It was the most anticipated concert of the year. In July 2022, a horde of Harries, fans of singer Harry Styles, arrive wrapped in colorful boas at the Accor Arena. Sequins, fluorescent tank tops, bandanas, our journalist Marion Pignot, present on site, notes looks freed from gender norms.
“These are fans who are there to be safe, in a safe place where any style of dress is allowed and where any judgment is prohibited”, says Marion Pignot in this episode of “Minute Papillon”. However, some voices are also raised to criticize the vagueness maintained by the singer on his belonging or not to the queer community.
Refusal to define oneself or opportunism?
“Some people sometimes accuse Harry Styles of doing queerwashing,” explains Marion Pignot. What is reproached to Harry Styles or other male personalities who get rid of clothing gender norms, is to maintain a vagueness on their gender and sexual orientation.
Harry Styles indeed refuses to define himself. Interviewed in August 2022 by Rolling Stones magazine, he replies: “I have never spoken publicly about my life outside of work and I find that it has only brought me positive things”. To speak no, but the singer has several times appeared publicly in a relationship with the model Kendall Jenner or the singer Taylor Swift for example. Women, only.
Also, doubt has settled in some fans. Is Harry Styles taking advantage of a trend of deconstructing masculinity to continue to appeal to a queer audience that isn’t defined by traditional gender and sexual orientation categories? Is its gender fluid image only motivated by a commercial interest?
Beware of the obligation to define yourself
In this new episode of “Minute Papillon! “, we went to ask the question to Déborah Gay, lecturer in information and communication sciences at the University of Toulouse II and specialist in gender representations in the cultural industry.
According to the researcher, queerbaiting essentially concerns industries. “It targets industries trying to appeal to non-heterosexual audiences by promising to introduce gay romances or transgender characters into their productions, and where the promise was ultimately false or marginal.”
Talking about queerbaiting for an individual remains much more complicated. “You have to differentiate between gender identity, gender expression and sexual identity”, warns Déborah Gay for whom the debate on queerbaiting maintains a confusion between gender and sexuality.
She wonders: “Should Harry Styles call himself gender fluid or does he just define himself as cisgender and enjoy breaking the codes of masculinity? “. In addition, she warns: “Gender identities and sexual identities are not fixed. “. Also a refusal to define themselves can be a sign that the person remains questioning.
A refusal to be respected, according to her, in order not to fuel discrimination against the LGBT + community. Remember that in 2022, SOS homophobia received 1,506 testimonials via its listening and support systems for victims of LGBTIphobia, according to the 2023 report from the Association.