Fetishizing Homosexuality...
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Fetishizing Homosexuality... |
| Creator: | cantpronounce |
| Date(s): | May 21, 2014 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | the writer is a Sherlock BBC fan |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | Only-joking-or-are-we pussyfooting around, FETISHIZING HOMOSEXUALITY..., Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Fetishizing Homosexuality... is an essay on Tumblr by cantpronounce.
The Tumblr post had 387 notes as of 25 May 2015.
"Shame on you for being a hypocrite, not for your shipping habits."
For additional context, see Timeline of Slash Meta and Slash Meta.
Topics Addressed
Excerpts
Why is shipping two characters seen as ‘fetishising homosexuality’?
NO, sir. *YOU* are the one who’s fetishizing homosexuality. *YOU* are the one who is turning homosexuality into a FETISH. The person who tweeted him, like everybody else who thinks the same/has said similar things/write and read fanfictions/hopes to see two male characters together, does so because IT’S EXACTLY LIKE SHIPPING OR FANTASIZING ABOUT ANY OTHER HETERO COUPLE. Why is shipping a straight couple accepted and ok, but shipping a gay couple classifies as ‘fetishizing’?
Do you not see how wrong this is? I have shipped Mulder and Scully before. I ship Sherlock and John now. I ship them just like I shipped Mulder and Scully – not because they are males but BECAUSE OF THE CHEMISTRY AND THE LOVE THAT I SEE BETWEEN THEM. Both things can happen between a male and a female, two males, two females, two trans, two asexuals, whatever. I.DON’T.CARE. Like the person who tweeted him said, I DON’T CARE ABOUT GENDER. Gender has NOTHING to do with the reasons I would like to see them in a relationship (and this of course is true for a lot of people in the fandom).
Yet, I am constantly made to feel that I am ‘fetishizing’. That I am weird and kind of perverted for wanting two guys to get together; the implied question is ‘why would you want that?’. I am made to feel uncomfortable if and when I disclose the fact that I am a Johnlocker. I am made to feel that shipping Sherlock and Molly is good and romantic and obvious and omg so cute and healthy and expected of me, whereas shipping J+S makes me ‘one of them’ – these were actual words someone said to me when as we talked about it (them weirdos? Them pervs? Them fangirls? Them deluded fans? You pick one…)
Yet, the power of heteronormativity and of people’s preconceptions and cultural set up is extremely strong, and I know it does influence me. I wish I could just enjoy my ship without being scared or worried or whatnot – but alas I can’t, not at the moment. And let me tell you, I DEFINITELY COULD HAPPILY DO IT IF ONE OF THEM WAS A FEMALE. If I were shipping Mulder and Scully right now, or Aragorn and Arwen, or Brienne and Jayme, let me tell you I would feel COMPLETELY FREE to do so.
Because apparently, it’s good and healthy, and expected of me, a white straight girl with no known kinks or perversions.
Because for some reason wanting a male and a female character to fall in love and have sex and spend their life together is fine, but wanting THE EXACT SAME THING for an all-male couple is FETISHIZING.
I’m still struggling to understand why.