intherference-blog

[intherference-blog]

Stereotyping Male Characters

Know what I'm sick of? Yaoi. More specifically, assuming a character to be gay when his sexuality hasn’t been explicitly stated. I’m not talking about shows like Yuri on Ice, that show is unequivocally homosexual, and that’s all good; we needed a show with gay representation that isn’t total queerbait for the yaoi crowd *cough*Free!*cough*. But here is my biggest problem: Gay and slash fans won’t let an anime dude be straight if he interacts with another male in like, any way or doesn’t act explicitly interested in women (sometimes even then but that’s another post), then you complain about forced heterosexuality or why he isn’t straight, and I say you’re full of shit. Let’s use a Pokemon example: James. Yeah, all of you anti-rocketshippers do it for one reason: You desperately want him to be gay. You come up with arguments about why he is, and it’s only because he crossdresses and has extravagant poise. That’s it. You should be aware that crossdressing isn’t the sole enterprise of gay men, and neither is showmenship. James is unorthodox in his actions, it’s true; he is willing to don female outfits and has a flair for the dramatic. But, why does this make him homosexual? Why is he romantically incompatible with Jesse? It doesn’t, and he isn’t. You just want to label him gay because it’s inconvenient and then he might have the possibility for romantic feelings towards Jesse. Let’s also not forget that he could be polysexual, bisexual or even homoflexible with a preference to Jesse. Sexuality is not an either/or game, and you can’t define a character’s sexuality because you merely *want* him to be gay. Now you say: “I’m only shipping Jesse and James platonically or not at all because there isn’t explicit evidence that they are into each other romantically or sexually!” You know what I say to that? Bullshit. Here’s why: Let’s pretend for a moment that Jesse and James are both male characters, doing everything Jesse and James do in the anime except now they are men. You know what yaoi fans and gay viewers alike would scream at the top of their lungs? Gay as fuck, gay and there’s no denying it! They would eat it up and you could not convince one of them that the pair were just straight, platonic friends. You want to try and convince me that a man and a woman can be platonic but two men can’t? That logic implies that with two men there’s always romantic tension but not if they are opposing sexes? That’s hypocritical bullshit, totally unfounded and you know it, yaoi fans. The moment they are both men is the moment it’s ok to take every little conversation, glance and touch as irrefutable evidence that they are romantically or sexually into one another. You know it’s true. I know that’s what happens. Don’t pretend Wallace and Steven aren’t a favourite yaoi couple on tumblr, if only because they spoke a few lines of dialogue and seem to be on friendly terms. Seriously? I mean, their romance is a total fucking stretch, but they are shipped as nearly the only possible couple, because it fits your homosexual preferences? Even though Wallace hints that you’re MC is charming, whether they are male or female? I’m thinking he’s bisexual but I don’t ever see him drawn with any of the in-game females or May romantically. Why? Don’t say that shit is age-based when everyone wants Ciel to fuck Sebastian despite their glaring age disparity, and follow-up question on Black Butler: Why does every intimate moment between Sebastian and Ciel in Kuroshitsuji have a homosexual subtext to shippers despite the fact that Sebastian is likely asexual and Ciel is a traumatized child? But I digress, back to James. So would you posit that he’s gay if he’s with a man and still gay if he’s with a woman? Why is that? Why would a maleXmale duo equal romantic entaglement and a femaleXmale duo equal friendzoned? Because not one of you is willing to allow one girly/fab guy to be straight. If he’s dramatic or effeminate in his actions you immediately lump him into the gay catagory! You stereotype him and his sexuality only to fit your personal desires, not the context of his real in-show relationships. I’m tired of it. Gay men can be butch and girly, and have a wide range of appearances from ugly and bulky to make-up wearing gorgeous and waif-thin, but straight men can’t be girly, quirky, or pretty? Fuck that, I say. All I ask is that straight male characters are given a chance to occasionally be profoundly fab, feminine and still hetero. If it happens in real life, it can happen in anime/video games. Just wanted to get that out there because I’m tired of straight hate and anti-hetero fans who only condemn it because they can’t stand a little hetlove. I don’t shit on homosexual romance, so don’t shit on heterosexual romance and its prospects only because you don’t like it, especially if there is relevant context for it. Please!

#pokemon #black butler #kuroshitsuji #yaoi #gay #stereotypes #straight #anti-straight #anti-gay #feminine men #pretty boys #femboys #rocketshipping