Episode 114: Queer Eye for the Straight Story - Reading Speculative Fiction through a Queer Filter

 

While diversity representation is slowly becoming more balanced in books, film and TV, the scales still tilt firmly towards a straight, white, cis-gendered, heterosexual and usually male default. This creates an expectation that all stories will default to this default setting which everyone to some degree ingests on a subconscious level. This week the dragons try an exercise whereby they deviate from the default and read fiction as though the standard is for a character to be 'queer' or non-cis gendered and non heterosexual, before exploring how shifting the default can enhance both reading experience and real worl perception. On the slab this week - The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch, Moby Dick - Hermann Melville, Dracula - Bram Stoker, The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins and many more.

 

Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic