Why do people insist Faith was a lesbian?

[quillandfang]

I think she's bisexual and the people being rude and insisting that she's lesbian are biphobic. I've noticed that biphobia isn't too uncommon, (especially on online spaces.) But it's like...kinda obvious that she's bi.

X tends to have the most horrible bunch of people that never understand nuance.

Joss Whedon sucks at writing characters that are gay or POC. Tara and Willow are fine, but the tragic endings or villain gay characters are meh. And it might be undertones of homophobia but I don't know the guy that well.

And I will die on the hill, that if done correctly, Fuffy could've outsold every other ship.

I know this is an older comment on this thread but I agree with it so much. Especially the part about X having awful people who don't understand nuance, which is why I don't use it at all haha.

As for the original question of this thread, I have been in a lot of modern fandom spaces (like TikTok and Tumblr) with people who believe that Faith is gay, and the reason why is because of a perceived lack of emotional intimacy with her male partners. They believe that her experiences with men are about power and getting what she wants rather than attraction. I think this is an interesting observation, but I feel like it more reflects Faith's difficulty with emotional intimacy in general rather than her sexuality. I personally believe she is bi for reasons mentioned by others in this discussion, but it is the prerogative of fans to have their "headcanons" or interpretations of a character as long as they are respectful. I think that's the issue that the original poster pointed out: some fans on social media, especially diehard shippers, see their opinions as fact and can be really nasty about it, and it's easier for them to just insult someone rather than come up with a rational explanation as to why they disagree. I've noticed this in the debate about Willow's sexuality too, though I don't have as much of a defined opinion about that. It's unfortunate, because debates about character interpretation can be really interesting and engaging when they're not hostile.

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

Also, as a matter of historical context, almost every pair of female characters on television at that time were thought to be a gay couple by someone, irregardless of their actual relationship. And it's always been a half-serious enterprise, just Faith gave them the most to work with.