travis martinez through a queer lens, and why hair symbolically matters in the series
this is gonna combine two topics, as i think they overlap.
i definitely think travis is queer in some way, and that’s amongst many reasons that he had such a toxic relationship with his father. we can assume from travis’ behavior that his “traditional values” rubbed off on him. coach martinez would never accept if his son was bi or pan or anything else.
that’s also partially why travis was so misogynistic in the beginning. he was trying to be tough and masculine, because if he wasn’t, then he may as well be considered a flamboyant flamer. being macho was an attempt to distance himself as much as possible from the idea of being queer. this was the 90’s, where hate crimes against gay people were still extremely prevalent.
in reality, under all the initial macho stuff, travis is a person with deep emotions. he becomes withdrawn from the group, and he later searches for purpose through lottie. travis is also proven to care very deeply about his brother, even if the initial crash made it seem otherwise.
to men like his father, these types of thoughts and feelings made him “weak,” which was code for “queer behavior.”
this might also be a stretch, but let’s look at how tai and travis deal with their hair. in season one, tai cuts her hair — signaling her shift from her old life to the one in the wilderness. she doesn’t cut her hair in season three (we’ll get back to this).
i see an antithesis with how tai approaches her hair vs how travis does. in season three, travis’ hair is longer; we know he could cut it if he wanted, as the group has scissors. you could say they were lost in the fire, but we don’t have any proof of this. since the yellowjackets grabbed as many things as possible while escaping the cabin, i’m gonna take a gamble and say they brought the scissors with.
travis not cutting his hair reflects his current situation — freedom and depression. his father is dead, so he doesn’t have to perform with him. travis was finally free to experiment with his appearance. remember that some people are so closed-minded that they view longer hair as something purely for women. with the kinda man coach martinez was portrayed to be, this isn’t too much of a stretch.
however, travis’ brother, javi, is also dead. this no doubt hit travis harder than his brother’s death. those with depression are more susceptible to not taking care of themselves, as we see with jackie. perhaps travis simply stopped caring.
on the flip side of this perspective, perhaps it represents the chains being unshackled. the yellowjackets built a sustainable camp. it was summer. things were going well under natalie’s leadership. sure, travis and her had broken up, but it’s stated and proven multiple times through the show that they were not good for each other.
because of her insistence on connecting with the wilderness, lottie was the main cause of travis’ suffering throughout season three. connecting with the wilderness meant breaking from reality. in a way, you could consider this a form of twisted freedom.
just as travis doesn’t cut his hair, neither does tai. it’s about the same length as it is for travis. like with travis, i think this is also because stability had returned to the group.
also, the headband tai wears? it’s mostly in the tensest moments in season three. she wears it during the trial, wears it when she decides to stay in the wilderness, and wears it when trying to convince van that they could survive another winter. so what does the headband represent? restriction. the hunt doesn’t fit restriction, which is why she doesn’t wear it there.
for natalie, her hair is naturally dark; she had it dyed blonde when the plain crashed. what happens to her hair is something that happens to everyone’s dyed hair if not maintained. as winter approaches, her hair gets darker and darker, symbolic of the yellowjackets’ transition from the light to the darkness.
natalie doesn’t dye her hair again, and hardly maintains it. she’s trapped in that darkness. when does she start actually taking care of her hair? at lottie’s compound — the closest thing she’d ever get to the wilderness in “normal” society.
back to travis. i think his dwindling misogyny represented more than just character development. as the yellowjackets are full of queer people, his integration into the group could also symbolize him becoming more comfortable with himself.
tai and van are lesbian, and the group cheered when they finally kissed in front of them. shauna is also later confirmed to be bisexual, and nobody has an issue with it. this isn’t even mentioning the homoerotic tension between literally every girl in the camp.
and while travis didn’t know coach scott was gay, he did know that he was shown openly supporting tai and van. coach scott was the exact opposite of martinez. while the latter was repressive and closed-minded, the former encouraged self-expression.
travis seeing an adult male being so accepting would help indicate that not everyone shared his father’s viewpoints, and that there was a chance that one day, travis wouldn’t have to hide.
i also think natalie being accepting of tai and van was also a big reassurance for travis. if the girl he liked was supportive of a lesbian relationship, then she’d be accepting of him. travis loved natalie. seeing the girl he loved so open-minded would’ve lifted a huge weight off his shoulders.
in my mind, travis martinez is queer. i’d love to hear anyone’s additional thoughts of my analysis.
