The Broken Throne

actualcanadianfemmesherlock:

akumakoronso:

profoundbondsandponytails:

queer baiting =/= activism

being a fan of slash ships =/= activism

liking slash ships but saying “it’s not that kind of show omg” =/= being a good ally to GSM folks

saying we shouldn’t talk about slash shipping and things like that (in respectful, polite ways)…

Stupid question, but what’s queer baiting?

Queer baiting happens, mostly in popular media like movies and TVs, when homosexuality (usually between gay cis men or gay cis women) is hinted at but never addressed. 

BBC’s Sherlock is a PRIME example of queerbaiting. John and Sherlock are constantly put in compromising positions and regularly express statements of deep affection and other characters on the show often assume they’re gay - but they’re not. It’s made very clear that they’re not.

 Queerbaiting is problematic because it lets the producers and writers of a show play with stereotypes of sexuality and act ‘inclusive’ without ever actually dealing with homosexuality or having an openly gay character. They get to reap the social benefits of being a ‘gay-friendly’ show but don’t actually have to get any input on what gay life is like or represent the actual lives of real gay people on TV and deal with the backlash that would inevitably ensue. 

Not only does it reduce gay people to in-the-closet, stereotypical behaviours, it COMPLETELY erases bisexuality and pansexuality, and is NEVER represented with characters that aren’t cis. 

Basically, queerbaiting takes the ‘safest’ possible, most public-friendly, non-hetero relationships and never even actually makes them gay - just potentially not straight. It’s damaging, stereotypical, and erasive.

ohwow

I’ve been calling the sherlock thing “slash-baiting” and thinking of it as like, drawing in slash fans because they know there are tons and tons of us but uh

it’s way deeper than that, as actualcanadianfemmesherlock explains so well