Not Dressed Like That

by GeometricFlowers

Summary:

The Sheriff is not a homophobe.

Notes:

Okay, so, this is meta. I just need to get this off my chest, and I can’t navigate tumblr to save my life. (The only times I read stuff there is if it’s been linked from elsewhere.) Also, I’ve never written meta before. Wheeeee, head-first into a new fandom I go!

So I think a lot of fanfic and meta and whatnot has been written about that infamous scene where Stiles attempts to convince his father that he’s at the gay club to pick up dudes. You know the one:

Sheriff: You’re not gay.

Stiles: I could be…

Sheriff: Not dressed like that, you’re not.

I’ve heard explanations ranging from the Sheriff’s a homophobic dick (seriously, guys?), to him unintentionally displaying heteronormative tendencies, to poor writing choices from the creators, but I have a different theory.

Stiles happened to just show up at the scene of a crime wearing his usual baggy t-shirt and nondescript hoodie, and the Sheriff knows his son.

Okay, let’s start with the clothes, because that’s what was directly addressed. Look at every other guy in that club besides Stiles and the drag queens.

You’ll notice a lot of skin-tight shirts, jeans people must have been vacuum sealed into, bare chests; basically, you’ll see TV-land club wear.

Now what is Stiles wearing? Layers. He’s in an everyday outfit. You know if Stiles was going there with the intention of seduction or even just partying, he would have tried something sexier. He probably would have wound up looking hilarious- and still, somehow, hot- but he would not have just shown up looking like his everyday self.

And the Sheriff knows this.

Let’s also consider when exactly the Sheriff sees Stiles. A major incident involving (as far as he knows) hallucinogens, violence, and people going to the hospital is going on. And where is Stiles? Where he always is lately, right in the middle of it.

So, the Sheriff knows Stiles wasn’t there to pick up dudes, and when he says that’s why he was there, well, you can see why the Sheriff wasn’t letting him get away with it. Could it have been phrased more clearly? Yes. It sounded like bad stereotyping the way it came out. But I don’t think that was the intention and I don’t think that’s how Stiles took it. Because he knows his dad as well as his dad knows him.

Notes:

Please don't judge too harshly, I'm new at this.

P.S. I think the Sheriff would've taken Stiles coming out to him seriously, if it had happened at any other time, in any other way. Because the way he did it, it was obviously a cover-up for something else.