It doesn't make sense for the song "Isn't She Lovely" to symbolize Jax realizing his gender identity for the first time because, if we assume him feeling like a woman was his big secret, then he had already let Ribbit know about that years ago, even if he was vague about it. She picked up on it, thus putting the bow on Jax's head to make him feel more like the girl he wishes he could be. He does talk about having told his mom "something deep and personal" after all
However, it also doesn't make sense for the song to symbolize Jax finally accepting his gender identity for the first time not to mention that calling him "lovely" is just not true. Not only that, but it's also hypocritical, since he calls himself a horrible person that he is just before that, because both he and his human counterpart continue going by he/him pronouns, there isn't a bow painted on Jax's mural (if it's meant to symbolize his transness, it should have been included), and the only thing we learn about Leeroy is that he goes to Riley's (implicitly queer) bar, but that doesn't confirm him being a trans woman. He might still be questioning, while Jax never got to explore himself.
I've heard people say Pomni never started referring to Jax as she/her or told others about his secret because she didn't want to out him before he was ready but... if abstraction is a metaphor for suicide, then Jax is well and truly gone. Shouldn't he at least be remembered for who he truly was? Wouldn't putting the bow on Jax's mural be a gesture that would prove that Jax's fear of being made fun of for who he was never came true and that he was, in contrast, fully accepted despite everything?
As for the pronouns argument... I think Pomni and Jax should have had an actual conversation in regards to his identity instead of us being shown that cringe montage and for the love of everything please leave one of black people's iconic songs intact and remove stevie wonder's "isn't she lovely." if they really had to include a song in that scene, why didn't they write an original song??? Imagine if Jax had said something like "Please let them know who I really was. I know I don't deserve it, but... even if I was a terrible person, I just want to be remembered as me."
In ep 6, Jax tells Pomni: "I'm just a misunderstood little chicken fetus in an egg that needs to be cracked open. Well, I am NOT! I do not care about you, or ANYONE ELSE in this circus in the slightest! End of story!" I've only recently learned that a "chicken fetus in an egg" is a term trans people use before coming out or when they're questioning. But the sentence that comes after the egg one makes it seem like, in Jax's case, cracking an egg open refers to how he doesn't want Pomni to know that he DOES secretly care about others even if he pretends not to
Maybe have him later say: "I'm exactly who you think I am (you see me as a man, and I'm lying to you when I say that's my real self)" instead of "There's nothing more to me" bc based on context it makes it seem like he meant "I'm just a jerk, the funny one and nothing more, so stop trying to see the good in me"
I haven't seen anyone mention this, but 90% of people who see Jax's human counterpart, Leeroy, will call him an edgy emo guy. The same goes for the "cracking the egg" line I talked about. The issue I have with both of these trans-coded moments is that only a minority of people will see them as trans-coded, while the implications will fly over the majority of people's heads. Seriously Goose, stop queerbaiting and be explicit! That's the only way to get the message across TO EVERYONE!
Personally, I like the "Jax told his mom that he wasn't sure if he wanted to be a man in the first place" interpretation more than him telling her "I 100% feel like a woman!"
Then there's Goose's tweet about how there are aspects of himself Jax's not ready to address when somebody asked her why he found the maid outfit so embarrassing even though he looked good in it let's be honest, jax was only put in the maid outfit bc that's goose's kink. and so is lobotomy This could refer to him feeling like the opposite gender, sure, but it can also refer to Jax still being a softie at heart (my interpretation of Evil Jax is that it's who Leeroy used to be and was mocked for being like by his mom, which is why Jax wanted to kill him), him being vulnerable/secretly caring about others, him being a coward instead of the macho man he wants to be seen as, him actually liking being submissive/feminine...
Under the transfem interpretation, why force Jax, a closeted trans woman who still goes by he/him pronouns, into a maid dress, which IS something he might want to wear in public, BUT isn't ready to do yet? Why make merch of the transfem character in that same maid dress afterwards if they are embarrassed about feeling exposed? Jax felt so ashamed that his pupils looked scribbed, just like Pomni's in the pilot, when we all thought she was close to ABSTRACTING (aka metaphorically committing suicide)
The maid outfit feels more like a joke/Goose's kink/fanservice, especially based on the descriptions of Maid!Jax:
"Jax in a maid outfit. We didn't ask for this - it's just democracy manifest."
"Do not feel any embarrassment when wearing your Maid Jax T-Shirt. Embarrassment is for Jax, and look what happened to him (he got put on a t-shirt)."
"The Maid Jax pin, for when you want to display that blushing bunny but also be a little discreet ✨The Maid Jax pin comes with a swinging feature allowing you to swish his skirt! He hates it!"
"Tea time with Jax: comes with a mug, a coaster, and an overwhelming sense of regret."
"We're just going to put this Maid Jax animatez here, nice and slow. Whatever you do with it is your business, we're not here to judge."
What I'm curious to know is if Jax himself is meant to be a transfem character, or if Goose simply wanted to tell a trans story/her own experiences with her identity struggles through Jax, without committing to making the character himself canonically transfem. Did she choose Jax to tell this story because he's her self insert and she relates to him most? Because if Jax himself is meant to be transfem rep... why not make that explicit in the end in some way so everyone in the audience would be able to know with 0 ambiguity? Why tailor his storyline in a way where only trans people would be able to pick up on it? I don't like using the term queerbaiting but this seems like it
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