Consent In Queer Media
- Emerson Pipes
- Nov 24, 2020
- 3 min read
Discamer:
While my rants do contain factual information I have research and verified, they also come from my own frustrations and opinions of the subject. I am a media and film prodcuations university student who is part of the LGBT community and has a great intrest in queer media. I encourage others to do their own research and also come to their own opinion of the subject.
Consent, sex and harassment is a big topic of discussion in queer media and among fans of shows that have more controversial relationships. The media has had a history of painting queer people (historically gay men) as over sexual and predatory. They had often been pushed aside to be the antagonist in stories/shows/games.
The LGBTQ community are shown as promiscuous and sexually liberated in a lot of media since the HIV epidemic (1980s) there has been a narrative of queer people being over sexual and spreading diseases. Gay men have often be compared to paedophiles and those who live outside the gender binary seen as having mental health issues.
However, I don’t believe that this means anyone in the LGBTQ community can not play a villainous role in the media. Queer people can be criminals or be cruel or rude because they are human like everyone else. What is the problem is someone being shown to be predatory/cruel or villainous because of their sexuality. When the focus of their character is their inability to control themselves because of their sexuality- that is the problem.
It’s a problem in so much media, even in shows that I enjoy quite a lot of these elements. For example, a show I loved called ‘Why R U’ a BL Thai series has a scene that made me rethink after rewatching to analyse the show.
Tutor (One of the main characters) is serving a table with an obviously gay man and woman, they begin to sexual harras him and touch him. Tutor does not really fight back, acting polite. This scene takes place for Fighter (the other main character and love interest) to step in and save Tutor from the two.
The problem I have with this is- why does the man have to be obviously gay? His over exaggerated movements and showing him to be effeminate in his actions. It's so over the top and makes you feel uncomfortable as you watch. This plays into the fear of predatory gay men. Now I want to say the show is actually very good at showing a diverse cast of characters, no media is perfect and there can always be improvements. This use of predatory queer people is prevalent in a lot of shows.
The show’s protagonists are normally shown as being above their own community, sometimes not even being a part of it. The couple often faces a situation where one of the two, normally the more ‘submissive’ partner, is pursued/harassed by someone and then their partner will save them or become jealous/aggressive/overprotective of the other.
Showing a couple in a situation where one may be jealous or one is being harassed isn’t inherently bad, what is bad is the repeated use of this trope to make the main queer couple seem more virtuous than other because they are not predatory towards others and demonizing other queer people.
Over the years there has been a decrease in the prevalence of rape and sexual assault in queer media, however, there is a disturbing history to rape culture in queer content. It stems from the demonization of queer relationships by the media, showing them as unfaithful or abusive, Unable to attain a relationship without forcing themself on the other. It was then twisted by the same media who wanted to appeal to the queer community into a romanticized version that is still shown in some media now.
There is also a troubling trend of abuse in relationships, even if the relationship is very consensual in most aspects there is often some aspect that borders on abuse. And this is romanticized as being ‘protective’ or ‘jealous’ of their partner. Rape happens in already established relationships, just because your dating or married doesn’t mean you have consent to do whatever you want. There has to be communication between the parties and consent must always be established. Abuse is still abuse when done by a spouse or romantic partner.
Sources I used and my research:
https://youtu.be/JM6rK9DFZhQ - Episode referenced
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