The Lesbian Lorax, I Guess

Tenna art by @9Aaaalt29 on twt

but to say cameron is a lesbian is literally just to - ignore and undermine and erase so much of her character. her dead husband? well, she never loved him, i guess. she was acting out of confused pity. she fell in love with joe? nope! house? nope! she says she loved all three; but clearly she doesn't know or understand her own feelings and desires, clearly as a woman she's simply Wrong. chase? she spend three years with a man out of... what? apathy? cameron? saying "oh, she never loved or cared about the men in her life" completely erases all her agency and feelings; saying "she settled" or "was acting out of pity" or "hated sex with them and never wanted it anyway" is basically just saying "i don't like cameron, i don't watch the show." cameron has an entire Thing about how she was in love and refused to act because it would be cheating and that's wrong; there are so many stories that have her cheat on chase because lol she's a lesbian and doesn't care so it's fine. cameron CARES. that's the POINT. that's who she IS.

we can definitely talk about how it's a little ehh that cameron is so often made out to be a Love Interest, how her plots almost always revolve around Romantic Love. but the fact is, they are. a cameron who didn't love house isn't cameron. a cameron who didn't love chase, or her husband, or joe, isn't cameron.

Y'all make many legitimate and reasonable points here. At the same time, a blanket statement that anyone who reads Cameron as a lesbian is wrong and misogynist…

Yes. There are people who want to erase the gravity of her relationships with men, or her motivations towards them, and that's really not great! And there's a lot to be said for - Chase saying, "you never loved me," seems to be written to reflect his own fears far more than anything about Cameron.

However, there are people who want to explore the confusion and nebulousness of sexuality via lesbian!Cameron, and that's not the same thing at all. Struggling to see the line between "best friendship" or other powerful, abiding, even deeply consuming ways of feeling — and romantic/sexual love. Obviously, she cares deeply for the important men in her life. She clearly enjoys sex with Chase, but as we know, enjoying sex with someone doesn't always equal being sexually attracted to them. Textually, she has commitment issues (it's the symptom, not the cause) and finds ways to make her lovers unavailable. All of this makes for very fertile thematic ground to explore.

To clarify, this is an anti-textual read in the sense that it uses the literal content of the story in a way that seems to contradict the intention of the writers. In fandom, we do this all the time. For example, feminist reads of Amber, including the reclaimed use of the word "bitch."

At the same time, there are ways of doing this - and not hypothetical, either, this is stuff I've seen in fandom spaces - that do utilize Cameron's textual characterization. That actually engage with the text in profound and meaningful ways.

In fandom, we do not limit ourselves to direct interpretations of the text alone. We do not have to align ourselves perfectly to the intention of the creators (which, for a tv show like this, aren't going to be consistent between all creators). There's a reason AO3 archived transformative works.

well, i do, and thats what this post was about.

i can, potentially, see the value of genuinely reinterpreting a character with a different sexuality. how does this affect how they move through world, the kind of person they are? how would it affect the story? these are interesting things to look at, absolutely. i wouldn't dispute that. though honestly, i have to give some pushback on the idea that that's what a significant portion of fandom headcanons are doing-- i think a lot of people are just putting their blorbos in situations. playing with dolls, so to speak. ive seen very few "cameron is a lesbian" truthers who genuinely want to engage with the text and how it would change if she were a lesbian.

i also want to emphasize: seeing cameron as a lesbian is not just like, something the writers never intended but a nonetheless interesting angle for analysis. it is directly in opposition to what the text is saying and who she is as a person. lesbian cameron is not looking at the text in a new way, it is CHANGING it. and that is certainly something you can do, but it is really not something i was referring to here. you can make an AU for anything. im talking about people who choose to see cameron as a lesbian in the text of the show as it exists. THAT is where people can fall into misogyny.

you refer to "people who want to explore the confusion and nebulousness of sexuality via lesbian!Cameron". im sure people are doing that, and thats fine. but characters and stories have a purpose. cameron is a character. she is a narrative device. she exists to be a part of a story and communicate themes. there comes a point in separating her out from her context at which you are literally no longer engaging with the text. and like,, thats fine, i guess? like thats a thing you can do? i just have utterly no interest in that. i am in fandom and write meta-analysis because i like the media i am consuming and would like to discuss what takes place in it and what it means.

you agree that "some fans straight up dismiss canon" and that you understand why someone would critique that; i hate to break it to you, but seeing cameron as a lesbian IS dismissing canon. you literally have to ignore multiple parts of the canon text to make this work. cameron doesn't just "enjoy" sex with chase, she is the one to initiate it almost every time we see them sleep together in the show. she calls him in hunting, she initiates the friends with benefits arrangement in insensitive, she initiates sex in the sleep lab and during their lunch break in top secret. she asks him to propose to her in saviors. she scrambles and does everything she can to get chase back when they have fights like in the itch or both sides now. and thats just chase, not even any of the other men we see her with or hear about her being with. YES you can have sex with someone without necessarily being sexually attracted to them, but come on. she is not a passive participant in these situations.

If "I just want to explore this alternate framework or interpretation" means that you have to ignore large swaths of canon? Then you're writing an AU. And again: Go with God. That's fun. Have fun.

But to pretend that it's ambiguous, that "a case can be made" in the show -- I mean, look, I'm still waiting, I'm sure it's possible, but it relies so heavily on cherry picking and ignoring and "well actually" and ignoring Cameron's stated feelings and character. No, she was delusional, she never loved House: she only likes "unavailable men." Interesting theory: explain Chase.

"No, she settled for Chase out of heteronormatively, because he pursued her." Interesting theory. Why does she ask him out? Why does she quit her job for him after he gives up on her? Why does she twice work to get him back after breaking up, after he dumps her? I'm sure there's a way to explain that through a lens of lesbianism, but I haven't seen it.

"She's emotionally unavailable to men." And she wouldn't be to women...? Also: again, that requires ignoring how she consistently drops everything to make Chase happy, how hard she repeatedly tries to have a specifically emotional connection with House.

"We don't know that she enjoyed sex with Chase, sex isn't attraction." True, but a bad argument, because she initiates and pushes every single one of their sexual encounters: you need to explain that in a way that doesn't involve "I'm psychic and can read her mind." "We don't know if she loved Chase." She says she does. "We don't know if she loved House." She says she does. "Or Joe. Or her husband." She says she does.

All her actions say she does. For every one sliver of "emotional unavailability," there's five textual examples of her caring, of saying the words aloud, of acting in a way that proves she means it. So why is the "default" in large parts of fandom, here and on reddit, to go "no, she's a heartless bitch; she never cared; she never liked House; she used Chase." Why is the onus to prove Cameron means what she says? Why is the default to assume she's wrong or lying? Why is it correct to assume her actions are vague and ambiguous, no matter how blatantly she acts and speaks?

If you want to make the case that she is wrong, that there is another interpretation: go for it! Please! We need more Cameron meta. But the onus is to prove that she doesn't, not does. If your argument hinges on "Cameron is wrong and lying and some women act this way," then it simply isn't canon, and it's disingenuous to claim it equally is.

but to say cameron is a lesbian is literally just to - ignore and undermine and erase so much of her character. her dead husband? well, she never loved him, i guess. she was acting out of confused pity. she fell in love with joe? nope! house? nope! she says she loved all three; but clearly she doesn't know or understand her own feelings and desires, clearly as a woman she's simply Wrong. chase? she spend three years with a man out of... what? apathy? cameron? saying "oh, she never loved or cared about the men in her life" completely erases all her agency and feelings; saying "she settled" or "was acting out of pity" or "hated sex with them and never wanted it anyway" is basically just saying "i don't like cameron, i don't watch the show." cameron has an entire Thing about how she was in love and refused to act because it would be cheating and that's wrong; there are so many stories that have her cheat on chase because lol she's a lesbian and doesn't care so it's fine. cameron CARES. that's the POINT. that's who she IS.

we can definitely talk about how it's a little ehh that cameron is so often made out to be a Love Interest, how her plots almost always revolve around Romantic Love. but the fact is, they are. a cameron who didn't love house isn't cameron. a cameron who didn't love chase, or her husband, or joe, isn't cameron.

Y'all make many legitimate and reasonable points here. At the same time, a blanket statement that anyone who reads Cameron as a lesbian is wrong and misogynist…

Yes. There are people who want to erase the gravity of her relationships with men, or her motivations towards them, and that's really not great! And there's a lot to be said for - Chase saying, "you never loved me," seems to be written to reflect his own fears far more than anything about Cameron.

However, there are people who want to explore the confusion and nebulousness of sexuality via lesbian!Cameron, and that's not the same thing at all. Struggling to see the line between "best friendship" or other powerful, abiding, even deeply consuming ways of feeling — and romantic/sexual love. Obviously, she cares deeply for the important men in her life. She clearly enjoys sex with Chase, but as we know, enjoying sex with someone doesn't always equal being sexually attracted to them. Textually, she has commitment issues (it's the symptom, not the cause) and finds ways to make her lovers unavailable. All of this makes for very fertile thematic ground to explore.

To clarify, this is an anti-textual read in the sense that it uses the literal content of the story in a way that seems to contradict the intention of the writers. In fandom, we do this all the time. For example, feminist reads of Amber, including the reclaimed use of the word "bitch."

At the same time, there are ways of doing this - and not hypothetical, either, this is stuff I've seen in fandom spaces - that do utilize Cameron's textual characterization. That actually engage with the text in profound and meaningful ways.

In fandom, we do not limit ourselves to direct interpretations of the text alone. We do not have to align ourselves perfectly to the intention of the creators (which, for a tv show like this, aren't going to be consistent between all creators). There's a reason AO3 archived transformative works.

First: you’re absolutely right that fandom is a transformative space and there is no wrong way to do it, if you can make your case and argument.

The problem is, that isn’t what people are doing. I’m generalizing a bit of course: I haven’t read every post and every fanfic. But the fact that there is a very pervasive acceptance in all corners of the fandom that states that Cameron never loved House, Chase, both, either; that she is incapable of love, that her inability to love men ergo proves that she she is a lesbian, is, I think, rooted in ignorance of the text and misogyny: the default is always “since she never loved/was delusional” (a word I have seen used about her repeatedly) “only settled/never cared/etc.”

And this is very much the default for Cameron, and has been for twenty years. It’s very much based in bashing; the “ergo she is a lesbian/would be fixed by lesbianism!” is often tacked on to justify or “explain” her heartless lack of interest in men. Which, obviously, isn’t even true. I can’t speak for OP, but when I say this is misogyny, this is what I mean, and I do stand by it. To say a character is bad and wrong for liking men, and is only acceptable or interesting for being gay, and that none of her actions or feelings matter and most be wrong? That’s, you know. Gross.

This is also why I always make a point of bi vs lesbian. Obviously, these are somewhat different frameworks to explore, but let’s be honest: these stories are not generally about Cameron struggling to come out and define her identity, they’re about her realizing she likes girls all along. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I’d argue that most of the time, there’s also no reason to specifically say “she is a comphet lesbian” unless you also want to ensure that she doesn’t have feelings for the men in her life. Why can’t she be bi? I’m not saying there are zero stories or posts exploring this in depth, or what it would mean for her to be a lesbian. This could be an interesting story. But usually? It’s just “I want to see her kiss girls.” And like. Go with God. That’s fun. Fantastic. But in that context, why is she not allowed to have had past feelings for men?

Works can be transformative, and fandom can and should explore them. But the point of fanfiction is that these are shared toys, based on a shared framework. You can absolutely explore and poke at and reframe and read into actions and words and thoughts. It’s fun! It’s literally all I do! But that doesn’t mean all takes are valid and true just for existing. If you want to make a case, go for it. But if it ignores canon and character, I can still say it’s not true.

No that's. That's literally my point.

It's absolutely true that "sex doesn't equal attraction," but you can't seriously make an argument that Cameron, a woman who is notoriously, famously horny, checks out patients, jumps Chase every five seconds, etc., is doing this out of Heteronormative Obligation.

It's absolutely true that Cameron has commitment issues that are super fun to explore, but you can't talk about that without also acknowledging how whenever Chase or House calls her out on those issues, she rushes to fix things and step up and repair her relationship. Does this erase the issues? Absolutely not. But "finding ways to make lovers unavailable" ignores that "until she realizes, at which point she rushes to be very, very available to them."

but to say cameron is a lesbian is literally just to - ignore and undermine and erase so much of her character. her dead husband? well, she never loved him, i guess. she was acting out of confused pity. she fell in love with joe? nope! house? nope! she says she loved all three; but clearly she doesn't know or understand her own feelings and desires, clearly as a woman she's simply Wrong. chase? she spend three years with a man out of... what? apathy? cameron? saying "oh, she never loved or cared about the men in her life" completely erases all her agency and feelings; saying "she settled" or "was acting out of pity" or "hated sex with them and never wanted it anyway" is basically just saying "i don't like cameron, i don't watch the show." cameron has an entire Thing about how she was in love and refused to act because it would be cheating and that's wrong; there are so many stories that have her cheat on chase because lol she's a lesbian and doesn't care so it's fine. cameron CARES. that's the POINT. that's who she IS.

we can definitely talk about how it's a little ehh that cameron is so often made out to be a Love Interest, how her plots almost always revolve around Romantic Love. but the fact is, they are. a cameron who didn't love house isn't cameron. a cameron who didn't love chase, or her husband, or joe, isn't cameron.

Y'all make many legitimate and reasonable points here. At the same time, a blanket statement that anyone who reads Cameron as a lesbian is wrong and misogynist…

Yes. There are people who want to erase the gravity of her relationships with men, or her motivations towards them, and that's really not great! And there's a lot to be said for - Chase saying, "you never loved me," seems to be written to reflect his own fears far more than anything about Cameron.

However, there are people who want to explore the confusion and nebulousness of sexuality via lesbian!Cameron, and that's not the same thing at all. Struggling to see the line between "best friendship" or other powerful, abiding, even deeply consuming ways of feeling — and romantic/sexual love. Obviously, she cares deeply for the important men in her life. She clearly enjoys sex with Chase, but as we know, enjoying sex with someone doesn't always equal being sexually attracted to them. Textually, she has commitment issues (it's the symptom, not the cause) and finds ways to make her lovers unavailable. All of this makes for very fertile thematic ground to explore.

To clarify, this is an anti-textual read in the sense that it uses the literal content of the story in a way that seems to contradict the intention of the writers. In fandom, we do this all the time. For example, feminist reads of Amber, including the reclaimed use of the word "bitch."

At the same time, there are ways of doing this - and not hypothetical, either, this is stuff I've seen in fandom spaces - that do utilize Cameron's textual characterization. That actually engage with the text in profound and meaningful ways.

In fandom, we do not limit ourselves to direct interpretations of the text alone. We do not have to align ourselves perfectly to the intention of the creators (which, for a tv show like this, aren't going to be consistent between all creators). There's a reason AO3 archived transformative works.

well, i do, and thats what this post was about.

i can, potentially, see the value of genuinely reinterpreting a character with a different sexuality. how does this affect how they move through world, the kind of person they are? how would it affect the story? these are interesting things to look at, absolutely. i wouldn't dispute that. though honestly, i have to give some pushback on the idea that that's what a significant portion of fandom headcanons are doing-- i think a lot of people are just putting their blorbos in situations. playing with dolls, so to speak. ive seen very few "cameron is a lesbian" truthers who genuinely want to engage with the text and how it would change if she were a lesbian.

i also want to emphasize: seeing cameron as a lesbian is not just like, something the writers never intended but a nonetheless interesting angle for analysis. it is directly in opposition to what the text is saying and who she is as a person. lesbian cameron is not looking at the text in a new way, it is CHANGING it. and that is certainly something you can do, but it is really not something i was referring to here. you can make an AU for anything. im talking about people who choose to see cameron as a lesbian in the text of the show as it exists. THAT is where people can fall into misogyny.

you refer to "people who want to explore the confusion and nebulousness of sexuality via lesbian!Cameron". im sure people are doing that, and thats fine. but characters and stories have a purpose. cameron is a character. she is a narrative device. she exists to be a part of a story and communicate themes. there comes a point in separating her out from her context at which you are literally no longer engaging with the text. and like,, thats fine, i guess? like thats a thing you can do? i just have utterly no interest in that. i am in fandom and write meta-analysis because i like the media i am consuming and would like to discuss what takes place in it and what it means.

you agree that "some fans straight up dismiss canon" and that you understand why someone would critique that; i hate to break it to you, but seeing cameron as a lesbian IS dismissing canon. you literally have to ignore multiple parts of the canon text to make this work. cameron doesn't just "enjoy" sex with chase, she is the one to initiate it almost every time we see them sleep together in the show. she calls him in hunting, she initiates the friends with benefits arrangement in insensitive, she initiates sex in the sleep lab and during their lunch break in top secret. she asks him to propose to her in saviors. she scrambles and does everything she can to get chase back when they have fights like in the itch or both sides now. and thats just chase, not even any of the other men we see her with or hear about her being with. YES you can have sex with someone without necessarily being sexually attracted to them, but come on. she is not a passive participant in these situations.

but to say cameron is a lesbian is literally just to - ignore and undermine and erase so much of her character. her dead husband? well, she never loved him, i guess. she was acting out of confused pity. she fell in love with joe? nope! house? nope! she says she loved all three; but clearly she doesn't know or understand her own feelings and desires, clearly as a woman she's simply Wrong. chase? she spend three years with a man out of... what? apathy? cameron? saying "oh, she never loved or cared about the men in her life" completely erases all her agency and feelings; saying "she settled" or "was acting out of pity" or "hated sex with them and never wanted it anyway" is basically just saying "i don't like cameron, i don't watch the show." cameron has an entire Thing about how she was in love and refused to act because it would be cheating and that's wrong; there are so many stories that have her cheat on chase because lol she's a lesbian and doesn't care so it's fine. cameron CARES. that's the POINT. that's who she IS.

we can definitely talk about how it's a little ehh that cameron is so often made out to be a Love Interest, how her plots almost always revolve around Romantic Love. but the fact is, they are. a cameron who didn't love house isn't cameron. a cameron who didn't love chase, or her husband, or joe, isn't cameron.

Y'all make many legitimate and reasonable points here. At the same time, a blanket statement that anyone who reads Cameron as a lesbian is wrong and misogynist…

Yes. There are people who want to erase the gravity of her relationships with men, or her motivations towards them, and that's really not great! And there's a lot to be said for - Chase saying, "you never loved me," seems to be written to reflect his own fears far more than anything about Cameron.

However, there are people who want to explore the confusion and nebulousness of sexuality via lesbian!Cameron, and that's not the same thing at all. Struggling to see the line between "best friendship" or other powerful, abiding, even deeply consuming ways of feeling — and romantic/sexual love. Obviously, she cares deeply for the important men in her life. She clearly enjoys sex with Chase, but as we know, enjoying sex with someone doesn't always equal being sexually attracted to them. Textually, she has commitment issues (it's the symptom, not the cause) and finds ways to make her lovers unavailable. All of this makes for very fertile thematic ground to explore.

To clarify, this is an anti-textual read in the sense that it uses the literal content of the story in a way that seems to contradict the intention of the writers. In fandom, we do this all the time. For example, feminist reads of Amber, including the reclaimed use of the word "bitch."

At the same time, there are ways of doing this - and not hypothetical, either, this is stuff I've seen in fandom spaces - that do utilize Cameron's textual characterization. That actually engage with the text in profound and meaningful ways.

In fandom, we do not limit ourselves to direct interpretations of the text alone. We do not have to align ourselves perfectly to the intention of the creators (which, for a tv show like this, aren't going to be consistent between all creators). There's a reason AO3 archived transformative works.

First: you’re absolutely right that fandom is a transformative space and there is no wrong way to do it, if you can make your case and argument.

The problem is, that isn’t what people are doing. I’m generalizing a bit of course: I haven’t read every post and every fanfic. But the fact that there is a very pervasive acceptance in all corners of the fandom that states that Cameron never loved House, Chase, both, either; that she is incapable of love, that her inability to love men ergo proves that she she is a lesbian, is, I think, rooted in ignorance of the text and misogyny: the default is always “since she never loved/was delusional” (a word I have seen used about her repeatedly) “only settled/never cared/etc.”

And this is very much the default for Cameron, and has been for twenty years. It’s very much based in bashing; the “ergo she is a lesbian/would be fixed by lesbianism!” is often tacked on to justify or “explain” her heartless lack of interest in men. Which, obviously, isn’t even true. I can’t speak for OP, but when I say this is misogyny, this is what I mean, and I do stand by it. To say a character is bad and wrong for liking men, and is only acceptable or interesting for being gay, and that none of her actions or feelings matter and most be wrong? That’s, you know. Gross.

This is also why I always make a point of bi vs lesbian. Obviously, these are somewhat different frameworks to explore, but let’s be honest: these stories are not generally about Cameron struggling to come out and define her identity, they’re about her realizing she likes girls all along. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I’d argue that most of the time, there’s also no reason to specifically say “she is a comphet lesbian” unless you also want to ensure that she doesn’t have feelings for the men in her life. Why can’t she be bi? I’m not saying there are zero stories or posts exploring this in depth, or what it would mean for her to be a lesbian. This could be an interesting story. But usually? It’s just “I want to see her kiss girls.” And like. Go with God. That’s fun. Fantastic. But in that context, why is she not allowed to have had past feelings for men?

Works can be transformative, and fandom can and should explore them. But the point of fanfiction is that these are shared toys, based on a shared framework. You can absolutely explore and poke at and reframe and read into actions and words and thoughts. It’s fun! It’s literally all I do! But that doesn’t mean all takes are valid and true just for existing. If you want to make a case, go for it. But if it ignores canon and character, I can still say it’s not true.

but to say cameron is a lesbian is literally just to - ignore and undermine and erase so much of her character. her dead husband? well, she never loved him, i guess. she was acting out of confused pity. she fell in love with joe? nope! house? nope! she says she loved all three; but clearly she doesn't know or understand her own feelings and desires, clearly as a woman she's simply Wrong. chase? she spend three years with a man out of... what? apathy? cameron? saying "oh, she never loved or cared about the men in her life" completely erases all her agency and feelings; saying "she settled" or "was acting out of pity" or "hated sex with them and never wanted it anyway" is basically just saying "i don't like cameron, i don't watch the show." cameron has an entire Thing about how she was in love and refused to act because it would be cheating and that's wrong; there are so many stories that have her cheat on chase because lol she's a lesbian and doesn't care so it's fine. cameron CARES. that's the POINT. that's who she IS.

we can definitely talk about how it's a little ehh that cameron is so often made out to be a Love Interest, how her plots almost always revolve around Romantic Love. but the fact is, they are. a cameron who didn't love house isn't cameron. a cameron who didn't love chase, or her husband, or joe, isn't cameron.