#pandering to the gay community

[florencekinnie-slash-hj]

And all of those are very valid opinions to have! Like I said in my post above, there's value in all types of media for each and every person. The reasons I may find a distaste for it may be the reasons why people adore the show.

When I spoke about my opinion as to why I find it unrealistic, that was not me dissing the show, or doing anything to negate it's value to younger queer audiences.

I also will not sit here and say that every show needs to be hypersexualized, which is not at all where I was going with my statements (although I will add, that the purification of queer teens to make them marketable to straight audiences as to make them more palatable, does lead to the demonization of other, just as valid, queer experiences) or like Euphoria.

I have many qualms with that show. My adolescence was already like that, and I take issue with the beautification romanticization of suffering (especially young women's suffering, and the historical roots as to why the damsel in distress trope still plagues us to this day, and negatively impacts how young women see their roles in the world, and how influencing them to see pain as beauty, and that they need to be saved or controlled by someone more powerful than they, contributes only to serve the patriarchy.) and the last thing that I want is for EVERY show to be like that.

I think that there is an audience for every show, and someone that can take away something from every piece of media. With that being said, Heartstopper is just not my cup of tea when it comes to seeking realism. I still enjoy the show, it is very palatable and an easy watch that still gives me the rush of conflict and resolution (while also keeping it within a safety net of not going off the deep end, like with Euphoria as you used as your example).

At the same time, I prefer media that is a bit more heavy handed on blurring the lines between 'good' and 'bad', showing the complexities of human emotions and the human experience, and things that will make me question my morals, such as Hannibal, Breaking Bad, Stranger Things, and The Last Of Us.

My response was not intended to insight feelings of invalidation, and I'm sorry if that was the impact that it had on you. I was merely trying to offer a difference in perspective, just as I am doing with my response :)

Straight people can look at the majority of all the TV shows and movies ever made and see only straight people in them and then have the audacity to say that Heartstopper is not realistic because the majority of the characters are queer ???? You're just homophobic bestie we had and HAVE to deal with straight people in every kind of media being the only ones there for years now you can get a taste of that feeling

[duothelingo]

Got an ask saying I’m a big company pandering to the queer community for my post about being trans.

Babygirl.

I’m a parody blog.

A gimmick.

I’m also a huge gay.

And trans.

?????

[darkshrimpemotions]

"WWDITS is queerbaiting because I don't see a monogamous gay couple hitting all the relationship milestones I expect out of romance!"

IT ISN'T FOR YOU.

I have had it up to here, here being roughly fifty feet above my fucking head, with any queer representation that doesn't conform to monogamous alloromantic allosexual depictions that follow standards for romance that originated in cisheteronormative media being called queerbaiting.

I have had it up to here with my orientation feeling deeply, beautifully seen and tenderly treated by a piece of media only to have a bunch of my supposed community members completely discount that media because it's not depicting their specific queer experience.

I have had it up to here with the biphobia and bi erasure, the discounting of polyamorous relationship dynamics as invalid or less valuable, the tendency of allo gay fans to treat any representation that doesn't cater to them specifically as if it's bad, or nonexistent, or pandering to cishet people.

Newsflash, that's just the same shit I've heard y'all say about my actual sexuality all my life. Shut the fuck up actually.

If WWDITS doesn't speak to you, fine. Maybe it wasn't fucking for you. Maybe go watch any other piece of queer media instead. I know there's not enough, but of what exists, 99% of it is for you. This was for me, and I will not let you write it off as queerbaiting because of that any more than I'd let you write me off as not queer enough for not being like you.

[anxresi]

Check out Chloe's 'new design'...

... According to a post on X by Thomas 'born liar' Asruc.

His idea of a joke, I guess... are all French people this funny?

Personally, I think it looks more like Zoe...

The same way Soquerline was the spitting image of Marinette.

Do these character designers have ANY imagination? AT ALL?

Seriously. I want to know. This is not a rhetorical question.

And allegedly, she has prosphetic legs! So of course, she's a track star. Normally, I'd applaud the oft-neglected representation...

But this is Miraculous Ladybug we're talking about here.

I guarantee it'll be badly-written, self-congratulatory pandering to those undemanding types for whom just SEEING a character with them is enough.

I have a simple statement to throw to these tragically easily-impressed individuals...

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GET SOME STANDARDS!!

Remember when they made Zoe and Miss Bustier gay out of nowhere? (for no reason than to make these unpopular character likeable to certain communities) .

Remember when they made an entire episode about 'racism'? (where no-one faced any consequences at the end, and no-one could even say the word).

Remember when they finished the last season with an unbelievably clunky message about recycling? (like they recycle the worst parts from other formulaic superhero shows, I guess).

It's all about the optics, nothing else... and you don't have to be a born cynic to see it that way.

They could care less about the underlying issues, they just want to tick as many 'fashionable cause' boxes as they can in lieu of making a good show.

Don't believe me? Here's a few predictions for you.

Feel free to come back after it's aired to tell me how correct I was.

*After this girl's introduction, we will NEVER see her again.

*Her ENTIRE persona will be based around her 'disability', and her personality and popularity will put Zoe's to shame to 'compensate' for it.

*She'll get akumatised, and it'll stem from a lack of confidence due to you-know-what. Afterwards, she'll learn to accept herself more, and...

Look, does anyone else feel somewhat insulted, looking at the patronising tripe the writers look like they're going to be serving us up with in the future?

S5 was bad enough, but the next one looks like they're REALLY doubling down on giving us superficial 'life lessons' instead of a half decent story.

Believe it or not (and you wouldn't by watching this shallow load of condescending trash) there IS a way to squeeze a satisfying plot and well-drawn characters around a healthy message that DOESN'T bash you over the head with it's self-worthiness repeatedly in every painful scene.

In case you hadn't noticed, Miraculous Ladybug isn't that show (CHLOE BAD, anyone?).

And, if you think I'm a heartless bigot for pointing out the highly obvious agenda of the shameless charlatans behind Miraculous Ladybug, then you're an idiot.

And you really need to reread my post again, more carefully this time.

Here, I'll even start you off from the right spot. 'Check Out Chloe's New...'

[sophieinwonderland]

Re sandstorms-syscourse: "[insert thing here] makes a mockery of the queer/trans community" is a thing that has been said about any discourse topic you can imagine. Aphobes used to say that aspecs are a mockery of the queer community. Trumeds used to say that transgender people with little or no dysphoria are a mockery of the queer community. Assholes who can't accept the existence of mspec labels are saying that people who identify as bi lesbians or lesboys or what have you are making a mockery of the queer community, and they used to say the same thing about pansexuals. This is a shitty argument because it's basically meaningless. Like, I'm sorry you find it insulting that a group of people exist/identify in a way you disapprove of, but that's a you problem.

Moreover, it is not the job of queer people to make themselves more palatable to bigots in order to be accepted. The people who say "Oh I don't mind the gays, I just wish they wouldn't shove it down our throats" are not allies and pandering to them does not do anything to further queer acceptance. All that will actually accomplish is forcing people back into the closet.

Also, it is very strange to me where anti transIDs draw the line. Transspecies is okay. For some reason, that's not an issue. Saying "I don't want to get an autism diagnosis because it could impact my chances of getting gender affirming care, but I'm 99.9% sure I'm autistic" is fine. Saying "I support singlets who want to become plural" is contentious, but it won't usually get your blog terminated. Saying "I'm transrobot, transautistic, and I support transplurals" is grounds for being actually executed in cold blood. Make it make sense.

I've actually seen mixed opinions from anti-trans ID people about "transspecies." A lot of them seem against transspecies as a term too.

It kind of feels like there is a certain group of people who will claim to be okay with otherkin and alterhumans as long as they "stay in their lane" and don't use any label that would associate them with transgender people or the LGBT community.

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

My memory is terrible so I wanted to do a breakdown of my stuff every once in a while. Might be monthly, might be whenever I feel like it. And also. Spoilers and opinions below, read at your own risk.

QL - Currently Watching

🇯🇵I Hear the Sunspot [1/12] - I'm so grateful that I get a new jbl just as I'm mourning the end of the last one. I didn't read this manga but I've watched the film, and I really liked it even if it felt unfinished. Hopefully with 12 episodes it means we get the full story. This was a very good first episode, I feel like we established the main relationships dynamics and got a good insight into the main characters core. Taichi is my new child.

🇹🇭 Knock Knock, Boys! [6/12] - I continue to enjoy this group. Jane turned out to be a great addition instead of what I feared, but Peak really needs to step up so I can keep rooting for him and Thanwa, cause I'm also not a huge fan of the ex coming back as an obstacle for the couple. Latte and Almond are really great together and I'm curious how Almond will deal with his feelings for Latte, when he actually realizes he's having them.

🇹🇭Love Sea [4/12] - Before anything else, I love the ocean and I love when shows get out of the city. Also I like Mut. Now. I'm not a Mame hater. I'm a 'trauma is the only way to write deep characters' hater. I'm also a 'trauma gives you an excuse to be an asshole' hater. But most of all, I'm very much a 'love will fix you' hater. So just don't give me 3 out of 3 and it's fine. Also this last episode, all the talk about money and contracts made me feel some kind of way, although it doesn't seem to bother Mut so... And as much I like having Aya on my screen, Mook is really testing that line between cute and incredibly annoying. I'm not sure how long I'm staying with this one.

🇹🇭My Love Mix-Up! [4/12] - So... this is not good. The technical aspects of this are actually bad. Considering the number of sponsors is actually kinda incredible that it's so badly put together. The sound, the lighting, the editing, overall just... not good. Now, the rest. Look I don't want to ruin anybody's fun, so I'll keep watching this one quietly, unless something outrageous happens. But for the record, and this is all I'm gonna say, they are ruining the best parts of these characters and this story, and even if I ignore that (which I can't because it's an adaptation), it's pandering and it's a lazy attempt at recapturing the magic of msp, with a worse script and recycled material. Also I cannot believe they didn't put Atom in a trashing bag.

🇹🇭 My Stand-In [1/12] - For a number of reasons I'm waiting to binge this one. I do love watching the gifs on my dash though, pretty is pretty.

🇯🇵Ossan no Pants ga Nandatte Ii Janai ka! [9/11] - It's so good. I love them all. This last episode I was close to tears in several parts but the street proposal ended me. It's definitely one of those shows that I'm grateful that I get to watch even if I can't always find the words to talk about it. These characters have my whole heart. [everyone should be watching this and the wonderful @isaksbestpillow has made that possible with her subs. Here is the post with the latest episode. ]

🇹🇭SunsetxVibes [3/12] - It's ridiculous, it's fun, it's cute. Sun is such a simp. Man basically proposed before they were even dating. And yeah the way it started was not amazing, with the lying, but these two actually communicate about their expectations and what they're feeling which is better than a lot of shows right now. And I adore the sides.

🇹🇭The Rebound [2/12] - Everyone is gay and naked. And they play a sport of some kind.

🇹🇭The Trainee [1/12] - OffGun are back! I really liked the set up for this. It's only the first episode but I really like how they are walking the line between the comedy and the seriousness of the workplace. I love a good friend group so I'm looking forward to seeing how the relationships between all the interns grow. Poon is once again playing the silly brainless child of the pack but I don't care, I adore that kid for some reason. And next week we already got Gun crying so what's not to like?

🇹🇭 Wandee Goodday [10/12] - I already talked about my feelings regarding the last episode. I'm here for Oyei/Cher and Plakao. I love Inn and Great, they deliver with the chemistry but the DeeYak storyline is just a mess for me right now. I am also not looking forward to the inevitable redemption of the terrible parental figure.

🇹🇭 We Are [13/16] - The friendships are still great and mainly why I'm watching. I have a really good time watching those scenes. Only 3 episodes left and ChainPun continue to be the tinniest of crumbs. I don't expect much from this couple at this point and I'm a bit disappointed. FangTan are so cute and such good communicators. They are my favourites. QToey are cute. Now, Phum and Peem. Look PondPhuwin are really good at looking at each other like they're the only person in the universe. However. There's only so many times I can enjoy them staring at each other in slow mo. Once per episode oughta be enough I think. Hopefully now that they're actual boyfriends it gets a little less annoying.

QL - Finished

🇯🇵25 Ji, Akasaka de - What an incredible journey. I have to say it has been a while since a show surprised me this much, for the positive. For most of it I wasn't sure where it was gonna go or how it would end or who would be doing the running. The way they played with the show within a show was so well done. I loved the change in pov, which I always love in jbls, but it not only gave us the opportunity to see how Hayama's crush started but also we were allowed to see behind the mask that Hayama had been keeping up. Speaking of. I love him, one of my favourite characters of the year. And Komagine Kiita did an incredible job. I can't wait to watch him again when Tengu returns. If I had to say, the one thing I wish I had was more of Shirasaki's backstory. I wanted to understand better why his self-esteem got that bad. But that ending was great and honestly, I earned it.

🇵🇭Marahuyo Project - Well that was excellent. This show is beautiful. I want to hug them all and walk next to them. I really don't have the words for it right now so just go watch it. Because these characters are incredible and the visuals are stunning. All episodes here.

🇹🇭 Only Boo! - This is getting tiresome. Here it goes. Why? It was so great. They were the cutest shit and I had a smile on my face the entire episode. Even with the singing. It was wholesome and the mains delightful. And then... Heartbreak, time skip, no consequences, unearned happy ending. I mean Moo is a great character still, and Kang is the best boy, but I'm tired.

Rose Watches OJBL

Mood Indigo (2019) - I liked this one slightly better than the first. I think the visuals are stronger and there are some incredible shots throughout. The sex scenes are some of the best shot that I've ever seen. I love Kijima so even though I'm not always on board with prequels, it was great that we got more insight into him. Obviously we know this relationship was doomed from the start, and Kido has a lot to do with how we find Kijima in the beginning of The Novelist, but I can't help but feel for Kido. He is a mess that is struggling between the expectations that are on him (put there by others but also himself) and the affection and desire he feels for Kijima. And even without watching The Novelist there is always an air that this will not end well. For lack of a better phrase, it just wasn't meant to be. I'm looking forward to watching the rest of this series.

Dangerous Drugs of Sex (2020) - One of my first thoughts when I was watching this was 'we are using the word unhinged too freely'. Cause Ryoji has little competition on that score. This is not an easy watch. I really liked the way it was shot even if at times that meant my view was too narrow so I couldn't look anywhere else but the 'uglier' parts. In completely different ways they were both stuck in an uncomfortable (yeah that's not really the best word but I can't think of another) place and I could feel that throughout. I'm not sure about the ending but they look happy, so what do I know?

Other - Watched

There's a lot airing so I didn't watch much outside ql. I finished Under the Skin and rewatched a couple of things. My watchlist got longer and I have a bunch of shows that I'll hopefully tackle during my summer holiday in July. Speaking of...

There is a lot coming next month, so here is a post with all the shows that have been announced for July that I updated to include Meet You at the Blossom that was recently announced. New jbl starts tomorrow!!!!

As usual my ask box is open for questions or requests. Have a wonderful week💜

[mesetacadre]

Your writing on the whole CEO killing has been very insightful and interesting to read through. I was wondering, can the "removal" of certain class enemies, that as individuals do a lot of harm not just because of their class but also because of their own motives, be seen as beneficial to a class struggle? Like say removal of key officers, is hurting the chain of command as a goal better than just a Rip Bozo moment. This is probably better during an active conflict, what about certain politicians? Even though in general they follow set out principles, can the removal of certain key members be beneficial in terms of helping the working class organise and bringing in acters that are less "competent", if that makes sense.

Not really, the harm caused by the capitalist system as a whole dwarfs the consequences of an individual's actions. Beyond this, we can't forget that capitalists do not do the things they do because they're personally evil or mean-spirited. The actions done by capitalists are enabled and disabled by the conditions that bind them to their class position. If it makes economic sense for a healthcare provider to deny a lot of claims, it's going to do so regardless of who is nominally running the thing. And the broader actions of the entire sector of healthcare insurance providers is not determined by an individual. This is applicable to the rest of the economy.

Think of the oppression of queer people, for instance. For a long time, it made economic sense to not pander to that minority, for a myriad of reasons, and it also made economic sense to continue the structures of oppression for queer people. This happened regardless of any individual CEO's attitudes towards queer people, positive or negative, or if they were queer themselves. When, however, enough social progress had been achieved through decades of mostly collective struggle in some countries, then pandering to them did start to make economic sense, and so these same companies which would have previously fired some middle manager if they turned out to be gay or trans, instead followed the most profitable path. The structures of oppression are largely still there of course, but I think the example is illustrative enough.

And it generally works the same for things like denying insurance claims or polluting ground water or any reason your average anarchist will find to salivate over the Anarchist Cookbook. If you kill a capitalist or a politician who is doing the actions that make sense for the capitalist class, anyone can be placed in those newly vacant positions to do the exact same bidding. It took UHC 1 day to post a listing for Thompson's positions. Monarchs have heirs, democracies have elections, and military dictatorships have more generals. If it's well-planned enough and at an opportune time you could probably hamper some chain of command or communication, sure, but that just falls under sabotage

[radfemfessing]

i’m afraid to express gender critical opinions because i don’t want to alienate myself from my community. my girlfriend is non-binary and i can never discuss these things with her because i know it would make her disown me. also she’s very involved in my local qu**r community and i don’t want to be outed as some kind of TERF in my extremely liberal town.

i have come to understand that gender is not real. it’s like they say, it’s a social construct, but one which they decide to cling to anyway. gender is all based on patriarchal roles and harmful stereotypes that tell us butch women aren’t real women, that feminine men aren’t real men, and if you don’t fit the binary you must be something in between.

haven’t women fought hard enough to assert their own womanhood in the face of conservatives who deny them their own sex because of their nonconformist presentation? who argue that gay men and women are inverts, underdeveloped, inferior?

why are we embracing the medicalisation of perfectly healthy men and women who don’t fit in, trying to “fix” the “problem” when the real problem is with the people who are convinced there’s something wrong with someone who doesn’t fit sexist stereotypes?

not only that, but i’d go as far as to say that women are “gendered” in a far more harmful way. they are expected to conform to pedophilic beauty standards from birth. that, i’m convinced, is what gender-believers truly are brainwashed by. i wish women were liberated from gender and could be free to wear comfortable, warm, practical clothes that don’t pander to the male gaze. being gender-nonconforming doesn’t make you less valuable or less of a woman. woman doesn’t mean anything about who you are or should be aside from the organs you’re born with. it just so happens that female organs put a target on you for violent men to fuck with. this gender shit claims men and women are equally oppressed. i’m so fucking tired of the “boo hoo, men aren’t allowed to cry” shit. women get killed and raped by men daily. we have our reproductive rights taken away. we are treated as lesser-than because of the body we developed. boohoo, men aren’t allowed to wear dresses and wear makeup and look sexy like women, which is probably so much fun when it’s a taboo, transgressive act rather than something you’re expected to do since hitting puberty.

damn thanks for reading if anyone did, this was a cathartic rant. loves ya my fellow radfems

🛤️

[sirenium]

lesbians, gays, and any other LGBT person who tries to separate themselves from the 'queer community' will forever elicit a sneer from me. we're all queer in the eyes of the people y'all tend to pander to, sorry! no amount of 'I'm normal, unlike those queers!! I'm just a lesbian uwu!' will protect you from anti-gay rhetoric. you will forever be lumped with the 'crazy blue haired neopronoun queers' you despise so much.

it's so hilariously pathetic that they can't see that.

[us-cj]

President Trump is correct. I watched her "sermon." She is a liberal LGBTQ activist who flies the rainbow flag and marched for George Floyd and said Trump should leave office. Then, in 2020 when Antifa-BLM tried to burn down her church - she blamed President Trump - when he was the one that actually called to save it.

Who picked her to say this Communist garbage to President Trump from the pulpit:

"In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on people in this country who are scared now. There are gay and lesbian transgender children among Democratic, Republican and Independent families. Some fear for their lives.

And the people who pick our crops, clean office buildings, labor in poultry farms & meatpacking plants, wash dishes after we eat, work night shifts at hospitals - they may not be citizens or have proper documentation - but most immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues and temples.

I ask you to have mercy Mr. President on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. That you help those who were fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands. To find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger. For we all want strangers in this land.

May God grant us strength & courage to honor the dignity of every human being. To speak truth to one another in love and walk humbly with each other and our God. For the good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen."

BEN CARSON: "These are words you would expect to hear from a barista, not a Bishop. She isn’t brave, or strong, or a unifier. She’s another pawn of the left whose Trump Derangement Syndrome has blinded her from truth or reason. She’s an activist. It’s disgraceful on many accounts."

FRANKLIN GRAHAM: "The National Cathedral has fallen into the hands of LGBTQ activists. So, it's not surprising this "lady bishop" spewed hate at Donald Trump today. National Cathedral has become a sanctuary of Satan."

GIORDANA: "Episcopalian Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde is a lesbian radical woke & DEI activist who believes she is chosen by God to scold President Trump regarding his TRANS policies."

MATT WALSH: "Just take one look at this witch and you know everything you need to know about her, even before she starts talking."

MEGYN KELLY: "Trump & Vance handled it perfectly - total class. This “bishop” who apparently prefers we mutilate children in the name of gender ideology & allow young girls to get gang raped by illegals at our open S border, however, is a rude, ignorant, TDS afflicted hack."

SCOTT ADAMS: "Lesbian Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde chose to pander to the LGBT whose movement has been wrecked by trans mental illness. She’s the same B who trashed Trump for saving her historical Episcopal church from burning to the ground after Trump hating liberals set it on fire."

CHARLIE KIRK: "Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde is the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. She's the first woman to hold the position. She was given a great honor today, a chance to unify America around a Christian message at the dawn of a new administration. Instead, she disgraced herself with a lecture you'd hear on CNN or an episode of The View. What an embarrassment."

PAUL SPERRY: "FEC filings reveal Mariann Budde & family have given exclusively to Democrats and collectively contributed several thousand dollars to Kamala, Obama, Biden. While she claims to champion the poor - property records show she lives in a $2 million+ colonial mansion with 6 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms in a leafy DC neighborhood. Her church claims that it receives no operating support from the federal government, but it does get grants from the federally funded nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation. Her family funded George Soros, worked for OBAMA FOR AMERICA and with Jack Smith at the Hague."

ERIC METAXAS: "Exactly WHO is responsible for setting the trap of Pres Trump attending that ridiculous service to hear the preposterous "bishop" insult him and the American people? Can we get to the bottom of that one ASAP? Seriously. We need answers. Who???"

Did the hack Bishop know that Trump danced with the VILLAGE PEOPLE the night before his inauguration? Did they look scared?

Scott Bessent, Trump's nominee for Treasury Secretary, an openly gay man, defended Trump and wrote this today:

https://x.com/mirandadevine/status/1882134235462742052

PS: THIS IS WHAT I WAS WRITING YESTERDAY FOR MY NEWSLETTER WHEN SUBSTACK WENT DOWN SYSTEMWIDE. LOOK AT JD'S FACE.

I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO SHARE THIS WITH YOUR PASTOR.

[not-terezi-pyrope]

Book advertisements being blazed to me on tumblr are saying shit like "do you like gay shit??? Do you like messy sapphic blorbos???" and like, yeah, I do, but given that this is an advertisement and not a message from a friend this feels like the most sacharrine rainbow capitalist pandering possible and will actively put me off your book.

Like I understand that the author probably is an individual queer indie author trying to appeal to their people in the language of their community. But you gotta understand that once you're anonymously trying to sell me something in an internet push ad you lose all that charm and immediately become as indistinguishably obnoxious as an Amazon ad.

[autismvampyre]

i feel so fucking bad for my fellow young queers nowadays. so many are being radicalized by the right because we are so disconnected from our past and history and it fucking sucks man

i remember being 14 and just being so lost and uncomfortable in my own skin and getting wrapped up in fucking exclusionary discourse on fucking instagram of all places. i remember not liking myself and being vulnerable and feeling left out, and all these other online queers took me in and said "its fine, you're normal, but we have to fight the not-normal queers to be accepted" and i believed them because who else would i trust?

the idea that there's a wrong kind of gay or trans or queer is so antithetical to what this community is supposed to be about. we're strange, we're outcast. it's so sad to see infighting knowing that its just successful propaganda meant to divide us.

truth is, bigots don't care if you're the "right kind of queer" or not. they still hate you for existing and pandering does nothing but hurt the only community that actually cares. we have to leave behind the mindset that we can only be accepted if we change, because the people who only accept us when we're the "good kind of queer" never fucking respected us in the first place

we're here, we're queer, and we don't have to be "the right kind" to be allowed to exist

[nuancefem]

bruh why is the gay tag not showing up as rainbow ???????? who picked this ugly atrocity to represent gayness on tunglr dot com. chosen by people who didn't even face male homophobia for the overwhelming majority of their lives at best too. like what tf are you doing... also gay is UNISEX but even if it wasn't, it got changed to the "achillean" pride flag, a flag the grand majority of gay men would not agree with, created by some tumblr nobody instead of the absolute icon and gay rights pioneer who gave us the awesome rainbow flag

staff is pandering to an unhinged degree... i get that the rainbow flag is used for the whole ass lgbt community nowadays, but this is dumb

[techiekittie]

Kemi Badenoch, the equality minister and part of the Conservative Party, has said many transphobic things like blocking laws to ban conversion therapy, purposefully misgendering trans women in a leaked recording, and supporting the LGB alliance (which excludes trans people from queerness).

Meanwhile, David Tennant, a popular Scottish actor starring in Doctor Who and Good Omens, is a great ally to the queer community. While not being queer himself, he is very supportive of LGBTQ people, often wearing a nonbinary pride pin to support one of his (unknown) children, consistently speaking out about gay and trans rights, and posting about equality online.

His words have had an extremely positive impact on many queer people (especially his fans), and he won the Celebrity Ally LGBTQIA+ award for his support.

During his speech, he expressed more support for the queer community, saying:

“…acknowledging that everyone has the right to be who they want to be and live their life how they want to live it as long as they're not hurting anyone else should merit any kind of special award or special mention, because it's common sense, isn't it?”

He also criticised Kemi Badenoch (the transphobic woman I mentioned above) in his speech, saying:

“We shouldn't live in a world where that is worth remarking on. However, until we wake up, and Kemi Badenoch doesn't exist any more – I don't wish ill of her, I just wish her to shut up.”

This has sparked controversy amongst the Conservative Party, who has recently been attempting to form policies to limit “transgender ideology”. Rishi Sunak, the MP leading the party (and running for PM in the general election, though expected to lose by a landslide) has openly opposed trans people, making many transphobic comments on live television during the election debates.

He opposed David Tennant’s speech by saying on Twitter:

He uses the word “women”- plural, though Kemi Badenoch is only one woman, and the only one David Tennant criticised in his speech. Some have speculated that he is trying to garner support from feminists, pandering insincerely to them.

Kemi Badenoch has also responded on this on Twitter, saying:

Ironically, she campaigns heavily against policies banning conversion therapy- which often uses traumatic experiences to associate queerness with trauma, making the person avoid their own sexuality and identity, leading to PTSD for most. This endangers many women, including trans women and lesbians, yet she opposes policies designed to keep them safe from these traumatic situations.

[olderthannetfic]

The main problem that I have with Youtubers who attempt to approach media analysis and fandom through theory and academia is that the vast majority aren't academics. Just being in undergrad isn't actually enough, contrary to the thoughts of many. Reading a Wikipedia article and reiterating what one may find in some Google, even Google Scholar, searches. Ideally, these would be topics approached by people involved in academia as a profession, people with doctoral degrees, who can discuss complex topics in a way that is easily understood by the masses. "What is the negotiation between gender and sex in BL?" "How does CMBYN articulate/complicate hierarchal roles within the gay novel?" "Could SnK express an alternative reading of the formerly isolated Japan?" These are complicated questions they attempt to answer in their video essays when they seldom ever understand the theories they employ.

Yes, I understand this can sound elitist, but as a Black afab person who is currently in a doctoral program for literature, there aren't "easy" answers to any of the questions they attempt to pose, and many Youtubers who primarily make long-form video essays lack the life experience and expertise to sufficiently discuss anything. They're usually too set in their thoughts to answer or explore the broader implications of their claims. Defending a dissertation forces you to do this. Forming a committee of experts in various fields and convincing them to aid you in the development of your dissertation forces you to do this. Being in academic and cordial communication with your peers from all over the world in your field forces you to do this. It's not easy to constantly intake new information from various eras and nations (depending on your topic), meld this information into a coherent essay, and continually make edits as you learn new information, thus changing your outlook on things. Also: it's really petty of me, but it's also incredibly annoying to grade poorly researched undergrad essays who, after some prompting in office hours, say they got these ideas on books, movies, and shows from breadtubers like Somerton, SZ, FD Signifier, or hbomberguy. Cue: me going to watch their videos and realizing they have no idea what they're talking about 88% of the time in terms of theory and application of said theory. Even the ones who frame themselves on being educators in real life, like Signifier, lack any nuance, depth, or media literacy to make a compelling argument if you know even the slightest bit of information. On the bright side, I now know why I've encountered several students with ideologies that are basically conservatism with a veneer of progressivism, or "conservatism in a queer hat."

This concludes my long-winded way of saying "Don't turn to Youtubers for media analysis. You're better off just reading articles by people who have to actually know what they're talking about. The majority of Youtubers (especially the breadtubers) don't have the bandwidth to discuss anything more complex than an episode of Blue's Clues."

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I mostly agree, but I'd point to a slightly different problem. I'm hesitant to say that the PhD itself is the deciding factor, but I do think a lot of video essayists are insufficiently prepared.

I'm a big fan of Folding Ideas who does have some formal schooling in film, but I don't think it's that education per se that makes him great. He sets himself apart from other video essayists by actually doing his research and having an in-depth approach to his subjects. He doesn't resort to clickbait, and—here's the key—he often takes months or even a year to work on something.

Honestly, I think that's a big part of it: the hoops most youtubers who want to make a living at it have to jump through involve a lot of clickbait and pandering and a fast production schedule. They don't involve reputable peer review except by the court of shriek-y public opinion on twitter.

They'd like to present themselves as documentary filmmaking (which is essentially what Folding Ideas' longer videos are), but they don't actually live up to any of the usual standards of that either.

I think it can be elitist to say that someone needs to have certain letters after their name, yes, but what really strikes me about your average youtube media analysis type and the fanbase is that they want shortcuts.

Exploring the whole history of the gay novel so that you have enough background to talk about CMBYN means reading quite a few novels. Even if you decide to throw out all past scholarly opinion on the topic (which you shouldn't), if you're going to have a meaningful personal theory, you need to have read a lot of novels first. How can you hope to be the person providing the neat overview of the whole genre if you haven't familiarized yourself widely with said genre, and not just through a summary by someone else? That amount of reading doesn't happen overnight.

The trite, surface-level media analysis online is often from people who want to be hailed as great intellectuals but who aren't willing to put in the years it takes to do all the background reading and to develop their skills in argumentation, writing, etc.

Grad school is a convenient and probably faster way to go about all that, but I think you could do it outside of a formal framework... But you would need to actually do it.

I think it's driven by a bunch of people who were The Smart One in grade school and never learned how to work hard on long-term projects instead of pushing through in a sprint. They're used to relying on being the smartest to cut corners and do things before they get bored, only they probably aren't the smartest anymore anyway, and they mistake being smart at one thing for being smart at all things.

There's a real lack of respect for the entire concept of expertise.

[elhopper1sm]

Unpopular opinion but I'm tired of people conflating queer media that doesn't appeal to them specifically with bad representation or queer media for straight people. Also queer media for straight people can be valuable. Because honestly yeah some mom who just found out her kid is queer who doesn't know many queer people or mentors to teach her how to navigate it would probably look to media. So queer media for straight cis people has a place. And secondly just because queer media doesn't appeal to you specifically doesn't mean it's for queer people. Like take Love, Simon for example. Everyone accused Becky Albertalli of writing a queer book to pander to a straight audience. Even though I a queer person loved it and I was out as queer by the time I had read it. The book is actually really good as a book and it actually has some for a YA novel written by a white author rather nuanced racial commentary. The movie Love, Simon had multiple queer people working behind the scenes and the movie literally helped inspire one of the leads Keiynan Lonsdale to come out . Yet people still accuse it of being for straight people. Why? Because it was fluffy and light hearted and followed the story of a white kid in the suburbs with a stereotypical American family. Because it didn't appeal to them. Even though many of the queer people I know personally said the "You get to exhale now" scene meant so much to them. Even though prior to even coming out as bi which she was pressured to do over the backlash of Love , Simon. She worked with gender non-conforming kids as a social worker and made sure to be mindful of the community. Even though she openly encouraged black actors to play her characters even if they were originally written as white in the books (she was quite happy that Nick who was originally white in the books was casted as black in the films). Even though she collaborated with multiple queer people behind the scenes. she still got accused of writing a queer book for a straight audience. I'm only using this as an example. Now some people are doing the same with Heart stopper simply because it's popular and queer even though the author is openly aroace. I don't care for Heartstopper that much personal but I find other Osemanverse works more compelling(like say Solitaire). But I've never put down people who do for not being queer enough. Or for enjoying gay content for straight people.

TL:DR - Just because a piece of queer media doesn't apply to you doesn't mean it's queer content for a straight cis audience and even then queer content for a straight cis audience has a place and does matter.