The gender commentary in this novel is lowkey hilarious:
For the first time, Zhangsun Bodhi’s gaze lingered on Qiao Xian for a long while, confusion showing in his eyes.
“You — are you a male or a female?”
Qiao Xian replied plainly, “After reading Buddhist scripts for so long, don’t you understand that ‘looks are only the mind’s perception’, and are meaningless’?”
—Chapt. 19: You Whose Surname is Feng, You Motherfucking Bastard!, fan translation
Presently, people of literature would reprimand others with words like ‘traitor, how dare you scheme behind my back! Lecherous!’, but another type of people would often use the female gender as a metaphor such as ‘you cry like a woman’ as if they were laughing because the other made themselves resemble little timid ladies. One could say that it was degrading to be treated like a helpless woman.
Feng Xiao despised these sort of discriminations. When one has reached to positions such as Cui Buqu or himself, they know the world and its people. They wouldn’t care whether the other is a man or a woman. To them, there were only two types of people: friends and enemies, and or useful and useless people.
—Chapt. 41: Cui Buqu Wants to Kick That Person Down the Horse Carriage, fan translation
It's essentially that only weak, powerless, small-minded people are concerned with gender and enforcing gender roles. Actual enlightened people, those with the strength and determination to forge their own life paths, judge others based on their skills and attributes rather than their genitalia and assigned sex. Which should be the case! Just did not expect this politic to crop up in a discussion of cross-dressing 😭
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"When love becomes sufficient in and of itself, the lover does not have to exhaust himself chasing or sit inanimate in a corner. If the lover loves well, there is no need for imprisonment. The beloved is bound by love and will want to stay nearby of his own accord. The Little Prince's friendship friendship with the fox is quite different to his love for the rose. It renders love as a particular level of domestication. As a wild animal without a collar or chain, the fox could leave him at any point. He is not a pet, but stays with The Little Prince because he wants to. This is Khalil Gibran's notion that the beloved can only prove to the lover that he or she also loves if possessiveness is relinquished. Love returns like a boomerang."
~ Roland Barthes (via this post)
This quote just strongly reminded me of the difference between John's love for Jamie and Percy's love for John.
John's love for Jamie is very much a self-created prison, one that he's built for himself brick by brick chasing any connection to Jamie he could manage to secure (using his influence to get Jamie's parole served out at Helwater to keep him where John could see him, marrying Isobel just so he could serve as surrogate father to Jamie's son, moving to America just so he could be nearer to Jamie, and all while simultaneously putting his heart away on a shelf so as not to "betray" his feelings for Jamie).
In the process of his pursuit of Jamie he's deserted the very cornerstone of his life - his desire to live a life of purpose in quest of honour and justice - to "sit inanimate in a corner" awaiting every opportunity to swoop in and save the day like his primary reason for existence is now being guardian angel to the Frasier family.
Regardless of my personal opposition to the very practice imperialism and slavery, I at least respected John's strength of character in his devotion to his duty because HE believed in the integrity of his office, and that his actions were for the ultimate security, and therefore betterment, of society. But NOW? What's he even doing with his life anymore? The man hasn't had a real job since 1768! o.O (Good thing he's rich. Must be nice to retire at 39 years old. xd)
I don't know about you, but that is not the Lord John Grey I knew and loved. The John who once went, "For an instant, he fantasized the possibility of securing Percy's freedom, whether by lies or bribery, then going abroad, the two of them together. He had money enough. To live a pointless existence of idleness with a man whom he could not trust. No, it would not serve." (BotB, Ch 28) I guess a near pointless existence of idleness in service to a man who doesn't love you and barely pays attention to you unless he needs something from you is somehow a life worth living to him? Okay then. smh
But it's the contrasting nature of Percy's quietly abiding love for John versus John's desperate fervour for Jamie that I find most intriguing. While John's chased after Jamie at nearly every possible opportunity over the years (even when he knew his attention was vehemently unwanted), Percy...hasn't.
Only on THREE occasions did Percy actually purposefully set out to see John. The first time they met again after 18 years when John returned to his hotel room to find Percy waiting for him -- though that occasion was primarily motivated by Percy's work (though I'm sure he was quick to volunteer his services when it gave him a reason to see John again xd). And the time(s) Percy turned up at John's tent looking for him after he'd recognized John disguised as an enemy soldier, no doubt because he feared John being hanged for a spy.
And Percy was quick to try and leverage his own realm of influence to safeguard John's life when he asked to take John to meet the Marquis de Lafayette. He knew the young nobleman would heed his counsel as his adviser if he convinced him John was too valuable to be executed and that he should advocate on John's behalf to General Washington (since he held Lafayette in great affection and regarded him like a son). Through Lafayette's influence Percy could've ensured John was permitted to serve out his parole in safety and comfort (if only Jamie had consented to let him go!), maybe even in the French camp where Percy was. (And, hello, there's fanfic idea for anyone looking for one! ^.^ lol)
And the third and final time Percy sought John out was on Richardson's boat (somewhere he was quite likely forcibly brought in the first place or else deceived into coming), when he came to apologize to him and admit he still loved him because he thought he might never see him again. 😢
But the thing that stands out to me is just how much Percy, in fact, never actively chased John at all during all those years. All the other times they only encountered each other incidentally. And sure, Percy flirted a bit here and there, but mostly he maintained his sense of purpose and did his job. The only time he really went out of his way to seek out John outside of his work was when he feared for John's life.
Percy felt no need to chase John on a personal level because his love for him had long become sufficient in and of itself. He felt no desperation to pursue John the way John did Jamie (despite both of them being aware that their romantic affections were unwelcome), no need to cling to any mementos of John (like John's done with Jamie's sapphire all these years) to remind himself of his feelings for him, and he didn't feel the same depth of insecurity to use the other to fill the void within himself as John did with Jamie.
Yet it can't be denied that Percy loved John greatly all that time in his own far less overtly displayed way. Even while doing his job his desire to safeguard John was ever-present. Even in the months when he never saw or spoke to John he was still keeping abreast of where he was and what he was doing, and most importantly, investigated Ezekiel Richardson and figured out the threat he posed to the Grey family and warned John about him years before Richardson even closed in for the kill. If only John had given Percy's warning the credence it deserved! T_T
(I also can't help but be amused by all the times Percy's straight out known more about everything's that going on than John. And Percy took a mere six months to figure out "Buttercup's" secret identity, but apparently John never figured out that "Beauchamp" and "Monsieur Citron" were in fact the same agent until 1780. John may've been the more experienced soldier, but it looks like Percy has always been the better spy! LOL And you know what? Good for him! <3)
I also can't help but feel that Percy's is ultimately the more selfless love, too. I mean, sure John cares about Jamie's welfare but it's a very self-serving sort of selflessness he demonstrates regarding Jamie a lot of the time. How many times has he talked about doing something for Jamie's greater welfare but in the same breath also expressed that it's because it's something HE (John) needs for sake of himself? Not to mention that by so doing he also at least gained Jamie's gratitude and a modicum of his attention.
Whereas Percy continually acts out of care for John even though John barely offers him basic civility in their interactions, let alone anything else. At least Jamie still offers John friendship (somewhat warped though it is). Percy is motivated by love of John alone, knowing perfectly well he has nothing whatsoever to offer Percy in return -- not even the basic dignity one human being ought to afford another, if John's apathetic treatment of him near the end of Bees is any indication. ~ 😔
(Honestly, just...*hurls John into the sea again for being a f*cking class A idiot* Jamie doesn't deserve John's love, and John barely, if at all anymore, still deserves Percy's.😑)
Cui Buqu laughed a cold laugh, “So it was because of that you harassed the Zuoyue Bureau with every moment you have. Three days ago, you complained that our tea is too salty, and our desserts are not delicious enough, that our maidservants are too ugly. Two days ago, you broke all the flower pots in the front hall of the Zuoyue Bureau. You even let in a few stray cats to create chaos. Yesterday, you picked a fight with Zhangsun. So tomorrow, are you going to gather a group of homeless people to crash the gate in front of the Zuoyue Bureau?”
Feng Xiao closed his fan with a slap, “Good idea! Then I’ll just add with a ‘Cui Buqu is a heartless, cold, and traitorous husband, so his pregnant wife is here in the capital looking for him!’ How does that sound?”
—Chapt. 89: Why Are You Avoiding Me for the Past Half Month?, fan translation
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“When... When did you come into contact with Fan Yun?”
Feng Xiao did not pay him any attention, submerged in his own trail of thoughts.
Cui Buqu remained silent for a moment, “Your hair is unruly.”
“Hm?” Feng Xiao leisurely returned to the present and took out a mirror as big as his palm from his sleeve, facing towards a luminous pearl, using the eyesight of a grandmaster of the martial arts to examine for a moment, adjusted his hair, before letting out a breath, “It’s still good. It’s not unruly?”
—Chapt. 117: What Use Is There Looking for a Doctor? It's Just a Waste of Money, fan translation
I'm reading The Myth of Normal by Gabor Matè, M.D. right now and this passage that brought Percy to mind leapt out at me:
"In many cases specific traits can be traced to particular kinds of wounding. For example if we don't receive the agenda-free, unconditional attention we all require, one way to guard against that deprivation is to become concerned with physical attractiveness, or other attention-getting attributes or accomplishments. A child who does not experience himself as consistently and unconditionally lovable may well grow up to become preternaturally likable or charming, as with many a politician or media personality. Someone who is not valued for who she is early in life may develop an outsize appetite for status or wealth. If we are not made to feel important for just who we are we may seek significance by becoming compulsive helpers..."
Unsurprisingly, given Percy's tumultuous upbringing, we can recognize many of his superficial personality traits in this excerpt.
DG has pointed out that, of course, the characters of OL don't have the same understanding of psychology as the average 21st century reader. But why then is there still so much dislike and misunderstanding in the OL fandom regarding Percy Wainwright??
The inherent biases of men like Lord John Grey, Hal Grey and Jamie Fraser are understandable (if somewhat contemptible) given the cultural mores of their era (mores I might add are often the very definition of toxic masculinity), but what of the incongruous bias of the 21st century audience reading these books? Are they so unable to see beyond the confines of the other characters bigoted POVs to recognize what's really happening, and how cruelly maligned Percy is by both the narrative and the society he lives in??
Percy isn't a saint, he's imperfect and deeply troubled, as are many other characters, and yet the narrative doesn't go out of its way to repeatedly paint them in such a contemptible light. (The gender bias and homophobia here speaks volumes.) He's a kindhearted and loving man who's inherently vulnerable in a way most of the other male characters aren't, has been so all his life, and has long been very much alone in the world.
And unlike men like John, Hal, and Jamie he hasn't had wealth and position handed to him from birth --- he had to find a way to achieve those things for himself. Even Jamie was helped at every turn by family or friends. Even Fraser's Ridge was property handed to him by the British government for colonization -- yes, Jamie Fraser and the rest of his family and friends are colonizers. Yet somehow it's okay for all of them to be selfish and take what they want even though they're professed to know what they're doing is wrong. But they just don't care. Not enough to actually DO something about it, or at the very least stop compounding it by being party to it. Where are all the allegations of dishonourable conduct and unconscionable behaviour that ought to be laid at their feet? And the Grey family is no better, despite all the airs they give themselves to the contrary.
I mean, honestly, people, think for yourselves!! Whatever happened to media literacy??
Percy is no more guilty than any of them, and in many respects he's far less so. The only thing he's really looking for, that he truly needs, is unconditional love and understanding -- too bad for him it's the one thing both the characters of OL and its fandom are incapable of giving him. Oh, and his creator, too, let's not forget about her. 💀
