The Polarized Gender Dynamics of Black Swan Green
The gender dynamics portrayed in Black Swan Green are very polarizing, and they force Jason to choose between femininity and masculinity. As a teenage boy, Jason is expected to present in a hegemonically masculine way; he is expected to be a “hard-knock” and not to care about the consequences of his actions, because these are socially masculine traits, and if he doesn’t act this way, he will be deemed a “sissy” and berated for his femininity. While Jason is internally conflicted about these gender dynamics––his aspiring social persona conflicting with his love for poetry––he goes along with them anyway, refusing to behave in certain ways because he deems them “gay.” Jason isn’t only experiencing polarizing gender dynamics in his social life, though; in Jason’s home life, he experiences his mother and sister going against his dad’s attempt at acting as a traditionally masculine father and husband. We see Jason’s father, Michael, insult women in an attempt to win the approval of other men, and we see him struggle with the prospect of his wife being a second breadwinner in the family, threatening his masculinity. We see Jason’s mother, Helena, and sister, Julia, becoming more respected than Michael in Jason’s eyes for their eloquence and ambition in their careers. Jason is stuck between femininity and masculinity in both his social and personal life, and we see him shift away from the societal expectation of masculinity as his coming-of-age progresses.
In his social life, Jason is constantly trying to perform masculinity for his peers. He is constantly editing himself, hoping that nothing he does comes across as “gay,” and he is sure that one of the worst things that could ever happen to him would be for his poetry to be seen by his peers. Jason’s public persona is heavily edited, and not reflective of his true interests. In reality, Jason loves poetry; it’s clear by the way that he describes poetry as almost involuntary, feeling a poem come to him and having to write it. He attempts to publish his poetry, he actively seeks advice to make his poetry better, he clearly cares. But still, despite the clear care he has for poetry, and the ways that his poetry allows him to express his emotions freely and without judgement, he would never admit it publicly. Even to Madame Crommelynck, he admits that he is ashamed of writing poetry because it’s “sort of…gay” and “what creeps and poofters do” (Mitchell 153). Despite the fact that Maname Crommelynck is the safest person for Jason to discuss his poetry with, he still hides behind the shame that it’s “gay,” and that he should never admit it publicly. Though Jason faces a lot of internal struggle between his “feminine” interests and his outward “masculine” appearance, as the novel progresses, he gets more comfortable with not being the classic “hard-knock” masculine guy. As he gets more comfortable standing up to his bullies, he doesn’t do so by physically fighting him, but by using his words and his intelligence, two things that he hadn’t appreciated or been comfortable using earlier in the novel. When Jason is with Holly Deblin at the dance, he describes the song playing as beautiful, and remarks that “words like ‘beautiful’ you can’t use with boys you can use with girls” (Mitchell 175). To me, this marks a very important shift in Jason’s awareness of the gender dynamics of his world, and his comfort in his own masculinity. He understands that you can't use words like “beautiful” with guys, but that doesn’t stop him from using it with Holly Deblin. Throughout Jason’s coming-of-age, he becomes more comfortable in his social masculinity, and becomes less afraid to embrace the more feminine aspects of his personality.
Apart from the gender polarization in his social life, Jason also feels pulled between the feminine and masculine sides of his home life, as well. In the beginning of the novel, Jason respects his father and criticizes him very little. He idolizes his cousin, Hugo, for being so carefree and masculine, and looks to him for guidance. On the other hand, he doesn’t really see his sister as a viable figure of guidance in his life and isn’t very close with her, and he isn’t sure whether or not to side with his father or his mother when they argue. As Jason matures, he begins to look at Julia for guidance more and more. Julia, who clearly sides with her mom in most of their parents’ arguments, prompts Jason to think more critically about the issues between his mom and his dad and who is at the root of them. Jason becomes more aware when his dad makes misogynistic comments or when he sucks up to the other men in his life in an attempt to win their approval. When Michael makes a misogynistic comment to their gardener, Jason notes that the gardener responds with “a gardener’s nod. Not an ally’s nod,” showing Jason’s awareness of the anti-social aspects of his father’s misogynistic behaviour (Mitchell 117). The culmination of this struggle between the two sides of Jason’s family happens in Souvenirs, when Michael embarrasses Jason by sucking up to Mr. Craig Salt and throwing Jason under the bus, showing how little backbone he actually has, and Helena impresses Jason by dealing with the girls in her shop who were trying to steal from her. Jason is completely disillusioned by his father’s behavior, and surprised and impressed by his mother’s, giving him a new outlook on the two of them. By the end of the novel, Jason is also clearly relying on Julia much for guidance much more than he had in the earlier chapters. She gives him the confidence to go to the dance, supports him through his parent’s divorce, and urges him to keep writing. As Jason experiences his coming-of-age, he begins relying on and respecting the female role models in his life more than his male role models, which gives him a more nuanced outlook on the world than he had earlier in the novel, and gives him the courage to embrace his more feminine traits.
