In Boys Don't Cry, the transgender identity of Brandon is demonstrated and established through the construction of a transgender gaze. Audiences have access to adopt Brandon's gaze and see from the position of him as a transgender man. At the beginning of the film, audiences are able to see Brandon's reflection in the mirror with him after he has a haircut. In this scene, he wears clothes that are culturally associated with men and put socks in his jeans to simulate a penis. From the conversation between him and his cousin, audiences would understand that he is a trans man who was assigned female at birth. Similarly, when Brandon has a period in Candace's home, he stands in front of a full-length mirror after taking a shower and puts socks in his pants. Audiences are put in a position that can adopt his gaze towards his image in the mirror again,seeing the chest wrap he wears and the fake penis he uses in order to maintain a masculine appearance. These two scenes showing Brandon's gaze towards his reflection in the mirror demonstrate the disjunction between his “felt sense” of the body and his body's corporeal contour ( Salamon 2). He considers himself to be a male, but his body is biologically female. Consequently, he changes his appearance to display attributes that are associated with masculinity by social norms. The transgender identity of Brandon is further constituted by the gaze that appears in the romantic relationship between him and his girlfriend Lana. For example, there is a shot/reverse-shot sequence between Brandon and Lana when they first meet each other in the bar, showing that Brandon falls in love with her at first sight. In this sequence,his gaze appreciates the charm and beauty of Lana, which implies his sexual desire as a transgender man. According to Butler, Brandon's transgender experience represents an “incoherent” or “discontinuous” gendered being (23). The norms of cultural intelligibility require a coherent relationship among biological sex, culturally constituted genders, sexual practice, and desire. To be assigned female at birth, Brandon is supposed to exhibit femininity and develop romantic relationships with males, instead of considering himself as a male. His experience also proves gender to be performative (Butler 33). Through adopting attributes that are culturally regulated to be masculine, he passes into a man and his credible masculinity is acknowledged by other people.The transgender identity of Brandon does not preexist his deeds but is constituted by the behaviours he performs as a man.
However, Brandon's transgender identity falls into crisis when Lana's friends and families discover his biological sex as well as his past experience as a girl. They gather at the living room of Lana's house and interrogate him. As an incoherent gender being who fails to conform to the intelligible gender norms, Brandon's masculinity is no longer acknowledged or accepted by them. They ask Brandon “who you are” and demand him to admit that he is actually a woman. In this scene, Lana's friends and families represent the hegemony of the intelligible genders. It is assumed that there is a truth of sex associated with one's body: gender expressions and sexual practices of an individual are predetermined by the gendered body (Butler 23). If Brandon has a female genital,he can only perform femininity and express sexual desire towards males as mandated by the heterosexual matrix. The existence of gender identities that do not display the coherence among sex, gender and sexual practices is unacceptable. Consequently, the agency of Brandon to choose to perform masculinity with his female body is denied by them. In this situation, the masculinity of Brandon is preserved only through Lana's willingness to see him as a male. When Brandon is brought to the bathroom by John and Tom who examines his crotch violently, a hyperreal sequence is created to show the complexity of transgender identity. In this sequence, there is a transgender gaze that appears between two Brandons: one is naked, tortured in the bathroom, the other is fully-clothed, standing outside the bathroom as an onlooker.The naked Brandon represents that he is suffered from the hegemony of intelligible genders as well as the male gaze employed by John and Tom. The clothed Brandon suggests that he is rescued by Lana for her refusal to look when his manhood is in question (Halberstam 88 ). This shot/reverse-shot sequence between two Brandons also demonstrates that the transgender identity is a combination of incompleteness and possibility. On the one hand, his naked body represents that he is a castrated man. On the other hand, with a body that is assigned to be female at birth, Brandon obtains the agency to perform masculinity, which constitutes a new identity and creates an alternate future for him.The clothed Brandon suggests that he is rescued by Lana for her refusal to look when his manhood is in question (Halberstam 88). This shot/reverse-shot sequence between two Brandons also demonstrates that the transgender identity is a combination of incompleteness and possibility. On the one hand, his naked body represents that he is a castrated man. On the other hand, with a body that is assigned to be female at birth, Brandon obtains the agency to perform masculinity, which constitutes a new identity and creates an alternate future for him.The clothed Brandon suggests that he is rescued by Lana for her refusal to look when his manhood is in question (Halberstam 88). This shot/reverse-shot sequence between two Brandons also demonstrates that the transgender identity is a combination of incompleteness and possibility. On the one hand, his naked body represents that he is a castrated man. On the other hand, with a body that is assigned to be female at birth, Brandon obtains the agency to perform masculinity, which constitutes a new identity and creates an alternate future for him.with a body that is assigned to be female at birth, Brandon obtains the agency to perform masculinity, which constitutes a new identity and creates an alternate future for him.with a body that is assigned to be female at birth, Brandon obtains the agency to perform masculinity, which constitutes a new identity and creates an alternate future for him.
However, the possibility for Brandon to perform masculinity is deprived after he was brutally raped by John and Tom. As Halberstam points out, when Lana comes to visit Brandon after the rape, Brandon starts to interact with her as if he were a woman and their relationship changes to be a lesbian relationship (89). The transgender gaze is replaced by a female gaze. This plot implies the limit of the theory of performativity, which disavows the possible influence of materiality of the body on gender identity. Butler states that gender is a set of free-floating attributes regulated by social norms, and there is no necessary link between gender and anatomical shape (33). Consequently, Brandon can always perform masculinity through various gender expressions. However, physical attributes, such as genitals,cannot be easily adopted or removed in the performances. Although Brandon perceives himself as a man, he is raped as a female because of the body he has. This traumatic experience will make it difficult for him to sustain masculinity because he has become the victim of the brutal manhood. He is considered to be a threat to the supremacy of the white manhood that John and Tom try to defend. His bodily experience would affect his felt sense of the body, rendering his awareness of his body with female organs. Consequently, the transgender gaze does not sustain throughout this film.He is considered to be a threat to the supremacy of the white manhood that John and Tom try to defend. His bodily experience would affect his felt sense of the body, rendering his awareness of his body with female organs. Consequently, the transgender gaze does not sustain throughout this film.He is considered to be a threat to the supremacy of the white manhood that John and Tom try to defend. His bodily experience would affect his felt sense of the body, rendering his awareness of his body with female organs. Consequently, the transgender gaze does not sustain throughout this film.
Works Cited
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble . Routledge, 1990.
Halberstam, Judith. In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives . New York University Press, 2005.
Salamon, Gayle. Assuming a Body Transgender and Rhetorics of Materiality . Columbia University Press, 2010.
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