Annabel Themes

Annabel Themes

Identity

Wayne was born a hermaphrodite. Throughout his entire childhood he is forced to try and choose one gender to which he conforms, but he can't seem to do it. He is accepted as a boy, but he really wants to be accepted for his feminine side as well. Amid a sea of voices advising him how he should feel and act, he is confused about what he should do. He knows how he feels, but he loses track of his own voice sometimes when the important people in his life are trying to talk over him.

Social Pressure

Wayne/Annabel knows that he identifies with both his masculine and feminine sides, but he is still a child. When adults tell him how he should act and feel, he tries to appease them. Especially with his dad, he tries to hide his feminine energy in order to satisfy his father's desire for a son. Elsewhere it seems like everyone tells Wayne who he should be, and he's too young and insecure to resist their influence and assert his own identity.

Maternal Love

Wayne's mother is most supportive of him. She wants him to be accepted, comfortable, and successful in life, just like most moms. Originally she is the one who calls him "Annabel" and encourages him to embrace his feminine side. In her dreams and hopes for him she sees him happily adjusted, living with a perfect balance of his feminine and masculine energies. Wayne's mom inspires him to not give up on his sense of identity. She seems to believe his androgyny is a superpower he just has to embrace and learn to balance.

Jealousy

Wayne meets Wally in kindergarten. Instantly, he has a huge crush on her because she's cute, but it's more than that. He loves her but it's also because he wants to be her, to place his psyche within her body and be the girl he feels like inside. When his dad picks up on Wally's encouragement of Wayne's feminine fixation, he cuts the two apart. Wayne really cares for Wally, but more importantly he wants to be her. He's jealous that she gets to be a girl, and he's forced to fit inside a binary which doesn't suit him.

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