It's safe to say Jamie has a lot of issues in Punkzilla, but one of the biggest is the fact that people are always mistaking him for a girl. He's a late bloomer, and he worries constantly about the fact that he's fourteen and puberty still hasn't hit—plus, people often think he's a lesbian, which seriously embarrasses him. But out of everyone Jamie meets on the road, it's a transgender man named Lewis who shows him the least shade. Jamie's introduction to gender dysphoria comes with a side order of compassion—not that that makes him any happier about his own looks.
Questions About Gender
- Does Lewis help Jamie come to any realizations about his own ambiguous gender? Does Jamie see any parallels in himself and Lewis? Why or why not?
- Why doesn't Jamie correct Sam and Sam's mother when they assume he's a girl? Would they have given him a ride if they knew he was a boy?
- Why doesn't Albertina assume Jamie is a girl, or address the fact that he looks like one?
- How could being mistaken for a girl help you survive as a homeless boy? How could it endanger you?
Chew on This
Jamie runs from Sam's mom's car because he doesn't want to get to their house and have them realize he's a boy.
Even though Jamie never says it, his gender ambiguity might be one of the reasons the Major sent him to military school, and one of the reasons the officers picked on him.