{"id":2678,"date":"2025-02-20T15:34:47","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T20:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/?p=2678"},"modified":"2025-02-20T15:34:47","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T20:34:47","slug":"the-policing-of-expression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/2025\/02\/20\/the-policing-of-expression\/","title":{"rendered":"The Policing of Expression"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Alejandro Heredia\u2019s <\/span>You’re the Only Friend I Need<\/span><\/i>, two young boys navigate the tension and social pressures surrounding gender expression and fluidity. When they meet Ren, who embraces femininity in their dress, their eyes sparkle with a sense of comfort, as well as a sense of fear. Which includes the very real threat of punishment from authorities who deem their gender expression unnatural and in need of policing. Heredia captures this fear,\u201cNoel does not think it, refuses to turn his feeling into thought for fear that will paralyze him. He feels it. The body responding to danger, to the possibility of meeting the baton of some cop, dressed as they are\u201d (39). The novel also highlights the lingering impact of colonialism, particularly through the reference to Parque Col\u00f3n, where a statue of Christopher Columbus towers over the square, \u201cAt the center, a statue of the colonizer looms over the square\u2026He stands in all of his power. As if to say, \u2018If I found you, I can lead you.\u2019 As if he were the center of the whole universe\u2026\u201d (33). This imagery serves as a stark reminder of how Spanish colonization reshaped cultural and social structures, imposing rigid ideals of gender and morality. Within Mestizo circles, I have heard discussions about how, before colonization, Indigenous communities had a more fluid understanding of sex and gender beliefs that the Spanish deemed unholy and sought to suppress through forced conversion and cultural erasure. It\u2019s striking how those colonial ideals continue to shape societal norms today.<\/span><\/p>\n

This struggle for self definition and acceptance also resonates with Eli Clare\u2019s <\/span>The Mountain<\/span><\/i>, where people across various identities are forced to climb the brutal slope of “normalcy” and “success.” The mountain demands assimilation, offering no space for difference, no peace for those who refuse to conform. It is a reminder that, even now, systems of power work to constrain identity rather than allow it to flourish.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Alejandro Heredia\u2019s You’re the Only Friend I Need, two young boys navigate the tension and social pressures surrounding gender expression and fluidity. When they meet Ren, who embraces femininity in their dress, their eyes sparkle with a sense of comfort, as well as a sense of fear. Which includes the very real threat of … Continue reading The Policing of Expression<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[346812],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2025-class-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5466"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2678\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}