- Queer coding is when writers,
whether consciously or unconsciously,
include negative stereotypes of queer people
as characteristics of a particular character,
particularly a villain.
Stereotypes used in male queer coding
might include being flamboyant, feminine,
talking with a lisp, being prim, vain, or wanton.
When used unconsciously,
a writer sees these collections of traits or behaviors
without realizing they're linked to queer men
but still understands that they are used symbolically
as a sign of immorality.
The sissy villain is a long-standing trope
often associated with the Hays Code,
a code in the 1940s in Hollywood
which meant that you couldn't have portrayals
of LGBT people on screen that were positive in any way.
The rooting of this trope is entirely grounded
within the demonization of femininity,
especially amongst men and outright homophobia.
Perhaps without realizing it, writers therefore play into
this negative social feedback loop.
We associate queer people with immorality
and villainy in real life.
We extract out queer traits and behaviors
from stereotypes and attach them to fictional villains.
We then associate queer people
with those fictional villains
and with immorality and villainy again,
and so it continues.
It's not necessarily about a character actually being gay,
but it's about using negative stereotypes
around gay and queer people.
In this way, you can have a character
who has heterosexual desires
who still plays into queer coding
in the way that they bind together
queer stereotypes and villainy.
Let's look at some examples.
Jafar, he wears makeup and talks with languid sensuality.
Ursula, based on the famous drag queen Divine,
she is vain and sexual with a husky voice
and exaggerated makeup.
Hades, with his girly cocktail drink,
hand movements, and sassiness.
Ratcliffe is vain, wears bows in his hair,
is obsessed with gold and glitter.
He hates masculine physical labor
and dotes on his tiny, prim dog.
King Candy from Wreck-It Ralph is flamboyant.
He has a pronounced lisp,
bright, pink decor in his castle,
and is labelled by our hero as a Nelly wafer,
employing a gay slur.
Now, these attributes are not exclusive to queer people
in reality nor do they mean that those characters
are definitely queer themselves,
but they are all characteristics
which are associated with queer people.
So, why should we care?
Well, queer coding is not just confined to Disney.
In fact, it shows up across genre, studios,
and time periods.
I'm focusing on Disney because it's often our first entry
into the world of didactic storytelling
and morality shaping through fiction.
Children's media, stories, fairy tales
are how children learn about themselves
and the world around them,
about morality, what is good,
and what is bad to be and do.
Obvious vices are often the main drive of plot,
don't be mean, greedy, or violent, for example,
but other traits seep in,
especially if they are repeated.
>From a very early age we're conflating queerness
and gender expression outside of the binary
with evil and villainy, especially with no counterpoints
due to the total lack of positive and canonical queerness
in children's media.
I think this mirrors a lack of representation
of effeminate men or butch women, for that matter,
in anything other than a sidekick,
comic relief, or secondary role.
Treating people as fully rounded
and complex human beings is hard
when a writer is invested in the idea
that effeminate men or butch women
are homogeneous and other.
A few examples I've come across
include Boo from Orange is the New Black,
Emmett Honeycutt from Queer as Folk,
or Eric Bittle from Check, Please,
but these are from explicitly LGBTQ-focused media
and two are smaller roles in an ensemble cast.
Now, I'm not saying that Disney villains
aren't great characters
or that we shouldn't have queer villains
or queer coded villains at all.
But when there's a lack of queer heroes and protagonists,
especially those straight outside of the gender binary,
I think we have to look at why that is,
and maybe hopefully introduce some more nuance
and representation in our media.
So hope you enjoyed that.
If you have any favorite characters
that are breaking down the gender binary
and are well-rounded,
please leave them in the comments below.
I think everyone would love to check them out.
If you would like to help support me make these videos,
then I'll leave a link to my Patreon in the description
along with all of my social media links.
You can find me all over the Internet.
Just before you go, also want to let you know
that on the seventh of January
I'm going to be filming at the YouTube Space in London
interviews for a new series I'm producing
called How to be a Millennial Feminist.
So if you have any feminists
that you would like me to interview
that you think I should reach out to,
whether they are YouTubers, authors,
sportspeople, activists, businesswomen,
anything like that, please let me know
in the comments below.
Until I see you next time, bye.
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