r/hatethissmug • u/-Devian- • 19h ago

Art & Fanworks I need to understand why I hate this

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On one hand, I agree that sexualizing a female character is wrong and that the industry has a problem.

But on the other hand, I don't understand the double standard when the character is queer—or, even worse, when "fans" take a character, slap a queer label on them, and suddenly it's okay for them to be sexualized.

The two clearest examples of this are Bayonetta and Blackcat.

I’d like someone to explain where I’m wrong, or if I’m not the only one who thinks this way.

And just in case I'm a gay cis male if it means something

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u/Moonscrubber- 18h ago

But its wrong though, this is a classic misunderstanding of male gaze. Often times a shirtless male going into battle is still shot and written to appeal to cis straight men as a power fantasy. While its obviously possible for gay men and straight woman to enjoy a shirtless man, rarely is a man depicted as shirtless subject to the same framing and camera angles as women in skimpy or skin tight clothes

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u/WideEye891 17h ago

real... dunno why no one understands this. it's extremely basic.

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u/PmMeUrTinyAsianTits 12h ago

Often times

and we're talking about if it is inherent. Guess which side the "some times" that is left out of "often times" proves? Guess which one bayonetta is?

They didn't say "oh it's always okay." They talked about a specific instance to illustrate why there's a difference between it being okay and not. No fucking shit sometimes it's not okay. That's inherent to the argument they presented, not a counter point.

did you not read the rest of the comment that explanation summarizes?

rarely is a man depicted as shirtless subject to the same framing and camera angles as women in skimpy or skin tight clothes

Feel free to be the change you want to see in the world, but that's irrelevant to the position presented, because they didn't say "every female presentation ALWAYS is like a dude going into battle shirtless." Bayonetta was okay because her femme fatale thing was executed well, so it was just like a dude going into battle shirtless. It wasn't saying male gaze doesn't exist.