I remember seeing a sermon somewhere on the internet where a pastor explained to his audience that Luke Skywalker was an attempt to inject the big gay into the poor, impressionable minds of children. His reasoning? Because Luke was emotional. Obviously, I don't take this sermon or the pastor very seriously. In all honesty, I think it's quite comedic.
But it really made me think: Why do we consider emotional or somewhat feminine male characters to be gay?
I understand there are plenty of people out there who are gay and emotional, but couldn't the same be said for straight guys? Is showing a modicum of empathy towards a living organism enough to classify someone as "gay"?
It is not. Gay means either happy, or (of a person) homosexual (used especially of a man). Showing empathy towards someone makes you a good person, not gay. I'm going to shut up because this is where I'm going to start getting offensive.
Oh no, my best friend is a girl and I care about her. I gUeSs tHiS mEaNs i’M gAy NoW
Oh no, my best friend is a girl and I care about her. I gUeSs tHiS mEaNs i’M gAy NoW
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
me tho
my dad freaked out when i told him that i was pan and he was like
MAY JESUS'S WRATH BE UPON YoUOUOUOUOYuuuuOOUOUOU
i just stood there like
wow
okay
Um excuse me?
My boy Luke Skywalker is obviously asexual.
Um excuse me?
My boy Luke Skywalker is obviously asexual.
That is my headcanon now
Yes! I have found another!
I mean this is more funny than anything else.
Wait a minute… So if a guy likes "girly things", that makes him gay. Correct? What happens when a guy likes the girliest thing of all, an actual girl? Does that make him really really gay?
WHAT IS MANLIER THAN TWO MEN THOUGH????
In all seriousness, a lot of male characters who are read as gay (canon or headcanon) do tend to be more feminine, have traditionally feminine interests, or are the 'Cinnamon Roll Nice Guys UWU Smol Beans!!!!' kind of character.
Overly Sarcastic Productions has a really good Trope Talk on this called Manly Men about how most people think the 'Default' hero is a straight white male, and the 'Default' hero is generally the most badass, toughest, and coolest in the group. So if an action hero or hero in general shows traits that aren't considered traditionally masculine, people are super quick to assume the character is gay to eject him from the 'Default' hero checklist, since he'd no longer be a straight white male, but a gay white male.
I actually think that's a really interesting view though, how male characters that are expressly heterosexual but not full out lumberjacky manly men get headcanoned as gay because they're not 100% stereotypical masculine, and to be blunt I think that's extremely damaging in the real world to real men especially. It sends men a message that if they aren't out there at monster truck rallies or being a chicle that they're less of a man. I mean I'm not trying to be offensive I'm trying to be sincere when I say that shipping characters outside of their expressed sexual preference and/or insisting that expressly straight characters must be in the closet because they don't conform perfectly to their gender roll is detrimental to both sides, because then it encourages more emotional, more for lack of a better word feminine, men to close themselves up and become that stereotypical, cocky, rude, whiskey-drinking, cat-calling, yelling-at-the-football-game-on-tv, type of jerk that no one would make fun of for being 'too girly'.
I'm kinda passionate about this topic like a lot but I don't want to rant, but I do honesty want to know what everyone else thinks about this and I figure this is as good a place to ask as any.
So do you think reinforcing the emotional=gay (for men especially) narrative is harmful or helpful?
I actually think that's a really interesting view though, how male characters that are expressly heterosexual but not full out lumberjacky manly men get headcanoned as gay because they're not 100% stereotypical masculine, and to be blunt I think that's extremely damaging in the real world to real men especially. It sends men a message that if they aren't out there at monster truck rallies or being a chicle that they're less of a man. I mean I'm not trying to be offensive I'm trying to be sincere when I say that shipping characters outside of their expressed sexual preference and/or insisting that expressly straight characters must be in the closet because they don't conform perfectly to their gender roll is detrimental to both sides, because then it encourages more emotional, more for lack of a better word feminine, men to close themselves up and become that stereotypical, cocky, rude, whiskey-drinking, cat-calling, yelling-at-the-football-game-on-tv, type of jerk that no one would make fun of for being 'too girly'.
I'm kinda passionate about this topic like a lot but I don't want to rant, but I do honesty want to know what everyone else thinks about this and I figure this is as good a place to ask as any.
So do you think reinforcing the emotional=gay (for men especially) narrative is harmful or helpful?
It's a mixture of both. I enjoy writing the stereotypical gay guy because it gives more wiggle room to write a fun, entertaining, and varied (personality-wise) character. It also lets me have a hand in representation, and there are some gay guys out there who would totally relate to the character. Not to say it's all good. It's promoting a stereotype with negative implications behind it. There are some people out there who use the word "gay" as an insult against people, specifically men, who show a bit more emotion than the rest. It's insulting to straight guys who dabble in empathy and gay guys seeking representation as well as acceptance. But I don't think that means we should stray away from a male character who is both emotional and gay entirely. It's like being offended that there's that one girl in a show who likes to shop at malls and wear tons of makeup. It's a stereotype, yes, but not necessarily sexist, and just because X fits into a certain predictable category does not mean they cannot be well-written or defy said stereotype.
