Willow - Wrong Feelings About Guys

[itsnotmymind]

I've written previously about the argument that Willow must be a lesbian because she says so, and that it's wrong to speculate that her sexual orientation is different than what she says it is. I once saw one fan dismiss arguments that Willow is bisexual as just being based on her having "touched a penis" a couple of times - as if Willow's relationship with Oz could be summarized as a couple one-night stands.

I've been re-watching Wild At Heart, and early on Willow declares, "I mean, I have wrong feelings about other guys sometimes, but I feel guilty, and I flog and punish." The first four seasons are littered with examples of Willow's attraction to men. Can you fanwank them away to say that Willow was always a lesbian? Sure. But it's just as much of a fanwank, if not more, than to say that Willow is equally attracted to men, and for whatever reason chose to mislabel herself as a lesbian.

Comments

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

I think it's the media, at least in part. There tends to be a prevalent "No Bisexuals" trope. :/

Then again, I've also known it to happen IRL - but even that might have been more a case of someone being closeted, whereas Willow doesn't seem to have been, especially if she is occasionally also attracted to men.

[itsnotmymind.livejournal.com]

I think it's the media, at least in part. There tends to be a prevalent "No Bisexuals" trope. :/

Yeah - especially back when Buffy aired.

Then again, I've also known it to happen IRL - but even that might have been more a case of someone being closeted, whereas Willow doesn't seem to have been, especially if she is occasionally also attracted to men.

Yeah, like I said, I think it can be fanwanked that Willow was a lesbian all along, but there are so many major and minor indications of her experiencing attraction to men, and almost none of her being attracted to women (the only thing I can think of is Wishverse Willow, and even she seems to be bisexual). It doesn't feel like a plausible transition for me, to go from appearing 100% straight in all details to appearing 100% gay in all details in the course of a season or so.