gui Posted April 27, 2022 Posted April 27, 2022 (edited) 20 hours ago, BOOMBAYAH said: I don’t think the issue is Harry Styles, I think the issue is with how society interacts with sexuality along the lines of masculinity. Harry is right. We should be at a place where we can express ourselves however we want and not be pushed to label ourselves, or prove to anyone that we are who we say we are. At the same time, Harry being able to do just that and be the biggest superstar in the world, and still be seen desirable and talented and deserving by straight women, straight men, gay men, gay women and so on, is because he is not labelled. Performers who are “out” do not get that privilege of ambiguity and mystique. They do not get to cater to one demographic and then the other. They are boxed in and not given a chance because they fit a category. The nihilist in a lot of people tell them that Harry Styles knows if he came out as “gay”, he would lose a lot of supporters. But Harry Styles being “free” “open-minded” “fluid” allows him tap into that gay audience without ostracising the female fanbase who thirst for him. There’s also the idea that a lot of gay men seemingly stop supporting, or deem someone less attractive, when they are out. “Straight men”, or “straight men that I could have a chance with” is more palatable than a gay pop-star. With stars like Lil Nas X though, this is hopefully changing, but yeah whenever I look at this issue I see it more of a societal problem and not a Harry Styles problem. Because it’s like, even if he was a completely straight man, does painting nails, supporting the LGBTQ+, wearing dresses and so on become a “queer only privilege”? Because a decade ago, it was encouraged straight men do this so that we could remove the stigma that embracing your femininity as a man makes you weak. I rambled quite a bit in this but I hope you see my point. MTE. He labeling himself as straight and wearing a dress would still be seen as reductive and queer baiting by those who say fashion has no gender. The same people complaining now would still be complaining. If he would come out as bisexual people would say he’s a bisexual who only dates women because he’s only been seen with women so far. And if he were to come out as gay he would suddenly become less attractive or talented. Harry really can’t win. Edited April 27, 2022 by gui
GraceRandolph Posted April 27, 2022 Posted April 27, 2022 5 minutes ago, gui said: He labeling himself as straight and wearing a dress would still be seen as reductive and queer baiting by those who say fashion has no gender. 6 minutes ago, gui said: If he would come out as bisexual people would say he’s a bisexual who only dates women because he’s only been seen with women so far. 6 minutes ago, gui said: if he were to come out as gay These are all better options than what he is doing now.
gui Posted April 27, 2022 Posted April 27, 2022 20 hours ago, JCsNumba1Fan said: I really, really don’t give a **** about this. He can publicly date who he wants and it still doesn’t negate that he has personally denounced being labeled straight. Y’all crack so many gay jokes, but suddenly it’s impossible for Harry Styles to have had any experiences with the same sex? So does this mean you have to be more feminine like Shawn Mendes to warrant question of your sexuality, since he exclusively dates women as well? Okay. Truthfully, the best part of Harry’s career, to me, has always been about the inclusion and representation around him, and how he promotes that. His shows are a safe place for community. He walks the walk if you look at his band (not many male artists are lacking enough ego to have women backing them). It’s not token diversity in terms of sex and race, they’re all talented and he’s lucky to have them. This
gui Posted April 27, 2022 Posted April 27, 2022 6 minutes ago, GraceRandolph said: These are all better options than what he is doing now. It’s not about optioning, but not having to try to satisfy people who simply won’t satisfy with anything he does
ANTIclimatic Posted April 27, 2022 Posted April 27, 2022 22 hours ago, Protocol said: I may get attacked for saying this but someone has to say it. Let’s unpack this further. If is indeed attracted to men, this is very much giving Adam Lambert circa 2009 being forced into the closet and deflecting questions in very much the same way. So I truly hope that’s not the case because, considering he signed an $80 million record deal, there is probably a lot of pressure for him to maintain a wide appeal, that coming out as a man attracted to other men would make the record executives uncomfortable. Also, with all this talk of not wanting labels and not wanting to define things, fact that he’s attracted to women is never an issue. A song about eating *****, countless references to girls and girlfriends, being seen in public with a woman, all of that is totally fine. He doesn’t have an issue with people knowing about his sexuality……. when it comes to liking women. Which leads to the obvious conclusion that either he is totally straight and this is part of his huge PR campaign to make him more interesting, or he legitimately is attracted to men, probably bi, and yet is being prevented from openly saying so, in which case he is a victim of homophobia, so it’s homophobia either way. At the end of the day it’s some bullshit that you’re pretty much not allowed to say that you’re gay. And considering how gay rights are being rolled back and gay people are being attacked in many places, It’s sad to see gay people online agreeing that he doesn’t have to label himself anything, and yet not realizing that he has already labelled himself as being attracted to women time and time and time again. It’s just the MEN part that seems to be a problem. My gay brothers, we are always told our entire lives that there is something wrong with us, that we should we should be ashamed, and I honestly don’t see this as anything but a continuation of that, whether he is a victim or an enabler of it. This honestly. Him not wanting to label himself or have us speculate about his sexuality is more than reasonable and should be a given but let's not pretend he doesn't use the ambiguity around his sexuality to profit and garner praise and attention. He has no problem showing his attraction to women in his personal life and in his music but he only portrays "queerness" on a stage or in a magazine. Why would that be? Does he feel like he can only express that part of himself in a controlled environment or does he feel like that's what he must do to pander to his audience?
Robert Posted April 27, 2022 Posted April 27, 2022 He is completely right. His sexuality is no one’s business and if he wants to act or dress in a feminine way then good on his for not giving in to toxic masculinity.
wren Posted April 27, 2022 Posted April 27, 2022 Yeah he's a 100% straight man who just likes all fashion and pushing the edge. It is a little silly how he won't just say he's straight but I get it I guess
Nip Tuck Posted April 28, 2022 Posted April 28, 2022 I get his point but he obviously acts so ambiguous to keep his name in peoples mouths. He’s obviously a straight cis man and that’s fine.
Pavement Princess Posted April 28, 2022 Posted April 28, 2022 HIGHLY confused by people defending his lack of transparency… You make most of your image based on your fluidity when it comes to sexuality and gender, yet act offended when people are curious what it exactly entails while you profit off of it… No one is begging him to be gay, more so curious if his profiting based on a potentially gay identity is legitimate. And if he is not gay/bi whatever he can admit to that and still be supportive and involved with the culture, lol.
sickboy Posted April 28, 2022 Posted April 28, 2022 He makes mental gymnastics to not say that he is straight lol
ANTIclimatic Posted April 28, 2022 Posted April 28, 2022 On 4/27/2022 at 2:56 AM, 東京. said: Lol, not at all. I understand his view on things. In my country (and his) where things are equal, labels are becoming less of a thing and don’t really care. People are people, and people like other people. That’s all there is and should be to it. Sexuality can literally be that simple. You're talking about the UK right? I highly doubt it's the bastion of equality you're claiming it to be.
東京. Posted April 28, 2022 Posted April 28, 2022 2 hours ago, ANTIclimatic said: You're talking about the UK right? I highly doubt it's the bastion of equality you're claiming it to be. don't get me wrong, it's homophobia (or any -phobia) exists everywhere, but the UK most people genuinly don't care that much anymore? you obviously get the odd crazies, but you get them everywhere. but equality exists here. queer people are protected by law and are allowed the same civial rights as hetero's. i just find it ironic that people are bashing him for indentifying/expressing his sexuality how he chooses to..
ANTIclimatic Posted April 28, 2022 Posted April 28, 2022 3 hours ago, 東京. said: don't get me wrong, it's homophobia (or any -phobia) exists everywhere, but the UK most people genuinly don't care that much anymore? you obviously get the odd crazies, but you get them everywhere. but equality exists here. queer people are protected by law and are allowed the same civial rights as hetero's. i just find it ironic that people are bashing him for indentifying/expressing his sexuality how he chooses to.. Great that it's your experience but I still can't put that label on a place where trans people are being targeted and not given the same protections as the rest of the community, general lgbt hate crime seems to be on the rise and a place that decided to leave a beneficial union because they didn't want to deal with Slavic and brown people. I'm not from there but I get the general feeling that some things are just tolerated or not talked about in order to not interrogate ones inner feelings like in France.
Tomek Posted April 28, 2022 Posted April 28, 2022 On 4/26/2022 at 3:02 PM, BOOMBAYAH said: I don’t think the issue is Harry Styles, I think the issue is with how society interacts with sexuality along the lines of masculinity. Harry is right. We should be at a place where we can express ourselves however we want and not be pushed to label ourselves, or prove to anyone that we are who we say we are. At the same time, Harry being able to do just that and be the biggest superstar in the world, and still be seen desirable and talented and deserving by straight women, straight men, gay men, gay women and so on, is because he is not labelled. Performers who are “out” do not get that privilege of ambiguity and mystique. They do not get to cater to one demographic and then the other. They are boxed in and not given a chance because they fit a category. The nihilist in a lot of people tell them that Harry Styles knows if he came out as “gay”, he would lose a lot of supporters. But Harry Styles being “free” “open-minded” “fluid” allows him tap into that gay audience without ostracising the female fanbase who thirst for him. There’s also the idea that a lot of gay men seemingly stop supporting, or deem someone less attractive, when they are out. “Straight men”, or “straight men that I could have a chance with” is more palatable than a gay pop-star. With stars like Lil Nas X though, this is hopefully changing, but yeah whenever I look at this issue I see it more of a societal problem and not a Harry Styles problem. Because it’s like, even if he was a completely straight man, does painting nails, supporting the LGBTQ+, wearing dresses and so on become a “queer only privilege”? Because a decade ago, it was encouraged straight men do this so that we could remove the stigma that embracing your femininity as a man makes you weak. I rambled quite a bit in this but I hope you see my point.
Isaiah Posted April 29, 2022 Posted April 29, 2022 anyone who thinks he's "queer-baiting" or being problematic needs to go outside and touch a tree ASAP
Pendulum Posted May 1, 2022 Posted May 1, 2022 This "no label" bs excuse coming from *seemingly* heterosexual people pisses me off
XtinaUnderwood Posted May 1, 2022 Posted May 1, 2022 He's really a superstar now, because the bigger you are, the more people try to take you down. And the fact that people really think he has to define his sexuality to the world is nuts.
Da Vinci Posted May 1, 2022 Posted May 1, 2022 i wonder if the people defending him have ever been attacked irl for being more feminine or openly gay cause straight passing/masc people can have that choice of "no labels!" whereas femmes/openly gay people don't have that privilege it just doesn't sit right with me that his stans are invalidating actual openly queer people's feelings and how if they flaunt their queerness they will be dragged or worse irl but if this rich white celebrity who only dates women does the same thing, he only gets praises and success and gets defended by millions of people regular queers don't and will never have that privilege so their opinions getting shut down and mocked is disgusting y'all just don't get it and your lack of empathy for the regular folk makes you look worse
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