The Dynamic of Gender: "Claudine"

'SUP, NERDS?!

One of my favorite subgenres of manga are genderbenders. Some of the most popular within this genre: Hana-Kimi, Ouran High Host Club and Princess Jellyfish. As much as I love Ranma ½ and consider it to be a classic, I’m seeking older titles and "deep cuts" to analyze how gender is represented.

If you don't know Ranma 1/2, you don't know anime.
Stop reading this and go pick up the anime or watch
it on Hulu Plus.

Although I identify as a cisgender heterosexual female, I've always felt bothered by gender roles my whole life. Since manga is one of my favorite forms of art and entertainment, I find myself deeply invested in Japanese culture and have spent years reading about female roles. From my research, I can say that Japan is further behind the States when it comes to gender equality and the acceptance of the LGBT community. Not to say Japan is archaic by any means, but I think the way women are idealized and expected to act are not healthy either.

A Bit About Riyoko Ikeda

The first piece I'm looking at is Claudine, created by Riyoko Ikeda. Ikeda is famously known for The Rose of Versailles. What started as a manga about a girl raised as man has spurred into both an anime and many, many musicals. The cool part about the musicals is that they have been performed by the Takarazuka Revue, an organization composed of all-female performance troupes.

I wanna watch Rose so badly...
it's just as pretty looking as Claudine.

Claudine is significant because it is one of the first transgender manga, published in 1978. The 1970s marks an era for early yaoi and yuri manga, but it wasn't until the 1990s that homosexual manga became mainstream.

Claudine

Taking place in early 20th century France, the namesake of the story, Claudine, was born a female but always felt strongly male since a young age. He spends a lot of time correcting family, friends and the village that he is male-- no semblance of a woman in the way he speaks, acts and holds himself.

No one but his classmate Rosemarie believes in Claudine's identification as a male. However he is never fond of Rosemarie, no matter how deeply she loves him. She only seems to cause him trouble. Claudine is both incredibly popular and bright, but his mother takes him to a therapist as an effort to "correct" her daughter.

There are three major romantic arcs to the story. Claudine first falls in love with a young, live-in maid when he's 15 years old. The two become friends and Claudine comforts the girl with a kiss after she receives the news of her father's death. Unfortunately his mother walks in on this moment and quickly sends the girl back to her village.

A few years later he falls in love with a librarian, an unmarried woman. The two become close, but she rejects his confession because Claudine is a "girl." Unfortunately due to drama and confusion, the librarian's brother kills her and Claudine's father, something I'll further detail in the next section. Rosemarie is partial to blame for this disaster.

Claudine's third and most pivotal love interest, Sirene, met a few times in the past and they reunite in college. Sirene convinces her family to allow her to live with her "friend Claudine", but they are more than just friendly. These secret lovers are content until Claudine's brother asks Sirene out. Sirene pursues his brother.

Feeling betrayed, Claudine makes a final attempt at romance and asks Sirene to choose him or his brother. The story ends in Claudine's suicide.

Opinion & Analysis

Overall I liked Claudine, but I think it suffers due to its brevity. It's about 100 pages and I would have loved to see more development with each love interest. I hate to chastise the manga for this reason, but the fact remains a transgender story was published during a time this theme was few and far between.

What I like about Claudine is that it feels realistic. By no means can I say I relate to someone who is transgender, I've witnessed and heard about events similar to those seen in the story.

The lack of understanding is well captured throughout the narrative, but I found it interesting that Claudine continued to reject Rosemarie, even though she is the most accepting of his identity. I think Claudine dislikes her because he feels treated like a mere token. He says, "I'm not interested in being a spectacle" to Rosemarie when she invites him to her birthday party early on. Claudine learns she has a crush on him and that she bragged they were dating to all her girlfriends.

Claudine's first romance is a display of innocent love, which establishes his liking of women. When he crushes on the librarian, the relationship is very one-sided and he doesn't confess until provoked by the librarian's brother. The librarian never took the relationship past friendship and this particular rejection was hard to read. I've seen plenty of homosexual or trans friends develop a crush on someone who could never reciprocate romantic feelings due to incompatible orientation.

The librarian's brother is not a great character, but is interestingly the lover of Claudine's father. I was mildly confused and couldn't well predict this plot. Skimming over the first few pages, there is brief mention that his father didn't spend much time dating and reluctantly married, which lightly hints he is gay.

I do like the idea of tying sexual orientation between Claudine and his father. From the beginning, the manga emphasizes the stark similarities between the two while explaining that Claudine's brothers take after their mother. I wish Ikeda had more time to set up the complex issues and relationships around the father's homosexuality to develop a better subplot.

The romance with Sirene is incredibly frustrating because I totally see her as the girl who "experimented in college." The fact she would even doubt her feelings for Claudine is selfish since she probably just used him as an excuse to escape a cloying family-life. I wouldn't consider Claudine's brother traitorous because he never knew the two had a thing going on, but Sirene should have ended her romantic relationship with Claudine sooner than hide her affections for his brother.

Claudine gives Sirene an ultimatum which is a giveaway to him pondering suicide. Quite sad considering that suicide rates are higher for sexual minorities. To no surprise, Claudine gives up because nobody can truly love and celebrate him the way he needs to be. I'm glad the therapist accepts Claudine's identity during the final pages, but it's still an incredibly dissatisfying ending.

Conclusionary Notes

Unrelated to gender analysis, Claudine is extremely stylish, oozing with beautiful shoujo eyes and details. I've wanted to delve into Ikeda's stories for a while now. I'm glad I picked up this short manga since I got a lot out of it. Ready for more!

If you have any genderbend manga suggestions, please comment below or message me on my new FaceBook account. Please please please spread word, share this blog and like my page! I have a few more manga to discuss in future entries of The Dynamic of Gender, but I am open to suggestions.

Did you enjoy Claudine? What points do you agree or disagree with me about? Do you think Claudine was foolish at any point during her romances? Should she have given Rosemarie a chance?

LATER, DWEEBS!

Loverly Liz