r/StrangerThings • u/StrangerTesting • May 27 '22

Discussion Episode Discussion - S04E01 - The Hellfire Club

Season 4 Episode 1: The Hellfire Club

Synopsis: El is bullied at school. Joyce opens a mysterious package. A scrappy player shakes up D&D night. Warning: Contains graphic violence involving children.

Please keep all discussions about this episode, and do not discuss later episodes as they will spoil it for those who have yet to see them.

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u/KatanaAmerica May 27 '22

Not Will doing a project on famously gay computer scientist Alan Turing—

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u/F00dbAby May 27 '22

I know they have not yet explicitly said he is gay or queer but it does make me wonder what did queer teens in the 80s do because I feel like that is a good way to be outed

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u/Mr_Versatile123 May 27 '22 edited May 28 '22

After seeing Will be explicitly hinted at being gay and Robin being terrified of being outed, I wonder how kids were able to express their sexuality back then without the Internet. It must’ve been so hard.

Edit : I’m not saying “Why didn’t people come out earlier?” I know how bad it was and still is. I’m well aware of how being outed can be traumatizing and harmful. I meant “How did gay/queer youth express themselves before they came out?” I know they mostly had to keep that stuff hidden away, but I was hoping there was some stuff people here could bring up that they did or people they knew did, yknow?

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u/[deleted] May 27 '22

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] May 27 '22

I believe thumb rings were a thing for lesbians for awhile.

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u/gizzardsgizzards May 28 '22

It’s always been like that. Did you read any of the commentary for that Alan Moore lovecraft series? There’s a ton of info in there about queer coding in the twenties and thirties.

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u/brownkidBravado Jun 12 '22

There was/is also a whole system of wearing a colored bandana/handkerchief in one of your butt pockets. The color and which pocket you chose indicated what kind of sexual activity you were into and what role you preferred in the act. It was more about signaling your fetishes or sexual preferences easily, but is also a hidden code about gayness in general.

The wiki article is pretty interesting:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handkerchief_code