Suddenly Gay?!?

From Fanlore
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Meta
Title: Suddenly Gay?!?
Creator: Clio
Date(s): 2001?
Medium: online
Fandom: multi
Topic: slash
External Links: Suddenly Gay?!?; WebCite
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Suddenly Gay?!? is an essay by Clio at Slash Sluts.

Part of a Series

Excerpts

If you've read my Bitch fest, you may have come across a rant on this topic. This is a strange phenomenon that occurs in pretty much every fandom and every pairing more than a few times. The Sentinel fandom is just riddled with it, so much that it boggles the mind. What I am talking about here is two men, both or maybe just one, of whom were heretofore straight falling in love and are Suddenly Gay. They've never had these feelings for another guy before, never even shown any inclination for it. They don't even feel any angst over this sudden turn of sexuality in their lives. What the fuck is up with that?

I mean for god sake's at least one of these guys was as straight as they come before this, now they're gay. Just like that. Since when in any realm of reality does this occur. Things like that don't just suddenly come out of no where. In reality a person usually has had feelings or attraction for the same sex before if something like this happens. They may have repressed it, but it was there. When you hear these stories about 40 year old guys coming out. You don't here one of them saying, "Oh no, I never had feelings for another man before. It's just this one person in particular." Nope. They usually say, "No, I was always gay. I was just trying to hide it from myself. It took me a long time to come to terms with it. I've always been attracted to men." Yet, in fanfics I have lost count of how many times I've heard this conversation take place.

'So are you gay?' best friend of character. 'No, it's just him,' varying characters in varying fandoms.

God, how I hate hearing that.

For women sex had consequences long before people became terrified of deadly STD's like AIDS. It had the consequence of producing a child, so we had to choose wisely who we slept with in case we might become pregnant. Once upon a not so very long ago, contraceptives were not so widely available or used. If we got knocked up our family might make us get married. So we had better like or love who we slept with.

Men don't always think like that. AIDS has brought a new and dangerous complication to sex for them, it can kill you or your partners. If you knocked a chick up you could deny it or run off to avoid marrying her. She couldn't. So sex means gratification to them alot of times. It can mean love, but they can separate the difference. Some women can, but most don't want to I think. Since we know how sex can feel so much better when you care for the person you are with. With men I have never heard of an instance of them switching teams just because they develop a deep emotional connection with a friend. Especially, if they have never felt attractions to the same sex before. I'm not saying it never happens, just that outside of fanfic. I've never heard of it occurring.

Women might find that conceivable in their lives. That they could transcend gender and focus only on who the person is on the inside. From there finding the beauty and a sexual attraction to their partner. Maybe the person is repressing that they have always had attractions to the same sex. Who knows? I've never heard of it happening to men though. When I read men saying that in stories, it always causes me to roll my eyes. Most men aren't emotionally in touch enough to have that happen. I'm not saying it couldn't. I've just never heard of it. Maybe we hope that they could, that they could get that in touch with their emotional selves. I'm just not going to hold my breath for it to happen. I'd probably suffocate.

Get over the angst of not wanting to label the characters as gay. Sex for men is often a much more physical response. Based more often in physical arousal, at times, than emotional arousal. Now don't start e-mailing me. I am saying sometimes. I know men can be emotionally invested in sex, I'm just saying they aren't always. It can just be about getting off to them. I know it is one of their more annoying qualities, that we hate the most. It falls under that heading of 'If you can't live 'em. Shoot 'em.' Still it is part of who they are.

So to sum up get of the Suddenly Gay shit. No one buys it really and it just screams denial in the characters. Unless you are going to address that denial and have them come to realizations about themselves in the story. Cut it the fuck out. It's annoying and endlessly over used. It is much more realistic for them to have either had experiences in the past or at least thought about it and been to chicken shit to do anything until now. Get off the 'No, I'm not gay. It's just him crap.' Every time I type it, in my head I'm mocking it. I swear. It is almost comical after you hear it enough times. You almost find yourself singsonging Someone's in denial. I can never figure out if it's the character or the author in denial about the characters. Hmmm...still confused on that part.

Retrieved from "https://fanlore.org/w/index.php?title=Suddenly_Gay%3F!%3F&oldid=1460203"