Meaning of queerbaiting | Babel Free

Definitions

The practice of creating homoerotic tension between two characters in a narrative work (particularly a television series) without the intention of ever developing it into an actual same-sex relationship or explicitly addressing the question of either character's sexuality.

slang, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“Queerbaiting is erasure. It’s telling queer people that they don’t exist⟳, or that our stories aren’t worth telling, and it’s harmful.”

“Some feel⟳ that fan pressure to emphasize Buffy and Spike’s relationship spoiled the last⟳ few seasons of Joss Whedon’s show⟳, and many fans were alienated by Teen Wolf’s recent queer-baiting.”

“Criticism of queerbaiting also does not imply that creators need⟳ to be dictated to by fans on how to run⟳ their show⟳; […]”

“And as a much better NYT comment⟳ piece on queerbaiting put⟳ it last⟳ year: “As self-serving as some celebrity caginess can be, you can’t build⟳ a world in which everyone feels free to self-identify by ordering everyone to self-identify.””

CEFR level