Do my OCs come across as homophobic?
Hello!
I'll start by saying I'm very much a hobbyist and I just write for myself.
I have two male characters. Initially, I wanted to pair a "hard" character (guarded, closed-off, self-reliant) with a "soft" one (sensitive, emotional, people-oriented) because I thought they'd have a fun dynamic. The "hardie" ended up being a reserved, smart workaholic, who is very put together and has difficulty expressing his feelings, and the "softie" one is a quiet, disorganized artist, very attuned to others' emotions, but otherwise "not the sharpest tool in the shed".
The problem is, once I strip the characters down to the basics, they fall into that stereotype, where gay partners are viewed as a very traditional heterosexual couple and "fill" the roles of a man and a woman. And, you know, the man is supposed to be this stoic, unwavering breadwinner with the brains™, and the woman is the emotional, delicate little flower, who was born to care for others and do house chores — which kind of sounds like my characters. I think I've managed to be both homophobic and sexist here (double kill!), and it wasn't my intention at all.
The characters have bits that break them out of the stereotype (the "hardie" character likes to clean and garden, and the "softie" one is incredibly messy and has some dry humor), and their backgrounds overall shape their personalities, rather than their perception of masculinity or homosexuality, specifically (one learned that being in control means being safe, another learned that being invisible has its benefits), but I'm not sure it's enough.
Can you share your thoughts? Do you see the problem? Am I overthinking it? Can I fix them without scrapping them completely?
Thank you for reading!