First, a note:
Remember the article I wrote about Jughead through the different ages in America’s counter-cultures? Well, lately, I’ve been thinking about what I wrote, and I think I have another counter-culture that I didn’t initially include; the bohemian lifestyle. Thanks to the History Channel and their documentaries on the hippie culture in the 1960s, I would’ve never rectified this oversight.
I would give a lengthy explanation of what being a bohemian entails, but I’ll quote directly from, of all places, a wedding blog that summarizes the idea of the bohemian lifestyle quite succinctly:
Being “bohemian” means not only being carefree and enjoying life to the fullest; it also means being a peaceful, loving person with an adventurous spirit. This is why the bohemians of the 1960’s began this counter-culture based on non-conformity, the rejection of consumerism, and embracing the beauty of life and all its potentials.
I would say that from this description, Jughead is very much a bohemian, in both his ideology and dress style (if we’re solely talking about Jughead’s clothes, take a look at the covers I pulled in the article I wrote; many of the 1960s clothes fit into this category). That’s not to say that he’s not currently an amalgam of the most popular counter-cultures in America; that is something that I think is very much true, seeing as how he has been shoehorned into so many alternative lifestyles over the years. I guess you could say that technically, being a bohemian is just an extension of being a hippie, but I just thought that I would include a facet of counter-culture that I otherwise would’ve neglected.
Now to the meat of this article:
Everyone knows that Jughead is a man who’s sworn off women. Due to this part of his character, there are two beliefs that constantly butt heads-one being that Jughead is seen as a ladies’ magnet because he’s made himself the eternal bachelor and the second being that he’s gay. I’m not going to attempt to solve the question of whether or not Jughead is gay, but I will use this article to examine both arguments and the proof for each.
Argument #1-Jughead is a ladies’ magnet
The fact that he supposedly uninterested in women is enough to make Riverdale girls wonder if they could possibly be the girl who changes his mind. Take Trula Twyst, for example. She created a group of girls, J.U.S.T. (Jughead Under Surveillance Team), whose aim was to make Jughead pay more attention to girls. She studied the poor guy for a research project!
Other girls have fallen pray to thinking they could be the one to change Jughead. Of course we know about poor Ethel’s plight to be Jughead’s girlfriend:
But both Betty and Veronica have been swayed by Jughead, as stated in my last article. Veronica’s case makes things a whole lot more interesting, because she found out Jughead was a good kisser. This only makes it seem like the prize of having Jughead as a boyfriend is even harder to obtain.
Argument #2-Jughead is gay
This is actually quite fun to think about, as there is quite a bit of subtext in Archie Comics that could be used as proof-pretty good proof-that Jughead is gay. Take for instance, Jughead’s loyalty to Archie. Someone could look at this trait from the viewpoint that Jughead is just being a good friend. Or, a person would look at it from the viewpoint that Jughead must be loyal to Archie for some reason other than friendship (the picture above can be used as an example!) And, if you’re creative enough, a person could look at Jughead’s bantering with Reggie as Jughead letting off steam from one-sided sexual tension. If you’re interested, this website can explain the “Jughead is gay” argument much better than I could.
Now, I now Jughead was never intended to be a gay character, but if he was, I think he could be a very positive icon for young LGBT comic book fans to latch onto, since he’s comfortable in his own skin.
So there you have it. What do you think? Is Jughead straight, gay, or (dare I open up this possibility) even bi? Or does it even matter?
My bet would be that he’s either asexual (the sexual orientation, I mean, not the ‘reproducing by yourself’ thing), or aromantic.
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Personally, I think Jughead’s just Jughead. While I like the idea of him being gay or bi, it seems to me that he doesn’t have any set sexuality, which, in my opinion, is what has made him such a fun character for most people. While I like what Archie Comics’ did with Kevin Keller, I find that when a character has been introduced with their sexuality in mind then they become less dynamic. Even with Archie, Veronica, and Betty the emphasis has always been on their sexuality which has made them somewhat stagnant as actual characters (though I still love them.) Jughead, on the otherhand, has become incredibly relatable since he encompasses nearly every other innate urge humans have. He’s just an everyday sort of person and I think this is due to the fact that the little things, like his sexuality, have been sorely neglected throughout the series. So even though having a solid answer would be neat, I feel like it would ruin him as a character which, in turn, would take a lot away form the series.
I guess what I’m trying to say is: I think he’s gay, but I never want to find out for sure. Because I like Jughead and would hate to see him go the way of nearly every other character in a series whose sexuality became the main focus.