sondhymen replied to your post:OK, but I find it upsetting when people say...
1. I think it’s pretty much accepted by literary scholars that Shakespeare was attracted to men. And 2, the idea of human sexuality in terms of gay or bi didn’t exist in the 17th century, so you can’t really label someone of that time as such.
Yeah, point 1. is basically not even questioned, it's just that I saw 3 really dumb posts in a row on my dash saying something along the lines of "oh my god, how can people even think Shakespeare was not gay, he wrote love sonnets to a boy!" and I'm just like... well, ok, then. (because that's the weakest argument I have ever heard)
And yes, defining human sexuality in terms of gay and straight (let's not even talk about bi, or others) was not something of Shakespeare's time, though there are records of homosexual relationships in England for well over a millenium now. But if I'm not mistaken distinction between sexual preferences more or less like in today's terms began either in the late 17th century or the early 18th (I think the first discussion of homosexual rights in England was around that time)
But the point is - yes, I agree with you, but if people here on tumblr are going to try and label Shakespeare's sexuality by today's terms based purely on who his sonnets were dedicated to, the word they're looking for is bi, not gay.