Counter-Discursive Perspectives

In this sub-section, I present the ways in which Faking It asserts counter-discourse by making visible and criticizing values, traditions, and norms commonly associated to the ideology of the gender order. After I briefly explain the counter-discursive context and meaning of Faking It’s representation of intersex themes to begin with, I move onto the theme of gender regulation. I discuss and exemplify themes especially related to indirect social sanction, its challenging, and explore the queer potential in the counter-discursive representation of said practices.

One of the main ways in which Faking It approaches themes related to gender norms, values, and traditions is through its intersex representation that takes place through the character Lauren Cooper. Although her intersex storyline is foreshadowed in the first season through references to the pills that Lauren “take[s] all the time that [she] do[es]n’t want anyone to see” (“Faking Up Is Hard to Do” 15:18-15:20), Lauren is openly introduced as intersex in the beginning of the second season (“The Morning Aftermath”) and her experience and identity continue to be variedly depicted until the end of the series.

Alone by portraying a minority group that is seriously underrepresented in the media (Amato 241-242), Faking It challenges the dominant discourse through which the mainstream media tends to symbolically annihilate gender minorities through mediated invisibility (Gerbner and Gross 182). Although I have in this study discussed the relatively mediated invisibility of especially female adolescent sexual minority narratives, the cultural meaning of intersex visibility as portrayed in Faking It is on another scale. This is made clear in the fact that Lauren Cooper is US television’s first intersex main character and Raven, a guest character in the episode “Jagged Little Heart” played by Amanda Saenz, is US television’s first intersex character to be acted by an out intersex person (Pagonis). This extraordinarily needed visibility not only breaks the tradition of symbolic annihilation in the media but it also normalizes intersex experiences, and regarding themes of gender, in Butler’s words, produces new meanings to what constitutes gender (Undoing Gender 55). Despite the inherent counter-discourse in representing underrepresented gender minorities, it is, however, the practices of representation in which Faking It engages in its depiction of Lauren, for one, in which the queer potential concerning the gender order may exist.

Especially at the beginning, Lauren fears social punishment due to being intersex.

This is shown through her attitude towards the theme, as she for instance nervously

highlights that she is “just Lauren Cooper, normal girl” with a theatrical nervous smile (“Jagged Little Heart” 13:42-13:46). Despite her hesitancy and fear, no one directly punishes her for her gender performative – in fact, the opposite – and the instances in which she faces indirect social punishment are limited. Mostly, the latter mentioned instances of indirect social sanction communicate a message of gender regulation in relation to the view of gender essentialism (Butler, “Performative Acts” 528): this is due to the notion that intersex themes inherently challenge the binary frames on which gender is socially constructed, as the idea of being intersex breaks the “illusion of an [innate or]

abiding gendered self” (“Performative Acts” 519-520). In other words, in breaking the illusion by existing publicly as intersex, like Lauren does, one tends to face social sanction, the dominant discursive message of which is to constrain the gender performative and assert increasing pressure on performing the illusion (“Performative Acts” 520, 528). In all instances shown in the series, however, the regulative discourse is quickly challenged and met with counter-discourse. I exemplify the practices of representation through two examples that illustrate two different approaches, as the indirect social sanction in Lauren’s storyline comes namely from two distinct characters. These are Lauren’s well-meaning but painfully ignorant father Bruce Cooper and Lauren’s boyfriend Tommy Ortega, a football-playing, physically strong but exaggeratedly slow-thinking young man who is, in other words, a stereotypical “dumb jock” (Long 229; 247). It is not addressed how intentional Bruce and Tommy’s social sanction and regulation are but at no point is either character demonized based on their action. Rather, the series portrays through them the culturally ingrained ignorance and represents through their character development the possibility to grasp the message of social regulation that is implicit in their actions and change it – either succeeding or not succeeding.

The first example takes place in “Zen and the Art of Pageantry” after Lauren calls her father Bruce out on discovering that he is ashamed of her being intersex and holds her to higher standards of femininity due to her being intersex. As a gesture of showing support for his daughter, Bruce says he “heard [her] loud and clear” and takes Lauren to a PFLAG event for her to “meet the people in [her] community” (“Faking It… Again”

08:06-08:08, 09:23-09:24). Although PFLAG – which stands for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays – is not exactly her community, as Lauren points out to him, the audience sees that Bruce is not only clueless about what it means to be intersex but also about the narrative he asserts on intersex themes at the event. Bruce for instance inadvertently humiliates Lauren by asking another attending family: “Hey, how you doing?

I’m Bruce. This is my daughter, Lauren. […] Lauren’s an intersex. What’s your kid have?”

(“Faking It… Again” 09:32-09:40). In relation to mainstream conventions regarding intersex representation, Bruce’s narrative is a direct reiteration of what Amato calls the tradition of intersex themes being understood through a negative lens and as medical problems (241-242). Although Lauren does not verbally challenge Bruce on the spot, she gasps, looks shocked and embarrassed, and runs off. Both messages – of indignation at the moment and of disagreement with his regulatory actions – are still clear enough, as later in the episode, the two have a heart-to-heart, as Bruce admits to having asserted a negative trajectory on intersex themes due to his ignorance and makes steps to overcome his past actions. This is explicitly shown as he tells Lauren:

BC: Listen, when I first found out about your condition, you know, your mother wasn’t around to talk to. I didn’t know what to do and I was just trying to protect you. I thought keeping this whole thing secret was a way to do that.

And I was wrong. I am… [shouting] I’m proud of my intersex daughter!

(“Faking It… Again” 16:04-16:22)

While the scene makes visible the possibility of change in relation to social relations and gender regulation, it also marks the end of indirect social sanction from Bruce.

Through the entirety of the above representation, Faking It amplifies a counter-discursive message. First, by naming the actions that manifest indirect social sanction regarding gender essentialism as exactly such, the series makes the phenomenon visible and possible to criticize. Second, without demonizing the perpetrator of these dominant cultural values, the series depicts the above regulatory actions as negative and with harmful consequences whereas the breaking away from the said dominant values is shown as positive and with positive consequences to all involved. In other words, through the representation Faking It participates in actively imagining desired results, which is both activism as well as motivation for activism (D. E. Hall 41). It also engages in a counter-discourse that challenges the gender order and expresses possibilities of change, redefinition, movement, and subversion of the dominant discourse and its ideology – all aims and practices that embody queer dissent (Cohen 439-440).

Another type of representation is shown through the indirect social sanction that Lauren’s boyfriend Tommy Ortega asserts on Lauren when he rejects Lauren both romantically and sexually due to intersex themes. To begin with, Tommy is represented as struggling to accept the concept of being intersex, as, despite Lauren explaining it to him multiple times, he views it as meaning that “[his] girlfriend is a dude” (“The Morning Aftermath” 13:57-13:59). This exchange shortly leads to Tommy leaving Lauren and thus rejecting her romantically (“Burnt Toast”). Later in the series, however, Lauren gives Tommy a second chance but Tommy soon rejects her again, only this time in a sexual setting. Leading to the scene, Lauren has decided that she wants to lose her virginity and invited Tommy over but Tommy, despite showing enthusiasm for the plan, has invited all his friends for a party at Lauren’s house. The situation culminates in Lauren dragging

Tommy into her bedroom and making advances on him, and the two have the following conversation:

TO: Babe. What about the party? Who’s gonna watch the keg and, like, maintain the vibe?

LC: I don’t give a fuck about the vibe. We are doing it right now.

TO: I can’t.

LC: Why not? You were always begging me for it before. [pause] Then you found out the truth about me.

TO: Babe.

LC: You planned this whole party just to avoid having sex with me?

TO: I’m sorry, I-, I’m just a little freaked out.

LC: Because I’m a freak. (“The Deep End” 15:10-15:45)

In the context of the scene, it is made clear that “the truth” about Lauren is code for her being intersex. Although Tommy does not directly say it out loud, the scene, especially with Tommy’s absolute silence after Lauren’s last line, represents clearly the negative dominant discourse asserted on intersex themes. Despite Tommy not overcoming his interphobia or being shown to make drastic changes to the practices of social sanction he asserts on Lauren, the notions related to the gender regulation are met with other types of counter-discourse. For instance, the scene signals the end of Lauren’s newly salvaged and potentially romantic and sexual relationship with Tommy, as Lauren contends the regulative views presented by Tommy explicitly through her actions. Whereas Tommy’s role is further diminished in the series after the break-ups, Lauren stays as one of the main characters to whom the audience can relate.

Furthermore, the other characters in the series are quick to challenge the regulative message that is manifested through Tommy’s views and actions. Amy, for instance,

highlights to Lauren that she thinks “Tommy’s an asshole” and “an idiot” for rejecting her romantically and sexually purely due to intersex themes (“Burnt Toast” 17:25-17:27;

“School’s Out” 04:15-04:16). At one point, all of Hester High is noted to hate Tommy ever since finding out that he broke up with Lauren for being intersex (“Prom Scare”). Despite the intense stances, Tommy’s character is kept relatable to an extent, since it is through the relatability of his cultural ignorance that the message of the narrative is the clearest.

Nevertheless, it is made clear that his actions have consequences not only for him but for others as well, as the audience sees the ways in which they hurt Lauren.

Although the entirety of the above storyline does not represent desired results similarly as the example with Lauren’s father Bruce, the message is still counter-discursive, although from another perspective. Through the representation, the series makes the phenomenon visible and criticizes the cultural norms through which the practices of discipline, surveillance, and power operate and regulate gender according to dominant notions of gender essentialism (Undoing Gender 55). By first making visible the common cultural microaggressions that stem from ignorance and then challenging them through the writing as follows, the series slyly educates its audience without making the audience feel like they are being educated due to being entangled in the plot and the relatability of Lauren’s character. What is more, by shifting the perspective from the majority perpetrating the dominant values on minorities to the minorities facing the consequences of said discourse, the series normalizes intersex experiences and identities, and whether the experiences are positive or negative, approaches them counter-discursively. These counter-discursive practices can be seen to embody glimpses of queer aims as they challenge the gender order’s restrictiveness and subvert the related dominant cultural and media discourses through the shift of perspective (Cohen 439-440).

In this sub-section, I have presented the ways in which Faking It resists notions of the gender order through its choice of perspectives and explored the queer potential of said counter-discourse. I have first explained the overall counter-discursive meaning of representing intersex themes in the mainstream media, after which I have addressed the series’ approach to gender regulation through its representation of indirect social sanction.

I have discussed this through two different examples that first, subvert the gender order with an emphasis on change and re-definition and second, make visible and criticize the practices of gender regulation from a queer perspective on the theme, thus asserting queer aims and messages. Next, I move onto the counter-discursive imagery and identity narratives in Faking It.