# Does blindness affect sexual orientation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 11, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-blindness-affect-sexual-orientation/463180 "2008-09-11T23:11:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-blindness-affect-sexual-orientation/463180/21 "2008-09-13T01:14:51Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > This is merely anecdotal, but I had a friend in school who was both blind and a lesbian. She had been legally blind since birth, but wasn’t totally blind until her late teens. (Incidentally, total blindness is quite rare.) > > Someone else we knew did once ask my friend about what made another person attractive to her. She said it was mostly their voice. She also said she would often ask a friend “What does so and so look like?” and imagine their appearance based on the description she got. Of course, a person who’d always been totally blind wouldn’t be able to do that, but they might still be influenced by whether someone was described as being beautiful or ugly. > > I believe it was George Costanza who said “A good looking blind woman doesn’t even know you’re not good enough for her”, but if the blind woman had a friend who said “Ugh, you’re dating a total troll” then that might make a difference to her. That would only work if she and her friend had the same taste in men. Taste varies enormously. I no longer describe anyone as “hot,” because my taste in men is very different from most (though there is some overlap). ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-blindness-affect-sexual-orientation/463180/22 "2008-09-14T02:35:54Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > That would only work if she and her friend had the same taste in men. Taste varies enormously. I no longer describe anyone as “hot,” because my taste in men is very different from most (though there is some overlap). A blind woman wouldn’t have any “taste” when it came to how a man _looked_, and even if she did she’d have no way of knowing whether her friend’s taste matched her own. My point was that a blind person might be influenced by peer pressure with regard to how their partner looks. The beautiful blind woman would know she was too good for George Costanza because other people would tell her so. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-blindness-affect-sexual-orientation/463180/23 "2008-09-14T03:45:14Z")
With George Costanza, I think she’d just… _sense_ it, within minutes of meeting him. That’s just how he is. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-blindness-affect-sexual-orientation/463180/24 "2008-09-14T05:44:10Z")
Most recent research on sexual orientation seems to be indicating that it is largely genetic & embryonic, being determined by your chromosomal genes, possibly influenced by development of the embryo while in the uterus. So this would indicate that sexual orientation is already set while in the womb, long before the infant is born and ever opens their eyes for the first time to see the world (or not see, for a blind baby). So how would blindness go back in time and retroactively change the baby’s sexual orientation? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-blindness-affect-sexual-orientation/463180/25 "2008-09-14T14:29:30Z")
[hijack – sorry!]Yo, **Lamia** , welcome back! I can’t PM you or post a message in your profile ☹ so am interrupting the conversation here – we’re trying to start up the Musicals group over in Cafe Society – based on the lists you helped work on a couple of years ago. Check it out. [/hijack – sorry] ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-blindness-affect-sexual-orientation/463180/26 "2008-09-14T21:27:27Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > A blind woman wouldn’t have any “taste” when it came to how a man _looked_, and even if she did she’d have no way of knowing whether her friend’s taste matched her own. My point was that a blind person might be influenced by peer pressure with regard to how their partner looks. The beautiful blind woman would know she was too good for George Costanza because other people would tell her so. Unless she’s attracted to short, bald, stocky men with annoying personalities and even more annoying parents. Why wouldn’t a blind person have specific preferences, like everyone else? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-blindness-affect-sexual-orientation/463180.md?page=1)