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well, at least she's a good-looking spy ([info]blue_penguin) wrote in [info]unfunny_fandom,
@ 2011-09-24 16:54:00


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"Gay comics characters don't look gay enough!"
This has been making the fandom rounds, but I haven't seen it here yet, so here goes:

Brett Booth and Scott Lobdell, the team behind the relaunch of Teen Titans, have decided to add a new gay character to the team. Cool, right?

Unfortunately, Booth's comments on the reasoning behind this decision are somewhat less cool. A few choice quotes:

I’ve seen all the other gay superheroes out there, Ok maybe not all. They look just like regular heterosexuals, they act like regular heterosexuals, they just happen to have sex with people of their own gender, under the covers and in the dark. Sure you might get a kiss on a page, but that’s all (an no we won’t be doing any sex scenes in TT, get your minds OUT of the gutters

We wanted to show an interesting character who’s homosexuality is part of him, not something that’s hidden.


[...]

As for the children.. Most simply don’t know or don’t care. It’s not like Migg’s is going to be doing a one man gay pride parade. I don’t think we even mention that he’s gay, you see him, you know it, no need to harp on about it. He’s just a happy fun loving guy! He won’t be wearing anything that I haven’t seen at Walmart. Well maybe Target;)

Which (a) has the unpleasant implication that gay characters (and indeed actual gay people) are Not Gay Enough unless they fit certain stereotypes and (b) leads to concerns that the character in question may be written as a sort of sexless Gay Best Friend type who you "know" is gay not because he expresses any interest in men, but because he's effeminate. Fun!

This RPG.net thread has a good discussion of it (turning partway into a discussion of comics characters who were conceived as queer vs. ones that were retconned to be, but that's interesting too!); it's also been posted on inclusive_geeks on LJ. (Those are the only places I've seen it, but if anyone has more links, by all means let me know!)


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[info]sandglass
2011-09-25 09:18 pm UTC (link)
Heterosexism isn't about it being okay to be gay, it's about heterosexuality being the norm and superior. Homophobia isn't all, "Gays are evil!" and it's harmful to think that, because it propagates the idea that it's okay to merely passively dislike gayness, or be uncomfortable with it, and that equality isn't that important.

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[info]seiberwing
2011-09-25 09:23 pm UTC (link)
...yes. Yes, it is. I agree with you fully.

Were we arguing or just adding to each others' statements?

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Reposted for clarity
[info]sandglass
2011-09-25 09:43 pm UTC (link)
I was under the impression you were calling this not ridiculously homophobic.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: Reposted for clarity
[info]seiberwing
2011-09-25 09:44 pm UTC (link)
I was calling it heterocentric, stupid, and offensive, and made a huge i_g post on it?

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Re: Reposted for clarity
[info]sandglass
2011-09-25 09:44 pm UTC (link)
My mistake, then. Sorry.

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]spawn_of_kong
2011-09-25 10:45 pm UTC (link)
and it's harmful to think that

If I may: my therapist says--and I'm beginning to agree with her on it--that thoughts themselves aren't inherently good or bad; it's what we do as a result of those thoughts--physically, verbally, etc.--that can be considered good or bad.

So, with that in mind, phrases like "you shouldn't think this/that way" (which the quoted bit above basically boils down to) are generally going to set my hackles up. I know you probably didn't intend to come off this way, but in the future I would suggest a better choice of words.

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[info]sandglass
2011-09-25 11:05 pm UTC (link)
There's a big difference between thoughts that you talk about in therapy, and what I'm talking about. Perhaps I should have said, "That's a harmful belief or opinion"?

Actions are more important than beliefs, but beliefs can be harmful too, especially in a situation of power dynamics such as those between straight and gay people.

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