User:NightShade94/sandbox

Not to be confused with "queer bait", which is a sexual slang.

Queer Baiting (sometimes written as queerbaiting and queer-baiting) is a term coined for a relatively recent socio-cultural phenomenon that affects LGBT+ (umbrella term: queer) fans of media, particularly audio-visual media like TV series and movies (but also other media like books, podcasts, radio shows, etc).

Definition
The term refers to what happens "when people in the media (usually television/movies) add homoerotic tension between two characters to attract more liberal and queer viewers with the indication of them not ever getting together for real in the show/book/movie."

As this definition states, a queer relationship or character is hinted at to attract/appeal to the queer market, and then is denied, either modifying the character's behavior (making them enter a heterosexual relationship), playing it off as a joke (sometimes a recurring joke or trope), or denying the assumptions (in interviews, panels and such) without modifying the character's behavior.

History of Queer Characters in the Media
Queer characters were first shown in television back in the 1950's in villanous roles, linking the idea of 'queerness' to criminality and immorality (said trope was most exploited in the 1980's). Some examples of this fact are the 1961 police drama The Asphalt Jungle, an episode of 1974 NBC program Marcus Welby, M.D., 1974 NBC drama "Police Woman" and Midnight Caller in 1988

After the Stonewall Riots of 1969, there is a major silence from media about homosexuality; as for televission, the oposite of the queer villain appeared: “socially relevant” and appropriate homosexual.

Popular programs in the 1970’s and 1980’s such as All in the Family, Cheers, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and The Golden Girls had episodes "featuring sympathetic portrayals of queer characters always following the “rule” that all stories involving queer characters or storylines would be treated as a one-time occurrence". However, none of those ever showed said character within a queer community or with a same-sex partner; they were portrayed and described as such “in terms of their place in the lives of heterosexuals

Representation
"'Our media teaches queer people not to expect representation.'"

The media has very little queer representation outside of queer specific shows (such as The L Word or Queer as Folk). According to research compiled by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the 2012-2013 television season saw 4.4% of series regulars as queer characters; a marked increase from the statistics from previous years (“2.9% in 2011, 3.9% in 2010, 3% in 2008, and 1.1% in 2007)

This lack of representation is sometimes used as a marketing strategy more than an actual attempt at representation. If a mainstream show offers a queer character, "they know that because there is very little queer representation in media, queer people are going to latch onto this character, and therefore latch onto the series."

"'They give us just enough to keep us interested, but not enough to satisfy us and make us truly represented.'"

"'Queerbaiting works on its audience because it offers the suggestion that queer people do have a vital place in these stories, that they might even be the defining figures, the heroes. The suggestion—but not the reality.'"

Use of Tropes
Queer baiting uses TV tropes, particularly romantic and/or sexual tropes as a way of making the audience believe something and then denies or downplays these tropes as mere jokes.

"'They are mistaken for gay lovers; they stare longingly into each others eyes for seasons at a time; they are deeply, inescapably important to each other.'"

"'They use the details and feelings common to queer people’s lives to make it very obvious to anyone who is queer, that the character is also queer."

Audience Reaction and Consequences
Although the statistics show, by the increasing numbers, a positive step, these characters may reinforce negative stereotypes. One of the most popular queer characters currently on television is Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) on FOX’s Glee TV Series, who "undergoes a coming-out storyline over the course of the show, and after revealing himself as gay, he truly begins to learn to love himself". Even when it can certainly be taken as positive, the character has been critizised for perpetuating stereotypes and caricatured images of gay men (such as the way he dresses, certain mannerisms that can be called effeminate).

Some fans might also see that the characters are being added as plot devices rather than actual characters. For instance, "Glee went on to introduce several more queer characters the program with the most queer series regulars – have drawn criticism for presenting superficial stereotypes of queerness for dramatic effect"

It is true that, since LGBT+ are minorities, most of the viewers will not belong to these groups and not care or maybe even be uncomfortable with openly queer characters. "When the homophobic/transphobic part of the audience starts to realize that the character is queer, the writers add something to reassure them that no, of course the character is straight." Thus, through queer-baiting, the creators can appeal to the queer market and "avoid the backlash that comes with writing queer characters. In this way they also avoid making any social progress."

Some queer fans might accept it as "a way to throw us a bone when we normally wouldn’t have anything, to acknowledge that we’re there in the audience when the powers that be would prefer to ignore us." However, some others are unsatisfied by the poor representation they are given. "Fans demand more accountability from writers that get us wrong – or just don’t give us enough."

It can even add up to the point where it hurts the queer audience. Queer baiting often plays potentially queer hints and references as mere jokes, but "if the representations in question utilize humour, are queer people in on the joke or are they the joke?"

It also portrays queer relationships as non-existent, only heterosexual, platonic relationships that were misunderstood.

"'This dynamic is often set up in such a way that the characters and creators must constantly remind us that the queering of their relationship is a joke, or even a perversion of their friendship. Intentionally or not, this sends a message that a gay relationship is not only less interesting, but less deep, less valuable, and less pure.'"

"'What this does, is tell queer people that their stories are not decent or important enough to be told. This tells queer people that their stories are only acceptable if they’re changed to be the stories of heteronormative people. [...] Queer people are told that they should be ashamed of themselves for thinking that the character was being portrayed as queer.'"

The phenomenon creates tension between the queer fans and the medium, which can have negative consecuences in the medium's rating, sometimes even causing members of the audience to stop consuming the medium altogether.

"'Queer-baiting is even more painful than erasure, because it dangles fair and equal representation in front of your eyes, and then snatches it away. And then it tells you that the whole thing was in your imagination all along.'"

Discussion
According to what Michel Foucault wrote in The History of Sexuality (1978), the construction of sexuality was “thoroughly imbued with relations of power”; translating this tesis to the media, we can appreciate material created for a -supposedly- mainly heterosexual audience.

It is common that the fandom to analyze every little piece of subtext, perhaps for "the lack of adequate and positive representations of queer people in the media". But when their analysis comes up with a potentially queer character, the creators often shoot down these conclusions to avoid scandal.

Examples
As proposed in Leslie Fiedler’s essay “Come Back to the Raft Ag’in, Huck Honey!”, in which he argued that a recurrent theme in American literature was an unspoken or implied homoerotic relationship between men. The author claims in said essay that there are homoerotic traits in the relationship between the white boy Huck Finn and the runaway slave Jim", having as thesis that "the canon of American literature portray a 'national myth of masculine love'"

Supernatural (U.S. TV series) is an example of this issue, which arose from the sexual/romantic tension between the characters Castiel and Dean Winchester, who have rescued each other from death several times, and who even had a scripted "I love you" which got changed to "I need you" in episode "Goodbye Stranger" (season 8, episode 17). The show's queer baiting practices have already caused them trouble; for instance, the #AskSupernatural on Twitter got many questions about the topic.

Sherlock (TV Series): The characters Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are shown living together and often mistaken for a couple. John Watson often and vehemently defends his sexuality ("I am not gay") while Sherlock remains curiously silent about the topic. In the third season, John marries Mary Morstan after Sherlock fakes his death and disappears.

House (TV Series), which portrays a close (apparently platonic) relationship between the characters of Gregory House and James Wilson, who are both in canon heterosexual relationships throughout the show (House with Lisa Cuddy, Wilson with his wife). They make sexual jokes at and about each other, and in one episode Wilson actually proposes to House as part of a ploy to get a female character interested in him.

Merlin (TV Series) between Arthur Pendragon and Merlin (Merlin character), whose relationship was described by the creators (after the series ended and the DVD was released with commentary) as “a love story between two men” without ever showing it onscreen aside from Arthur and Merlin acting like a married couple and bickering like one. The creators even comment on how "magic (and the magic reveal) is a metaphor for homosexuality", but ''even here we see discrepancies between the creators of the medium.

"Murphy says things like, “on no level is magic metaphorical in this show,” to which McGrath will respond, “it’s funny, I don’t actually feel like you’re being sincere.”"''

The creators did include a canonically queer couple, but seemingly as a token so the audience would not complain. "Murphy pays homage to another fan pairing: “I gave you Morgause. Incestuous lesbianism, what more do you want?”"''

Category:LGBT, Sociology