I love how Nobby's time as Beti is handled in Jingo
Honestly I really like how Terry parodied the classic trope of "man has to dress up as a woman leading to hilarious antics" with Nobby in Jingo.
It starts off pretty par for the course with Nobby dressing up as a dancing girl and people being terrified he might actually live up to the name but of course Terry doesn't just leave it there.
I really like how Nobby is so quickly accepted by the women of Klatch and how after he realises they are treating him kindly (something that almost never happens to him) he really starts seeing them as people and starts to identify with their struggles. Him seeing things from their perpective and finding a sense of community with them is not something I expected.
'Excuse me, are you the lady who is with the clowns?'
Corporal Nobbs, who had been trudging along gloomily, looked up. He was being addressed by a pleasant–faced young woman. A woman actually talking to him by choice was a novelty. Smiling while doing so was unheard of.
'Er yeah. Right. That's me.' He swallowed…'Beti.'
'My name is Bana. Would you like to come and talk with us?'
Nobby looked past her. There were a number of women of varying ages sitting around a large well. One of them waved at him shyly.
He blinked. This was uncharted territory. He looked down at his clothes, which were already the worse for wear. His clothes always looked the worse for wear five minutes after he'd put them on.
'Oh, don't worry,' said the girl. 'We know how it is. But you looked so alone.
And perhaps you can help us...
They were among the group now._ There were women of every legitimate shape and size, and so far none of them had said 'Yuk,' an experience hithertounchronicled in Nobby's personal history. In a detached, light–headed way, Corporal Nobbs felt that he was entering Paradise, and it was only an unfortunate detail that he'd come to via the wrong door.
'We are trying to comfort Netal,' said the girl. 'Her betrothed won't marry her tomorrow.'
'I'll tell you this, girls,' he said. 'I wish I'd settled for the tendollar version. Don't you just sometimes want to sit down and cry?'
'You look even sadder than Netal,' said Bana. 'Isn't there some way we can cheer you up?'
Nobby stared at her for a moment, and then started to sob.
Another interesting thing is after becoming comfrotable with her new friends and identity, Beti is actually just called Beti and reffered to as she/her. I think this is where it stops being an act and becomes Nobby actually discovering something about himself and realising
Nobby realized that a change had come over the group. Now he was surrounded by women who were in the presence of a man. A known man, he corrected himself.
Several of them were blushing. They hadn't blushed before.
'Why not?' said Beti nastily.
'You'll offend people,' said Colon uncertainly.
'Yeah, and they laughed even though they don't have the same kind of doorbells here,' said Nobby. 'Here, you don't have to go–'
But the group around the well was dispersing. Water jugs were being picked
up and carried away. A kind of preoccupied busyness came over the women.
Bana nodded at Beti. 'Er... thank you. It's been very... interesting. But we must go. It was so kind of you to talk to us.'
A faint suggestion of perfume hung in the air.
Beti glared at Colon. 'Sometimes I really want to give you a right ding alongside the lughole,' she growled. 'My first bloody chance in years and you––
She still does this after they've left the city:
'Here, look, those palm trees down there look really small.'
'Nobby, you're scared of heights,' said Colon. 'I know you're scared of heights.'
'That's sexual stereotyping!'
'Yes, it is! You'll be expecting me to break my ankle a lot and scream all the time next! It's my job to prove to you that a woman can be as good as a man!'
'Practically identical in your case, Nobby. You've caught too much sun, that's what it is. You are not female, Nobby!'
Beti sniffed. 'That's just the sort of sexist remark I'd expect from you.'
'It's the principle of the thing.'
And It's just great how Nobby starts the book by looking for how to get a girlfriend as a sort of vague life goal and ends up being pen pals with one of the girls from Klatch, a girl friend who he likes to talk too I always love when media breaks down the gender divide and lets characters peak through to the other side and realise that (shocking I know) men, women and all those outside the spectrum are just people like you. It really just enforces the message of the whole book.
I also like how this isn't just a one off joke, but in future books we find out Nobby now has taken up cross dressing and does it both casually and for undercover work for the watch. It's just a part of his character now and people accept it.
