something very interesting to me in rdr2 is how arthur is repeatedly referred to using more “feminine” like terms, usually in a negative context. like the most well known one is when he gets called “pretty boy” in the fight with tommy, but emmett granger also calls him “girlie.” both of these times, it’s men who are actively provoking him, masculine men, who are telling him this. however, whenever arthur is talking to algeron wasp, a much more “feminine” man, and wasp asks him if he’d like a corset, arthur’s only real complaint to the idea was that he rides horses and that the whale bone would dig in.
now, arthur’s masculinity is something that he clings to heavily in the game. as progressive as arthur’s ideas are for the time period he’s in, he still holds the basic idea that women need to be protected and cared for, that a man should do more of the heavy lifting, etc. in chapter six, he overcomes this idea a good bit, especially with sadie adler and charlotte balfour, but it’s still a core part of his character because it’s the year 1899. arthur’s masculinity is something that he uses to make himself appear, in the words of hosea, “big, dumb, and angry.” he uses this idea of toxic masculinity to make himself appear tough, as one of the gang’s enforcers, as the debt collector, as the one who yells at a grieving family because they’re in his way. arthur hides his journal, one of the few things that shows his softness, which could be perceived as “feminine,” and never lets anyone touch it until he dies. even his art could be considered “feminine,” because, in his eyes, it’s an expression of softness.
then you have charles. charles, who has extremely long hair that he takes great care of, and who i, personally, believe is just a little bit vain (which isn’t a bad thing). charles, who talks about his mother and her people and everything that he loves about both of them. charles, who lived on his own for years and had to take care of himself, be both mother and father for himself in his late teen years.
charles is masculine, yes. he’s tall, and broad, and takes care of others, whether that be through doing brunt work or through more violent means. however, he expresses his own softness frequently. how he only kills when he has to. how he believes arthur isn’t as tough and dense as he acts. how he isn’t afraid to show appreciation for others, shows his appreciation towards animals while both hunting them and caring for them, express his opposition towards dutch as early as chapter 2.
now, back to arthur. as the game progresses, arthur slowly moves away from this idea of toxic masculinity and becomes softer towards others. still masculine, still thinking about the women and children first, still strong (even as he grows sicker and sicker), but softer. he comments, both in his journal and out loud, that charles is one of the best men he knows. i think that charles was one of the key points of reference whenever arthur was trying to become a good man. that, even though arthur had it in him the entire time, he still looked to charles as a grounding perspective.
i think that, had arthur lived, maybe he would’ve been able to become that much softer in age and in settling down. maybe even branch out towards more “feminine” traits, take greater care of himself, if only he was told that those things weren’t shameful, if he was told that he wasn’t just big and dumb.
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