What is queerbaiting?
Queerbaiting is when a celebrity, a public figure or even tv shows hints being queer to attract an LGBTQ audience for publicity. For many obvious reasons, queerbaiting is very problematic in today’s society. First of all, the people behind it take advantage of the underrepresentation of queer characters in shows or in the media in general. They use it as a marketing technique to attract a queer audience, making them want to watch the show.
Imagine this. A closeted gay is watching television. They are unsure whether they should come out to their family and friends. As soon as they see queer representation on TV, they see themselves. The character might be flirting or embracing someone of the same sex. The person watching may feel connected and feel less alone, knowing that there are people to whom they can relate.
Why is it wrong?
Many of you might be thinking, this is good right? The queer audience can feel comforted and accepted. Wrong. The majority of the time, these characters end up in a hetero relationship, which causes confusion to the viewers when they finally realize that these characters were never queer from the start. Only used for profit for the show.
Examples
Some shows that used queerbaiting as a marketing technique are Riverdale, Xena: Warrior Princess, Rizzoli & Isles and many more. A reminder that queerbaiting not only happens in shows and movies. It is, unfortunately, something that has been normalized by celebrities and content creators in the media. Many artists such as Billie Eilish, Rita Ora and Nick Jonas have been accused of queerbaiting over the past years.
Fortunately, queer representation in shows is growing rapidly such as in Orange is the Black, Pretty Little Liars, The Fosters and The Legend of Korra. We can hope that in a few years, queerbaiting will no longer be used on television and on social media. We simply want true queer representation with experiences we can relate to.
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