Queerbaiting
- onceuponageneratio
- Jan 8, 2022
- 3 min read
To begin with, the term queerbaiting can be defined as “the practice of implying non-heterosexual relationships or attraction (in a TV show, for example) to engage or attract an LGBTQ audience or otherwise generate interest without ever actually depicting such relationships or sexual interactions.” This practice sees straight celebrities hint at being queer in songs, interviews, or music videos so that their sexuality becomes ambiguous. While appealing to LGBTQ+ fans, queer-baiting also avoids alienating a main audience by never fully embracing a queer sexuality. Hecne, it is essentially a marketing ploy that celebrities, TV and film writers and authors use to appeal to an LGBTQ+ audience.
Examples
Many television shows and films like Riverdale, Sherlock, Supergirl, and Pitch Perfect were accused of using this manipulative technique. For instance, Riverdale, being one of the most popular teen dramas in recent history, from its talented cast to its wild plot lines, has become one of the most addictive shows on television as of right now. However, Riverdale is not perfect. The series is guilty of over-sexualising its teen characters (Archie, Betty) and it could do with giving its women of colour more screen time. Queerbaiting can be shown in the scene in which two of the characters kissed and was used to lure in LGBTQ+ fans, but the scene itself wasn’t surrounding the love or kiss in general between the two, the kiss between them was an elaborate metaphor for betrayal instead of a meaningful LGBTQ+ moment and, by using it for shock value in the episode trailer, Riverdale queerbaited its audience.
Not only do famous shows use queerbaiting to attract fans, many singers have committed this practice as well. The infamous song “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry was accused of queerbaiting. This song was considered problematic for trivializing female queerness and using it as a cheap marketing tool to garner attention. Even Perry herself admitted that the lyrics included "a couple of stereotypes'' and that, given the chance, she'd "probably make an edit" of the track. However, despite committing such an act in the past, according to Perry, "we've really changed, conversationally, in the past 10 years." Perry, who's since become an extremely vocal LGBTQ+ activist, also added that "we've come a long way. Bisexuality wasn't as talked about back then, or any type of fluidity." The understanding of the fault in this act is what people need to truly understand. Many others such as Ariana Grande, Seulgi and Irene, etc. have been accused of queerbaiting, but the responses to the accusations have been very controversial.
Harmful Effects
Queerbaiting continues the stigmatization of the LGBTQ+ community, as it prevents society as a whole from seeing "LGBTQ people as just normal, everyday folks operating in a culture where they can live happy, healthy, normal lives out in the open." In baiting but never fully showing queerness, media creators "imply that there's something not worthy there of being fulfilled, that there is something not valid about these expressions and these identities."
Queerbaiting is another form of queer folks being "erased, dismissed, or told we don't matter in the world."
Ways to Stop this Practice
Familiarize yourself with what queerbaiting is, start looking out for it, and call it out when you see. Talk/chat with your friends about it and inform them about the issue.
Be a conscious media consumer. Question why queer people don't play queer characters. If there are not queer characters in your favorite shows, question that. Just really be a thoughtful media consumer.
Consume art created by actual queer people. Appreciate and give attention to those who are out there creating some of the most beautiful queer art that there's no question it's queerness.
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