Ruby Rose’s Batwoman casting prompted celebration, but the backlash tells us a lot about our era

After being cast as the gay superhero, Rose deleted her Twitter account amid a barrage of criticism that she is not Jewish or ‘gay enough’

What a difference a few days make. Last week, we were cheering the decision to cast Ruby Rose as Batwoman, the first openly gay superhero to headline a TV series. Here was a small nugget of good news in a world that increasingly makes Gotham City look like Green Gables. As Rose, who is a gender-fluid lesbian, put it: “This is something I would have died to have seen on TV when I was a young member of the LGBT community who never felt represented on TV and felt alone and different.”

Fast-forward a few predictable social-media “discussions” and Rose has left Twitter amid the kind of backlash Batman would never face. According to the #RecastBatwoman hashtag, which Wide Awoke advises you not to bother checking out, Rose is the wrong choice because she is not Jewish, not a good enough actor, not lesbian enough … and on the misogyny-posing-as-fan-criticism goes. “When women and minorities join forces we are unstoppable,” Rose wrote before deleting her account. “When we tear each other down, it’s much more hurtful than from any group.”

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2B4ssMQ
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