how hosie double inverts gender norms
first, examine how handon inverts gender norms once:
basically hope takes on the stereotypical male āheroā gender role & landon takes on the stereotypically female ādamsel in distressā role
hope takes the role of āprotectingā him & landon tries to take the role of ānurturingā her (through psychological growth), but heās kinda forceful & paternalistic about it even when she expresses that she doesnt want him to (like the āyouāre just scared iāll abandon youā or when he confronted her about roman & acted like she needed him to make relationship decisions in her own best interest)
examine how hosie is different:
basically because hope already has that inverted role of the stereotypical male āheroā josie sort of matches the stereotypical āfemaleā role better (not in the damsel in distress sense as much as in the way that she usually is sweeter, more awkward and shy, emotional, selfless/giving (if we ignore dark josie for now)
the audience expects that hope will take on the stereotypical male āprotectorā role and josie would take on the stereotypical ānurturingā role but itās actually the opposite. the way josie helped hope in season 2 was actually more of a āprotectorā role, she went on a āheroāsā journey to protect Hope from psychological threats like loneliness and the grief of losing her relationships if people never got their malivore memories back (think the soundtrackās āi will rescue youā song) & hopeās role in josieās life is actually more nurturing. even though she went on the whole fairytale quest, the way she saved her was nurturing her psychological growth through a conversation
Josie goes to Hope for advice & she teaches Josie what she herself has learned about grief and self-compassion, she sort of mentors and gently guides her toward psychological development. while she does āsaveā josie in a hero-way, thatās not how their one-on-one relationship is oriented.
This role reversal is actually part of the appeal for Hope. Hope is forced to take the role of protector in other contexts, but can let herself feel safe and ānormalā with Josie. She relinquishes control to Josie willingly because she considers Josie to be just as reliable and capable as herself.Ā
Josie has a lot of respect for Hope & trusts her, enough to follow her advice about changing core beliefs about herself. Hope is sort of her mentor, which is what she needs in a relationship. & you see that in the way Penelope tried to force and coerce her psychological development. Thatās also why Jandon was healthier than Handon. Josie allowed Landon to take on that role of psychological guidance because itās the way sheās comfortable with receiving love, whereas Handon is incompatible because Hope doesnāt actually need that from a relationshipāshe needs a role reversal where someone protects her for a change
but whatās good about it is bc hosie is wlw, a double reversal like that doesnāt push them back into the original stereotypical roles and instead just blurs the lines between the roles and dismantles them
Itās just interesting to think about what causes the issues & fighting with handon ā there is some obvious stuff like the specific content of their arguments but itās also resentment that they arent what the other needs
ā¢ when landon tries to ānurtureā hope she feels like heās infantilizing him
ā¢ when hope tries to āprotectā landon he feels like sheās infantilizing him
landon occupying the nurture role (& being in distress all the time) sort of forces hope to occupy the protector role. which is what sheās comfortable with & thatās part of why the relationship appeals to herāitās what she knows.
but itās not what she needs in a relationship
her dynamic with josie gives her a break from that role & allows her to exercise this other nurturing part of herself that she never lets see the light of day (because she doesnt trust anyone with it)
ā essay by @\Th3Nutcase reposted with permission
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