Queerbaiting is a practice that has been gaining popularity in recent times and that manifests itself in different ways, especially in the artistic environment.
The term refers to the appropriation of the LGBTQIA+ cause to have some financial or popularity return.
This can happen both with celebrities – such as singer Harry Styles, who was recently accused of queerbaiting – and works of fiction, such as a film that implicitly addresses the theme of community, just to capture the public’s attention.
In the case of Harry Styles, he has a stance against heteronormativity – the way he behaves and dresses -, but he has only assumed relationships with women, which is a target of criticism from fans.
In an interview with CNN Radio in No Plural +, Alice Marcone, who is a trans woman, and responsible for scripting the series “Manhãs de Setembro” and “De Volta aos 15”, stated that the phenomenon is contemporary.
“To appropriate these signs and causes, imagining that they have a positive media effect, I believe that it is the effect of a transformed world, in which we seek to generate buzz career, movies or people,” he said.
She draws attention to the fine line between the importance of addressing the LGBTQIA+ agenda, with the existence of characters, and queerbaiting, which has this “perverse intention, aimed at personal gain.”
Alice says that the lack of real representation of people from the LGBTQIA+ community “was very harmful to my formation as a person and to understanding my identity.”
In the case of Harry Styles, she believes that she respects the artist’s decision to keep his intimate life discreet and also understands that being queer is expressing gender freely.
Alice agrees that “any actor can play any character”, but remembers that “the reality of our scenario is the complete exclusion of LGBTQIA+ people from the job market.”
“Productions could have people from the community, not only to be guided in a more genuine way, but also as a form of structural inclusion, when there are more LGBTQIA+ actors and actresses, then the discussion loses strength, but it is not the reality”, he defended. .
Source: CNN Brasil
