Buzzfeed, with its entire section dedicated to LGBT, myriad of Buzzfeed Yellow ‘relatable gay videos’, and general positive and open attitude towards sexual and gender minorities, is assumed to be the champion online LGBTQ ally. However, yesterday Buzzfeed released an article titled ‘Why Queer Female Pop Stars Can’t Win’ and questioned ‘What Does a Queer Pop Star Look Like in 2016?’ From the title, one might suspect that this article would be defending Halsey, who faces queerphobia and the myriad expectations associated with being queer in the public eye. You would think the article would is that the article would be shooting down queer stereotypes, especially in the media. However, the effect that the article has is quite the opposite.
I, Sam Volante, a queer Halsey super-fan, will effectively debunk the overall message of this supposedly ‘queer-positive’ article.
The first comment which struck me as more than slightly odd and out of place was the one where Halsey was described as “not making a habit” of kissing female fans any more. For as long as she’s been in the public eye, and even before it, she frequently kissed female fans and videoed or took photos of it. It was always at the fan’s request, the kisses often being the fans’ firsts. In the article, it seems that it’s an attempt to express Halsey’s alleged ‘decrease in queerness’, because of what follows it.
“But there aren’t many new fan kiss shots circulating on Tumblr or Twitter lately, indicating that perhaps Halsey isn’t making a habit of it anymore. As she figures out boundaries with her fans — who often demand direct access to the “real” her at all times — she’s also been subtly transforming her concert looks, performing with the likes of Justin Bieber and the Chainsmokers’ insufferable dude-bro Andrew Taggart, and making music videos in which she lusts (sometimes illicitly) after men.”
Towards the end of last year, while Halsey was on tour, she repeatedly became ill with minor contagious diseases such as colds, which affected her ability to perform. So, she officially announced that because of management’s rule, she would not be permitted to kiss fans at meet and greets due to the health hazard it brought her, as she has quite a sensitive immune system. Thus, her decision to stop kissing fans was not because of her ‘faltering queerness’.
About the second half of that… strangely worded sentence, fans are still gaining access to the ‘real her’. Although her performances might include tension with her collaborators (most recently with the Chainsmokers at the VMAs, as previously mentioned), there has been nothing more than heteronormative press and public rumours between her and any of her male collaborates/co-performers (other than Norwegian rapper and producer Lido). Whether it be Justin Bieber, Drew Taggart, Josh Dun or anyone else she appears on Instagram with, rumours are rumours. Full stop. If she is with them, that’s great – and if she isn’t, well, she just isn’t, slightly racy performances or not.
The article goes on to mention various other queer musicians and the pressures they face and overcome, before abruptly moving on to the comparisons between the two separate music videos for Halsey’s first single, ‘Ghost’. Essentially, the person writing this article implied that Halsey’s potential to be in a same-sex relationship is dream-like and not as feasible as her having heterosexual sexual relations.
“When music videos tend to skew as straight as the rest of mainstream media, seeing two women together is still noteworthy; all the better that both women are out as queer. Still, the challenge “Ghost” poses to heteronormativity feels rather coolly theoretical. The woman Halsey’s paired with, played by McCullough, doesn’t quite stand alone as her own person — she functions more as Halsey’s racebent mirror. The neon-lit, futuristic Tokyo setting seems distant, touristic, even otherworldly. It’s a dream sequence — unlike the less-viewed Room 93 alternate video for “Ghost,” which exists in the same universe as Halsey’s earlier “Hurricane” and pairs her with a guy. Set at the Pink Motel in LA, the male love interest version of “Ghost” feels modern and hyperrealistic, even autobiographical.”
Wait… so you’re saying that because Halsey enjoys the aesthetically pleasing palette of shots that Tokyo has to offer, and her female love interest in the video has a similar wig on to her, she’s only ever been, and will only ever be, ‘theoretically’ queer?
Sure, the video is seemingly dreamy and unrealistic. So is the song itself. ‘My ghost, where’d you go? / I can’t find you in the body sleeping next to me’ unsurprisingly fits with the whole idea that the music video would feature a fading, distant story of someone who isn’t quite clear in the mind. The original video for ‘Ghost’ was quite different – set largely in a hotel room, it is part of a series of music videos she produced relating to the way interpersonal relations can be shaped by such a space. It just happens to feature a heterosexual love plotline. Just because there are cheap Hawaiian shirts instead of hot tubs and run-down motels instead of Tokyo lights, doesn’t mean one portrays who Halsey could ‘really’ be attracted to, as opposed to pure fantasy.
Moving on to discuss more recent the music video for ‘Colors’, the writer of the article expresses the following:
“Working with someone like Tyler Posey has become par for the course for Halsey, who has spent the past year collaborating with hyper-exposed men. On her Instagram — where she has about 3 million followers — you’ll find cameos from cool-boy DJs, musicians, and photographers, like Diplo, both Chainsmokers, Steve Aoki, Rory Kramer, Machine Gun Kelly, G-Eazy, Brendon Urie, and Skrillex. You’ll definitely spot some girls — mostly a pair of sisters named Paige and Payton Selzer — but Halsey’s public image tends to have her flanked by guys.”
So she, coincidentally, finds herself meeting more male members of the extremely male-dominated music industry (which was actually pointed out earlier on in the article). Makes sense, right? There is, of course, nothing wrong with hanging out with guys, and Halsey does spend time with people of other genders (not that who she likes to go for a coffee with is anyone else’s business), yet, I’ll agree, her Instagram does tend to have males tagged in popular photos more than people of any other gender. And, so what? This person, who is apparently ‘fighting heteronormativity’ with their article and general LGBTQ-friendly intentions, seems to do the exact opposite. To assume that because Halsey appears in public with lots of guys, that says anything about her romantic or sexual leanings is in itself incredibly heteronormative. “Ooh, a girl walks down the street with a guy! They must fancy each other” is a sentiment many queer people take issue with. So, why enforce it by suggesting that Halsey’s extensive circle of guy-friends automatically means she’s had relationships, or is trying to make it appear like she’s had relationships, with any or all of them?
Furthermore, this person goes on to describe the way they saw the VMA performance of smash-hit ‘Closer’, which Halsey recorded with the Chainsmokers.
“Halsey always brings a lot of high-femme game to her stage looks, but usually mixes in touches of the masculine and the androgynous. Her VMAs outfit, however, was one of her most traditionally feminine picks: sparkly white bell bottoms and a tiny matching crop top showing a peek of underboob, the look topped off with a plain long brown wig. She and Taggart might have looked like an unremarkable straight couple to anyone who didn’t know better.”
Alright, so this is what’s being hinted at here, if I’m reading this right – her outfit makes her ‘look straight’? Basic queer rookie mistake, if you ask me. Appearance and sexuality would present ‘no correlation’ on a graph. So, Ashley Frangipane had the nerve to wear a long wig and put sparkles on her clothes, and she’s automatically a heterosexual? If you’re assuming who looks queer and who doesn’t based on how someone is presenting themselves, you probably shouldn’t be writing about queerness with alleged insight at all.
The article quotes an interview in which Halsey mentions she had short blue hair and could have appeared to immediately ‘look like a lesbian’ to a potentially judgemental conservative American audience because of it. Afterwards, the writer of the article describes this, in comparison with Halsey’s appearance at the VMAs, as ‘cognitive dissonance’. If short hair VS. long hair and sexuality is really that much of a cause of confusion to you, then who are you to try and judge someone else and their intentions of sexuality expression?
“There could be any number of reasons why that particular performance of that particular song looked and felt the way it did. Even though VMA ratings have tanked in the past few years, a few million TV viewers is still the most visibility Halsey’s ever received at one time. In the name of mass exposure, might Halsey be experimenting with toning down the queerness of her image?”
Pardon?
Halsey has a reputation for refusing to conform and being very loudly herself, however she may want to present that to the world. If she wants to have long hair, it’s because that’s how she wants to express herself that day. Why do you think Halsey’s fans are typically seen to be outsiders, to be ‘misfits’, ‘that weirdo at school with dyed hair’? Why do you think Halsey rose to fame in the first place, performing with an image that appealed to a lot of (largely queer) young people? Because she was different, and wasn’t afraid to show it. If we’re going to be corporate about it, that’s commonly known as, if subconsciously, her ‘unique selling point’. Why would she stop being herself if that’s what she’s always been so avidly passionate about? And, if we’re seeing it from your ‘exposure’ perspective… if being individual earned her ‘exposure’ in the first place (and we make the massive assumption that she wanted to change her image to get more exposure) why would going back on that unique identity be a good tactic?
“When it comes to her songs themselves, Halsey tends to use male pronouns or no pronouns at all, which doesn’t explicitly mean she’s hiding anything. But there’s a chance she might feel internal or external pressure to keep her songs appealing to a broad base. Howard Bragman, the PR coming-out guru, said that it makes sense for musicians to be steered in a gender-neutral lyrical direction: “Again, you want to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. It’s the business impact.””
A lot of Halsey’s music that has been released has been about one particular person – a person Halsey has openly discussed many times. A guy she fell in love with at the age of 17, and who she eventually discovered was a heroin addict. Hurricane, and other tracks of hers, have been confirmed by Frangipane herself to have her old lover as their subject. So, no, she isn’t using male pronouns for ‘a wider appeal’ or because she ‘feels the pressure’ to include heterosexual concepts in songs. Plus, even if she hadn’t specified that many of her songs are about one particular person, is it any of our concern to question why she uses male pronouns in her songs?
Through playing with stereotypes, making accusations about Halsey and what she does and does not do for publicity, discussing whether she’s a ‘Lez Bro’ or she alternatively has been with many of the men she hangs out with as if she can’t just have male friends, expecting Halsey to present herself a certain way as a queer person and finding it contradictory that she’s quite literally had two different hairstyles and worn two different types of outfits, the article ends by pretending the author hasn’t just implied Halsey’s sexuality and performance of that sexuality is suspect. Seemingly, this writer thinks that they’ve been fighting against queer stereotypes and prejudices, when they’ve merely been reinforcing them, from my side of things.
“Regardless of how she projects her image — or how we might read it — Halsey is through-and-through bisexual because she says she is.”
Right. If you agree with that statement…delete the article. Not a great way to prepare for the upcoming bisexual awareness week, is it, Buzzfeed?
Love,
your unapologetically, contrarily, loudly and proudly queer Halsey super-fan.
(Read Halsey’s own response to the article via her latest tweets.)
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