- Joined
- Aug 3, 2008
- Messages
- 631
- Reaction score
- 57
- Age
- 54
- Location
- NYC
- Website
- andrewjpeterswrites.com
By popular demand--well, actually two people's suggestion--I created this thread off the "Straight People Writing Gays" discussion so as to not derail.
My post there related to the OP question: what should straight writers consider when writing gay characters (sic); but it went further into a curiosity of mine: are some stories essentially queer, regardless of whether or not they portray queer sexuality? And: are some stories essentially non-queer (heteronormative), regardless of whether or not they portray queer sexuality.
I came up with something I called The Queer Matrix, borrowed from New York Magazine's Approval Matrix, and not intended to be taken entirely seriously. Creative tastes are subjective, queer people are not monolithic in the way they see the world, so it's really just representative of how one queer guy (me) looks at media portrayals. But I'd be interested in hearing if other folks agree or disagree, and what creative works (literary, film, art, music, etc.) they would place in the different quadrants.
The most interesting ones for me are: creative works with no queer content but a queer sensibility; and creative works with queer content but a non-queer sensibility.
(I know I'm using language queer/non-queer that not all people are comfortable with. To explain, it's in part intentional--subverting the majority culture to "non" since so often QLTBAG lives are marginalized rather than considered "normal," "traditional," or "mainstream." The other part is casting a wide net, with an appreciation that queer can encompass a broad range of identities, perspectives, and experiences).
Anyway, feel free to comment here, or at my site. Here's the matrix:
My post there related to the OP question: what should straight writers consider when writing gay characters (sic); but it went further into a curiosity of mine: are some stories essentially queer, regardless of whether or not they portray queer sexuality? And: are some stories essentially non-queer (heteronormative), regardless of whether or not they portray queer sexuality.
I came up with something I called The Queer Matrix, borrowed from New York Magazine's Approval Matrix, and not intended to be taken entirely seriously. Creative tastes are subjective, queer people are not monolithic in the way they see the world, so it's really just representative of how one queer guy (me) looks at media portrayals. But I'd be interested in hearing if other folks agree or disagree, and what creative works (literary, film, art, music, etc.) they would place in the different quadrants.
The most interesting ones for me are: creative works with no queer content but a queer sensibility; and creative works with queer content but a non-queer sensibility.
(I know I'm using language queer/non-queer that not all people are comfortable with. To explain, it's in part intentional--subverting the majority culture to "non" since so often QLTBAG lives are marginalized rather than considered "normal," "traditional," or "mainstream." The other part is casting a wide net, with an appreciation that queer can encompass a broad range of identities, perspectives, and experiences).
Anyway, feel free to comment here, or at my site. Here's the matrix: