#im off to rewatch ep 3 so i can screencap every frame of his 60s look

[azirafels]

on crowley, sexuality and gender-fluid representation

[pulls out pages of notes] ok so lets talk about snake boy. like god i love this fool with every inch of my being. and i do think one of the MULTIPLE reasons i and many others love and relate to him as a character is his portrayal of gender-fluidity. he presents/chooses to present biologically as male, but at the same time chooses to present himself in appearance as both male and female through the clothing he wears, his hair etc. more often presenting as feminine than masculine. and he does all this whilst still acting like a typical dude.

like what gets me so !!!!! about this is that 1) as someone attracted to all genders i find it rather ssexy of him, and 2) this is just one of those very real and relatable characteristics of genderqueer people. like you can totally be masculine in your mannerisms whilst also dressing in stereotypical feminine clothing. like why the fuck not? girls do it all the time, we’re always wearing men’s shirts, sweats, boxer shorts etc. and it isn’t really seen as something that diminishes femininity.

and YET, for some reason that is fucking beyond me, when guys wear anything other than ‘clothes for men’ and diesel scent they’re perceived as feminine. and with that feminine association, are attached to the label of being sexually queer. and it so fucking wrong. not because they aren’t queer hey they probably are, the point is that no one should have an identity pinned onto them by others, especially an identity based purely on stereotypes.

and look. im not saying that gender-fluid girls have it easy (and by ‘gender-fluid girls’ i’m referring to gender-fluid individuals that are biologically female), we definitely don’t. however, i do think gender-fluid boys get a lot more shit for it than we do.

watching crowley though, i feel like we’re finally getting the representation of this gender-fluid male type that you just never see portrayed without being attached to a sexually queer label.

you see, the thing about gender-fluid people that is often misinterpreted, mainly due to stereotypes, is the false notion that we present ourselves according to our sexual orientation. this causes our sexuality to be assumed by other people from the way we dress and present. this is why many people that see a gender-fluid man wearing tight pants will automatically label and judge that man as being gay despite not even knowing him. its why gender-fluid girls with pixie cuts are assumed lesbian. 

but with crowley we don’t really make that assumption based on what he wears, only by his interactions. and the great thing about him being a non-human entity is that we can’t canonically identify his sexuality, or that he even has one. sexuality doesn’t define who he is at all. it’s his actions and how he chooses to present himself that defines him and i just really love that?

listen. i just see a very relatable person that is very balanced with both feminine and masculine energy, only instead of just presenting as the gender of biological sex (which is what WE are conformed to do in modern society), they’re just expressing themselves in a way that feels natural, not acknowledging what is expected of their biological gender whatsoever.

some people might think that his character being ‘non-human’ might actually degrade or denormalise this reality of gender-fluidity, but i think it actually elevates it. doesn’t it really go to show that all this discourse about labels and our differences just doesn’t matter, at all? if gender expectations don’t exist for ‘higher beings’ shouldn’t we as humans all strive to be more this way inclined?

idk man i just love what neil gaiman did with this. it’s such a positive representation of the natural gender-fluidity within people, so subtle and tastefully done

man, did i mention i love crowley?