A Sex-Skewed Look at JSA #26 and #27

One thing I like to do occasionally is look at different characters/plotlines and imagine how they might play out the same or differently if the genders of the characters were reversed. I've done it before here with Kyle's romantic history.

Anyway, I found myself doing it again while rereading JSA. Specifically the part of the story where Hawkgirl kisses Sand, and the resulting conflict. And it occurs to me, the story and particularly the fan sympathies would play out very different if the characters were the opposite sexes.

I mean, face it, in this situation, we were supposed to sympathize a little with everyone. Carter finally comes back to life and his wife, who he's loved and been with for lifetimes doesn't remember him. He's trying to win her, but can't quite move past the feeling that well, she's his *wife*. Kendra of course is a confused girl who suddenly finds out that she's got this whole other *thing* going on, she's not who she thought she was, and there's a man that's admittedly fascinating and attractive but he's overwhelming, overbearing and knows her both too well and not at all, so she turns to a supportive, non-threatening friend. And Sand of course is in way over his head. The girl he has a crush on suddenly makes overtures, that weren't for the right reason, he's a gentleman and turns her down. But still has to deal with the jealous possessive ex, who's also an important mentor figure.

However the weight of the sympathetic viewpoint is on Carter. The narrative focuses on him the most. He's the character that the male fans are going to identify the most with (who hasn't lost a girlfriend, or thought they were betrayed). He's the more overtly *male* of the three characters. Kendra is a woman and Sand is the restrained, quieter type that tends to be harder to immediately relate to. He's also the one with the largest fanbase. Hawkgirl is always a tag-on to Hawkman as awesome as he is, and as cool as Sand is, he lacks the fanbase of the Hawks. Even I, and I hate Hawkman, can't deny that his situation sucks and is awful. It almost makes his actions excusable even to me. And like I said, I hate him. For long time fans of Carter Hall, I can understand why he gets a pass for it.

And definitely the majority of fans wanted Carter and Kendra to get together.

But would it be the same way if the genders were reversed? With Catherine Hall, Kenneth Saunders and Sadie Hawkins? (I know Sandy's a gender neutral name, but it might be too close to the original for a stretch of imagination. Besides, naming a character "Sadie Hawkins" is just cruel enough to appeal to my evil side. I also have a college student named Jonathan Daniels who calls himself "Jack" somewhere in my notes...because he thinks it's funny and I like stupid name puns. Anyway, my hypothetical situation, I get to pick the name.)

Anyway, already there's going to be a shift in fan perspective. It'd be "Kenneth", not Carter who the male audience is going to sympathize the most strongly with in this situation. Kenneth is the guy. The other two will be women. Men tend to empathize most with men, it's just the way of it.

So you've got this guy Kenneth. He finds out basically that when he tried to commit suicide at age seventeen, he succeeded, and that the soul in his body now, isn't Kenneth Saunders, but that of a constantly reincarnated Egyptian prince. He doesn't remember much of it, but every so often something clicks and it's kinda scary.

It gets more complicated for poor Ken. Because Catherine Hall, the legendary Hawkwoman, has returned from the dead. She's also, apparently, his *wife*, and has been for millenia, over and over again. She's very attractive and appealing, but she's overbearing. She knows things about him he's never told anyone. And he's only about twenty! He's not ready to settle down with a *wife*. Especially since he doesn't even know this woman! And she's quite a bit older than him physically, which while not a bad thing, adds a bit to the overbearing factor.

And Catherine, as this is her husband of centuries, understands this emotion in some sense. And is trying to court him as best she can, but she's not used to having to *court* her *husband*. She's a forceful personality, not used to being questioned. Not used to having to wait, so she tends to freak him out.

Anyway, Kenneth's not unattracted, but he *is* overwhelmed, and so he decides maybe he'll turn elsewhere for a bit of romantic companionship. Someone pretty and nice and with no strings attached. And he's got some interesting chemistry happening with the team leader, Sadie. Sadie's about his age, attractive, a bit quiet. But there's no...history there. No pressure. No strings. Just a pretty girl who seems interested in him. So when they're alone together, he decides to give it the old college try. It doesn't work out, because she knows he's just using her. However it is made very clear that she is attracted to Kenneth. So if perhaps one day he pursued her genuinely, she would very likely accept his advances.

As it happens, Catherine comes to apologize and sees the boy she sees as her husband kissing another girl. Instead of confronting her husband though, she keeps doing catty little things to make the other, younger girl's life miserable. She undermines her authority at every opportunity, belittles her, and events play out much the same as they did in the storyline in JSA.

But see, I think it'd end up reading very different. The situation changes when you've got an overbearing older woman, a confused young guy, and a sweet younger girl-next-door. Suddenly, it becomes a lot more likely that the story would end with the older woman becoming an outright antagonist. I mean, there's definitely a power imbalance in the relationship, with all the power in the hands of the older woman. Yeah, she's sympathetic in that as far as she sees it, he's still her husband. And Sadie is the other woman. But Kenneth doesn't see it that way, and I'm not sure the audience will too. Especially when Catherine starts to snipe at the poor girl.

It's an interesting exercise in perspective. Because we start with one common narrative strain, the long lost man coming home and reclaiming his wife, proving his love to her, winning her back, and ousting the interloper. We all know this story, variations thereof, and we tend to sympathize with the guy.

But with a simple shift in each of the participants we've got a different narrative story. Equally as familiar. It's now about the conflict between an overbearing and possessive older woman and a younger, more passive, quieter and innocent girl. There's a guy involved of course, and the real story becomes less of him reuniting with his long-lost wife, but more of a "who will he choose".

Which is interesting isn't it? In the first scenario, it's pretty much a given that the wife will return to her husband (unless in the course of the story he meets a younger, more attractive woman, of course). Whereas in the second, it's not. Suddenly, now that the returning spouse is a woman, it's *not* a given that "Kenneth" will end up with "Catherine". The story will more likely end up circling around "Who will Kenneth choose?" And when you've got a story with a man, a sweet innocent girl and the former wife that's sniping at her...well, who does the audience *usually* favor?

I don't mean this as a critique of JSA, (especially as Kendra/Sand would quickly get creepy quick...the more she remembers of being Chay'ara/Shiera, the more we're reminded that Shiera was an adult when she knew him at age 12. It starts to get awkward.) But I do think it's interesting what a difference a little change in sex makes for everyone involved. And for the audience.