I'm really confused about something and was hoping you would explain it to me. I see people loving that Dean's siren was a man and people say that's proof Dean wants to be with a man. Now I am Team Bisexual!Dean all day but the siren himself said that what Dean wanted "wasn't some bitch in a g-string, it was you. A little brother who looks up to him. Someone he can trust." These are the actual words he uses. I don't understand why people say that means Dean wants a man. Pray explain?
Ahh, nonny! Thanks for asking :)
When it comes to evidence of Dean’s bisexuality, his siren being a man is not—in my opinion—the most convincing of arguments. This is mainly because the true nature of sirens in the Supernatural universe a little muddy.If they do shift between wanting different kinds of love, as the dialogue implies, then it doesn’t serve to prove anything about Dean’s sexuality. If, on the other hand, they are only interested in eros, as the action implies, then it’s another story altogether.
Regardless of which is accurate, I do still think it counts for something when added to the overwhelming number of hints throughout the seasons, but used as a sole piece of evidence I don’t think it’s enough.
That said, there are three main reasons that I can see why someone would consider the siren’s male form as “proof” that Dean is interested in men.
Narrative structure In the context of season four, Dean and Nick were a clear mirror for Sam and Ruby. The episode in question (Sex and Violence, 4.14) comes at a point in the overall narrative where Sam is being manipulated by Ruby.Throughout season four, Sam ingests Ruby’s blood, and the connection he forms with her through this act results in a sexual relationship which she uses to manipulate him further. In Sex and Violence, Dean ingests Nick’s venom, and the connection he forms with him through this act results in a relationship which Nick uses to manipulate him further. The only thing that appears different on the surface level is that Sam and Ruby’s relationship was explicitly sexual/romantic, while Dean and Nick’s was implicitly sexual/romantic.
In-show mythology / Dean’s horrible upbringingAccording to the mythology we learn at the beginning of the episode, sirens are beings who crave love—specifically, eros.We are told that the siren learned what it’s victims desired most in a lover, and then embodied those traits in order to manipulate and control them, using it’s venom as the catalyst.The information Sam and Dean got from Bobby about Sirens resulted in this conversation:
DEANSo whatever floats the guy’s boat, that’s what they look like?SAMYeah. You see, sirens can read minds. They see what you want most and then they can kinda, like, cloak themselves. You know, like an illusion.
We learn that the siren seduced it’s first three victims by appearing to them in the form of their perfect romantic partner, and after they had fallen in love with the illusion, it convinced them to murder their wives. The fourth victim was different only in that he was unmarried and instead murdered his mother.In each case, the siren appealed to it’s victims by appearing in the form of someone who they not only lusted after, but fell in love with. This was it’s MO. It wanted, as it said later in the episode, to “fall in love again and again and again.” So, going by all the information up until the last few moments of the episode, the kind of love it craved was eros—not philia, not storge, not agape, but eros. Romantic love.All the in-show mythology researched by Bobby and the brothers, and what we saw in the Siren’s seduction of it’s other victims tells us this. The only time it switches to a familial, platonic form of love is in dialogue with Dean. Despite this, the siren’s actions, as actor Jim Parrack mentioned in this interview about playing the character, still created “some kind of sexual tension” with Dean. Why did the siren’s dialogue differ from it’s actions? Because Dean is damaged. Horribly so. From a young age Dean was taught that the only attachments he should have are to those he can trust, and the only people he can trust are his family. Their life on the road forced this to an extreme, and for at least the first 24 years of his life Dean only knew familial love.The only time he allowed himself to entertain the notion of another kind of love ended horribly—at around age 24 when he told Cassie Robinson about the true nature of the things that go bump in the night. This only reinforced the idea that he could not trust anyone who wasn’t family. So, at this point in the show, the only person Dean had ever trusted and who had also respected him was his brother. The siren told Dean he would replace his brother because it knew that it was the only way to gain Dean’s trust, and without trust and mutual respect you cannot have love.
Dean’s interaction with NickThe final reason is all to do with body language. Their interaction at the strip club is more than a little flirtatious.Complete with the heart eyes—more commonly seen when Dean is staring at Cas or Lisa or Dr. Sexy—that are very much aimed at the dude-shaped siren.Then there’s the fact that this scene happened before Dean came into contact with the siren’s venom. Those were legit heart eyes. That was legit flirting. The siren saw Dean. The siren knew that what Dean desired was a clean-cut, blue-eyed man in a position of power with an interest in cars, who would show him respect and share a few drinks with him, and it became that guy so that Dean would let it get it’s gross venomy saliva all up in his mouth. No but seriously, if Dean hadn’t conveniently offered the siren his flask (which was pretty damn intimate considering he barely knew the guy) I can’t help but wonder what else the siren had been planning to do to get him good and poisoned. Call me crazy but I’m guessing it involved a touch of the ol’ tonsil hockey.
[screencaps taken from homeofthenutty]
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