Blog 4 - Forget Gender Roles and Look Through the Eyes of Eleanor & Park

Forget Gender Roles and Look Through the Eyes of Eleanor & Park

If you have been following the hard hitting news, or even pop culture news, it is evident that transgender issues are receiving increasing focus.  Recently, Bruce Jenner, an American Olympian and reality television personality, has announced that he will be identifying as a woman.  While his transition from identifying as a man to a woman seems ground breaking, it raises the question of what makes a man or a woman.  Bruce Jenner has stated that he wore women's clothes and makeup at an early age, just never openly.  Due to his fear of public backlash, Jenner chose to keep his transgender life private (Sawyer).  As social acceptance of transgenders becomes an increasing focus in the public eye, acceptance raises the issue of gender stereotypes.  What defines a woman?  What defines a man?  Gender roles are defined by culture, but they are personal as well, and encompass how a person acts, speaks, and dresses.  In Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell subtly questions gender roles and effectively blurs the line of social expectations for the outward appearance of male and female.  Instead, Rowell painstakingly addresses the need for inner beauty regardless of social expectations of gender, which is why critical and reader response to Eleanor & Park has been so positive.

First, Rowell blurs gender role stereotypes in the characterization of Eleanor while showing Park's acceptance from his point of view.  The novel begins with Park's observations of Eleanor as she walks down the aisle of the bus:  “...and she was dressed like she didn't get what a mess she was.  She had on a plaid shirt, a man's shirt, with half a dozen weird necklaces hanging around her neck and scarves wrapped around her wrists” (Rowell 8).  At first, Park views Eleanor as “a mess” because she does not meet a feminine standard.  This viewpoint is echoed by Park's mother, Mindy, who says, “Good girls don't dress like boys” (143).  However, as Park realizes that Eleanor is beautiful on the inside, he no longer judges Eleanor by her external veneer, but by the person that she is:  “Eleanor, today, was wearing her sharkskin suit jacket and an old plaid cowboy shirt.  She had more in common with his grandpa than with his mom.  And it wasn't just the clothes.  It was her.  Eleanor wasn't...nice.  She was good.  She was honorable.  She was honest.  She would definitely help an old lady across the street” (122).  In this instance, Park compares Eleanor's character to the stereotypical boy scout, who is known for an upstanding character that leads to helping old ladies across the street.  Park's compliment both addresses admiration for Eleanor's character and acknowledges his perception of masculinity.

Also of significance is the opinion of Park's mother, Mindy.  Mindy overcomes her dislike for Eleanor's outward appearance when she is able to identify with Eleanor's background as a member of a large, poor family.  Despite this limited acceptance of Eleanor, Mindy attempts to correct Eleanor's mannish style with feminine Avon makeup products.  In contrast, Park fully accepts Eleanor's mannish appearance, which is evident when he tells his mother, “Eleanor doesn't want a makeover...She doesn't need a makeover” (211).  Even beyond acceptance of Eleanor's appearance, Park demonstrates that he appreciates Eleanor for the person that she is, which is evident when he says, “Eleanor was right:  She never looked nice.  She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something” (165).  Park's gradual acceptance and appreciation of Eleanor, despite her defiance of gender image stereotypes, speaks of the need for society as a whole to judge people by their speech and actions rather than appearance.  

Similarly, Eleanor demonstrates her acceptance of Park as he defies the societal ideal of a manly appearance through her open sexual appreciation of Park.  Eleanor tells her friends, Beebi and DeNice, “I want to eat his face,” in response to their comments about his cuteness (206).  At the time, Park was wearing “jeans and a T-shirt that said MINOR THREAT” (206).  At this point, Park still dresses in the style of a typical teenage male.  When Park changes his hair to a wild stye and applies eyeliner, Eleanor says that Park looks “unsettling” (219).  Although unsettling may seem to have a negative connotation, she follows the statement by kissing Park “with tongue.  On the bus,” which is an open display of acceptance and sexual appreciation (219).

After establishing that Eleanor and Park do not fit stereotypical gender roles, Rowell uses convincing shifts in point of view in order to allow the audience to see the beauty of the acceptance Eleanor and Park have for each other.  When Park changes his appearance with mascara, he observes that he is “messier than [his] mom, but he thought that might look better. More masculine” (217).  Park is not only “messier” with his makeup, but he is the same mess of feminine and masculine that he recognized in Eleanor when he first saw her.  Yet, Park finds the courage to allow his outside reflect his inside, which has both stereotypical masculine and feminine traits.  Through Eleanor the author tells Park, as well as society as a whole, “Don't get so hung up on gender roles” (250).  Instead, Rowell tells society to focus less on identifying and more on appreciating what is good, honorable, and honest, which is a positive message that readers and critics alike can appreciate.