this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2024
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[–] Laticauda 75 points 11 months ago (21 children)

I absolutely find it annoying when romance is prioritized over friendship but this isn't quite what queerbaiting is. At least, not on its own. Two same sex/gender people being very close and sharing a strong connection or even having some romantic undertones that never become "official" isn't automatically queerbaiting. Those things can happen in real life without those relationships being or becoming romantic. Queerbaiting is when the writers/showrunners purposefully insert romantic subtext into the story and advertise it as if it will become canonically romantic with the primary intention of gaining more lgbt viewership, while never actually following through on those implied (or even occasionally explicitly stated) promises. The way it is presented and marketed is an important part of what makes it a problem, hence the "baiting" part. There's nothing wrong with keeping a relationship ambiguous, or portraying a platonic relationship as being as deep, important, and emotionally intimate as romantic ones are typically portrayed without making them romantic, but if you try to manipulate or outright lie to viewers to make them think a relationship is going to be something it isn't in order to gain their viewership and support, only to pull the rug out from under them, then that's when it becomes sleazy, especially if you're taking advantage of the fact that they're a marginalized and under-represented group desperate to see more people like them in media.

I know this is just a joke comic so "it's not that deep" but I see a lot of people online who misunderstand what queerbaiting is and accuse shows/series of queerbaiting unfairly so I thought I'd bring it up.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Seems you didn't get the memo, 2 boys or 2 girls can't be besties now, they must be gay for each other so fanfics can have more weight.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (3 children)

A guy and a girl being besties never stopped fanfic writers before. If media ain't gonna give queer people actual relationships, they'll just have to make their own (with blackjack, and hookers!).

[–] Laticauda 5 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I mean as someone who is acearo myself and would like to see more relationships that reflect my own sometimes too, I'd love to see more cases of guys and girls just being friends and not getting shoved into a relationship automatically.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

I'm a straight guy and my first best friend was a girl. We never had any feelings for each other, and I've continued to have many platonic female friends over the years. I also would like to see more of that in media.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

I agree. I'm bothered by it from two different angles. On the one hand, we've got so many instances of people with no chemistry or anything being shoved into romantic relationships because they're a guy and a girl so obviously they're in love; and on the other hand two girls making out is just gals being pals but a guy and a girl making eye contact is enough for them to be soulmates.

Let guys and girls be just friends and don't make people jump through extra hoops to justify the existence of queer relationships. That's all I'm asking for.

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