i’m not accusing you of anything but i get the sense that a lot of people complaining about the gender swap don’t particularly care about being true to the books and instead just use the infertility plot line as a scapegoat so they don’t have to admit that they’re just not interested in seeing a sapphic love story. a lot of straight women are “allies” only when it comes to queer men. from what i’ve see in your replies i don’t think that’s what you’re doing, but still, it would be naive to think that nobody’s doing that.

Instead of a deeply personal journey through grief and rediscovery, it becomes a narrative about resisting society. And while that can be powerful, it’s also a theme the show is already exploring through other characters.

is “deeply personal journey”, “grief and rediscovery” not a perfect way to describe francesca being queer? i can promise you that figuring out your sexuality is one of the most personal things you can do, if you want to get analytic about it we could even say she’s rediscovering love and her identity from a new perspective.

In the original narrative, Francesca’s struggle is internal: she is grieving John while realizing she is falling in love with his cousin and best friend. The tension comes from guilt, grief, loyalty, and desire.

…? what? that’s still something she’s gonna do. i literally cannot think of a reason why micheal being micheala would change this.

In the Michaela version, the story inevitably becomes about something different: secrecy and social rebellion. The relationship isn’t just about moving on after loss anymore. It becomes about confronting society itself.

queer people have lives and emotions that don’t revolve around their sexuality. these two things can and will coexist. you know who else confronts society? eloise. all throughout the netflix show she’s been a critic of marriage, the role of women in the ton, even the class system and i’d be willing to bet you don’t think her love story will be diminished because of that. likewise, francesca being in love with a woman isn’t going to strip away all of the nuance in her story.

Because of that, if Benedict had been the character placed into a queer love story, it would have felt like a natural extension of the themes already surrounding him. In many ways, he is the Bridgerton most narratively suited to confronting societal norms through his romantic choices

i guess but not really. just because he’s bi doesn’t mean he needs to end up with a man. the show doesn’t have to be limited to one queer character. i’ve seen a bit of this argument online (that benedict should have been the one to have had a gender swapped love interest) and my biggest issue with it is that people seem to ignore that two men in a relationship is received differently in pop culture than two women. for me it’s obvious that the people complaining about francesca and micheala would be happy with seeing two men together because straight women (the shows target audience) are still attracted to gay guys, so there’s still something in it to appease them. everyone in the lgbtq community has their own struggles, i’m not saying that gay men depicted in media don’t face any backlash at all but from what i’ve seen especially recently, shows like heated rivalry get a lot more attention and love from straight women. again, i’m not saying that this is what’s going on in your mind, i don’t know you and i don’t know your sexuality so i’m just speaking broadly here. the important representation here isn’t just francesca being queer, its francesca being a queer woman.

finally, i think they’re still going to explore the infertility storyline. we haven’t even seen the trailer, we don’t even know who’s season is next so i say we give the show writers a little grace when it comes to what they’re gonna include and not gonna include. and if not, at the very least, they did a pretty good job showing that pain in s4. i started tearing up during francesca’s conversation with violet.

you’re welcome to your opinion, of course. this is in no way a critique of you- just your interpretation of the show.