International Doctoral School Selene Molares Pascual DOCTORAL
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International Doctoral School Selene Molares Pascual DOCTORAL DISSERTATION Strategies of Cross-dressing and Gender-b(l)ending in U.S. Speculative Young Adult Fiction: Conformity or Transgression? Supervised by Dr. Belén Martín Lucas 2018 “International mention” Acknowledgments The research and writing of a doctoral dissertation is probably one of the most solitary efforts. However, there were always people to make me feel that I was not alone. Thanks to them, I was able to get this project off the ground. Special thanks to my parents, who had to endure with my temper and the closed door of my room while I was trying to read and write. Thanks to Iria, who suffered my never-ending monologues about gender and cross-dressing as well as my complaints. I would also like to thank my lovely Yolanda, who always had a hug for me and jokes to light my day. And, last but not least, thanks to Belén, my supervisor, who did always find the time to speak to me. I am sure that I would have never finished this dissertation without your advice and patience. Table of contents Acknowledgments ......................................................................... 4 Table of contents ........................................................................... 5 Resumo .......................................................................................... 9 Introduction ................................................................................. 21 0.1. Methodology ..................................................................... 23 0.2. State of the question .......................................................... 28 0.3. Objectives ......................................................................... 32 0.4. Structure ............................................................................ 34 Part 1: Genre and Gender Chapter 1. Young Adult literature: an overview ......................... 39 1.1. Definition .......................................................................... 39 1.2. History of YA literature and current situation .................. 49 Chapter 2. Fantasy and science fiction: towards a definition ...... 61 2.1. Fantasy .............................................................................. 66 2.2. Science fiction .................................................................. 70 2.3. A short history of fantasy and science fiction .................. 74 2.3.1. Speculative gender: women in speculative fiction ..... 75 2.3.2. YA speculative fiction: current situation ................... 81 Chapter 3. Cross-dressing and gender-b(l)ending women: historical and fictional accounts .................................................. 85 3.1. Cross dressing, gender b(l)ending, transgender: beyond binary terms ............................................................................. 85 3.1.1. The possibility of the third gender ............................. 95 3.2. History of the practice: when fiction and non-fiction collide ................................................................................................. 97 Part 2: Blurring the limits or imposing them? Chapter 4. Composing the background: analysis of cross-dressing in literature ................................................................................ 113 4.1. Introduction to Part 2 ...................................................... 113 4.2. My corpus: a brief overview ........................................... 119 4.2.1. Tamora Pierce’s The Song of the Lioness: Alan/na 120 4.2.2. Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan: Dylan/Deryn ............ 121 4.2.3. Lev AC Rosen’s All Men of Genius: Ashton/Violet 122 4.2.4. Sara B. Larson’s Defy: Alex/a ................................. 123 4.2.5. Kristin Cashore’s Graceling: Katsa ......................... 124 Chapter 5. “I didn’t ask to be born a girl”: repressing femininity in sexist worlds .............................................................................. 127 5.1. Blurring the lines: fiction or reality? .............................. 130 5.2. Institutional violence: when sexism is the norm ............ 147 5.2.1. Education and the military institutions .................... 149 5.2.2. Religion and magic .................................................. 158 Chapter 6. One of the boys: tomboyism and childhood experiences ................................................................................ 167 6.1. Child’s play: tomboyism ................................................ 168 6.1.1. The style of a tomboy .............................................. 168 6.1.2. Rough-and-tumble play............................................ 170 6.1.3. Befriending tomboys ................................................ 171 6.1.4. Family ties ................................................................ 174 6.2. “[A] pathetic unsoldierly fate”: self-loathing and displacement .......................................................................... 180 Chapter 7. The boy in the mirror: masquerading gender .......... 189 7.1. Reshaping gender: trying to look the part ....................... 190 7.1.1. Grasping masculinity by the hair ............................. 190 7.1.2. Constraining the body, shaping its curves ............... 193 7.1.3. Appropriating and performing phallic masculinity .. 197 7.1.4. “What’s in a name?”: baptizing the male persona ... 201 7.1.5. Staring at the body: the mirror scene ....................... 206 7.2. “[T]he sort of boy [he] would have wanted to be”: masculinities under examination ........................................... 212 7.2.1. Compulsory heterosexuality .................................... 217 7.2.2. Dominance and violence .......................................... 219 7.2.3. The suppression of emotions ................................... 226 7.2.4. Grafting genders ....................................................... 232 Chapter 8. Comparisons are unavoidable: characters around the gender-b(l)enders ....................................................................... 241 8.1. Boys will be boys: comparing masculinities .................. 242 8.1.1. Siblings: effeminate men ......................................... 242 8.1.2. On the background: other masculinities ................... 245 8.1.3. The tyrant: toxic masculinity ................................... 250 8.1.4. Prince Charming: selfless masculinity ..................... 251 8.2. In the margins: femininities and empowerment ............. 254 8.2.1. The villainess: seduction and revenge ..................... 255 8.2.2. Empowered women: rebels and warriors ................. 258 8.2.3. Liminality: women at the margins of society ........... 265 8.2.4. Damsels in distress?: women as victims .................. 268 Chapter 9. Sites of ambiguity: problematizing gender .............. 271 9.1. Happily ever after?: analyzing the endings of the novels272 9.1.1. Keeping the masquerade: “you may need your disguise until the world catches up with you” ................................. 273 9.1.2. Keeping masculinity: “I hated lying to you” ........... 275 9.1.2.1. Alanna in Pierce’s The Song of the Lioness ..... 276 9.1.2.2. Alexa in Larson’s Defy ...................................... 281 9.1.2.3. Katsa in Cashore’s Graceling ............................ 283 9.1.3. Embracing femininity: “a proper lady underneath it all” ............................................................................................ 288 9.2. The debate is open: sheroes or comformists? ................. 292 Conclusions ............................................................................... 299 List of figures ............................................................................ 313 Works cited ................................................................................ 315 Primary Sources ..................................................................... 315 Secondary Sources ................................................................. 315 Resumo A literatura xuvenil foi subestimada por un gran sector do mundo académico dende que, na década de 1970, as bibliotecas estadounidenses (agrupadas a través da American Library Association ou ALA) comezaran a usar esta etiqueta para designar un material que trataba de suplir as necesidades dun público lector adolescente. Este público xuvenil adulto xa fora recoñecido por primeira vez trala Segunda Guerra Mundial, cando as melloras nas condición de vida (sanidade, economía, educación, etc.) permitiron a súa emerxencia na sociedade estadounidense. Non obstante, este grupo lector non se sentía identificado nin coa literatura infantil nin coa adulta, e buscaba no seu material de lectura o reflexo da súa vida diaria e as súas inquietudes. As respostas ás súas peticións encontráronas nunha serie de lecturas que adoptaron como parte da cultura adolescente pouco antes de que a ALA decidise adoptar unha nova etiqueta, coñecida no mercado anglosaxón a día de hoxe coma Young Adult (YA). Neste momento, a etiqueta estase a usar masivamente xa non só para textos literarios senón para calquera produto enfocado a unha audiencia de entre 12 e 18 anos, aínda que as idades exactas son aínda causa de disputa, como o é a definición exacta do termo en si mesmo. Ata hai relativamente pouco tempo, de feito, a literatura xuvenil en tódalas súas formas recibía escasa atención por parte da crítica, e poucas obras desta clase contaban con análises que demostrasen o seu valor literario e didáctico. Nestes momentos, sen embargo, comézase a reflectir a súa importancia en