because someone's gotta do it and god knows it's not gonna be him
a lot of mafia stories have an all-male cast. a lot of mafia stories are, not despite but because of this, very much about gender. oftentimes the actions of these characters, as well as their relationships with each other, are heavily influenced by a need to assert their masculinity. Rivages is no different, and when you bring ~gayness~ into the mix it makes everything even more complicated. yay!
throughout the story, though especially at the start, Jules is basically Adam's wife. their power dynamic is a very gendered one, where in exchange for Adam being the provider and the protector, Jules must repay him through affection and compliance, as was the norm for a ✨traditional straight partnership✨. for instance:
here, Adam is fulfilling his end of the "romantic contract" by avenging harm done to Jules, as part of his role as the protector. compare with this scene from Goodfellas. Karen is attracted by this grand display of protection by Henry, much the same way Jules is, and he says why outright: it's special treatment.
Adam is also the provider. this one is a little less blatant, because it's not like Jules doesn't work, but it's seen through Adam's gifts to him:
(granted, the record player isn't given to Jules; however, he is able to benefit from it. he has access to anything that belongs to Adam and vice versa. kind of like a marriage right—)
and here, class also plays into it. the archetype of the male provider comes from the fact that women were throughout history not allowed the same level of material possession as men, and were therefore reliant on their husbands' financial support. Jules, starting out the story on the edge of poverty, becomes similarly reliant on Adam; since he has nothing material to offer, he can only repay Adam through loyalty and affection, automatically placing him in a woman's role.
through this lens, this panel
has Adam taking on the man's job of handling financial matters and Jules being assigned the woman's job of handling the chore. hell, the main reason they got together in the first place was because Jules could earn money through him.
and because Adam does all this for Jules, he expects Jules' devotion in return. when he makes a decision — that they're going to New York, that Jules is joining the Family — it's not about if Jules will agree, it's about how to make him agree. Adam calls the shots. Jules' loyalty is his end of the contract. and for that reason, Adam feels slighted by Jules prioritizing Family business over their business
when it was his idea for Jules to join in the first place. in fact, his repeated "us or them" really calls to mind a controlling boyfriend pressuring his girlfriend to stop talking to her male friends, does it not??
so Jules is required to remain committed solely to Adam. but since Adam has already fulfilled his end of the contract as the provider, he does not feel beholden to the same level of commitment, in business or emotionally. as the man in the relationship, Adam sees it within his right to associate with
other partners, even though this is an "infidelity" far worse than Jules' prioritisation of the Family — just the same way that men aren't expected to be faithful nearly as much as women are. and when Jules gets rightfully upset about this betrayal, what does Adam say?
god. tell me that sound like a shitty guy talking to his wife.
and Jules is, of course, the one putting all the work into maintaining their relationship. whether he's trying to defuse arguments or expressing his affection, he is always emotionally available.
Adam doesn't make the same effort though, because emotional labor is not his half of the contract. he pulls away whenever it suits him and steps in close only when there's something to gain.
Jules takes on even more blatantly female roles in AUs. as in, in the original stories these are all women:
the little mermaid who is forsaken because the prince does not truly love her him. and Juliet. THE Juliet. and also Persephone
(the images either side are from the AU artbook; more the clothing later)
now i am unfamiliar with romeo and juliet so i cannot comment on that HOWEVER with the little mermaid and the taking of persephone (i have also not listened to hadestown) these are stories where i can easily see the similarities, and the roles which best map onto Jules, as Anaïs has demonstrated, are women.
Essentially, as a result of homophobic societal attitudes of what makes "a relationship", they (and Adam in particular) are compelled to confine themselves to the gendered heteronormative boxes of "the man" and "the woman" in the relationship. Adam is the provider-protector and in exchange Jules gives his affection and devotion. Adam is the one calling the shots and Jules is the one who always is expected to keep up. Jules is in fact so feminized by the narrative that corresponding characters in comparable stories are by and large women. and this role of Jules' within the story is reflected in his —
Design & Fashion: the canon
physically, Jules lacks almost all stereotypically masculine features. his jawline is very round, while Adam and Eufrasio both have stronger jaws, though in different ways. he also does not have thick eyebrows like Adam does, or a prominent nose like Eufrasio. he is smaller than the both of them, with markedly thinner shoulders, and when naked he almost has an hourglass figure:
on the more abstract side of his design, let me remind us once again that his color is pink. yet this is hidden by him always blending in with the colors of the environment, which are, conveniently enough, always less aggressively gendered than pink. hm.
besides color, there is shape.
Adam's shape language is based on rectangles, giving him an imposing stature and an immovable, stubborn air. Eufrasio's is based on triangles, reflecting danger and a sharp wit. Both of these designs are sharp, angular, and contrast highly with Jules' generally softer silhouette: since he is seen so often without a suit, his shoulders often appear rounder because of the lack of padding; his hair is wavy, so lacks the sleekness that Adam's hairstyle has, but it also doesn't have the sharpness that Eufrasio's flick gives him; and perhaps most significantly, Jules' jaw is rounded. this utilisation of curves in his design shows that he is (or at least seems to be) friendlier, more able to go with the flow, and easier to bend under pressure. and yes, it makes him more androgynous.
but this soft silhouette is hardened when he's wearing a suit.
i have already written at length about the suit being a symbol of power in this story. it is a demostration of wealth and status, and more practically, it pads out Jules' narrow shoulders to give him a boxier, more commanding appearance.
of course, it goes without saying that a suit is menswear, and its association with power is inextricable from its association with masculinity. through this gendered lens it can therefore be said that when Jules hides his slight and softer frame under the suit, he is hiding a more feminine nature under a marker of masculinity in order to command more respect.
Design & Fashion: the AUs
now, why do I say a feminine nature when I've just spent half the post arguing that Jules is basically forced into the role of the woman? well, let's look at Jules' fashion choices in the holiday AU (pictured here: New Year's and summer)
he still wears pants and has short hair, but that is pretty much where the similarities end. the neckline in both of these are more typical of women's clothing. turtlenecks were somewhat more popular among men in the 70s (i take this to be around that decade?) than today, but not one that's this form-fitting. square necks exist solidly within the territory of women's fashion. that shirt is cut very close too, and it has 3/4 sleeves, which is unheard of in menswear.
(now, I am a strong proponent of wearing whatever the hell you like regardless of gender, but certain fashions do undeniably read certain ways and the gendered connotations of any given piece is often a big part of why someone chooses to wear it)
also, the way he carries himself is distinctly more feminine than in canon. in these pictures is something delicate about the way he arranges his limbs that you rarely see in Smoke.
referring back to the Hadestown AU, while the winter outfit is pretty masculine, the spring outfit is. well. silk blouse, heels, and a massive feather (blossom?) boa. that speaks for itself, i think.
there is also this medieval AU:
this isn't with the gender role images because he's a monk in this, so that's solidly a men's job, but after some cursory research i suspected that his hair was done in a feminine style. i consulted my medieval expert friend, who confirmed that this headress is indeed a barbette, a style that a noblewoman would have done her hair up in. in-universe, Anaïs has made it part of the monk's habit and therefore not specifically women's clothing, but the fact that it is derived from women's clothing is still relevant context.
the reason i bring up the holiday AU is because it is the "everyone is happy and nothing ever went wrong" AU, which means that the Jules we see in this world is Jules in his natural, healthy, fully realized state. and in this state, he chooses to dress in a more androgynous manner and carry himself more daintily, which means that the lack of feminine dress and mannerisms in the book stems from a suppression of his true self in favor of the power and status he gets by performing masculinity.
similarly, his Hadestown AU winter outfit is very masculine, for a time in his life where he is unhappy, while his spring outfit, when he is happy and healthy, is extremely feminine. the more feminine clothes also fit him better and are more flattering of his body, while the suits he wears in canon, though they don't look half bad on him, actively work against his form.
ultimately I do think Jules is a cis guy, but it is quite clear that he would, under ideal conditions, be more feminine in presentation than he is in canon, as this is what he seems to be most comfortable with given the holiday AU drawings. however, Rivages is not ideal conditions, and due to experiencing the injustices of being "the woman in the relationship", Jules feels the need to lean further into masculinity in order to be respected and powerful.
this results from the complex interplay between misogyny, homophobia, and class divide: Jules is forced into the role of "the wife" due to his initial financial reliance on Adam and the need to "make up" for the queerness of the relationship by conforming to heteronormative dynamics, a role which is disadvantaged due to the strict patriarchy of the 1940s and especially within le milieu.
Beyond the Sea was originally sung by a man, and referred to a female lover who is waiting beyond the sea. Given that the lyrics in Smoke/Rivages refer to a "he", the record they were listening to must have been a female cover, which means that when he relates to the lyrics, Jules is relating his own experiences to that of a woman's. which is a small thing, but very reflective of how the era's strict definition of a relationship obligates him to take on a feminine role.
shout-out to my good friends @imciac and @bambasbatenthusiat thank you so much for screenshotting all those panels for me T-T
