Live by the Sun, Love by the Moon

My problem with tumblr's use of "queerbaiting"

• What "queerbaiting" is:
• Writer: I've got two straight white males who are close friends.
• Pro-Gay Community: If you look at some of these scenes they may be interpreted as romantic rather than platonic. We don't have much representation so we're going to develope the subtext in how heads. It's not much but it's better than nothing.
• Writer: Hey, you really like the gay thing, don't you? Let's drop some hints in interviews that there may be something there.
• Pro-Gay: Wait... are you going to have more going on?
• Writer: And have the actors play it up the suggestion off-set.
• Pro-Gay: Are they actually going to give us some representation on this show?
• Writer: And make the subtext almost text!
• Pro-Gay: Oh my gosh! We've been waiting so long!
• Writer: BUT NO HOMO! They both no get uninteresting female love interests because NO HOMO!
• Pro-Gay: Wait what? But you were the ones building it up!
• Writer: NO HOMO!
• What queerbating means to Tumblr
• Writer: I've got two straight white males who are close friends.
• Pro-Gay Community: If you look at some of these scenes they may be interpreted as romantic rather than platonic. We don't have much representation so we're going to develope the subtext in how heads. It's not much but it's better than nothing.
• Writer: Good for you guys. We're sticking with the interpretation that they are friends but you're free to enjoy the show anyway you want. We will however try and include more canonically gay characters in our work.
• The "Fan"girls: OMG! THESE MEN ARE SOOO ATTRACTIVE! I GET ARROUSED BY THE THOUGHT OF THEM MAKING OUT AND TOUCHING EACH OTHER! THEY ARE SOOOO IN LOVE!
• Writer: Okay... whatever floats your boat. We still say they're just good friends but they do love each other, just not romantically.
• The "Fan"girls: SEE! THE WRITER ADMITTED IT! THEY ARE SO IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER AND THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE BABIES TOGETHER AND HAVE SEX ALL THE TIME. THIS SHIP SAILS ITSELF!
• Writer: No we meant just as friends. Platonic love.
• The "Fan"girls: LOOK AT MY GRAPHIC FANFICTION AND FANART.
• Pro-Gay: That's a little fetishitic. You're kind of treating these characters and their actors as sex objects rather than human beings.
• The "Fan"girls: BOO! YOU HOMOPHOBES! YOU HATE GAYS! GET OUT OF THE FANDOM YOU GAY HATING HOE!
• The Fangirls who are fangirls: Whoa, calm down. I like the ship too but they've said it isn't going to happen. It's just for fun. It doesn't need to be canon.
• The "Fan"girls: BOO! YOU ARE SO STUPID! OF COURSE THEY ARE GOING TO GET TOGETHER! THEY ARE IN SO MUCH LOVE THAT THEY WOULD DIE WITHOUT EACH OTHER! THEY ARE UNHEALTHILY CO-DEPENDANT AND WE WILL ROMATICISE THAT FACT! WE'RE GOING TO WRITE A 10000 WORD ESSAY ON A GIF-SET WHERE THEY STARE AT EACH OTHER LONGINGLY!
• Actual fangirl: Wasn't that scene literally two seconds long in the actual show and had a very different meaning in conext:
• The "Fan"girls: IT WAS EYESEX!
• Writer: Okay. Well here is one of the character's love interests that we have been developing for a while.
• The "Fan"girls: ...
• The "Fan"girls: WHAT!
• The "Fan"girls: WHAT!?!
• The "Fan"girls: HOW DARE YOU!
• Writer: What?
• The "Fan"girls: HOW DARE YOU MISLEAD US BY PRETENDING YOU'RE GOING TO SHOW US GAY PORN!
• Writer: We've had this female character in mind for a long time...
• The "Fan"girls: SHAME ON YOU! QUEERBAITERS! HOMOPHOBES!
• Writers: We've always said these guys weren't gay. Just give the female character a chance.
• The "Fan"girls: SHE'S A SLUTTY, PRISSY, USELESS, WHINY, EMOTIONLESS, SHIPWREAKING, MARY SUE WHORE.
• Writer: She hasn't even been on the show yet.
• The "Fan"girls: QUEERBAITERS!

Source: stuffertystuffstuff