Smash the heterosexual orthodoxy

[donnaimmaculata]

Following the confirmation of the Remus/Tonks canon and the subsequent - to use a polite term - discussions about whether or not Rowling has merely submitted to society's heterosexist pressure, I would like to ask a question that's always interested me: What makes Remus gay?

I am asking this, because there are many readers who read the character Remus Lupin as gay. And I don't mean the character's being coded as representing the idea of homosexuality on an allegorical level, which is quite a different thing. (A worrying one as well if people assume that making someone a vicious man-eating monster means that they stand for homosexuality, but this is neither here nor there.) What I am interested to know is what, exactly, about Lupin's characterisation makes readers think he's as gay as a tree full of monkey.

Because, as much as I like writing and reading Remus in slash pairings, I've never read the character in the novel as gay. (He reminds me far too much of my ex-BF for that, but this, again, is neither here nor there.) He's polite, understanding and witty, which, I realise, are qualities that are often contributed to gay men, because they are oh so full of understanding for us women, quite unlike their rude, insensitive, grumpy straight counterparts.

This is a serious question. I'm honestly interested.

Comments

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

Even during the one book, until it's revealed, you couldn't guess.

Well, leaving aside the question of whether pairings between minor, adult characters need to be foreshadowed, I guessed as soon as Snape made his snarky remark about the Patronus. And I thought there were some huge neon signs later in the book, although I grant that I read them through the filter of somebody who'd already guessed. (A smattering of examples: Molly glaring at Remus as though it was his fault that she was getting Fleur as a daughter-in-law instead of Tonks; the fact that two characters who seemed friendly and comfortable with each other in OotP were conspicuously avoiding each other; Lupin practically choking on his turkey when Harry asks about Tonks' Patronus; Tonks turning up in an obviously distressed state right after a child is killed in a werewolf attack and asking Harry if he's heard from anybody in the Order).

[donnaimmaculata.livejournal.com]

That's very true. Those who dislike Remus/Tonks claim that there has been no foreshadowing whatsoever; those who like Remus/Tonks have seen the built-up in OotP and can list a dozens of examples that clearly pointed towards this pairing. It's always a matter of perspective and of interpretation. (fernwithy, for example, spoke about Remus/Tonks hints on her LJ.)