Harry Styles finds media’s obsession with him to define himself as outdated

[Teletubby 122,649]

Styles faced amounting scrutiny and speculations about his sexuality. He found the media’s obsession with him to define himself as “outdated”.
"I've been really open with it with my friends, but that's my personal experience; it's mine," 
“The whole point of where we should be heading, which is toward accepting everybody and being more open, is that it doesn’t matter,” he said. “And it’s about not having to label everything, not having to clarify what boxes you’re checking.”

In a new interview the UK pop star also reflected on the complications surrounding intimacy.
“For a long time, it felt like the only thing that was mine was my sex life,” Harry said.
“I felt so ashamed about it, ashamed at the idea of people even knowing that I was having sex, let alone who with.”
While the singer has recently started working through issues of intimacy, dating, and love, he added: “At the time, there were still the kiss-and-tell things. Working out who I could trust was stressful.” “But I think I got to a place where I was like, why do I feel ashamed? I’m a 26-year-old man who’s single; it’s like, ‘yes, I have sex’,” he continued.

source source

[Nathan 2,079]

He’s right, but also..

[holy scheisse 20,802]

Yes it “should” be that way but also……… it gives me “color blind” vibes when it comes to racism as a parallel for example. Yes it would be great if we lived in a world where color didn’t matter, but it does because racism persists… so isn’t saying like, no labels!!! We don’t need to label ourselves! Sort of like a slap in the face to anti trans and anti lgbtq policies and hate crimes etc thst are very much real still? 

 

Just thinking aloud lol

[SEANGT 4,733]

girl....this aint it

[elijahfan 23,816]

4 hours ago, Teletubby said:

"I’m a 26-year-old man who’s single; it’s like, ‘yes, I have sex’,” he continued.

Seriously tho, is it really that important for him to label it? I mean, at this point he made it quite obvious that he's on the spectrum, and maybe he's slowly figuring things out about himself. He's still young, he has his whole life to figure out who he is. It's really none of people's business. I'm 29 and even I find it hard to label myself sometimes.

[LaLa 18,698]

I totally get what he’s saying, and it sounds like he has some issues to work through himself which is totally valid.

But people wanting to know isn’t just “media obsession”, representation is meaningful and I think fans wanting to have big successful pop stars that are openly queer to look up to is okay too

He certainly should get to do things in him own time though 

[Guest]

I personally do not care

[qoqo 3,040]

My two cents is that celebrities don’t owe us anything and if one decides to be open about a fragment of his being for the sake of representation it’s no more than a bonus

[Meat 18,962]

He doesn’t owe anyone any explanation. People should stop caring about the personal lives of strangers that don’t even know they exist. And wearing flashy clothes and painting your nails is not queerbaiting.

[Borisapillar 6,804]

Queerbating.

[LateToCult 37,120]

1 hour ago, Teletubby said:

I’m a 26-year-old man who’s single; it’s like, ‘yes, I have sex’,”

He’s 26??????? I thought he was about to be 30. 

[PartySick 138,810]

58 minutes ago, LaLa said:

I totally get what he’s saying, and it sounds like he has some issues to work through himself which is totally valid.

But people wanting to know isn’t just “media obsession”, representation is meaningful and I think fans wanting to have big successful pop stars that are openly queer to look up to is okay too

He certainly should get to do things in him own time though 

Agreed but on the representation point, I'd like to add that not everyone should be expected to be a hero or whatever you'd call them.

I definitely think he's right to keep it to himself 'cause the day he comes out as bi or pan or whatever he is, he's no longer "Harry Styles". He's "the queer artist, Harry Styles". And maybe he just doesn't want to be defined that way

[Stephen 29,664]

1 hour ago, LaLa said:

But people wanting to know isn’t just “media obsession”, representation is meaningful and I think fans wanting to have big successful pop stars that are openly queer to look up to is okay too

Exactly exactly exactly! The framing is weird. He's entitled to his privacy obviously but it feels disingenuous to frame it that way... as if he knows it seems more righteous to disregard it within that context. Someone should ask him about representation. 

[LaLa 18,698]

13 minutes ago, PartySick said:

Agreed but on the representation point, I'd like to add that not everyone should be expected to be a hero or whatever you'd call them.

I definitely think he's right to keep it to himself 'cause the day he comes out as bi or pan or whatever he is, he's no longer "Harry Styles". He's "the queer artist, Harry Styles". And maybe he just doesn't want to be defined that way

Oh I agree, nobody should have to be role model or whatever if that's not what they want. I just mean that there is more to it than "media obsession"

[edengowon 9,656]

he's not wrong in that sexuality *shouldn't* matter. sadly, however it does. i don't think it's a coincidence that the only celebrities who are SO keen to remain unlabelled are the ones who profit from remaining unlabelled. like it's obvious, whether he likes it or not, that the sexual and gender ambiguity around him and the whole 'is he or isn't he' is a huge selling point for him, and to come out one way or the other, or even say he's undecided, would damage the marketability of that aspect of him.

straight men can be feminine, of course they can, but i'm not sure it's a coincidence that he's always dropping *just enough* crumbs of information to stir up discussion (making subtle references to boys, homosexuality etc.) but not enough to damage his marketability to straight girls. people aren't asking him to pick an identity, they're just asking for some transparency so they can be sure this isn't all a marketing tactic. he can't be oblivious to the fact that the ambiguity makes him more money.

he's a big male artist on a major record label with a major management team, it isn't a stretch or huge jump to assume he IS just a straight guy using the ambiguity to make more money/a straight guy who's having that narrative pushed by his management, and that's why people feel entitled to know. not because they need to know everything about his personal life, but because people want to know if the artist who constantly alludes to being queer without ever saying so is just milking them for money.