I will never understand how people can interpret Shane as the “woman”, when Ilya Rozanov is right there causally being the most eldest daughter-coded character to ever exist.
He is holding his entire family together with his hands and never once receives acknowledgment, only criticism for his perceived failures.
He has assumed a nearly parental role for his father as his dementia worsens. It seems he has acted as a guardian to his older brother for a long time. And it is not a stretch to say that he was the one taking care of his mother towards the end.
He is silently carrying the weight and expectations of an entire country on his back. A country that would cast him aside if he dared to step out from behind the perfect mask he has constructed for others’ benefit.
He is angry but not allowed to yell. He is hurting but must suffer in silence. He is literally reduced to being a pretty face at his father’s side during galas and social events. He is explicitly told to listen and not speak.
He is so much his mother’s son that he has become her.
He has been forced behind every barrier and lie that has been used for decades to keep women down.
It is a tragedy and assault against his character and complexity to dismiss how he has been forced for his entire life to simultaneously act as the epitome of masculinity while fulfilling every role left empty by the loss of his mother.
He achieved the final form of the eldest daughter: forced mothering of people you never asked to depend on you and who have never tried once to support you in turn, or even acknowledge all that you do for them.
I don’t see how it is possible to critically examine Ilya’s relationship with his family and it’s impact on his character without bringing in the conflicting roles he is expected to fulfill, most of all the ones society and his family tell him he shouldn’t be fulfilling because they are “women’s roles” and then force him to fulfill any way.
I know Shane also carries a lot of pressure from his family, but as someone who both comes from supportive parents with very high expectations and is an only child, this reads to me a lot more like an only child expected to carry parent’s wishes and dream’s for his future (which is a role that exists largely separate from gender from what I’ve seen). In comparison to the expectations on Ilya to literally support his family’s mental and physical well being along with that of their image, a role which, sadly, tends to fall to women, specifically the eldest daughters.
Shane has so much character when he isn’t being boxed in as the heteronormative nagging wife or the stereotypical stressed daughter, because it just doesn’t work for his story line. Conversely, given the country he was raised in and the early loss of his mother, it does promote deeper exploration of Ilya’s character to see how conflicting gender roles, specifically that of star athlete son vs. responsible eldest daughter create further conflict between him and his remaining family.
Don’t map storylines onto character just because they fit stereotypes of bottom=woman, Asian man=effeminate, or man who has non-monogamous consensual sex=irresponsible. It’s misogynistic, racist, slut-shaming, and overall weird. It flattens their characters into archetypes when they could be so much more than that.
janainaart
turnnoffyourmind
dailybridgerton
jbbartram-illu
andulkaphoto
annaxmalina
