Gender Roles

The novel explores gender roles and the rigid way in which society expects boys and girls to confirm. The school is a place in which gender roles are strict and inarguable. Boys line up for recess in one line, while girls line up in another. Boys are handed blue cards, while girls are handed pink cards. Boys use the boys’ bathroom, while girls use the girls’ bathroom. Boys audition for the play with Wilbur’s lines, while girls audition for the play with Charlotte’s lines. Defying these expectations is not a possibility, which means that following their own lead is impossible for transgender children.

Masculinity and boyhood are represented in a traditionally conservative manner. The men and boys in the novel are stereotypical in almost all sense of the word. Kelly’s father is absent-minded and a slob. Scott is unclean, prone to physical...