Hi this is Thomas! I loved this article and your humorous voice and also your analysis of how people wield queerbating accusations in a way that might force celebs to come out or disclose personal info that other people aren't entitled to. I'm curious on your thoughts: do you ever think there's a situation where a queerbaiting accusation *is* warranted? For example, I'm thinking in the K-Pop industry about how skinship and other things between idols can be glorified though actual queerness from idols would often be swiftly condemned. I totally agree with you like in Normani's music videos and related scenes and things like that, was just curious because I feel like queerbaiting originated from a (potentially?) legitimate complaint of media where there were elements of queerness used to try to win over queer viewers without any more fully fleshed out queerness being delivered.
Hey Thomas! You've raised really interesting points here. I think part of the issue is that the experience of feeling like you've been queerbaited doesn't really discriminate between fictional narratives and the performance of celebrity, but trying to decode the intentions behind the impact is where it gets murky. If we're talking about a writers' room, it's pretty black and white: either they're actually interested in telling a story about queerness or they're just using it as bait and will never follow through. When it comes to a celebrity or other public figure, the image they're crafting for themselves is tied to their personal lives as well. Maybe a celebrity's hints at non-heterosexual desire are driven in part by cynical calculation and What Will Sell. But maybe they're also genuinely interested in exploring those parts of their identity – and it just so happens that it's good business ($$) for them to do so publicly. The lines are always blurred for them, so they probably won't be any clearer for us as fans or observers.
In the case of the K-Pop industry, I think you're definitely right that the cognitive dissonance between the norm of same-sex skinship and the near absence of openly queer idols is unsettling. But it's hard to put all the accountability for that on individual idols who, for the most part, unfortunately have to play by the rules of a flawed system to succeed within it. In an industry where coming out could mean losing career opportunities and support, maybe having an outlet that's deemed socially acceptable for the type of affection that would be otherwise condemned is not the worst thing in the world.
I don't know! The more I talk about this, the less sure I am about where I stand. I do think there are real-life situations where queerbaiting accusations are warranted, but I'm not still not sure what would be the best way to resolve them.
yes I love this response thank you so much for taking the time to craft it! I feel like it all goes back to one of your original points about the necessity of nuance and not just being like, this person is exploiting queerness right off the bat. and yeah with K-Pop it is complex because we so rarely can genuinely hear from idols themselves about like, literally anything, much less queerness. this is a topic I will continue to think about, tysm!
Hi this is Thomas! I loved this article and your humorous voice and also your analysis of how people wield queerbating accusations in a way that might force celebs to come out or disclose personal info that other people aren't entitled to. I'm curious on your thoughts: do you ever think there's a situation where a queerbaiting accusation *is* warranted? For example, I'm thinking in the K-Pop industry about how skinship and other things between idols can be glorified though actual queerness from idols would often be swiftly condemned. I totally agree with you like in Normani's music videos and related scenes and things like that, was just curious because I feel like queerbaiting originated from a (potentially?) legitimate complaint of media where there were elements of queerness used to try to win over queer viewers without any more fully fleshed out queerness being delivered.
Hey Thomas! You've raised really interesting points here. I think part of the issue is that the experience of feeling like you've been queerbaited doesn't really discriminate between fictional narratives and the performance of celebrity, but trying to decode the intentions behind the impact is where it gets murky. If we're talking about a writers' room, it's pretty black and white: either they're actually interested in telling a story about queerness or they're just using it as bait and will never follow through. When it comes to a celebrity or other public figure, the image they're crafting for themselves is tied to their personal lives as well. Maybe a celebrity's hints at non-heterosexual desire are driven in part by cynical calculation and What Will Sell. But maybe they're also genuinely interested in exploring those parts of their identity – and it just so happens that it's good business ($$) for them to do so publicly. The lines are always blurred for them, so they probably won't be any clearer for us as fans or observers.
In the case of the K-Pop industry, I think you're definitely right that the cognitive dissonance between the norm of same-sex skinship and the near absence of openly queer idols is unsettling. But it's hard to put all the accountability for that on individual idols who, for the most part, unfortunately have to play by the rules of a flawed system to succeed within it. In an industry where coming out could mean losing career opportunities and support, maybe having an outlet that's deemed socially acceptable for the type of affection that would be otherwise condemned is not the worst thing in the world.
I don't know! The more I talk about this, the less sure I am about where I stand. I do think there are real-life situations where queerbaiting accusations are warranted, but I'm not still not sure what would be the best way to resolve them.
yes I love this response thank you so much for taking the time to craft it! I feel like it all goes back to one of your original points about the necessity of nuance and not just being like, this person is exploiting queerness right off the bat. and yeah with K-Pop it is complex because we so rarely can genuinely hear from idols themselves about like, literally anything, much less queerness. this is a topic I will continue to think about, tysm!