Anatomy as Authenticity

In a perfect world, any modern adaptation of a Shakespeare play would take the latent queerness in the work and run with it. Many productions have done this, particularly for the stage, and many haven't. She's the Man has ample opportunity to be one of the former, and it passes up every one in favor of adhering to rigid constructions of gender and sexuality, sacrificing progressiveness for a reliance on jokes rooted in harmful binaries.

The list of mismanaged moments in the film is not short, but perhaps the crowning piece of heteronormativity comes during the climax of the film – the use of characters' anatomy as definitive proof of their gender identities.

In the nineties, this kind of conflation of physical sex and gender might have gotten a pass for being an artifact of its time. But She's the Man came out in 2006, and by then even Gender Trouble had been around long enough to start seeming problematic in light of the growing collective understanding of theory in queer communities. In any case, people involved with She's the Man knew about passing on a budget, packing with socks and binding with ace bandages; presumably, in their research on FTM presentation, they would have come across the idea that anatomy does not, in fact, dictate gender identity.

After all, these strategies for passing exist as a means of circumventing physical and social gender dysphoria – intense discomfort or trauma inspired by a person's anatomy not 'matching' with their experienced gender identity. The source of dysphoria varies; it can come from a personal feeling of wrongness in one's own body, or from social interactions hinging on assumptions of gender made by others. It's often an indicator of a trans identity for the people who experience it.

In a more radical world, 'Sebastian' having breasts would imply nothing about his gender identity one way or the other. The film certainly had any number of chances to be transgressive in that vein, and to bring little scraps of queer theory into the mainstream. Instead, the script manages to make even a film about a female-identified person learning to feel confident presenting male a travesty of binaries and outdated assumptions about gendered bodies.

They're the Worst: Genderfication's role in She's the Man

After viewing She’s The Man, we discussed in-depth the notions of misogyny and objectification present in the film.  Olivia does not have a shred of motivation in her character other than getting Sebastian, Viola’s mother displays a strict adherence to the gender norm of what a female “should” be, and the other female characters are either made fun of for not being classically attractive (such as Eunice) or are only present as sex objects (Monique, Yvonne, and Kia).

Taking this logic a step further, I would even argue that Viola, while having agency in regards to achieving  her goal- to make the man’s soccer team- ultimately still portrays a situation where she wants to get revenge on a man.  After her boyfriend Justin states that “soccer is only for men”, she dumps Justin.  While the film presents itself as a story of her showing that she can fit in on the team, it could still be read as a male centered narrative.  By having Viola’s anger at Justin motivate the beginning of the film, it gives him the agency and the power.  This differs from the play, where Viola makes the decision to cross dress on her own, for her own protection.  Viola in Shakespeare’s version of the play is much more independent.

However, while genderfication definitely rears its ugly head in regards to women, it does not hold its punches when it comes to male roles either.  Even when overlooking the idea that each man in her dormitory is somehow completely oblivious to Viola’s cross dressing, they all conform to the stereotype of un-intelligent hyper masculinity.  Duke, Toby, and the rest of their gang are muscular and aggressive.  None of them understand how to talk to women (marking them repeatedly as the “other”), and use the objectification of women for Viola to fit in with them.  This is augmented by their coach role models, who repeatedly call their players “girls”.   Those that do not fit this ideal, such as the principal and the RA, are viewed as creepy, weird, and perverted.  While Sebastian and Paul do not have hyper masculine aspects to their character either, Sebastian is slotted into the typical guitar man whore archetype, while Paul is subjected to the gay best friend role.  Neither feel like real characters with real motivations.  In this way, She’s The Man fails to create real people.  It relies entirely on society’s constructed gender roles to create an ultimately flimsy adaptation of Twelfth Knight.

Bechdel on Steroids

Luke mentioned that homoeroticism, and in turn, homophobia, being used as a punch line is very common in today’s society. Whether it be the scene in She’s the Man when Malvolio the tarantula is in Duke and Sebastian's room they're jumping up and down on the bed hugging and screaming, but when they realize they're hugging they separate and scream even louder, or the blatant, “paging Dr. Faggot” in “The Hangover.” I was so shocked to hear people actually laugh at that when it was in “The Hangover.” Albeit the timing was funny because his girlfriend/fiancée is so uptight, but the whole joke was that he was called a faggot, which she then repeated back to him, “you better go Dr. Faggot.” What makes that kind of stuff funny, like actually where is the humor in it? Is it funny to be called gay? Is faggot a funny-sounding word? Or is that just the worst possible insult his friends could think of and that’s why they shouted it through the window?

This is why I’m proposing a new Bechdel test to evaluate the level of homophobic behavior parallel to the amount of homosocial relationships in the movie. As we know from the original Bechdel test, it is rare for two women to be having an independent conversation not talking about getting a man or having kids. This offers plenty of opportunity for men to be talking about a variety of different things whether with other women or alone. Hence: lots of opportunity for homosocial bonding.

Alison Bechdel, creator of the original Bechdel test

The new Bechdel test would be:

1) Is there a direct conversation between two men not talking about getting a girl

2) Is there no sort of homosexual joke, parody behavior, or homophobic tension regarding that conversation

Answer is, probably not. Although many, many movies involve male bonding over a variety of things other than getting a woman, few of these movies go the full run time without a single homophobic joke or punch line. Even Ron Howard slips homophobia into his new movie, “The Dilemma” with the opening lines, “Electric cars are gay. Not homosexual gay, but ‘my parents are chaperoning the dance’ gay.” As a result Anderson Cooper stepped in and pointed it out on CNN, and the new trailer was not publicized heavily by any means. To come out of the blue at a time when we have been making strides towards anti-gay bullying and finally noticing the negative effects of gay jokes and gay targeting is beyond a punch line.

One movie that would pass the “new Bechdel test” is “Big Daddy” the Adam Sandler Movie when the two male lawyers, who had not had their sexual identities revealed to the audience, kissed passionately. When one character attempts homophobic behavior with the line, “I gotta admit, it weirded me out a little when those guys kissed.” Adam Sandler responds, “"Why? They’re gay. That’s what gay guys do."

In one fell swoop, gay people are demystified and romanticized – but not overly-sexualized. Woo hoo!

In Twelfth Night, the Duke Orsino is in love with Olivia. Viola falls in love with Orsino, while disguised as a boy, Cessario. Olivia falls in love with Cessario. This love triangle is only resolved when Olivia happens to fall in love with Viola's twin brother, Sebastian and at the last second, Orsino decides that he actually loves Viola. The movie She's the Man some-what mirrors this play and twists it into a more modern version. The title page of this movie goes something like... “Everybody has a secret… Duke wants Olivia, who likes Sebastian, who is really Viola, whose brother is dating Monique, so she hates Olivia, who’s with Duke to make Sebastian jealous, who is really Viola, who’s crushing on Duke, who thinks she’s a guy…”Sounds about right except some major homo-social/sexual tensions they leave out of the movie that are included in the play. While I think the movie does a great job of "destroying social norms" like this buzzfeed article suggests, there are still homophobic qualities that were pretty disappointing, but that's just how Hollywood and our society still work right now.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/lilyhiottmillis/21-times-shes-the-man-totally-destroyed-gender-norms#.yraMYmYo5

What fascinates me the most about these differences between the actual play and the movie is that the differences mostly surround the homo-social/sexual relationships found in the play. Like the fact that Duke Orsino is definitely attracted to Viola when she is dressed as the boy, Cessario. After they are married, while she is still dressed as a male, and even calls her "boy." In the movie, there is no sexual tension between Duke and Viola ( while she is dressed as Sebastian) and there is even some homophobic qualities that come out of Duke when she sometimes forgets to act more manly and when they are jumping on the bed scared of the spider.
And in opposition to the play, when Viola and Duke end up together, she is in a dress at a ball.



Also, there are a ton of derogatory comments from the coaches made toward the soccer players in the movie referring to them as "girls," or "playing like girls," etc. While I understand athletics is added into the movie version, why is a film that is "destroying gender norms" adding these comments in and then having one of the same characters saying his team doesn't discriminate. This seems contradictory to me but maybe it's because I'm so conscious of these issues, especially after taking this Shakespeare course!

So, my question is, why is our society less progressive in this take on the play than Shakespearean society, especially when we claim to be so progressive towards these homophobic issues? 

Why Soccer in She's the Man?

After reading Twelfth Night and other Shakespearian works that include transvestite theater, the inclusion of soccer to the plot of She’s the Man, seems like the perfect plot enhancer.

After discussions in class about Shakespeare’s characters, such as Viola, Rosalind, and/or Portia ability to effectively act as a male. It makes sense that the writers of She’s the Man would want an activity that perhaps their female, in disguise as a male, would realistically be able to take part in. Of course, there is an argument to be made that a female could do this for any sport, but without getting into a gender debate, soccer makes the most sense.

Men or Women's soccer??

 Soccer is one of the few popular sports with male and female equivalency.  Think about it. There if football, a primarily male sport, with no other “female” equivalency. With baseball there is softball, a completely separate sport. In men and women’s basketball, although they are very similar there are several different rules for each gender, plus despite the similarities, the basketball size is different for both. In volleyball, the net for men and women’s are at different height. Unlike all the sports mentioned above, there is an equivalent to men’s soccer for women and the rules do not change based on gender.

Viola probably could have worn her hair up...

I feel that there is a modern day anxiety questioning Shakespeare’s ability to realistically portray a female dressed as a male and for it to appear plausible. We have examined different interpretations to how to handle cross-dressing, comical, realistic, effective. After reading reviews on She’s the Man, many people are critical towards the plot, saying it’s not really believable—which isn’t necessarily the point. Even though overall the movie is handled as a comedy and probably not meant to be believable, there is a sense of realism to it because of Viola/Sebastian’s ability to take part in a sport that is meant for both males and females. I wonder how the movie would have been different if the sport would have been football, per say.

Cross Dressing Women

Out of the plays we have read so far, Shakespeare continually questions gender roles and politics. Within The Merchant of Venice, Portia is introduced as a desirable woman before we even meet her.

Portia’s wealth makes her an immediate meal ticket for Bassanio, and she immediately takes on the masculine quality of being in power or control because of this wealth.

When Portia cross-dresses as a lawyer and saves Antonio’s life during the big trial scene she also crosses the gender lines (quite literally) and not only is she clever enough to save Bassanio’s BFF (or possible lover?) she also makes it so both men owe her big time.

Portia maintains these male traits when she tricks Bassanio into giving her the ring (the one she made him promise to never part from) In doing this, Portia is able to regain agency within the limited circumstances that her father left for her to live in. She basically tells Bassanio that he better not fuck up again, and that she can do presumably whatever she wants. By the end of the play, Portia has successfully tricked the men into believing she was a male judge, and she outsmarts everyone and winds up on top. 

After Portia, Shakespeare gives us Rosalind in As You Like It. Rosalind takes cross dressing to an even greater level than Portia does. Not only does Rosalind cross dress as Ganymede, she causes all sorts of a  cluster fuck of relationships that cannot possibly work. Rosalind is an interesting character because she not only breaks the hetero-normative status of women, but she also breaks the traditional homoerotic relationships as well. The younger partner is supposed to be the more receptive one, but Ganymede controls the relationship with Orlando.

Finally, Shakespeare destroys all boundaries between men in women in  The Merchant of Venice. Viola, the main female character uses cross dressing as a way to get what she wants as well.  Instead of discussing the play itself, I want to discuss the plays modern day portrayal of  The Twelfth Knight She’s The Man. This movie maintains similar character names and plots to the play. 

This movie was produced in 2006 and stars Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum. Viola (the main female character) wants to play soccer for a school, but is rejected because she is a female. Viola conjures up a plan to take her brother Sebastian’s place at a boarding school so that he can go to London and perform with his band, and so she can play soccer. Though the stories are not exactly the same, a female is cross-dressing in order to get what she wants. Like Portia and Rosalind, Viola is willing to act as a man in order to attain the things she wants. 

At the end of the movie, Viola tells her team that she has been impersonating her brother and she convinces them of this by showing her breasts. Similar to Portia and how she was able to fool everyone, Viola successfully fooled her teammates into thinking she was a man, and is able to remain on the team at the end of the movie.

Just like Portia and Rosalind fooled their 'lovers', Viola (Sebastian) has fooled her roommate Duke who has met the actual Viola and has feelings for her.

Cross-dressing within all of these plays  allow  Portia, Rosalind, and Viola to carry out a role that they would be unable to do as women. Portia and Nerrissa can attend Antonio’s trial and set him free, Rosalind is able to marry the man she wants, and Viola (from the movie) is allowed the chance to play on a male soccer team. Before each of these women cross-dress they are only permitted to pray and hope for their causes, but the instant they are transformed into male characters, they can single-handedly help and get what they want.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofIzQbTGQ2E