{"id":{"repo_id":"baylor","oai_identifier":"oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/10716"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/baylor/oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/10716","repository":{"repo_id":"baylor","name":"Baylor University","base_url":"https://baylor-ir.tdl.org/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"They won&apos;t : analyzing queerbaiting and compulsory heterosexuality in popular television.","abstract":"Queerbaiting has become an increasingly common practice in entertainment media. Television shows contain romantic and sexual subtext between two characters of the same gender without these two characters ever becoming involved in the narrative. This baits queer audiences into believe that such a show will offer them proper representation without ever delivering more than substandard representation. Scholars in the field of rhetoric, and in general, have left this phenomenon woefully underexamined. Using close reading and tropological analysis, I analyze Rizzoli and Isles, Supernatural, and Stranger Things as three instances of queerbaiting that assist in operationally defining queerbaiting, illustrating the impact of the practice, and finally modify popular understandings of queerbaiting to be more inclusive of gender identity. Adrienne Rich&apos;s theory of compulsory heterosexuality provides the best explanation for why queerbaiting happens and can offer new ways to analyze these texts to uncover queerbaiting when it occurs.","abstract_html":"Queerbaiting has become an increasingly common practice in entertainment media. Television shows contain romantic and sexual subtext between two characters of the same gender without these two characters ever becoming involved in the narrative. This baits queer audiences into believe that such a show will offer them proper representation without ever delivering more than substandard representation. Scholars in the field of rhetoric, and in general, have left this phenomenon woefully underexamined. Using close reading and tropological analysis, I analyze Rizzoli and Isles, Supernatural, and Stranger Things as three instances of queerbaiting that assist in operationally defining queerbaiting, illustrating the impact of the practice, and finally modify popular understandings of queerbaiting to be more inclusive of gender identity. Adrienne Rich&amp;apos;s theory of compulsory heterosexuality provides the best explanation for why queerbaiting happens and can offer new ways to analyze these texts to uncover queerbaiting when it occurs.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Scott, Lucia Jeana, 1994-"],"institution":"Baylor University.","degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Masters","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Hahner, Leslie Ann."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-05","date_published":"2019-05","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:08:04Z","subjects":["Rhetoric.","Queer theory.","Queerbaiting.","Compulsory heterosexuality.","Close reading.","Devil terms."],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2104/10716","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Hahner, Leslie Ann."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Scott, Lucia Jeana, 1994-"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2019-12-04T13:53:10Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-12-04T13:53:10Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2019-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Baylor University."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Rhetoric.","Queer theory.","Queerbaiting.","Compulsory heterosexuality.","Close reading.","Devil terms."]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Baylor University works are protected by copyright. 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Using close reading and tropological analysis, I analyze Rizzoli and Isles, Supernatural, and Stranger Things as three instances of queerbaiting that assist in operationally defining queerbaiting, illustrating the impact of the practice, and finally modify popular understandings of queerbaiting to be more inclusive of gender identity. Adrienne Rich&apos;s theory of compulsory heterosexuality provides the best explanation for why queerbaiting happens and can offer new ways to analyze these texts to uncover queerbaiting when it occurs."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["They won&apos;t : analyzing queerbaiting and compulsory heterosexuality in popular television."]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Hahner, Leslie Ann."],"dc:creator":["Scott, Lucia Jeana, 1994-"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2019-12-04T13:53:10Z"],"dc:date.available":["2019-12-04T13:53:10Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2019-05"],"dc:description.abstract":["Queerbaiting has become an increasingly common practice in entertainment media. Television shows contain romantic and sexual subtext between two characters of the same gender without these two characters ever becoming involved in the narrative. This baits queer audiences into believe that such a show will offer them proper representation without ever delivering more than substandard representation. Scholars in the field of rhetoric, and in general, have left this phenomenon woefully underexamined. Using close reading and tropological analysis, I analyze Rizzoli and Isles, Supernatural, and Stranger Things as three instances of queerbaiting that assist in operationally defining queerbaiting, illustrating the impact of the practice, and finally modify popular understandings of queerbaiting to be more inclusive of gender identity. Adrienne Rich&apos;s theory of compulsory heterosexuality provides the best explanation for why queerbaiting happens and can offer new ways to analyze these texts to uncover queerbaiting when it occurs."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/2104/10716"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:rights":["Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission."],"dc:subject":["Rhetoric.","Queer theory.","Queerbaiting.","Compulsory heterosexuality.","Close reading.","Devil terms."],"dc:title":["They won&apos;t : analyzing queerbaiting and compulsory heterosexuality in popular television."],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A."],"thesis:institution_name":["Baylor University."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:08:04Z"}