I didnt think I would be posting this much about episode 9 already but I cannot keep the thoughts contained
SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT
If I had a nickel for every time I saw someone saying they think Jax is a feminine gay man, or even a straight man who likes feminine things, and not a trans woman, I would be rich
(Disclaimer: I still use he/him bc Jax is still closeted and clearly not ready for she/her yet, and as a closeted person too I like to respect that, but I also think she/her is good!)
Maybe it's cuz I can relate to him but I genuinely dont know how you can see episode 9 and think anything else. The scene where they say no girls allowed and the version of Jax behind a locked up door bangs on the wall, and they all yell shut up. The scene where Jax says his mysoginistic mother abused him because he reminded her of his dad, so he thought telling her something personal would stop the abuse. Wouldn't it make the most sense if that personal thing was that he's not a man at all? So that she wouldnt project her feelings toward his dad on him anymore? Why would it just be that he's gay? The bow on the ear; wouldn't it make more sense for Ribbit to do that for a trans woman? Why would your reaction to finding out someone's gay to be to give them a feminine accessory? And when Pomni finds the real him, the lamp lighting the scene is pink! The whole song "Isn't She Lovely" being about the birth of a girl?! IRL Jax clearly still being closeted but growing out his hair, wearing the dysphoria hoodie and frequenting Zooble's queer bar? The he/him pronouns and masculine name aren't evidence that he's cis, that's a closeted trans woman! Pomni still uses he/him because she doesn't want to out him (based of her btw). And the fact that Gooseworx is a trans woman who has made it abundantly clear that Jax is her self insert that she relates the most to? I know not everyone knows that, but I've seen people who do still insisting against it.
I get being unsure before episode 9; I was a fan of transfem Jax but I was worried it was too good to be true yk. But after episode 9 fhfbsjsj it's really not subtext.
I've also seen people critiquing it because it seemed sudden. Well, theres foreshadowing everywhere in earlier episodes, but I get how you can miss it if you weren't looking for it. I missed a lot of it too before I saw posts pointing it out. But also, he's deeply closeted and hiding it on purpose. It can seem "sudden" from an outside perspective in real life too! That's just how it is when someone is hiding it.
I guess I shouldve known that people wouldn't understand the closeted trans experience. It's not black and white, and it's not linear; a lot of people move in and out of the closet throughout their lives. Being out is different from presenting as your preferred gender, and you can be out to some social circles and not others. At the end of the day it matters most that the trans people watching it feel seen. Jax as a character wasn't made to please cis people. But I hate to see him mischaracterized 😔 it's almost like people don't want their favorite tumblr sexyman to be a trans woman
