We arenât entirely sure what a âbottom iconâ is, but apparently everyoneâs been calling pop darling Troye Sivan one.
Again, weâve never heard the phrase before, as it pertains to Sivan or anyone else, but it sounds like a real honor?
In a recent interview with Them, Sivan fielded questions about music and acting and bottoming.
Related:Â Troye Sivan just released his summer anthem and itâs all about bottoming
How about we take this to the next level?
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âThereâs been a lot of fanfare about the single, âBloom,â being implicitly about bottoming,â Davey Davis informs Sivan at one point in the convo, before asking: âDo you have your queer audiences in mind when youâre writing about those kinds of experiences?â
Short answer: Yes.
But things dig a little deeper, so to speak, as Troyeâs very lovely response about making unabashed queer music for queer people (which you can read in the full interview here) leads to this followup:
âIt did make me wonder, though, as everyoneâs saying, âTroye is a queer icon. Heâs a twink icon. Heâs a bottom iconâ â is that something you strongly identify with personally? Are you like, âThatâs me, Iâm a bottom, and thatâs my sexuality!â or is that reductive?â
Related:Â Troye Sivan and Ariana Grande break it down in new video for âDance To Thisâ
If anyone out there is unironically self-identifying as a âbottom iconâ, you are encouraged to get in touch with us at [email protected]; we have questions.
Sivan, however, is not one of those people.
âCompletely reductive,â he responded. âWithout getting into like any sort of details whatsoever, that was a song I wrote about a particular experience. Iâm not branding that as myself forever. It was definitely just writing a song.â
A song, we might add, thatâs a real bop.
Check it out below:
Xzamilloh
Okay, well everyone else weighed and the consensus was “No” and “Who is this?”
orjeffy
Not really. I’m an Old and aware of him and like his music.
Xzamilloh
Good for you.
MatchMaker
Really, Who is this? đ
mr guy
Big music fan here. Finally listening to this much hyped track…and after I prize the screwdrivers out of the bloodied apertures formerly known as my eardrums Iâll tell you if it was worth it
PinkoOfTheGange
I’ve heard auto-tune doesn’t work if you can actually sing…anyone know if that is true?
But an icon of any kind? No.
OzJosh
98% of people don’t actually know what auto-tune is, and couldn’t detect it in 99% of instances. Many hear effects like the vocoder used on so many latter Cher tracks and thinks that’s auto-tune. It’s not; it’s just an effect, and one that distorts, not corrects. The sound on the Sivan tracks is just an effect too. It’s not auto-tune.
djmcgamester
Do bottoms (or tops, or verse guys) need an icon? Stupid.
Bryguyf69
Believe or not, the answer is yes — specifically, for the young fans for whom he is a role model or icon. Bottoming still has a stigma of being less than manly, and for many, it’s fulfills the stereotype of being effeminate or weak. While I personally find nothing wrong with effeminate men, that’s no so with the general public — or many gays. For example, watch how gay activists indignantly protest, “We’re not all limp-wristed or hairdressers!” And just what is intrinsically wrong with being limp-wristed? Why is being a football player valued more than a hairdresser? You don’t see these activists protest other gay stereotypes: “We don’t all have disposable incomes! We’re not all neat! We don’t all like fashion! We’re not all artsy!”
Bottom (no pun intended) line: Topping is considered superior to bottoming, and bottoming is often the butt of jokes (again, no pun intended). For example, dropping a bar of soap in the shower. As such, teens and tweets, both gay and straight, can benefit from a celebrity admitting to bottoming. And for that demographic, Troye Sivan is a more effective proponent than say, Sir Ian McKellan, trumpeting the joys of bottoming.
There was a pretty good study a few years ago that found the factors causing painful receptive anal sex. Among them is shame and internalized homophobia. Normalizing bottoming is then a good and necessary thing.
judysdad
Yuck.
nitejonboy
I used to enjoy his music back when not every song was about being gay.