Fetishization of LGBTQ people occurs when lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or otherwise queer people are seen as attractive solely for their identity, relationship structures, or body parts to the point they are reduced to these attributes. Fetishization can take the form of sexualization and objectification. It can manifest in several ways such as stereotypes, asking intrusive questions about one's genitals or sex life, or using the person being fetishized to fulfill sexual fantasies. Fetishization of LGBTQ people is found in pornography, fandoms, and mainstream media.
Scope Fetishization of LGBTQ people is different from someone being attracted to an LGBTQ person. Fetishization occurs when an LGBTQ person is reduced to their identity, relationship structures, or body parts. These attributes are what are perceived as attractive, not one's personal qualities. For instance, fetishization of transgender women is when they are seen as overvalued sex objects due their trans status or body rather than as holistic individuals.
While views on fetishization vary, it is often conceived as a form of objectification and sexualization. Sexualization occurs in the form of being reduced to ones' body parts or sexual function. Objectification is viewing someone as an object to satisfy a personal desire in manner which denies the objectified person's dignity; it can be a form of dehumanization. When viewed more broadly, fetishization can be seen as both "form of sexual objectification and as a construct that refers to sexual desire and attraction."
The marginalization of people with certain characteristics, such as being LGBTQ, contributes to fetishization. When a majority of the population views a marginalized group as not sexually attractive, it can draw the attention of fetishists. Fetishists are not people who are attracted to someone of a marginalized group because they acknowledged and moved past the societal bias against that group. Rather, they are specifically drawn to the group because of their marginalization; they enjoy the thrill of sex outside of accepted norms. For fetishes towards objects, clothing, etc this is not typically harmful; however, there are several potential relationship issues between a fetishist and the partner whom they are fetishizing for their marginalized identity. Those who fetishize marginalized groups often rely on seeing that group as strange, ugly, or inferior since that is what provides the fetish's perceived thrill of being outside of sexual norms. If the partner from the marginalized group does not know they are being fetishized, they cannot consent to participating in their partner's kink.
Manifestations Fetishization can manifest in a variety of ways. Some examples include asking invasive questions about one's genitals, asking for details about one's sex life, or using the person to satisfy one's sexual fantasy. Transgender, lesbian, and bisexual women are especially vulnerable to receiving unwanted sexual solicitation, sexual jokes, verbal sexual harassment, and non-consensual genital touching. Fetishization can be experienced in person during both romantic and non-romantic interactions. Most fetishization experienced by LGBTQ people occurs online via dating apps or social media.
Fetishization of sexual minorities WLW (women loving women) are viewed as erotic by some heterosexual men. Fetishization of sapphic women can manifest through voyeuristic behaviors such as asking women to kiss, watching women kiss at parties, and reacting to women kissing by commenting on how attractive it is. When lesbians or bisexual women are seen kissing, it is sometimes assumed to be an attempt to appeal to the male gaze. Some men flirt with lesbians, believing they can make them become heterosexual.
Bisexual women are stereotyped as inherently hypersexual. Bisexual women face additional fetishization compared to lesbians; due to not being monosexual they are solicited for threesomes with heterosexual couples. Some bisexual women describe being solicited for sex by couples to be treated as a sexual object rather than an individual. During a study interview, one bisexual participant described that "[heterosexual couples] don't want to date you independently, they want you to come and be a part of their couple ... usually they want someone to come be a [sexual] play thing ... they can use until they are done and toss [her] away." Bisexual women have been perceived by other women as predatory or had their sexuality viewed as an experiment.
The fetishization of men in general by some gay men (i.e. believing every man is at least somewhat gay) is form of erasure for bisexual men by framing bisexual behavior as hiding homosexuality. Like bisexual women, bisexual men are assumed to be hypersexual due to not being monosexual. Racial stereotypes can intersect with fetishization. Asian queer men are seen as feminine and therefore bottoms (the partner being penetrated during sex), and black queer men are seen as masculine and therefore tops (the partners who penetrate).
Fetishization of transgender people
Transgender people are sometimes fetishized by chasers, slang for cisgender people who sexualize transgender people due to their transgender identity. The term typically refers to cisgender men who fetishize transgender women; however, cisgender women can be chasers too. Non-binary people and transgender men also experience fetishization. In a survey of 316 transgender and non-binary people, 63 percent experienced fetishization.
Some chasers are attracted to transmasculine people during their transition since they are perceived as looking prepubescent. Others find transmasculine people attractive sexually but disposable romantically. Some men who identify as heterosexual fetishize transgender men, seeing them as a way to have sex with a man without going against their heterosexual identity. Transgender men are also fetishized as a means for men to fulfill their fantasy of having sex with a lesbian. Some cisgender lesbians fetishize trans men who do not pass as cisgender men and view them as lesbians. Some cisgender women will say they do not date men while dating a transgender man, invalidating their gender identity. Non-binary people assigned female at birth can be misgendered as women when being sexually objectified.
Transgender women are stereotyped by some as hypersexual while transgender men are stereotyped as being less sexual. Transgender people are stereotyped as being into kink. Harmful misconceptions like transgender women having autogynephilia frame transgender people as fetishists. Julia Serano, author of Whipping Girl, says that transgender women are sexualized because the purpose of transition is assumed to be increasing their attraction to heterosexual men. In this view, forms of gender affirmation like vaginoplasty are seen as for heterosexual men's pleasure. Cisgender men's curiosity and interest towards transfeminine bodies can lead to objectification. Transgender women have been treated as sexual objects by being pursued to fulfill sexual fantasies rather than to form meaningful relationships with.
Chasers often lack interest in a transgender woman's personal interests. They may readily ask intrusive questions asking a trans woman about their genitals or if they are receiving hormone replacement therapy. They tend to target transgender women who have not undergone vaginoplasty and still have a penis. Online chaser spaces view transgender women a combination of male and female elements. Chasers stereotype transgender women as hyper-feminine and transgender men as gentle and compassionate. Chasers may intensely compliment the appearance of transmasculine or transfeminine people who are insecure about their appearance. This can be done genuinely or be done to earn the person's trust.
Some online communities use transgender people's social media profiles for fetish mining, the act of using images that are not intended to be sexual as fetish material without the creator's consent. Those with a femboy (feminine male) fetish may seek out pictures of transmasculine and transfeminine people, especially those early into medical transition with an androgynous appearance. These images are shared onto accounts dedicated to sharing fetish material.
Fetishization of intersex people Curiosity about intersex bodies can lead those interested into dehumanizing the intersex person. According to intersex activist Morgan Holmes, intersex people are often fetishized within feminist and queer spaces. The differences caused by their intersex variation are seen as extreme and othering. Intersex people are therefore seen as having an innate responsibility to challenge sex and gender norms. This treats the experiences of intersex people as homogeneous.
In media and fandom
Men loving men
Fandom shipping communities tend to predominantly consist of heterosexual women. Fandom spaces often ship male characters together even if the characters are established to be heterosexual. While not all fan works are sexual, some fan-made shipping content can be graphically sexual or include potentially disturbing themes such as abuse or incest. Sex scenes in fan works often portray gay sex inaccurately. Fandom works can reinforce stereotypes or heteronormative relationship roles. For instance, a common trope is to have one man in a gay relationship have more masculine features, like being tall and muscular, and for the other man to have feminine features like being short or having wide hips. Some fans view slash, or fan fiction of non-canon male-male couples, as a means to subvert of the heteronormative canon of the original media.
Boys' love, or BL, is a genre focused on portraying romantic and sexual gay relationships which is also prone to fetishization. The genre was originally created by Japanese women as a form of escapism from societal sexism. It is often written by heterosexual women for an audience of heterosexual teenage girls, though it has queer fans as well. The genre frequently uses heteronormative roles with a masculine and sexually dominant partner, the seme, and the submissive and feminine partner, the uke. Some BL media uses tropes such as non-consensual relationships, unhealthy power imbalances like teacher-student relationships, and pedophilia. A subgenre known as shotacon includes sexual relationships between two prepubescent boys or a boy and an adult man. Both boys' love and fandom content are typically seen as inaccurate representations of gay relationships.Coleman, Hailey Rose, "DO NOT FEED THE FETISHIZERS: BOYS LOVE FANS RESISTANCE AND CHALLENGE OF PERCEIEVED REPUTATION" (2021). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2502. However, some queer fans enjoy how the BL genre tends to focus on the emotional aspect of the romance like heterosexual romance and are not particularly concerned about the work being realistic.
Heterosexual women who are fans of gay romance often use the genre to avoid the objectification of women often found in male-female romance. As written by sex therapist Matt Lachman, "Women can explore intense passion on the page or watching a show/movie without having to translate it into real world expectations placed on their own body." Gay pornography also draws female audiences since it focuses on the male body while heterosexual porn often focuses on the female participant's body. Gay romance author Lucy Lennox says she feels that romance between men allows her to avoid power dynamics such as dominant men or the damsel in distress trope. Because the genre's audience and writers are predominantly female, gay male writers are often paid less for their contributions.