i know everyone has already posted about how aloto portrays all these different kinds of women/lesbians/etc etc but honestly having a butch character who is SO uncomfortable with having to present as feminine & straight passing rly hit with me. lupe and jo obviously prefer to wear pants, but they’re both able to switch into dresses & skirts when needed. it may not be their first choice, but it isn’t the end of the world for them.
but it is the end of the world for jess. i think a lot about kelly mccormack’s interview where she says that jess never really had to pretend to be anyone else before, and how disruptive that would be for her. how she’s never had to look in the mirror and not recognize herself before. the fact that jess looks the most vulnerable when she’s being forced into femininity. like, knowing that femininity isn’t something that works for you and having to perform and fit in with it anyway is so!!
like!!! look how upset she is!! even though jess is introduced in the first episode as this kind of hard, tough tomboy (“you ever heard of shut the hell up?”) she’s immediately shown to be vulnerable and to have this weak moment when the league (and society) are asking her to do something that is so at odds with who she is. she knows who she is, and she likes that person, she is comfortable with that person. so why the hell do they want to fix her so bad? i think it’s a great demonstration of how damaging that kind of societal pressure can be.
