Bar brawl of the sexes

There's something I've been wondering for a while now -- do drinks have genders?

I'll be honest, I love me a well-made cosmopolitan, but I have yet to work up the courage to request the pink cocktail at a bar. Instead I opt for simpler, more robust beverages, like a gin and tonic or black and tan. Still, I can't help but crave something sweeter, something fruitier, and something -- perhaps -- a little less manly.

I'm not the first to speculate whether there are specific sexual connotations behind drink orders. The Social Issues Research Centre in the U.K. did a study on the social and cultural aspects of drinking and found the drinks I'm longing for -- sweet and soft -- are perceived to be more feminine.

I'm curious to see if in Boston, a supposedly more progressive locale, shares the same view. Would you stop and stare if you saw a large man with a hairy chest gingerly sipping a cosmo? If a petite woman ordered a whiskey, would it give you pause? Send your thoughts to rhankinson@globe.com.

I'll be calling around to some local bartenders to get their thoughts as well. Until then, choose your drink wisely, or you might be sending some seriously wrong signals.