Type casting

A friend recently commented about the guys he does and does not find attractive. Which got me to thinking about an article I had read about a theory that (straight) people tend to mate with partners who have many of the same physical characteristics that they have. What this has to say to the cliché about opposites attracting, I am not sure. Weirdly enough, one of the statistically significant similarities has to do with the length of the middle finger …

When I look around at the gay couples I know who are married or in long-term monogamous relationships, I don’t see any pattern of like-loves-like. But I am also aware that many of those couples will tell you that their husband/partner is not physically the “type” that they are generally attracted to. And when they describe their ideal type, very often that type has many similarities to themselves rather than to their husband/partner. In my case, I am not Daniel’s type, nor is he mine. And my type is an (extremely) idealized and (younger) version of myself, as his is an idealized version of himself.

Whatever.

Here is an article from SFGate about look-alike boyfriends.

You’ve all seen them: those gay couples that are uncannily, sometimes even eerily alike in appearance. A new Tumblr, Boyfriend Twin, is chronicling the male side of this phenomenon, which thankfully, has a name at last!

Think twice! They’re boyfriend twins! They walk alike, groom alike, dress alike and look twintastically alike!

The blog’s creator says the Tumblr “grew out of an ongoing conversation a friend and I had about boyfriend twins we knew or would see on social media.” After sending each other boyfriend twin photos and having an ongoing conversation about resemblances and attraction the friends decided “we have to start a Tumblr about this.”

His curiosity initially began when he dated a man who had similar facial features and the pair were asked, sometimes at uncomfortable moments, if they were brothers. The overwhelming majority of photos on the blog have been submitted by boyfriend twins that are happy to share their resemblances and relationship.

“Some of the photo submissions have been so twincestuous that I’ve had to email back just to verify that the people in the photo are not actually related,” he says when asked how he separates the boyfriend twins from the actual twins.

When asked about any possible, uncomfortable implications of dating your deadringer the blogger responded:

“I’m happy that the Tumblr page has begun a conversation about attraction, narcissism and exhibitionism and personally, I enjoy seeing all the proud and handsome gay couples willing to share their relationship with the world.”

Cue Nico singing “I’ll Be Your Mirror.”