Entertainment industries may not be fully free from homophobia, but historically some parts have allowed more self-expression from celebrities who are queer or very passionate allies. Some celebrities are signaling their own queerness or support of other people’s queerness (as an ally) in a space where that’s allowed. I get the way that fan service puts fans on high alert, but nuance is necessary. Additionally, insisting he’s queerbaiting for wearing a dress or some skirts and gatekeeping gender nonconformity really only hurts queer fans excited to explore or play with Gender because he’s doing it so publicly. We’re not entitled to every single one of his truths.
"The whole point of where we should be heading, which is toward accepting everybody and being more open, is that it doesn't matter, and it's about not having to label everything, not having to clarify what boxes you're checking." Whether you agree or disagree, Styles being a public figure doesn’t negate his right to figure out who he is. Meanwhile, there’s his own preferences as far as privacy is concerned: "I've been really open with it with my friends, but that's my personal experience it's mine," Styles told Better Homes and Gardens. Most notable is POSE star Billy Porter, who said Styles’s Vogue cover and success while wearing a dress was because he’s “ white and straight.” But, speaking as a former Directioner, what do we actually know about Harry Styles’s sexuality to say that he’s straight? Additionally, we should want fashion to be unlocked for people regardless of their identity and deciding they’re queer/not really queer based on what they wear only harms people who are trying to figure out their identities. And because we can’t ask artists or creators why their fan service takes this particular shape, misunderstandings and accusations abound.įor the past few years, many people have accused former One Direction member Harry Styles of queerbaiting as he experiments with gender non-conforming fashion. We don’t know how much of fan service is genuine queerness, or how a video like “lilbidO” is fueled by queer creatives. When it comes to celebrity “performances” of queerness via fan service, one thing needs to be kept in mind is that we really don’t know these people. This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from. Beyond that, some people, have called the choreography for the song both queerbaiting and fan service, with K-pop news outlet SeoulBeats calling a core portion of the routine “queer-baiting at work.” We see it still with K-pop as recently as 2021 when Korean boyband OnlyOneOf released “libidO,” a song whose music video references moments of queer desire and calls back to iconic queer movies such as Brokeback Mountain and Happy Together. You know, like this decade-old video of Japanese rockstars kissing each other, Normani and Cardi B’s grinding in “Wild Side,” or the concept of "stage gay" back in the bandom days. Queer fanservice from celebrities can be small – a celebrity wearing a rainbow pin or waving a pride flag at a concert – or it can be kinda huge. (Like in the case of Shuu Tsukiyama and other queer-coded villains in Tokyo Ghoul.)Īnother form of content that lights up fandom’s queerbaiting radar? Fanservice! Fandom scholar and professor Jungmin Kwon defines fan service as a “deliberate performance for the purpose of fans’ pleasure” in her book Straight Korean Female Fans and Their Gay Fantasies. (Like this bit with one of the producers of Leverage confirming the OT3… that is no longer all that canon.) Mostly, queerbaiting in media looks like the development of relationships between one or more queer- coded character whose identity isn’t usually made explicit. Other times, it’s a word of god confirmation that the fans weren’t wrong/reading into the hints. Sometimes, it’s a joke like on Teen Wolf where Stiles asks ( openly gay, criminally underutilized) Danny Mahealani “ Do you find me attractive?” in a moment played for jokes. Queerness, in media accused of queerbaiting, is usually limited to easily missed (or dismissed) interactions between characters. One of the biggest issues with queerbaiting in media – mostly television shows and films – is that it usually occurs in a space where there are no other queer characters shown in successful relationships or where the queer (ish) relationship isn’t the one that was used to draw in fandom.
Think about how Disney has had multiple “firsts” when it comes to gay characters in their tentpole films – all characters whose sexuality isn’t explicit – and has queer coded characters like the titular character in Luca and any number of villains… while initially supporting anti-queer laws like Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Mostly, fans see queerbaiting as a way for an industry to take advantage of fans and benefit from a hunger for queer representation without actually providing any meaningful representation.