breaking point PSA

[pocky_slash]

UGH, SHERLOCK FANDOM, STOP USING THE WORD "BROMANCE!" IT MAKES ME SUPER UNCOMFORTABLE IN ITS VAGUE HOMOPHOBIA!

I know the creators have used it, but we're better than them! That's why we're in fandom

Comments

[scrollgirl]

I'm sure pocky_slash can give you a better explanation, but I'll give it a go. I don't have a problem with the actual male/male friendships that people have described as bromances (e.g. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's friendship) but I have a problem with the way the word is used to draw a firm line between straight and gay. It basically claims that, "Oh, they really, really love each other! But not like that." It draws an arbitrary line in the sand--as if a line was necessary--and uses this jokey word to point at the appearance of gay, only to reassure you that it's not really gay, don't worry, you're still safe in heterosexual waters.

I suppose "bromance" is no different from the historical "romantic friendship"--it's just an updating of terminology. On one hand, the reemergence of romantic friendships (in media, in RL) could point to society's easing up on gay panic, but OTOH it's still a form of protesting, "We're not gay, really!"

*points to icon* O'Brien and Bashir love each other. Whether their friendship has ever involved sex, I don't know. The Trekverse is far enough in the future that sexual orientation isn't this big huge deal. But using "bromance" to describe them cuts off all those possibilities; it decries the complexities of their relationship.

[farewellojoys]

[sneaking in to <3 your icon]

[rose71]

It basically claims that, "Oh, they really, really love each other! But not like that." It draws an arbitrary line in the sand
Yes! You put that so well. By the way, I think "romantic friendship" may be even more similar than you suggest here. As far as I can see, the term is a 20th-century invention, which writers and scholars started using to define relationships that were passionate but not like that. Then the term was more recently recuperated by feminist and queer historians to point to the flexibility of same-sex love in earlier periods. But I've never seen "romantic friendship" used in pre-20th century texts as a label to draw those kinds of boundaries--it would just be "love" or "friendship."

/random intrusion of my academic research/

[scrollgirl]

As far as I can see, the term is a 20th-century invention, which writers and scholars started using to define relationships that were passionate but not like that.

That's a good point too. While we can point to examples of what we would describe as "romantic friendships", we shouldn't mix that up with how the individuals involved--or their contemporaries, or the authors of those relationships, if fictional--described their relationships.

[theeverdream]

Thank you very much for the reply :)