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Gay Is Ice Cold
Nov. 9th, 2015 12:02 pmhttp://comicsalliance.com/super-iceman-angela-lgbtq-marvel/
Quite a good article on the coming out of Bobby Drake as gay and Angela's bi-sexuality. Wheeler is very much correct that it isn't enough to simply have LGQBT characters; you have to tell their stories as part of the ongoing reality for it to matter.
I still fucking hate the choice of Bobby.
To me, Bobby's choice as coming out is a lazy one, borderline offensive in its stereotyping. Let's take the youngish, pretty quirky guy because he obviously he's got to be gay. The way it is being framed, with Bobby's relationships as a sign of his hiding from his true nature are also pretty damning, because of the X-Men, Bobby was one of the only one's that had largely healthy relationships with women who were strong individuals with their own agency. It feels like there was a mandate as opposed to a natural evolution of the character, and for me as a reader, it defeats the purpose.
The most obvious choice should have been Hank, to be honest. His unlikely football career in high school when it was clearly the sciences he was interested in, his major relationship having been the dysfunctional one with Trish Tilby for years and then a relatively new one with Abigail Brand, his guarded nature even with his oldest friends. Hank coming out, personally, would have seemed like a path that was well established for me. Also, to have a gay character who is outside of the normal stereotypes; physically powerful, academically brilliant, and the moral centre of the X-Men.
Quite a good article on the coming out of Bobby Drake as gay and Angela's bi-sexuality. Wheeler is very much correct that it isn't enough to simply have LGQBT characters; you have to tell their stories as part of the ongoing reality for it to matter.
I still fucking hate the choice of Bobby.
To me, Bobby's choice as coming out is a lazy one, borderline offensive in its stereotyping. Let's take the youngish, pretty quirky guy because he obviously he's got to be gay. The way it is being framed, with Bobby's relationships as a sign of his hiding from his true nature are also pretty damning, because of the X-Men, Bobby was one of the only one's that had largely healthy relationships with women who were strong individuals with their own agency. It feels like there was a mandate as opposed to a natural evolution of the character, and for me as a reader, it defeats the purpose.
The most obvious choice should have been Hank, to be honest. His unlikely football career in high school when it was clearly the sciences he was interested in, his major relationship having been the dysfunctional one with Trish Tilby for years and then a relatively new one with Abigail Brand, his guarded nature even with his oldest friends. Hank coming out, personally, would have seemed like a path that was well established for me. Also, to have a gay character who is outside of the normal stereotypes; physically powerful, academically brilliant, and the moral centre of the X-Men.
