An unnecessarily long post about the MCYT fandom and the sexism and queerphobia it refuses to unpack
“Nonbinary people are both yuri and yaoi!”
“Nonbinary people are neither!”
“Nonbinary people should get to choose!”
Or, hear me out, we stop misusing yuri and yaoi and just say queer. In my opinion, the explosion of use of these terms in the MCYT community---and western fandom as a whole---actively contributes to the erasure of nonbinary identities and representation. It’s not cute or woke to reinvent the binary with new words. Especially when they are words you do not know the meaning or history of.
Yaoi and yuri aren’t just any MLM or any WLW relationship, they are specific genres that have complex histories involving homophobia, sexism, and the fetishization of queer relationships. It’s more idealizing of Japanese culture that I find to be very common in the US. Did you know that gay marriage still isn’t legally recognized in Japan? Yet people won’t stop talking about yaoi and yuri.
Back to my original point about the erasure of nonbinary identities and the reinvention of the binary in queer spaces. I saw this incredibly evidently at the beginning of Avid's (AvidMC) stream for his Bannerfall cameo where people were debating whether any potential romantic interactions would be yaoi or yuri instead of focusing on the---very cool---new character. That's weird. Avid was obviously excited about this character and the fact that the character was nonbinary was pretty big for him seeing as it is his first time playing a nonbinary character. But still, a sizable portion of the discussion was about applying binary words to someone outside the binary. That has a word, exorsexism, and it is rampant in queer spaces, even in small ways like this. [Using he/him exclusively for Avid currently as he has not stated if he prefers anything else yet---he came out 12 hours ago as of writing]
I've also seen people refer to the relationship of Owen and Luanne (OwengeJuice and LemonThyne) as "cishet." I want to give people the benefit of the doubt but.. that's still erasing not only nonbinary identities---Luanne being genderfluid---but is also saying that if a queer person gets married to someone who presents more of the opposite gender than them, they're suddenly straight. Not only is this exorsexism, it's also biphobic and arophobic as Owen is both bisexual and aromantic. Both of them are queer and to call them "cishet" because they don't fit the standards of a binary queer relationship is queerphobic. [I'm not certain of Luanne's orientation, so I didn't mention it]
There's also ZombieCleo. They are nonbinary and use she/they pronouns, but it seems like because they are okay with she/her, people forget that. Using binary pronouns does not make someone any less nonbinary. She's said before that she is not female and is not trans masc. They are nonbinary, "Let me be nonbinary!" Moonrot isn't "yuri," by the way, VSMP fans.. I'm looking at you.. It's not even WLW.
People aren't going to fit your binary. They are not going to fit your binary of gender. They are not going to fit your binary of attraction. Nonbinary, bi, and aro/ace people exist. Queer people erasing the queer people they don't understand does nothing but shoot the community in the foot. If you don't understand, then learn. If you can't learn, then shut up. Trying to fit people who are not binary into binary boxes does nothing good for anyone. You can't "Bury Your Gays" to real people.
I went on a bit of a rant, but I think it's important. I didn't even talk about the incessant focus on MLM or "yaoi" pairings in the MCYT community yet, so I guess I'll do that now.
There are two---maybe three, I'm not sure if Shan/Graecie is canon---canonical "yuri" pairings in Bannerfall. Both of which are very deep and thoughtful. And yet there's so much unnecessary focus on flowersmith and, to a much smaller degree, lionwell/lionsmith. And I say that as someone who has liked lionwell since week 2! Why is there more content for two men who have exchanged flowers than there is for the actual Romeo and Juliet-esque love story?
I think a lot of this could stem from the fact that the MCYT community is absolutely overflowing with men, specifically straight men. DSMP, QSMP, Life Series, Hermitcraft, Life Steal, I'm sure there's more, but that's about it for my wider MCYT knowledge- I didn't even really get how disproportionate it is until I got into SBK and PowCreations last year. If you only watch or primarily watch straight men creators, or men creators in general, have you ever considered why?
In conclusion, stop centering binary cis men! Stop sidelining sapphic relationships! Stop erasing nonbinary people! Stop using words you don't understand! Deconstruct your patriarchal values and evaluate why you are upholding the binary you claim to want to abolish!
Sincerely, a very passionate genderqueer and aroace teenager
