How do you feel about Dick being a queer character in general? Like obviously itās not ācanonā and I doubt DC will ever make such a popular character queer (especially one with a fanbase of macho bros and fangirls who want to date him) but I feel like there is a LOT of stuff in canon that can be interpreted in a queer light. Like either as Dick being non-binary/trans-femme, being bisexual/pansexual, or being demisexual/on the ace spectrum.
Like they have frequently put him in dresses/girl disguises, given him a more feminine look (like you talked about in your post about Shawn), literally constantly include him with āthe girlsā. These things donāt have to be queer, but I find it very interesting that when DC does categorize things by gender (like the book with āthe most important women in Batmanās lifeā that Dick somehow ends up on the womenās side of things a good amount of the time. I guess it would be different to if it consistently felt like it was āfor the bitā or some kind of joke? Maybe at points it does seem like that but honestly it doesnāt really feel that way?
Then thereās the panels where Dick is saying he canāt imagine sleeping with someone heās not in love with (which very much gives demisexual to me) and the fact that he doesnāt really initiate most of the sex he has (though that could be because a good portion of the sexual encounters he experiences are just people SA-ing him).
I just feel like it makes a lot of sense for him to not actually have a lot of time to put any thought into his own gender/sexuality because he more strongly ties his own identity to the work that he does (as a Flying Grayson, as Robin, and as Nightwing) and I also feel like growing up as The Exampleā¢ļø for all other child heroes AND Robins while also being a leader does not leave a lot of room or energy to explore these kinds of things.
Iād love to hear your thoughts on this though.
First off: oh lord, reading this ask is like getting a āPreviously on Avatarā about my own damn posts. I remember stumbling on that āwomen in Batmanās lifeā panel and squinting at it for a solid three minutes likeā¦ huh.
I think your second to last paragraph really condenses my thoughts, which is that Dick has so many things to worry about, and more importantly, so many things he values above himself and his comfort, that I doubt heās ever put in the time to think about it. If he were actively uncomfortable in his presentation or wanted to be seen/present differently, I think heād view spending time on it as frivolous and self-centered. Dick is a martyr. Dick regularly sacrifices basic necessities either because he prioritizes other things or because, even if he has plenty of time and resources to make himself happier or more comfortable, he still chooses not to. Itās self-harm. And I think this is not only a fair but genuinely plausible, genuinely fascinating route for his character to go. Iād fucking love that.
However, I also think thereās also something valuable in having an explicitly cisgender male show such comfort in being more flamboyant ā or even blatantly āfeminineā ā as well. Youāre right in that Dick has a lot of macho bro fans. Iāve experienced quite a few of them in the comic shops I frequent. And, because they like his character, theyāre more open to him doing things like:
Acting paternally with children
Dressing flamboyantly, even being smaller and more lithe compared to the standard male hero tank
Acting emotionally in ways other than anger (though he is angry too, lol, I just mean that anger is traditionally accepted as a masculine expression while more guileless joy, fluster, and sadness are not).
The conversations Iāve had in those comic shops with those fans, and the openness towards these traits because theyāre already biased to like him, are honestly hope-fuel. And in that way, I think Dick is a fantastic āgatewayā drug for the traditional comic book audience to let go of the conflation of the male hero and strict hypermasculine archetypes.
So I think this is one of those cases (that Iām sure annoys all of my followers) where Iām genuinely very very happy either way? Iāve shown my interest in exploring potential queer characteristics here plenty. It would be such a fascinating way to address the consequences of his self-neglect through the lens of trying to power through his own discomfort or dissatisfaction. It could be an opportunity to symbolize Dickās growth in learning to care for himself by accepting and expressing who he is. It would be meaningful to the queer audience he has. And: DICKROY DICKROY DICKROY.
But I also think if Dick was never made canonically queer, the fandom still produces a ton of content in that light to keep people sated. Itās not like you canāt still headcanon him as queer in some fashion, especially if they keep making the ājokesā that they do. And it allows for the male-dominated comic book space to be exposed to a more healthy diversity of what a cishet man can be while still being a person ālike themā to look up to.
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