LGBTQIA+ on Sidechat | Gay men: are you actually uncomfortable that women like Heated Rivalry? I’m an NB myself so I feel like I can’t speak on it from either side. I’ve heard that it can come off as fetishy but also think women can enjoy a great story. What do you think?

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LGBTQIA+ 1w

Gay men: are you actually uncomfortable that women like Heated Rivalry? I’m an NB myself so I feel like I can’t speak on it from either side. I’ve heard that it can come off as fetishy but also think women can enjoy a great story. What do you think?

#poll

It’s weird/uncomfy

I don’t mind

55 votes

Anonymous 1w

Bisexual man here. For me personally the show is okay, I just don’t like the super sexual aspect of it. But the worst part is the straight female fandom. Some of the shit I’ve heard of them doing is downright disgusting

Anonymous 1w

I’m a lesbian, but I want to add to the conversation. A lot of straight and even some queer women who have attraction to men have been saying stuff that is disgusting. Like one person I used to follow on instagram (cis woman) talked about how she could turn Shane bi and I have heard other women talk about wanting to make Shane like women. I just think about a man saying that he wants to make a character like Santana Lopez into men

Anonymous 1w

i’m a trans gay guy and i absolutely love the show cos i relate a lot to the characters but the reason i love the show is def different from why straight women love it

Anonymous

#1 1w

Like what? I haven’t heard of this. Do you feel like that attitude is most women who like the show, or that one having a genuine interest in it is acceptable?

Anonymous

OP 1w

My mind goes to the bar that had a HR watch party that was women only. A queer man tried to participate and he was kicked out for being a man. The show was made by and for queer people and yet a queer man is told he can’t watch the show (by those people). I think it was someone talking about his experience on Reddit but I could be wrong

Anonymous

#1 1w

Ugh yeah that’s unacceptable

Anonymous

#1 1w

Actually interesting, that post was deleted and many people think it was fake/ragebait

Anonymous

OP 1w

I really wouldn’t be surprised if it was ragebait, but I also very much wouldn’t be surprised if it was real. I’ve also heard stories of straight women just talking about it in ways that are just kinda gross. Sexualizing the fuck out of the show and the actors and reducing it to porn they can get off to. It’s a queer love story that happens to have a lot of sex (too much for me personally), but they seem to think it’s porn tailored for them

Anonymous

#1 1w

Yeah I get that

Anonymous

#2 1w

Do you think straight women can like the show because the characters are great as well, and because it’s a compelling story? I know a lot of women may mostly like it bc they find the characters attractive, but most of the people I know that love the show are actually lesbians (literally know like 5 that have Shane and Ilya as their phone backgrounds) so idk, clearly there is some reason for women to like it other than attraction.

Anonymous

OP 1w

i will never fully understand why straight women enjoy media like HR but there is a long history of them indulging and enjoying mlm stories cos of the dynamics between the characters. i think a big thing for queer people (and queer women specifically) is the concept of yearning for something that you may believe you’re not allowed to have. i hear a lot of people joke that while the story is about two men it’s written like a lesbian romance.

Anonymous

#2 1w

this sort of hidden desire where you may not be able to gauge if the other person is actually interested in taking further cos of the tension of it being queer and whether or not the world will accept it