Queerbaiting

About

Queerbaiting is a neologism used to criticize a piece of media that features two characters between whom fans sense homosexual tension, though the work never makes explicitly clear that the characters are gay. The practice of "queerbaiting" has been criticized by the LGBTQ+ community as a means for pieces of media to court their fandom without potentially alienating audiences by depicting homsexuality.

Origin

The term Queerbaiting emerged on Tumblr in the early 2010s as a means of criticizing shows like Supernatural and Sherlock, as both shows featured male leads who arguably flirted with queerness, but neither show made that explicitly clear.^[2] One of the earliest known definitions of queer-baiting appeared on Urban Dictionary November 3rd, 2013.^[1] It was defined by user BustinDustin as, "When people in the media (usually television/movies) add homoerotic tension between two characters to attract more liberal and queer viewers with the indication of them not ever getting together for real in the show/book/movie."

Spread

The idea of "queerbaiting" became more widespread over the course of the 2010s, as people found examples of it throughout popular media. In 2014, TV Guide^[3] published a piece criticizing Supernatural's queerbaiting, writing, "The Supernatural producers have undoubtedly profited from the Destiel ship and encouraging ambiguity in Dean's sexuality. As Cas and Dean's relationship took on more importance in the series (and became based more heavily on romantic tropes) in Seasons 8 and 9, the ratings increased." In 2019, Autostraddle^[4] published a list of same-sex pairings in television they dubbed the "Top 25 Most Egregious Acts of Queerbaiting on TV."

Some notable shows accused of queerbaiting include Voltron: Legendary Defender, Glee, Yuri!!! On Ice ^[5] and The Legend of Korra, though Legend of Korra confirmed that Korra was in a queer relationship in the last episode.

More controversially, some celebrities have been accused of queerbaiting for purposefully playing up their ambiguous sexuality in lyrics or imagery. In Ariana Grande's "Break Up With Your Girlfriend," the music video depicted Grande apparently trying to break up a heterosexual couple to get with the boy, but gave a twist ending showing Grande wanted to get with the girl, sparking a debate on if Grande was guilty of queerbaiting.^[6] Billie Eilish was accused of queerbaiting after her music video for "Lost Cause" released, though several fans argued that a human being could not be guilty of queerbaiting by being private about their sexuality.

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