Rachael Eyre's Blog - Posts Tagged "homophobia"
Psycho Lesbians Galore: Why Won’t This Trope Die?
There are certain premises I’m complete trash for. Girls’ boarding schools. Lesbian vampires. Murder mysteries in remote locations. The instant such a novel pops up in my newsfeed, it goes straight to the top of my To Be Read list. Or if a story’s been adapted - I always try the book first, to see if it’s worth investing several hours of my time.
I’m on my thirtieth or so book this year and I’ve noticed a disquieting trend. The kind of negative lesbian characters you’d have thought were thrown out with the Hays Code, yet they’re appearing in books published in the last few years. What is going on?
Take You, an astronomically successful franchise that’s spawned a Netflix series. The narrator is Joe, a bookseller who becomes obsessed with Beck, a beautiful but damaged writer. Since the author is female, you’re never left in any doubt that Joe is a dangerous, narcissistic stalker. He’s reliably unreliable. The story should be as woke across the board, right?
Ha. If only.
Beck’s best friend Peach fulfils practically every psycho lesbian requirement you can imagine. She hates anyone Beck dates, takes explicit photos of her without her consent and coerces her into sex. She is so vile, even a creeper like Joe claims the moral high ground. She’s the only gay character in the story, meaning there’s no balance. I’m not saying that all LGBT characters have to be paragons of virtue, simply that (presumably) straight authors should be mindful of how they portray us. Is that really the first place their mind goes when they think ‘lesbian?’
Another book I read this year, which will remain nameless, played out an even more far fetched version of this trope. It transpires that the murderer first met the victim at university. She stalked her and stole her belongings, keeping a box of memorabilia. Having waited a decade, she’s started dating one of her crush’s (male) friends, all to get close to her. When the victim confronts her and taunts her, she murders her.
Say what?! Actual humans don’t behave this way. At least in this story there was a married gay couple, but they’re so bland and tokenistic, they were probably included after a sensitivity reading. If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t have any gay acquaintances (they exist), you might come away thinking lesbians are sinister, murderous psychopaths who pursue their unrequited ‘loves’ to the ends of the earth. Yay, progressive!
You might ask, where’s the harm? There are plenty of positive depictions of lesbians out there. Why should a dodgy one here and there matter? That sounds reasonable in theory, but the only stories with well rounded, happy LGBT protagonists tend to be written by LGBT authors, which receive far less exposure. They’re much less likely to become mainstream hits and be adapted into acclaimed series. You have to go scouting for lesbian themed books, while thrillers peddling bad old stereotypes are readily available in any supermarket.
Not only does it reinforce popular misconceptions lesbians are deviant predators, it frightens young women who might be questioning their sexuality back into the closet, thinking that what they feel is ugly and wrong. The ‘in love with your best friend’ cliché is particularly toxic, because that’s how many lesbians realise they’re attracted to women. Not only is it suggesting their feelings will never be returned, it literally turns them into the stuff of nightmares. More often than not the lesbian characters die, karmically punishing them for their transgression.
I’m not saying you can never create an villainous gay character again, if you have. Just ... be even handed. Provide context. Don’t make everyone in the story repelled by them - and imply the reader should share this opinion. Ask yourself, “Why am I making this character gay? What purpose does it serve?” If you honestly can’t come up with one, reconsider.
I’m on my thirtieth or so book this year and I’ve noticed a disquieting trend. The kind of negative lesbian characters you’d have thought were thrown out with the Hays Code, yet they’re appearing in books published in the last few years. What is going on?
Take You, an astronomically successful franchise that’s spawned a Netflix series. The narrator is Joe, a bookseller who becomes obsessed with Beck, a beautiful but damaged writer. Since the author is female, you’re never left in any doubt that Joe is a dangerous, narcissistic stalker. He’s reliably unreliable. The story should be as woke across the board, right?
Ha. If only.
Beck’s best friend Peach fulfils practically every psycho lesbian requirement you can imagine. She hates anyone Beck dates, takes explicit photos of her without her consent and coerces her into sex. She is so vile, even a creeper like Joe claims the moral high ground. She’s the only gay character in the story, meaning there’s no balance. I’m not saying that all LGBT characters have to be paragons of virtue, simply that (presumably) straight authors should be mindful of how they portray us. Is that really the first place their mind goes when they think ‘lesbian?’
Another book I read this year, which will remain nameless, played out an even more far fetched version of this trope. It transpires that the murderer first met the victim at university. She stalked her and stole her belongings, keeping a box of memorabilia. Having waited a decade, she’s started dating one of her crush’s (male) friends, all to get close to her. When the victim confronts her and taunts her, she murders her.
Say what?! Actual humans don’t behave this way. At least in this story there was a married gay couple, but they’re so bland and tokenistic, they were probably included after a sensitivity reading. If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t have any gay acquaintances (they exist), you might come away thinking lesbians are sinister, murderous psychopaths who pursue their unrequited ‘loves’ to the ends of the earth. Yay, progressive!
You might ask, where’s the harm? There are plenty of positive depictions of lesbians out there. Why should a dodgy one here and there matter? That sounds reasonable in theory, but the only stories with well rounded, happy LGBT protagonists tend to be written by LGBT authors, which receive far less exposure. They’re much less likely to become mainstream hits and be adapted into acclaimed series. You have to go scouting for lesbian themed books, while thrillers peddling bad old stereotypes are readily available in any supermarket.
Not only does it reinforce popular misconceptions lesbians are deviant predators, it frightens young women who might be questioning their sexuality back into the closet, thinking that what they feel is ugly and wrong. The ‘in love with your best friend’ cliché is particularly toxic, because that’s how many lesbians realise they’re attracted to women. Not only is it suggesting their feelings will never be returned, it literally turns them into the stuff of nightmares. More often than not the lesbian characters die, karmically punishing them for their transgression.
I’m not saying you can never create an villainous gay character again, if you have. Just ... be even handed. Provide context. Don’t make everyone in the story repelled by them - and imply the reader should share this opinion. Ask yourself, “Why am I making this character gay? What purpose does it serve?” If you honestly can’t come up with one, reconsider.
