Gender and Role Reversal

Gender roles can be seen in any culture. Gender is not necessarily biologically based, but everyone has characteristics considered typical of males or females. Certain male characteristics are independence, dominance and intellect; female characteristics include maternal instinct, dependence and weakness. According to Professor Jim, "racism is the state sanctioned and/or extralegal production and exploitation of group-differentiated vulnerabilities to premature death" (9 January, 2006). Gender is a form of racism because it makes people vulnerable by making them feel forced to act a certain way and accept how people treat them. Novels such as John Okada's No-No Boy and Nina Revoyr's Southland critique these gender stereotypes by creating characters with reverse roles such as Ichiro's parents and Ichiro in the No-No Boy and Jackie Ishida in Southland while Jumpa Lahiri's The Namesake has characters such as Ashima and Ashoke who fit the typical gender stereotypes.

Ichiro Yamada's parents in The No-No Boy have complete role reversals. Ichiro's mother is the dominant, fairly independent character while Ichiro's father is submissive and considerably weaker, especially in areas concerning his children. Ichiro's mother has a strong hold on her children, as Ichiro admits when he thinks about the reason why he became a no-no boy. He says, "Ma is the rock that's always hammering, pounding, pounding, pounding in her unobtrusive, determined, fanatical way until there's nothing left to call one's self" (Okada 12). The metaphor of Ma as the rock reinforces the idea that she is strong and dominant. Her persistence cannot be deterred because rocks are not easily destroyed. Because of this, she forces Ichiro to be miserable. Ichiro's father has stepped back into the submissive role since his wife is the dominant one. Unfortunately for Ichiro's father, he cannot cope with this role forever and eventually becomes an alcoholic in order to escape his feeling of subordinance and inferiority. Right before Ichiro's mother takes her life, Ichiro's father drinks as much as he can to prove his manhood. He decides "I will drink all like the man that I am. Holding his breath so as not to taste the cheap labor, he gulped greedily. He endeavored stubbornly, his stomach now extended to the point of bursting and his mouth jerking in labored gasps as his whole being clawed for air" (179). Ichiro's father becomes animal-like; he is so desperate to show that he is tough and strong that he drinks to prove he can handle it. He even pushes himself to the point of nearly bursting; if he drinks any more, he could die of alcohol poisoning. One could speculate Ichiro's father subconsciously wants to kill himself so he no longer has to deal with fulfilling the female stereotype in his marriage. In this way Okada critiques gender stereotypes; they are not necessary and ultimately lead to unhappiness. Okada offers the alternative of abolishing the male gender role by having Ichiro's mother kill herself and set her husband free.

Ichiro also struggles with his gender identity. Because he is a no-no boy, society strips him of his identity as a male but Ichiro refuses to accept the role of the female. Even other Japanese regard Ichiro with distaste. For example, his old friend Eto becomes angry when he finds out Ichiro is a no-no boy. Eto stands over Ichiro and his legs are "the legs of the jury that had passed sentence upon him. Beseech me, they seemed to say, throw your arms about me and bury your head between my knees and seek pardon for your great sin" (4). This description of Ichiro giving oral sex to another male is an example of how Ichiro is stripped of his manhood. He is no longer respected, and he struggles with this concept throughout the rest of the novel. Through Ichiro, Okada critiques gender stereotypes; it is the lack of Ichiro fulfilling the stereotype of a male that makes him depressed. In both situations, the role of gender makes the characters vulnerable by causing them misery. Those who fulfill the masculine stereotypes, such as Eto and Ichiro's mother, use gender as a power construction by forcing others to be submissive. Basically, having power allows a person to create knowledge because it defines and forces people to follow subordinate stereotypes.

Jackie Ishida in Southland is another example of gender role reversal. Jackie is a strong-willed, independent, and hard-working woman who can only successfully interact with people similar to her. Throughout the novel, Jackie and her girlfriend Laura grow apart because Laura is the typical weak-willed, needy, and submissive female. When Jackie first embarks on her journey and visits her aunt to comfort her in her time of need after Jackie's grandfather's death, Laura becomes easily concerned and clingy. She calls "sounding tired and just short of impatient. 'Jackie, it's me again. It's 5:45. I was thinking you'd be back by now, but...I don't know. Anyway, give me a call when you get in" (Revoyr 41). Because of this behavior, "without being totally aware of it, and without knowing why, Jackie avoided Laura for several days" (222). Using the definition of racism, Laura is vulnerable because playing the role of the female makes her insecure. On the other hand, Jackie embodies male characteristics; Revoyr critiques gender stereotypes by showing that Jackie can only be happy with other like-minded people. She does not want someone to be submissive and complement her style. Instead she wants someone who does not fit the stereotype. Because of this, Jackie turns to her friend Rebecca for support. Rebecca is driven, strong-willed, and allows Jackie to also embrace her strength. When Rebecca and Jackie are together, "Jackie felt something loosen in her, something ancient and glacial start to creak and break free" (343). The analogy that something icy and hard breaks away from Jackie when she is with Rebecca reinforces that Jackie needs someone who allows her to be herself and exude her strength and pursue her passions. This is an alternative to the gender stereotype; people of either sex can embody male and female characteristics. It is perfectly acceptable for two people with similar characteristics to be happy together, which means gender roles are unnecessary.

Unlike Okada and Revoyr, Lahiri's characters in The Namesake fit into the gender stereotypes and seem content to be a part of the stereotypes. The protagonist Gogol's mother Ashima plays the submissive, maternal female stereotype and Gogol's father Ashoke is the breadwinner, the typical male. Ashima uproots herself from everything she loves and is familiar with; she moves from Calcutta to live with her husband whose name she does not know until their wedding day. She does this because Bengali culture emphasizes the importance of marriage and having a family; Bengali culture also emphasizes the husband's dominance. This is why Ashima never feels comfortable addressing her husband by his first name. To fulfill her role as the caretaker, Ashima "cooks for him, hoping to please...by now she has learned that her husband likes his food on the salty side, that his favorite thing about lamb curry is the potatoes, and that he likes to finish his dinner with a small helping of rice and dal" (Lahiri 10). Ashima takes on the role of the caregiver and learns everything she can about her husband so she can please him. Food is important, so she learns what his favorite foods are so she can cook them. She also has his children and rarely questions his judgment; this is why she stays in America for so long even though she prefers Calcutta. Essentially Ashima is vulnerable because she aims to please. She has learned from her culture that it is her duty to do so. Not until Ashoke dies does Ashima learn to live on her own. Because she is living by herself for the first time, "even small events seem like an enormous accomplishment... [she] spends hours on the phone and has all the names changed on the bank account, the mortgage, the bills. She is unable to stem the tide of junk mail that will continue to arrive for years, addressed to her dead husband" (183). Even in death she cannot fully escape her husband and be completely independent. She is forever fulfilling the typical female stereotype. However, she is not bothered by this; in fact she is happy. She is content just knowing her children are grown and successful. In this way Lahiri advocates gender stereotypes. As long as no one is unhappy about it, it is perfectly acceptable.

There are three different conclusions drawn from the role of gender: there should be no male gender role, gender roles should be abolished altogether, and if everyone is content, gender roles should be accepted. According to Okada and Revoyr, gender roles cause despair. On the other hand, Lahiri argues gender roles make no difference in terms of happiness. However, gender roles always lead to some sort of vulnerabilities whether it is misery, insecurity, or wanting to please people.