User blog:TheCasualObserver/Queerbaiting and Sexism

Queerbaiting and the Stereotyping of Male Relationships




Merlin perfectly illustrates this. Both main characters Merlin and Arthur care deeply for one another, as exhibited by their banter, trust, and willingness to die for one another. Despite Arthur being married and very much in love with his wife, and neither character ever confessing feelings for or suggesting they hold romantic interest in one another canononically, the show has faced multiple accusations of queerbaiting (a classic example of which being the aforementioned conversation). Some would, naturally, argue that Arthur and Merlin’s bantering is in fact flirting, that comments as to their care for one another is intended to be interpreted as romantic, and that their willingness to die for one another is evidence of their romantic interest and not platonic. I would certainly never argue that choosing to interpret these moments as such is wrong, or therefore that shipping the characters together is wrong. Insisting however that the intimacy of their care for one another means that both characters must in fact be gay for one another, and it is therefore queerbaiting if they are not, is indicative of a very sinister and currently almost completely unaddressed form of stereotyping.

The assumption that two men cannot be intimate with one another physically or emotionally, cannot be sad for one another when they die, or even look at or touch one another without being romantically inclined toward one another by default, is in itself a discriminatory manner of thought, as evidenced by how little accusations of queerbaiting arise over intimate female relationships in comparison with male. It proves an expectation as to the stereotypes and gender roles of men as macho and emotionally withdrawn, only able to show affection for those toward whom they are romantically inclined, and this is indeed a prejudice held mostly by women, if the Archive of Our Own census is to be believed.

I do not deny the existence of queerbaiting. Actors and writers have a nasty habit of teasing fans with such rhetoric in interviews and when taking fan questions at panels and the like with the obvious intention to excite and essentially mislead their fanbases in order to maintain them. However, I am stating a belief, based on careful and for the most part unbiased analysis, that many accusations of queerbaiting are in fact invalid due to their root in inherently discriminatory behaviour from women as to the ludicrous expectations of male platonic and romantic relationships in society. And I do believe that there is a great danger in this that can be translated into the real world. Men are undoubtedly already challenged by society’s expectations of them as stoic husks of machismo, and as the obsessive and aggressive nature of shipping culture is already growing to encompass real, celebrity men, we have to worry that it may inevitably sabotage male friendships as much off screen as it will the depictions of male friendship on screen.

So to conclude, if you see two male characters on TV that you think would make a cute romantic couple, by all means, ship away. But if you’re going to accuse that show of queerbaiting when your ship doesn’t become a reality, I implore you to take a moment to ask yourself whether what you're watching is actually queerbaiting, or whether you are merely guilty of furthering another, just as sinister form of discrimination.

Do you agree with the views expressed in this post? Be sure to leave a comment.