How is eloise’s arc homophobic?? Misogynistic I totally agree with, but girl was canonically into a man before. She could be bi or maybe she’s just straight. It’s not anti-gay to not write her as a lesbian and I say this as a lesbian myself who is super hyped for Francesca’s season w Michaela
Hey anon! Also hyped for Fran’s season with michaela!!! we won with the michaela genderbend, and i genuinely love the neurodivergent femme sapphic rep with francesca. I am so excited for the absolute YEARNING we are going to get in their season.
Here’s my explanation for my interpretation of eloise’s storyline. I am also totally fine with further discussing the nuances in replies, definitely not one of the fans who will threaten people over a different interpretation or having a ship i dislike (hence why although i am critical of philoise and do not want it in the show, i don’t fully tag my posts as anti philoise). My issue is with the writing itself.
Will say I’m totally fine with readings of eloise as bi. To me, the theo plotline read as a “this is the first non related man i can stand being around so I MUST have a crush on him” form of comphet, although i admit it could be me projecting. Some of my mutuals are also theo x eloise shippers and i fully respect that. Also I love seeing acespec headcanons for her too.
What I am saying is homophobic about eloise’s storyline is that it feeds into homophobic rhetoric regardless of her actual in text sexual orientation because of the aspects of her characterization that feel queercoded.
I’m specifically referring to a lot of the “you just need to find the right man/a husband” stuff constantly thrown at eloise, this season in particular, even after she has had so many meaningful moments on screen where she discusses feeling different from society and that her “rebellion” is a core part of who she is.
The pushing for her to find the right man really echoes a lot of my experiences with homophobia and growing up in an environment where women are also pressured to get married and have kids young.
Obviously straight women can face pressures to get married too, but the way eloise is outcasted in the show seems very different. Going to use eloise’s book counterpart as an example. Eloise in the books DID show interest in suitors, even though she (like her show counterpart) was also very outspoken, talkative, and self possessed. She became a spinster because she had high standards and wanted a perfect love story. I definitely think had the show kept this piece of her characterization, and happened to add on a feminist angle especially given a lot of early feminist pieces published in that era, could have been really interesting. I think I would have been more inclined to read her as straight if that was the case. Instead in the show, it pretty quickly frames her as being othered from the get go (and her views seem tied to it).
I think also it boils down to the writers not knowing which direction to take eloise and that result in particular is accidentally adding some unpleasant undertones in season 4. I also really wish media didn’t have this thing where there’s an unspoken quota on queer characters . the “francesca vs eloise which one should be the sapphic sister” debate makes me sad because sapphic stories shouldn’t be tokenized. there shouldn’t have to be “the designated queer sister”. There are plenty of straight storylines and I think that there are multiple avenues for meaningful queer representation as well.
