I'm pretty sure people say that Ralsei has feminine traits. But do people say that Susie has masculine traits?
I realised that for some reason, when I think of any man, I can imagine some kind of compass of what behavioural traits are masculine and which are feminine, but when I think of any woman, I can't distinguish any masculine or feminine traits in them.
oh this ask really is the serendipitous intersection between character stuff and politisperging... fascinating, personally I saw susie as the more gnc of the two!
This may be heavily dependent on how you were born and raised yourself. it's easier to nitpick the familiar according to your culture and the people around you. I can immediately spot every "masculine" trait susie has that has been addressed in myself by my surrounding society.
Of course, "masculine" and "feminine" are only real the same way money is real. If as a society it was collectively decided tomorrow by everyone on earth that money is meaningless, it would become simply a collection of metal and paper trinkets. Similarly masculinity and femininity are very culturally influenced. Almost every different culture on earth has slightly different conceptions of what each means.
A broadly accepted one across many cultures though is the patriarchal conception of the male as a provider and protector, and the female as nurturer and caregiver. Of course this has many interpretations within that. You could say a man attuned to his feelings that can soothe the sadness of a partner is a good protector. You could also say a man who shuts his own suffering down to bear the burden of others is a good protector. Both of these notions still agree that the man is meant to be a provider and protector, though.
What I notice, having been born and raised female and being gnc, is that being loud and opinionated and assertive is a discouraged trait in women that is not taken seriously. That being tall and burly is considered ugly, and that being beautiful and accessible is feminine. You'll see this reinforced everywhere, those stupid girl dinner "demure" "i'm just a girl" memes and the whole divine feminine energy bullshit (that I detest by the way) all feed into the idea of the female as this incompetent but emotional nurturer who is quiet, polite, appeasing and eager to please. Over anything appearance related, that is Susie's most gender nonconforming trait- she isn't passive, or quiet, or "demure". She asserts herself, takes initiative, and is the very archetypically masculine role of the warrior protector (even in videogames, the tank is almost always a burly male).
These traits are cherished in her on a meta level because she's not real. In real women they are seen as hostile and disparaged (ask me how i Know 9_9). IRL you will be made to feel as both a failed woman and insufficient to take on the "man-role" because you're female. And you can see in-universe that Susie is disparaged for her rowdy presentation and loud assertion through the compliments she gives the rudinn rangers in Card Castle, which are all meant to reflect things she wishes she heard from others.
It can be hard to remember in modernity that women wearing pants was illegal at some point and punishable with death. For better or for worse the associations of hair length, clothing, and makeup with masculinity and femininity remain, even the wokies love to sort people into genders by the length of their hair and what clothes they wear.
But her most gnc trait is her lack of lying down and taking bullshit.
I'll also seize this ask to elaborate on one of the aspects that I find most fascinating, and relatable, about how Toby writes the tomboy experience. Susie's dialogue is close enough to home that she makes me fucking cry, man. In the newest chapter a pet theory of mine was confirmed: Susie's axes are hair brushes.
I love this because it shows so frankly a minute detail about the gnc female experience. There is a thruline you see sometimes about how a tomboy is still a woman, and this is true, but this is often used as an excuse to feminise gnc women, like you're denying your True Woman Nature and you'll eventually grow out of it, and this happens even in the fandom. How many fanarts are there of her in a dress and heels, catering to the observer, embarrassed and kind of humiliated by it?
But a tomboy is still a woman- in the sense that the pressure of the world gets to you, that at every step you're fighting it, that some of it sticks with you no matter how ardently you oppose it. I don't know jack shit about makeup except when it pertains to cosplay but I can tell when makeup is applied like shit because it was knowledge that was shoved onto me by force. I know basic hair care because it was the kind of thing that I was told to do over and over because maybe if you clean up you'll be pretty and finally someone will like you (it's never hygiene related, but cosmetics related; it's not about having clean hair that doesn't mat, it's about hair that looks good to an observer regardless of your own comfort).
You are tugged between who you are by nature and what people want you to be. You can't give society an inch, because it will forever shove into your face the one time you wore a dress and omg, you looked so pretty, why don't you do that again??? it's a never ending, thankless uphill battle.
So susie has her little hairbrush-- because she's still a girl. She worries about others' perception of her. She probably feels ugly. I spent most of school feeling like an ugly piece of shit no one would love. In the middle of everything, she still brushes her hair and makes it nice. She has the smallest pride and vanity- everyone does, and in women it is inextricably tied to desirability. She knows Noelle is "top shelf" because she's a polite, pretty girl who "cleans up"...
Does not mean she will ever let you put the ribbon on her though! A tomboy is still a woman, but she's also still a tomboy. (also shes so real for that).
question: Are you male? if so you probably have a compass better attuned to what is masculine behavior, because of the pressures and standards you are held to. If so I invite any man or person raised male to come and ramble about how toby writes ralsei's femininity beyond what is obvious to me, which is his nurturing side, appeasing social behavior, and "feminine" skills.
Something that I love about Ralsei and Susie's relationship is that Ralsei has no social conception of the masculine and the feminine so he doesn't give a fuck about himself or susie being gnc. It's so refreshing. It's also why i despise the transing of them- you are taking something shown honestly and without making it a big deal and making it a big deal and an indicator of a hidden true self. It's no different from the pressures of society.