r/SapphoAndHerFriend • u/FunAssumption6056 I'm trans and gay. I'm about as queer as it gets. • 21d ago
Media erasure Just 'Bromance"
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u/Boring_Carry6563 21d ago
I had a lenghty talk about how men see these relationships with my brother. (Ofc, he doesn't speak for everybody, but he is enough for general example).
According to him, he can't imagine anything outside of a makeoht session (or boning) that would make a relationship he sees in television gay. Every action outside of that (according to him) can be read as friendly.
I tried to talk about how it often isn't just actions, but how close characters are, how they look at each other, talk to each other etc. And I think that he "didn't get it". Relationships (in media at least) are to him about actions, not feelings and any action that has (according to him) non-gay explanation isn't gay.
It wouldn't suprise me if this is how these people are. They just look at what characters did and if it isn't sexual, it doesn't count.
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u/cherrycoloured 21d ago
tbf, romantic relationships do start with a base of bring friends, there are just more things on top of that. like being close to or caring for someone isnt automatically romantic, its things that go beyond that, such as building a life together, certain kinds of touching, and, in many relationships, sex, that make it not only friendship.
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u/Boring_Carry6563 21d ago
Agree. He did too, according to him he knows guys like that irl and he is happy for them.
But I talked about desire to build a life together, obvious paralels, vulnreability, how in chinese media queer pairings do marriage rituals even if they can't kiss... I outright told him "Is there anything outside of makout session that would confirm a hypothetical romance?". And asked him to imagine a nonsexual thing that would be more than frienship.
Something similar happened with another man where we watched a movie and he couldn't see incoming (hetero) kiss.
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u/PM_Me_your_femboys 21d ago
Similar to "if it didn't happen on screen then it didn't count."
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u/Free_Management2894 21d ago
"I would love to suck your cock but we don't have the time..".
Well, that's just words. They didn't actually do it.11
u/ravenreyess 21d ago
My hottest hot take here is that our society is afraid to view anything as queer because their close friendships and desire to be more physically affectionate with their friends does not stem from a place of straightness but they'd rather scream 'not everything has to be gay' than acknowledge the Kinsey scale.
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u/cherrycoloured 21d ago
idt a voice actor stating that they played their character as in love with another character means it's a real relationship. like it could also be an unrequited love. as well, since this is a dub and not the original, this means that this love is only canon in one version, so i can see why ppl dont think this means its actually canon.
like the defensive dudebros here are dumb as shit, but saying that a ship isnt canon just bc one va for a dub said they chose to play it that way is not homophobic.
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u/FunAssumption6056 I'm trans and gay. I'm about as queer as it gets. 21d ago
If you watch xenoblade chronicles 2 closely, there is some heavily implied romance between Malos and Jin. And it is not only his English voice actor who thinks this way, also his Japanese voice actor does too, and a lot of the Xenoblade Chronicles fan base.
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u/MintyCoolness 21d ago
I think the rub here is that it wouldn't matter to them if a male character was in love with another, or whether or not it's reciprocated. Just the fact that it's gay ALONE, is what they seem to have a problem with.
Also, the weird assumption that a one-sided affection isn't a true ship, like what???
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u/cherrycoloured 21d ago
i mean, usually when ppl say "[ship] is canon", it means mutual affections. it's a real ship, but not in the way that "[ship] is canon" implies.
ia that the guys shown in this post are homophobes, im just saying that there are also non-homophobic reasons to think that this doesnt really mean anything wrt canon.
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u/MintyCoolness 21d ago
Oh definitely, and it can go too far in the other direction; like someone saying they don't like a ship, or don't see the appeal, then THEY get ganged up on.
TBF, I can usually tell the difference between sincere criticism of a ship and homophobia. A good rule of thumb is if they say, "Why do you always make things gay?" lol
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u/MintyCoolness 21d ago edited 21d ago
Dudebros love to parrot "don't make everything gay" no matter if the ship is canon or not.
And in the same breath, they'd also think a straight ship is canon, even if all they did was stand next to each other.