thoughts on juno under the cut for length. everyone is entitled to their own takes on the story - here's mine!
i don't think i've ever really talked in-depth about what juno is "about", beyond gently pointing out that the narrative voice in the sequel is intended as satire. that's because i don't think that the author's interpretation is ever the only way to interpret something, so i'm always wary of going voice of god on it. however, i do feel moved to talk about what it meant TO ME, and in particular about one specific thing i see some people saying whenever it's brought up.
when juno (+sequel) comes up from time to time on tumblr, i see a lot of discussion of misogyny, which is definitely a theme it was grappling with: societal misogyny, internalized misogyny, pregnancy rights or lack thereof, which often overlaps with misogyny. all concepts it touches on! what i find kind of disheartening about these conversations is that i see them devolve into questions of whether, essentially, portraying misogyny is an endorsement of misogyny OR whether it's inappropriate to discuss misogyny when the main characters are male OR what the link between feminisation and noncon is saying about my personal views of womanhood as a whole. was i using jannik as a stand-in for women in general? and what does that mean about my views on women? this seems to miss a big part of what was the point of the story, to me.
ridiculous as it feels to get into the ontology of the omegaverse, i don't see omegas as being a one-to-one stand-in for women (and i'm a little alarmed to think others do, especially if that's just based on the fact that they can have children - genuine take i've seen). in the real world, i don't see every person with breasts and a vagina as a woman. i don't automatically see every pregnant person as a woman. so i don't think the same about omegas lol. part of what i like about the omegaverse is that it gives us an allegorical opportunity to explore gender that goes beyond the binary. i'm not saying all omegaverse stories are about these themes, but in this specific story, jannik is someone who has been deliberately presenting as an alpha - a gender that is different from the one he has been assigned based on biology (this is also true of juanki!). when this is revealed, it changes his life: society treats him differently, in a way that makes him uncomfortable and unhappy.
i guess i thought this allegory was sufficiently obvious, but in case anyone's missed it - to me, it's a trans narrative. it's about gender roles and societal power dynamics; it's about outing, precarity, and gender dysphoria. it's also about how someone who really does have the best intentions and loves you can hurt you, by way of not understanding your identity. and, factoring in juanki, it's also about how shared community does not always guarantee solidarity... (it's about a bunch of other things too, like how these concepts interact with sports, or fame, but this is already long.)
so when it comes to jannik's non-a/b/o gender, it's actually pretty important to the story - and to me! - that he is and remains a man throughout. any feminisation that happens is societal, imposed upon him: it doesn't affect the fact that he is a man and remains a man. and in terms of the link between feminisation and non-con in the story: the feminisation IS nonconsensual. the feminisation IS an assault. it's not a completely cut-and-dry allegory because the overlap and boundaries between "normal world" gender and omegaverse gender are diffuse and slippery. but when i was writing, i didn't see the issue he was facing as solely one of misogyny. it was also the very fact of being forcibly put into the category of "person who will experience misogyny" when that does not align with his gender identity. which is of course not to say it's great and fine when misogyny is directed at women, just saying that this other thing can also happen and is also upsetting. tragic, even!
anyway, it's sort of irritating (putting it mildly) to see people repeatedly saying that the author should reflect on their relationship to gender, and the link they perceive between femininity and assault. perhaps it's obvious from this post (and the pronouns listed in my bio...), but i've done plenty of reflecting on my relationship to femininity 💀, and why i feel that in some situations, feminisation IS an assault, an erosion of your autonomy to define your own gender identity.
probably worth saying that i don't think this is always the case - in some, less fraught situations, feminisation and other gnc exploration is sometimes affirming, or just a bit of fun genderplay! and of course it is also possible to be perfectly happy as a woman, or as whatever gender you were assigned at birth :) if that's more the kind of thing you like to read, there are stories in my catalogue that take these tacks! (jacknik panties, anyone? :) ) Or there are hundreds of other wonderful stories elsewhere by other talented writers, where the gender is uncomplex and/or the good times roll.
finally, it hopefully goes without saying considering everything i've said about how i see jannik's gender in that story (male!), but i'll say it anyway: i don't think assault in itself is something that only happens to women, or that, if it happens to a man, that automatically makes him either feminine or weak. (i do think this bigoted preconception is something that men who are assaulted have to face in society, though - another thing that it would be interesting and realistic to explore the effects of in fiction. as is the link that society traditionally draws between femininity and weakness. once again, depicting things is not the same as thinking they are great.)
anyway, if you got to this paragraph, thank you for reading all this! i'm not saying any of it is what you have to get from the story... i don't think that just because art has sex in it, that makes it "only" porn and incapable of exploring any other issues - but juno is certainly also porn. if you enjoyed it on that level, hooray! if it made you think, hooray! if it made you uncomfortable, that's also not a "wrong" response - misogyny, transphobia and, for many people, pregnancy are uncomfortable topics and it wasn't intended to be an unchallenging story. it would be nice if you didn't take that discomfort out by making sweeping statements about the author and their own political views, but also, if you still want to do that, that is ultimately your prerogative. i just wanted to present this as another possible angle from which to view the story, in case it was illuminating!
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titsay
gracieabrams
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