Gender Stereotypes In Boys Don T Cry

1. In my opinion this film is titled Boys Don’t Cry because boys are given the stereotype that they are not allowed to show emotion and need to be tough. Brandon Teena is a female to male transgender. Brandon took on his true self and became whole heartedly a man. With this he had to fit the male stereotype. He became tough and joked like he was one of the guys. There was a scene in the movie where all the guys were holding onto the back of a pickup truck driving in circles until they flew off. Brandon fell but just brushed it off. The only person that new the truth from the beginning was his close friend back in Lincoln names Lonny. Brandon is tough and does not let people see his pain. Nobody knew he was physically a woman until the end of
the movie. Even after getting raped he held himself together and didn’t actually let out his emotions until he was alone in the bathroom and it was only for a second. “Boys don’t cry” is in a sense Brandon’s motto. He takes all the challenges thrown at him as a transgender all the way up until his murder. He is strong and even though he has committed crimes in the past he is emotionally innocent and doesn’t do anything to hurt anybody. He can’t show emotion because he will feel like less of a man. Halberstam argues that his love and relationship with Lana gives him the support to be his true self. Halberstam states, “Brandon can be Brandon can be Brandon because Lana is willing to see him as he sees himself,” (Halberstam 89). Lana accepts Brandon and treats him like who he is. Even after it is made clear to her that he is actually a woman. She tells him, “…I don’t care if you’re half monkey or half ape”.