“Are your teens okay?” I asked the question without a second thought, two years ago, to a friend whom I do not see often; he lives in the suburbs of Quebec. He taught me that he no longer had a son and a daughter, but now had two sons. I told him about another friend, whose daughter was also in transition.
The phenomenon is not widespread. But it turns out that in my circle, two fathers my age have children who have made the courageous choice to live not according to what their biological identity dictates, but in harmony with their sexual identity. I also have a friend whose child considers himself to be non-binary and has preferred for a few years not to be called by the first name given to him at birth.
I thought back to those friends this week, hearing on the radio and reading in the newspapers and social media a lot of flat jokes and inappropriate comments from people who couldn’t believe Jon Kent, the fictional character of the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, in the comics Superman, or bisexual. “How about a transgender, pansexual, or skoliosexual Superman, while you’re at it?” »Elvis Gratton, get out of this body!
I even read a delusional analysis on the alleged emasculation of the western heterosexual white man – this eternal victim -, inspired by the unveiling of the sexual orientation of Superman’s son, who, I recall, is an alien who arrived from the planet Krypton …
If the transition remains extremely rare, the fact of displaying his bisexuality for a teenager has become, in some circles, almost commonplace in 2021. I am not claiming that young bi people are not victims of prejudice or discrimination. We only have to see the reaction to the coming out of Jon Kent to be convinced. But young Quebecers are daring more and more to display themselves as they are, inspired by bisexual public figures like Hubert Lenoir.
The fluidity of gender and sexual orientation, loving a human being for who he is, fundamentally, it doesn’t matter whether he is a man, a woman or someone who does not identify with any of these. groups, does not date from yesterday. On the other hand, it is a concept that is better understood and more accepted among 17-year-olds than among their parents or grandparents. It is a question of education, above all.
According to a survey conducted last May by the Regroupement des maisons des jeunes du Québec among 574 adolescents aged 12 to 17, the causes that are most important to them are the fight against racism and the rights of Indigenous peoples. (33%), women’s rights (31%) and LGBTQ + rights (29%), my colleague Catherine Handfield wrote earlier this week. I guess the fate of the planet does not come far behind.
However, there are some to reproach the authors of Superman to make Clark Kent’s son – let’s call him SuperFiston – a character in tune with the concerns of today’s youth. “He will also be committed against social inequalities, global warming and for refugees,” regretted this week a conservative commentator, for whom this development is a “re-education” woke.
Because the children of superheroes should be favorable to social inequalities? Anti-immigration? For the proliferation of greenhouse gases? I had to reread this column to make sure it wasn’t a draft stand-up intended for an evening of failed amateur comedians.
The character of Superman, created by two sons of Jewish immigrants in the late 1930s, has always championed the widow, orphan and the American dream of all those who made the United States their home, regardless of their origin , their religion or the color of their skin. He was “great woke Long before this term was overused by the Right. And he would be the first to welcome his bisexual son’s boyfriend or girlfriend home with open arms. Like the rest, many open-minded Quebec parents.
The proof is not any more to make: the status quo ante is a fantasy of the nostalgic ones of the last century. They refuse to be jostled in their historical privileges.
After all, the heterosexual white man has dominated Western societies since the dawn of time. Why change a winning formula? Why share power with racialized immigrants, homosexuals or even women? After all, they only account for 51% of the population …
Many, it seems, regret the bygone days when superheroes were perfectly in tune with their frozen vision of society. That is to say, a society run by men, white and Christian, whose women wisely stayed at home, giving birth, cooking and mopping up. Some call it the Great Darkness. Others the good old days when the man, “the real one”, embodied by a James Bond with a hairy chest and a hairpiece, could put his hand in the ass of the first comer as he saw fit and order him to leave the room. play because “do you see my boy, we have to discuss serious things between men” …
These reactionaries would like us to ignore 60 years of feminism and for James Bond to be exactly the same as he was on screen in his early days, deeply macho and convinced that he can determine for himself, as he pleases. and its conquests, which may or may not constitute free and informed sexual consent. An anachronistic SuperMonuncle, as quirky as these conservative commentators in an ever-changing society.
They would probably cry heresy if they found out that the James Bond performer wore a pink velvet jacket to the premiere of his most recent film and that he has a habit of hanging out in gay bars, where he finds fewer morons who want to fight with him. He prefers the company of those who know the difference between a 53-year-old actor, well of his time, and a fictional character.