I read on many sites that almost everyone believes that FOL is a show for women and gay men. I don't think that's correct and I'm not gay, I think the show is for men and women just like every other show, even though there is a female cast

Of course it's not a show "only" for those audiences, but those audiences do gravitate more toward such female-centric shows. Just look at modern viewership for "The Golden Girls", "Designing Women", and "Sex and the City".

As a 14 and 15 year old boy during the first season, I loved the outfits girls my own age had. Always liked tomboys, so Cindy was my favorite. Had friends who went to a near by boarding school for boys and went to a private college with students who went to boarding school so I identified with the show easily.

I am a male viewer who has known that he was as straight as an arrow since age eleven. "Facts of Life" was my favorite show for several years. I did a lot of drooling over the babes in this show. As an adult, I have also done a lot of drooling over the actresses in chick flicks like "Boys on the Side". So you can read whatever you want into my situation.