Lightbulb moments in media

[Mo]

Have you ever had an experience of watching/reading something and come across a scene, character interaction, general vibe, or something else that helped part of your identity click into place?

I believe I've shared this on here before, several years ago, but as goofy as it is, the movie But I'm a Cheerleader is what made me finally realize I wasn't straight! There's a very soft and dreamy makeout scene late in the film that gave me such a sense of longing when I watched it that I was able to piece together some of the feelings I'd been having about women in general and one friend in particular. It's a silly movie overall, but that one very sincere scene hit me so hard I had to stay up late processing it with a friend.

I didn't come across anything that worked quite the same way in terms of my gender identity, although I think a lot of that is due to the lack of content twenty years ago. Kate Bornstein's Gender Outlaw was definitely a formative gender text for me, but my reaction to it was "okay, more things are possible than I realized" than "aha! I have an answer now!" It was a door opening, not a lightbulb turning on.

I'd love to hear what caused this sort of reaction for other people, whether it's as silly as my example or not!

[Sofi]

This is SUCH a silly answer, but when Britney Spears and Madonna kissed at the 2003 VMAs...it was like "oh. THAT'S what I want to do. interesting", so yes, two straight women helped me realize I wasn't straight. The irony!

[Raffles]

I was just thinking about this today, actually. I based my middle school fashion sense on Avril Lavigne wearing a tie. The "Part of Me" music video where Katy Perry cuts off her hair and pretends to be a man to join the military gave me feelings. It was nothing specific, more just like "Huh. That's an option I guess." This was later confirmed when a buzzfeed video about genderdiverse people came across my scrolling and I thought "Wow! Wish I could be like that." Looking back, it's pretty funny that I didn't realize who I am earlier.

[Mo]

There is something funny about looking back and seeing what seem to be HUGE obvious signs in retrospect that weren't obvious at all at the time.

[toomani]

when watching movies and shows as a kid, during kissing scenes i always looked at the girls. vanessa hudgens in high school musical really did it for me… hehe.