#so THATS what I was projecting onto dan and phil in 2015 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

normiewizard · 6 years ago

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ok so the recent wave of criticism against the invasion of privacy and fetishization of real life lgbtq people is REALLY refreshing and important. BUT I don’t think we can have these conversations without really looking at the reasons why this keeps happening.

For a community that is so harmful to closeted people, it is overwhelmingly made up of closeted people! A lot of these are kids with no other concept of a queer community. The amount of closeted, repressed kids relying on social media as an outlet has created an environment in which fetishization is the same as pride. Shipping real people gives lgbt kids hope for a real relationship. Outing and Fictionalizing real people gives them the opportunity to have lgbt role models or closeted/questioning role models that they otherwise wouldn’t have had access to.

It is ABSOLUTELY still toxic. A lack of boundaries and empathy for public figures definitely plays a role, but looking at it as only an issue of bad allies or creepy straight people won’t lead to a solution.

#idk what to tag this as #dan howell #lgbt #i guess lmfao #a ps that I might add later:#even though there were and are openly lgbt public figures they aren't always accessible to deeply closeted kids #the reason I got so hooked on dan/phil was because 1. voicing support for an openly lgbt person felt like i was outing myself in some way #and 2. I couldnt really connect with the experience of being openly lgbt #because I was still so confused and repressed I didn't feel represented at all by people who were out #like I loved Tyer oakley when I was 11 right? but when he talked about being gay I mostly just felt anxious and embarassed #but the idea of being closeted in the public eye or having some secret repressed romantic feelings was MUCH more familiar to me #so THATS what I was projecting onto dan and phil in 2015 #again this isnt a defense! It was still so invasive and had a real negative impact on Dan as he talked about #just smth worth talking about #I worry when I see a lot of these anti fetishization posts because when I saw them as a 12 year old it only made me cling to it more #bc it felt like my safe space was being taken away #I know that sounds cringey but it was literally my only access point to the lgbt community for like 3 years #anyways to wrap this up in a nice way:#the reason I got out of those communities was through positive representation and meeting real life lgbt people #some of yall are about to roll your eyes so hard but steven universe was really what turned me around #q word

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