Some Game of Thrones fans got weirded out when Arya Stark, a character they’ve watched grow up on screen, disrobed and got down and dirty with handsome blacksmith Gendry during the HBO drama’s April 21 episode. Others had another pressing issue with the sex scene: Isn’t Arya supposed queer?
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happy for Arya and a nice lil consensual empowering moment of sex on the show but Arya Stark not being a powerful lesbian is the LEAST believeable thing in this show about zombies and dragons #GamefThrones
— maria “chronic acid reflux” harfouche? (@MariaHarfouche) April 22, 2019
arya stark is a lesbian bye
— ? (@chalvmts) April 22, 2019
arya stark’s sexuality is either “queer” or “war” and nothing else
— Jill Gutowitz (@jillboard) April 22, 2019
i don’t watch game of thrones but arya stark is a lesbian
— kaija (@softsarda) April 22, 2019
In an article titled “We Can All Agree That Arya Stark Is Actually a Lesbian, Right?” BuzzFeed’s Lauren Yapalater writes, “Not only is Arya a power top, but also that outfit was definitely ordered off of Wildfang.”
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Plus, the lass formerly known as the Girl With No Name didn’t exactly seem to be in post-coital bliss, impending White Walker invasion notwithstanding.
Arya: “Yep, I’m definitely gay” pic.twitter.com/vZ3s2rXjPO
— Clypi (@clypi) April 22, 2019
Perhaps we’re overthinking all of this. Maisie Williams’ pal and Game of Thrones costar Sophie Turner may well have the best explanation of this unexpected turn of events.
this vid of sophie turner talking about arya’s sex scene last night is art pic.twitter.com/v7J1B2sQmw
— lauren yap (@itslaurenyap) April 22, 2019
fauxsherrrr
I don’t think it’s ever been said on the show but now it’s cleared up. Just because a female character possesses traditionally “masculine” traits does not mean she’s automatically a lesbian.
DCguy
Hollywood certainly loves to pretend that LGBT people don’t exist. For the the biopic on a Russian Ballet dancer who defected, they director Ralph Fiennes is pretending nobody really knows if he was gay, even though he defected to live as a gay man.
Just more Hollywood straight-washing.
guest83
Exactly, just because a girl is (more or less) masculine, doesn’t mean she’s gay.
There are plenty of gay couples on TV. But nobody complain when obviously asexual Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory had sex. Now that was unbelievable.
Donston
We are talking about a fictional person. And just being a female who’s not “girly” and who has some masculine instincts hardly equates to being lesbian. Just like being a guy who has some feminine traits hardly equates to being gay. Stereotypes and “gaydar” do exists for reasons, but they hardly represent perfect reflections of the romantic, sexual, affection, relationship ambition sides of every person. It is somewhat disappointing that a show with such an expansive cast has only had “queer” characters who are inconsequential, uninteresting and/or killed quickly.
Kieru
The series has built up Arya’s sexual interest in Gendry over the past few seasons. It’s basically lined up with Arya just physically maturing. The whole idea that her interest in weaponry and self-defense somehow correlates to her sexual orientation is just… narrow-minded.
By that logic Brienne of Tarth is a lesbian, even though the show clearly states that she was madly in love with Renly Baratheon (who WAS gay). And while it’s more heavily developed in the books she’s also falling in love with Jaime Lannister.
But you know… muscular woman who wears armor. Must be a lesbian. Sure.
Donston
I don’t really feel that it built towards. So much of the final couple of seasons feel like fan service and randomness to me. There were some attractions and interests hinted to in the second season. But their sexual encounter hardly felt well thought out. I didn’t have an issue with it like a lot of people however. There definitely has been no hints that Arya had any type of romantic, sexual, affectionate, relationship, etc. feelings towards females. So, getting mad about her getting it on with a dude doesn’t make much sense. But a lot of this stuff is just jokes.