Idea: “heterobaiting” where at first you think it’s a show about heteros but then suddenly everyone was secretly gay the whole time
EVERY
MEMBER
OF
TORCHWOOD
Welcome to Torchwood, leave your heterosexuality at the door and come in
Disney doing it right.
When people don’t like something, they’re never going to stop making up reasons why you shouldn’t like it, either. Johnlock is a popular ship, but as many shippers as there are, there are just as many ‘anti-johnlockers’, which is a whole other matter in itself. Many people who hate Johnlock arbitrarily try to pretend that their reason for hating it is that it’s harmful and offensive in some way. Prominent tumblr users that hate johnlock, such a ben-c, claim that johnlock is harmful to the queer community because it is queer fetishization, and that queer people 'don't exist to be your otp'.
Users like that use their prominence in the fandom to deceive other people into believing it too, because they know there are users that don’t know any better. But, johnlock isn’t queer fetishization. Shipping two characters together does not reduce them to their sexuality. It is no more fetishization than saying a straight ship is straight fetishization. An abundance of explicit fanart and fanfiction exists, as made clear by both actors and writers of the show alike, but it isn’t a fetshization of their sexualities. Unless you ship something for the sole reason that it’s a queer ship, then it isn’t queer fetishization. Don’t let anyone lie to you; your ships isn’t immoral or harmful to anyone; the only thing doing harm are these lies.
And I would add that even if you ship a ship because it’s queer, doesn’t mean it’s queer fetishization. Representation is super important so I’ll always encourage it!
Exactly. It’s only queer fetishisation if you ship it because it is queer AND you only value queerness when it provides you with sexual gratification.
Allstate has launched a beautiful campaign aimed at members of the LGBTQ community. Thanks, Allstate! <3
okay, a lot of anti-TJLCers keep messaging me and telling me that TJLC supports queerbaiting. i can't really respond to that argument unless i understand it, so what i'm wondering here, TJLC is the theory that johnlock WILL become canon (a slow-burn romance kind of deal). so with that in mind, isn't TJLC the opposite of supporting queerbaiting, the idea that the gay subtext in the show WILL lead to an actual romance?
The slogan of TJLC is literally ‘gay or trash’. The entire point of TJLC is that if the writers don’t write John and Sherlock into a canonically romantic relationship as the narrative suggests they’re leading up to, they have an awful lot to answer for. It couldn’t be LESS supportive of queerbaiting.
It seems like some people view the very fact of a 'slow burn' as being queerbaiting, which is obviously pretty ludicrous. It's like they only support queer representation that was 100% overt textual from the first moment of the show, which is frankly shitty & limiting storytelling, not to mention all the meta that's been written about the importance of queer representation for an older generation that still finds it hard to be/come out.
Romances (at least well-written ones) take time regardless of orientation, but maybe especially in a case like this where the writers are laying out a believable case for really famous, well-loved characters to actually be queer where they've never overtly been before. And even outside of the romance & queer representation issues, any story with deep characters takes time to tell! So it seems like anyone who claims TJLC is really just queerbaiting expects an epic romance, but they expect it to be told in five minutes flat, not over several years. Which, again: completely ridiculous.
Even giving such claims the benefit of the biggest doubt possible, they're at best being shallow & impatient. And without that benefit, at worst, well. They're probably just more homophobes trying to twist the issue of representation around, just like when they claim that all who follow queer ships must be fetishizing queer people, not that there are actual queer fans looking for representation of people like them or like their friends & loved ones. It's complete bunk either way, and not worth engaging with people like that.
I just really want more bisexual representation
I wish spn would stop queer baiting and just make dean canonically bisexual already
I wish oitnb would stop saying that piper was straight but now she’s gay and instead openly acknowledge the fact that she’s bisexual
I wish Steve Rogers would be written in the next movies as bisexual like the fandom has clearly adapted
I wish bisexuality could stop being erased
I want more representation
I really love fics where John is just confidently and comfortably bi- or pansexual. Like I know it might not fit exactly with canon (yes “I’m not gay” doesn’t = “I’m straight” but swearing off all men as that statement implies seems a bit extreme if he were actually openly bi or pan), but it’s just such a breath of fresh air to read something different, possibly BECAUSE the show has built that angst around whether or not John & Sherlock are “allowed” to be attracted to each other. And in a world where being queer is still controversial, even someplace like London, that angst is certainly founded in reality… But it’s still so nice sometimes to read fic where those worries don’t exist, where everyone can love whomever they will, and the tension or drama comes from other concerns, cases and criminals, interpersonal aggravations, etc – if it’s even present at all. Happily queer plotless fluff is certainly a nice escape too. I just… I really love fic, yall.
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VIZ Media’s Twitter account (via margieargie)
Animal Cross-Dress and Fuck Your Gender Roles: New Leaf.
Badass Trans Women You Should Know: Cecilia Chung.
Cecilia Chung is a senior advisor to the Transgender Law Center, a San Francisco City Health Commissioner, and a member of the President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. She was honored last night by the California State Assembly as one of its Women of the Year for her tireless advocacy for trans women’s health access.
Congrats Cecilia!
