That Maddening Rubber Penis: Bourgeois and Radical Feminism Get All Hot and Bothered over "Boys Don't Cry"

By
Rebecca Meehan
Emerson College

On the surface, Boys Don’t Cry would appear to be a singularly feminist text. After all, it's about a lesbian, right? And apparently, you can't get any more feminist than that. Well. That's not quite true. In this paper, I intend to critically look at the two main female characters, Lana and Brandon Teena/Teena Brandon through two different feminist platforms:
Bourgeois and Radical Feminism. For the issues in Boys Don't Cry to be properly appreciated, it is necessary to view the actions and personalities of the characters through the eyes of the two opposing camps.

Bourgeois Feminism? Radical Feminism Prevalent in the 1970's, Bourgeois Feminism was propelled by women's need to obtain equality within the system. This doesn't mean separate, but equal. This refers to being able to drink beer out of the can, working on construction sites, and being assertive in money matters without the label of "bitch” or "dyke”.

In Boys Don’t Cry, the main character's name is Brandon Teena. He is a man, stuck inside a woman's body. At first watch, I don't believe it. In the era of Ricki Lake and Jerry Springer, the rumors of actors portraying transgendered teens and mothers and brothers just to get on TV abound. So when I see the thin woman walk into the scene (flannel shirt, cowboy boots, jeans, flat chest and a Stetson masking her shape), I can't believe that she actually wants to be a man. Or more properly, that he is stuck inside a female body -one that doesn't fit him.

Bourgeois Feminism would partly defend her.~~ They would say that she is a woman who feels more in-touch with her masculine side, who has sexual relationships with women, casual friendships with men, and who feels more comfortable in casual, practical clothing. But to them, she would still be a woman who chose to live a particular lifestyle. Radical Feminism is the idea that women are essentially different from men (essentialist feminism) and so should live apart from them, forming their own social support systems, educational programs and consumer society. Radical Feminism would look at the Brandon Teena and call "her” Teena Brandon, the butch lesbian who likes beer and bumper surfing.

Their first Radical feminist criticism would be that Teena Brandon forms friendly cameraderies with men. She needs them, and their approval. In the film, Brandon begins to be led along by two thuggish, male losers. They are ex-convicts, partially psychotic, and very abusive to the women they live with. Thena Brandon, even after her brutal rape by these two men, will still defend them. She will say that she was not beaten and raped. She will sleep in the shed, on property they are familiar with and have access to.

She will not run away to her cousin, back to her town, back to relative safety. Teena seems to believe that her assault has been her initiation into her new life, that she is now equal to the males (or at least accepted). To this Radical Feminism would strongly disagree. They would say that because Teena is a woman, that she was beaten and raped. They would say that if she desired to dress in "practical clothing (note - not male clothing), then she should be doing it on a commune of women.

The Radical Feminists second criticism of Teena Brandon would be about her discomfort with her own sex (as in genitalia) and physical cycles (menstruation, moods, etc.) Again, I don't believe that there exists any hatred of self. Brandon Teena (her male identity) likes who he is. It just happens that he vehemently hates the body he's in. In dealing with that lack, Teena Brandon dons a strap-on penis when she's having sex with her girlfriend, Lana. At the same time, her breasts are bound to her chest with tape, all of her clothing remains on her body (while Lana is naked, outside in the cold air). The gigantic, scene stopping orgasm she gives Lana is identified with the strap-on. Now, according to feminist criticism, the Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm (that penetration of women causes orgasms - totally ignoring the clitoris) is being validated by a woman and a rubber penis. Radical Feminist would not approve of this scene.

Radical Feminism?Bourgeois Feminism
Strangely enough, the Radical Feminists would probably approve of Lana more. She wears frumpy T-shirts, leather jackets, she steals from the Man (beer from a convenience store), and has a strong affinity to and love for cows (the female nurturer that provides milk to the masses). However, she also paints her nails red, dye's her hair strawberry blonde and was once in a relationship with scummy guy #1. The more we look at Lana (the feminine one), the more we see how she might have already created that woman's commune in her life. Her relationships are mostly with women: her friend and her friend's child, her half-sister, her single mother, the women she works with in the packing plant. But her relationship with Teena Brandon is with, truly, Brandon Teena. Lana identifies her boyfriend as a man even after the police jail him with the women, and even after she sees that his breasts are bound. The pivotal scene in the film is during Brandon Teena's interrogation by his male "friends. They have heard rumors that he's a she and are intent on proving it. The scene ends by them disrobing Brandon and showing Lana that he is physically a woman. Lana says, "Leave him alone. Him. As soon as she identifies Brandon as a being male (and not just masculine), Brandon appears in the background, with the on-lookers, watching himself get beaten up. He is vindicated. However, in the eyes of the radical feminists, Lana is now out of favor. She isn't loving a woman (Brandon Teena) because the woman is female, but because she is convinced that she (Brandon) is a man.

Similarly, Lana would not be accepted by the Bourgeois Feminists. She works in a packing factory on an assembly line with all women. She doesn't seem to be trying to move up in the world to achieve any kind of equality with the men. Her private life is constantly commented on, or invaded by men. Early in the film, she spends most of her time drunk because there is nothing else to be. Later, after she meets up with Brandon, she is having a secret affair with him. She is hiding her life from her family. Bourgeois feminism is centered around obtaining equal rights and freedoms within the society you live in. Lana only appeared to be sneaking about, and playing the woman.

General Film Comments
After having viewed Boys Don't Cry, I've decided several things. One: The spectator of the movie is male, and the target audience seems to be heterosexual. The brutal and excessive rape scene is too sexual in nature to be only about assault and power it would appear to even have a titillation factor. But are the men raping Teena or Brandon? The subtext underneath that scene is a nod to those who are paying attention: homophobia often grows in those who are actively suppressing homosexual feelings. Two: there are two nude scenes. The first is a naked, passive Lana, having sex with Brandon. Brandon is completely clothed, Lana is nude. The last really important naked scene is of Brandon in the shower. The water is running, the steam is on, and at first the viewer can't see the bruises and cuts tracked across his (his being used for the benefit of his gender identity) very feminine body. As the camera reveals, the viewer feels revolted. Since most of the rapes are male to female, this scene is almost a warning - or a revelation that sexual assault is bad. In any case, the spectator is addressed as a masculine male - obvious because sex sells movies.

Laura Mulvey's Gaze is an interesting issue to discuss class. It has been decided that the gaze usually belongs to the men, and the subject of the gaze is usually the woman. In Boys Don’t Cry, the situation isn't quite standard. Yes, the subject of the movie is the life and death of Brandon Teena/Teena Brandon, a man in a woman's body. But when we see out of his eyes, the camera is exploring, unsure and cautious, more than ravishing the subject of the gaze. In actuality the strongest gaze belongs to Lana, the femme of the film. Her gaze is more an attempt at deciphering something; be it Brandon, Thug #1, or her own life. These gazes seem to be about exploration rather than sexuality.

The second type of gaze is from the two male characters of the filmóthey are Thug #1 and Thug #2. Even though they are pivotal players in the film, even though they act out their crime in the Terrible Place, they aren't given their own Gaze. Instead, they are flat. If we see through their eyes, we are merely getting another angle they are neutral. The only time the camera really is the gaze of the Thugs is immediately before, during, and shortly after Brandon's rape. At that time, the camera becomes their eyes shifty and nervous and hateful. Ordinarily, this would convey a sense of power over the lookee, but because the audience is familiar with the orientation of the camera (as a tool for the main characters), there is conscious separation between the camera and the audience.

Boys Don t Cry is a veritable playground for feminists of the Radical and Bourgeois camps. Each could probably find as many faults as positive aspects of the two characters, Lana and Brandon Teena, and the way they are portrayed on screen. No matter what the director intended, this film (in the fringe, and definitely a Hollywood minority) is rich in subtext though what that is, the audience is allowed to decipher.