Poll: Sexuality, Faith edition.

[thevera]

So, I started thinking, about Faith, and realized that her sexual orientation is one of the things where there's no clear fandom consensus. I've heard everything - Faith's a closeted lesbian, Faith's bisexual, Faith's straight and it's kinda offensive to think that she's bisexual... - so I decided to make a poll! ms_scarletibis  made a similar poll on Spike and

Comments

[me_llamo_nic]

I picked complicated because I wasn't sure if you were asking what the canon seems to imply (and if the comics count) or what I prefer to think of her as. Okay, did you edit, or am I just really bad at reading descriptions?

If it were just the TV show canon, I'd say there's plenty of leeway for assuming she's bi, even if some people are offended by the stereotyping.

When the comics canon is included, she seems pretty clearly straight. I base this on her line, "Hey, I likes me some kink, but if you think I'm going downtown on this chick, you chose the wrong Chosen One." Although, one could make a case for the emphatic denial as "methinks the lady doth protest too much".

What I prefer to think of her as: bi. Or, at minimum, straight, but gay for Buffy. ;-)

[thevera]

Okay, did you edit, or am I just really bad at reading descriptions?

LOL, no editing involved. ;) Yeah, I meant canon, though one doesn't have to take it at face value. You know, like Ethan's Giles' old friend, though he's obviously his old lover (*g*), or Faith only does boys, though there might be something else happening off-screen (or not, I'm still not sure where I stand).

As for the comics: canon or not? debate, I'll leave that to everyone's interpretation.

I'm in the TV show's the only canon camp, but now that you mention it, I think the directions they decided to take Buffy and Faith are interesting. Like, before them, most people would think of TV!Buffy as the straight one and TV!Faith the bi/experimenting one, and the comics reversed that.

[ceciliaj]

Comics are canon as far as I'm concerned, but only because I <3 <3 <3 Buffy/Satsu. Also, I am all for Kennedy and Willow getting a complex story.

But! I think a given season never makes conceptual sense until it's over, so I don't think the comics need to be understood as canon yet, if that makes sense.

[me_llamo_nic]

I adored Buffy/Satsu in my second reading!

Still don't like Willow/Kennedy as a couple.

I prefer to view season 8 the same way I view fan fiction: a fun little exercise for the characters, but the show is what matters.

[mierke]

I picked 'it's more complicated', for two reasons:

1. I find it hard to look at this objectively, seeing as how many slash I've read that involved Faith. That undoubtely has changed my view of her.

And 2., and this is the more important one; I don't think even Faith had it figured out yet. I don't think she was ready to face these kinds of questions about herself. Not in season 3, 'cause she was too busy living life and avoiding all kinds of thinking and not in season 7, 'cause she was too busy adjusting to her new life and her new self. And who are we to say what she was, when she didn't even know herself? :)

[syxstring]

"don't think even Faith had it figured out yet. I don't think she was ready to face these kinds of questions about herself."

This is a really great point, I didn't even think of it that way - but I must say I definitely can agree with this.

[author_by_night]

I'm not sure, because I did actually get a bit of a Buffy/Faith vibe during the third season on Faith's end... and this was with no knowledge that Buffy/Faith was a semi-popular ship. But a friend of pointed out that Faith's one of those people who seems like she's flirting with everyone. Plus, I kind of like to think of Buffy and Faith as feeling mutually non-romantic towards one another but still having a complex relationship, because it's a nice angle.

Faith actually reminds me of a friend I had in high school, and maybe that's one of the reasons why. (Killing the deputy mayor and going evil aside, that girl was such a season three Faith I might actually start calling her Faith to protect her anonymity.) She always did seem to almost flirt with girls, but not quite. I remember raising my eyes at her a few times. But I don't think she was bisexual, I think that's just how she was. Plus, if she were bi, I would've known. She was completely open about everything regarding her sex life/sexuality, and I do mean everything

[eowyn_315]

But a friend of pointed out that Faith's one of those people who seems like she's flirting with everyone.

Hah, yeah. I tend to think that Faith sees her sexuality as power (because, I suspect, until she became a slayer, she thought that was all she had), and so she uses flirting either to reel someone in or to put them off-balance - either way, she is in control. She's terribly insecure about relationships, but she knows she's hot and she's learned that sex can get her what she wants.

I don't see her as being attracted to women, but she flirts with them (and might even go farther, depending on the situation) because otherwise, she's lost control. She'd be much more limited if she only dealt with men because she's heterosexual and didn't want to flirt with women.

That's also why I think she says what she does in S8, because she's matured and realized that sex isn't a weapon, and she doesn't want to use it as one (though she does slip into it a little once she's there, with the bathtub bonding).

[syxstring]

I wouldn't label her, I'd just say she is a very sexual person and she is attracted too whoever she is attracted too. which is most certainly buffy

[bradcpu]

I think Faith has a connection with Buffy that is physical, but also spiritual, and that she fears that connection because it's so big and she doesn't want to need it as much as she does. It fills her up and heals her, but she doesn't want anyone to be that close to her because it makes her vulnerable. It's a trust thing, and complicated by Faith's very low self-image and how she tries to overcompensate with bravado.