Tadc Episode 7 Spoilers + Trans Jax Theory
TRANS JAX THEORY DIRECTION
We're all aware of the popular TADC theory that Jax is trans. I've also noticed that the more popular flavour seems to be mtf trans Jax!
I'm just here to discuss my opinion on this: I feel that Gooseworx is likely to make this purposefully open-ended, and that which way the egg swings is subject to personal preference. In my opinion, every factor that seems like it'd swing one way can also be read the opposite.
The most popular theory; it seems like an obvious default based off of Gooseworx alone. She's already admitted to putting a lot of herself and projecting heavily onto Jax, often making doodles of him listening to certain symbolic songs and talking about other things like taking progesterone, which is a hormone treatment for gender affirming care in trans women. One more point is how, originally, Jax was a female character. With this knowledge, he could still be a female- just uncracked or subdued in expression in some form.
Further evidence to support MTF flavoured Jax is his overcompensation of masculinity, even getting heavily perturbed by being in a maid dress. In the MTF perspective, this overcompensation can be seen as deniability of a feminine identity, bringing attention to aspects of himself and purporting them as highly masculine even if they're not associated with gender such as his ears and tail. This can also link with his tendency to seem to want control over his situation which is a core part of his general personality (such as leaning into his cartoony persona). In a situation where he's stuck in the circus, even if he did process his womanhood, it's not like there's gender affirming care in the circus, and trying to explain to Caine that he'd want to have an altered avatar or voice may turn out wrong or not how he wants. This is added onto the possible reactions of the cast, of whom he doesn't wanna be vulnerable around and whom he consistently lies to about personal stuff such as his feelings towards funerals, abstractions and him having people on the outside. Due to this, his overcompensation could be a way to dig his heels into the metaphorical dirt and assert his gender as the way he got thrown into the circus to hold some kind of delusion of control over himself, whether he's realized his identity or not.
His room design could also be seen as evidence, as was revealed in episode 7. The design is covered in pink and rainbows, which tends to be more typically related with femininity, even childishness. Said room was hidden from the viewer, perhaps for such a purpose, as its reveal wasn't with much fanfare but they still chose to hide it in merchandise and whatnot, such as in the background of the Jax pin, which contrasted the cardboard attachment design of every other character's pin. This pink and not stereotypically masculine room could've been based purely on his psyche or what he was meant to be as a bunny character. This is likely also why he seems to hide his room from others, barely leaving much of an opening when people speak to him as to not give away the design of his room. While not certain, it could also be related to why he kept his room with his lights off bar the polaroids.
Even if not pink for that purpose, it could've also been made pink purely in relation to his avatar, which is decked with pinkish colours such as his purple skin and salmon-adjacent overalls.
This is most of the evidence I could think of towards the MTF flavour of the Jax theory. However, as is the point of this post, it easily swings the opposite way as well.
While Goose's projection onto Jax is undeniable, her specific experience of being a trans woman may not be what she's portraying with Jax, but rather the experience of being trans in general and the emotional turmoil that can come from insecurity. I think that keeping it inconclusive and able to swing the opposite way of her own identity to a trans man opens up more opportunities for people to see themselves in Jax as well as letting her touch on both aspects within the show through Jax, even if subtly, based purely on the biased perception of the current viewer.
Jax's overcompensation of his masculinity can also be seen as an extension of his insecurity, especially given how allergic he is to vulnerability with the other members of the circus troupe. I feel it's likely that his inane overcompensation is a lighthearted attempt to prove his manliness in a way people wouldn't read into it past him being his usual self. It also lines up with his heavily perturbed reaction to the dress, not wanting to be seen as effeminate like he used to be perceived and violently rejecting even the slightest notion, as well as just generally being uncomfortable and feeling dysphoric from being thrown in a maid dress.
Finally, the pink, girly, and childish room could be intrinsically linked to his biological gender as I doubt a headset would easily be able to ascertain unique items like if hormones are being used. Clearly, it's able to read and write some stuff to a brain as shown by how everyone forgets only their name after being placed in the circus, and they can be affected by modifiers like stupid sauce. The room design could possibly be no different. That, or it was affected purely by his design, and thus unrelated entirely to both trans theories. But either way, it feeds into why he doesn't show people, as he likely doesn't want people to suspect or associate him in any way with femininity, and possibly not want it used against him either given his reluctance to share personal details.
At the end of the day, all aspects (that I can think of) that feed into the trans Jax theory can swing either way all based purely on personal perception. I believe this swinging egg is by design as well, with Goose intentionally making it viable for trans experiences to relate from either trans men or trans women, and not just aimed at one or the other. Feel free to disagree, as this is just my personal perspective on the trans Jax theories that are very popular, especially at the moment. I subscribe to them, but also don't particularly lean towards either specific side of the trans Jax spectrum.
Feel free to share your own thoughts if you read this and have any. I just wanted to get this all written down, tho I'm aware there's 0 chance somebody else hasn't talked about it already.
