THIRST TRAP INTERVIEWS
As some of you may remember, I spent the first half of 2020 quarantine recreating 100+ gay thirst traps. To refresh your memory, HERE is a PAPER Magazine article where I go into more detail about the project.
I’ve decided to continue exploring this world, interviewing some of the people I satirized.
In this special edition of the newsletter, I talk to Fran Tirado.
Enjoy!
TRAP #57 - FRAN TIRADO
In one sentence, how would you describe yourself and the work that you do?
I'm a writer and creative producer for queer and trans sh*t.
Define a thirst trap in your own words.
A public opportunity to get ass and/or sexual attention.
How did you feel (honestly) when you first saw that you were tagged in my photo/ parodied?
At first, not great. I kind of pride myself on being an advocate against body fascism in all its forms, and structurally hot gay Instagrammers played an integral role in completely destroying my self esteem during my early twenties — so to then be considered a part of that oppressive force had me experiencing a crisis of personality. But after I got to know your work, I really loved it and the initiative because it was parodied and because the critique on thirst trap culture was so spot on — I had no choice but to laugh at myself.
Do you think it was taken for a specific person?
I don't remember who I had a crush on at the time of this photo, but definitely.
Was this a first take?
This specific photo was, but it rarely ever is.
What is your honest opinion about Instagay thirst traps? Do you feel there’s a power to them? A perversity? A danger?
The term "thirst trap" is too capacious to make a sweeping generalization about it. What I can say is that the era of a structurally hot thirst trap — a cis, white, shredded Instagrammer — is about to be over. Susceptible as I am to them, to me there is truly nothing radical or empowering about them. But a thirst trap from someone who doesn't fit into a porn category? A gender nonconforming femme boricua? Or from a transmasc indigenous artist? Or from a fat, Black, disabled stripper? Those are the kinds of thirst traps I am excited about and subscribe to — even when they are gratuitous, irreverent, or totally superficial.
What is your honest opinion about parody, satire, and queer reading/roasting? Do you feel there’s a power to it? A danger? Where’s the line?
I personally love satire on thirst traps. I think a lot about the episode that satirized Instagays from "The Other Two" written by Cole Escola and the rest of the writing team — that is one of the funniest queer cultural critiques I've ever seen on a screen. I crave more conversations like those.
Did you post your photo in hopes that a certain person or a couple of people would see it and react? To “intentionally trap” someone so to speak?
I don't feel like the bathtub photo is that thirsty, but I've posted WAYthirstierthings and with those, I would absolutely say my intentions are pretty flagrant.
I'm not so much interested in "trapping" people into my content as I am just deeply insecure as a consequence of residual trauma from previous relationships, fundamentalist Christianity, and the fact that I grew up an extremely unpopular fat person throughout my childhood/teens. The very transparent validation I look for now on social media stems from that, and is exacerbated by the fact that I still feel invisible on dating apps, in queer bars, and throughout the ethos of gay dating culture. I know I'm not ugly, but to be up against people who closer fit Eurocentric beauty standards means that I have to take up a lot of space to even be considered.
Did you feel good after posting it/getting engagement?
Always.
Did you feel like you were creating a photo that was truly “yours” or (consciously or unconsciously) trying to match what you’ve seen circulating?
I feel confident as an arbiter of the bathtub content space.
What’s next? How will the thirst trap and Instagay economy evolve? Will it? Or are we forever stuck in this current iteration of trap-reality?
My hope is that the thirst trap space continues to decolonize, and if we see where cultural sentiment is leading us, yes body fascism will always have some power, but the tide is in our favor and will only get stronger.
Favorite or least favorite Instagay/celebrity thirst trap(s) and why?
I'm not gonna provide a "why" but his name rhymes with Garrett Mall.
Favorite thirst trap platform (IG/Twitter/TikTok?/Etc.)?
I really love Bayit leather and the intentionality they put behind their casting of different bodies we don't normally see in intimate/kinkwear brands.
Who makes you laugh?
My bff Rose Dommu
Anything else you want the world to know?
If you have a crush on me, I would like to know. DMs are open.
Fran is a writer/producer of queer things and host of the Food4Thot podcast. You can follow Fran on IG and Twitter @fransquishco. Subscribe to Fran’s newsletter here. Read the NYT profile on Fran here.
Thank you for reading!
Wanna read older newsletters? Sad essays? Funny jokes? It’s different every week, baby! Click here for the archive.
Reminder that you can still fill out this survey with your thoughts, questions, topics you want me to write about, etc!
-Meg
Social- @megspope@mpopetweets
Venmo- @mpope-venmo-26
Website- meganpopework.com
Donate to The Audre Lorde Project
NEWS:
My friend ZACH and I are doing a FUN WEB SERIES. Check out the trailer below and smash SUBSCRIBE.
(We also posted about this on IG and Twitter if you wanna go show it some love!)
Live theatre is in hibernation mode, but that doesn’t mean its artist’s vocal chords need to be. Enter “esteemed” “vocal”” coaches” Megan Pope and Zach Schiffman: the internet’s new voice teachers. From Larry Owens (A Strange Loop, Dash and Lily) to Katie Johantgen (The Office Musical Parody, Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical), Zach and Megan are taking tremendous talents and preparing them for Broadway’s eventual return. Each week, Zach and Megan hop on Zoom to get the theatre (and theatre-adjacent comedy community) singing again. Wanna learn some... unique warmups? Want to learn to act through singing through a webcam? Do you want a spot of tea? Tune in to Voice Lessons with Meg and Zach on Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram. Voice Lessons is produced by Claudia DeTrempe. This trailer is edited by Laura Conte.
ALSO! I’m teaching podcast classes now! Email me to sign up!
