clarkson • the color purple • project runway • drop dead gorgeous • running with scissors • m.i.a. • imogen heap • a boyfriend • lily allen • lady gaga • the theater • katy perry • buffy the vampire slayer • tori amos • joni mitchell • owl city • the right guy • david sedaris
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From straight men:
band of brothers • poker • cars • my boat • saving private ryan • hunting • fishing • my buddies • golf • sports • the right woman • ping pong • a few beers • engineering • rock • working out • playing pool • burn notice • a country boy • law enforcement • can fix anything • breaking bad • tom clancy
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Gay women:
the L word • tegan and sara • ani difranco • piercings • the color purple • social justice • cat power • a girlfriend • running with scissors • the perks of being a wallflower • buffy the vampire slayer • my girl • harold and maude • law & order svu • tori amos • writing poetry • rilo kiley • janis joplin • bitch
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And straight women:
my girlfriends • lip gloss • pretty woman • nicholas sparks • dressed up • a country girl • wine • love stories • medical field • eat pray love • new recipes • yoga • independent • my passport • my couch • romance novels • nursing school • close with my mom • in nursing • flip flops • in education • jane austen.
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Economist