Rail thin twinks rise up, your time is now! Australian sweetheart Troye Sivan has released the music video for his new song “Rush” and the internet is having a hard time processing the Berlin nightclub orgiastic fantasy vibe of it all.
One of the main concerns folks have with Sivan’s new music video is the fact that the cast all seem to be extremely thin twinks. The video tries to conjure up a feeling of sex, lust and passion (and arguably achieves these goals very well), but the question on everyone’s lips is: “Why are these bodies still considered the gay fantasy?”
Now let’s get one thing clear before we dive in: yes, these bodies are beautiful. I mean, duh, of course they are. Society has rammed the notion of skinny equating to beautiful down our throats since the dawn of time. But bodies can be sexy and hot no matter their shape.
Nobody is begging Sivan to put a bunch of bears in his music video to tick a representation box. Instead, they are just calling him out for showcasing a sexy queer event with only a singular body type (and a very unachievable one at that).
Queer people have enough body image issues as it is. The last thing we need is for a prolific queer singer to reinforce these dangerous norms.
Sivan collaborator and bestie Charli XCX hopped on Twitter to defend his “art” by saying not all creative projects need to meet “unspoken requirements”.
I get what she’s trying to say in a way, but it comes across as someone missing the point entirely.
Queer people live through absurd body image standards from the moment they step foot into the dating world. It’s reinforced through apps like Grindr, and thin bodies are constantly represented in the media we consume.
For many, it’s disheartening to see someone at the peak of their career make a hot and gorgeous statement about queer sexiness and refuse to consider other body types. That’s all it is. Nobody is attacking Sivan’s artistic desires, they’re just questioning why his “self-expression” and “art” are so rigid in their worldview.
One point I do agree with Charli on, however, is the fact that Sam Smith makes sexy music and video clips with a range of body types, and yet they get slammed, mocked and bullied for it.
To me, this isn’t a queer audience showing that they don’t know what they want. Instead, it reveals that queer people do in fact have a fatphobia problem.
Those crying out for Troye Sivan to show more diversity aren’t the same people calling Sam Smith “disgusting” for simply loving their body. Queer people contain multitudes, and unfortunately, the loudest voices critiquing Sam Smith are the most backward in their thinking. Coincidentally, you’ll also find these people giving Sivan nothing but praise for his video clip.
You can watch the video underneath and make a decision for yourself on whether or not it’s a queer fantasy or an absolute betrayal of what real queer bodies look like.
After all, what is discourse without a difference of opinions?
