James Finney Boylan always felt something was different, that he was put "in the wrong body, living the wrong life." 1 In the memoir, She’s Not There, James lives the first forty years of his life as a man and transitions later on at the age of 43 to become Jennifer. Through this journey, Jenny reminisces about the benefits and burdens of being a man, while also discovering new a set of challenges and joys as a woman.
While the transformation only let others see her as the woman she had always felt she was, the way Jenny saw herself also changed. Jenny took to womanhood with eagerness and excitement. One of her first experiences as a woman, Jenny went into a clothing store on a mission to find a pair of jeans. In the world of men, “you simply made the choice between regular or relaxed fit, told the salesman the measure of your inseam and waist, and were then led to a huge wall of pants in your size, all of which you knew would fit just fine, even if you never tried them on.” 2 (155) As a man, body image is not always important. Choices for men are limited because they seem to care less. “As a woman, [Jenny] found that there were six different styles of jean, from ‘boot cut’ to ‘reverse,’ and that the sizes bore no relation to any known system of …show more content…
Jenny had “hitchhiked to Brown from Wesleyan, and there [she and Donna] broke up.” 15 (58) Just by the matter-of-fact commentary, Boylan is showing that hitchhiking is not a threat to men. She even states that “[b]ack when [she] was a boy, [she’d] hitchhiked lots of times” 16 (7). At this point, Jenny has already transitioned and she wonders about these women as she decides to pick them up. “They looked to [her] as if they were in trouble, or about to be. [She] pulled over, thinking, ‘Better me than someone else.’” 17 (3). Looking out of the two young women, Jenny realizes that she, as a woman, is more approachable and comes off as safer than men
While the transformation only let others see her as the woman she had always felt she was, the way Jenny saw herself also changed. Jenny took to womanhood with eagerness and excitement. One of her first experiences as a woman, Jenny went into a clothing store on a mission to find a pair of jeans. In the world of men, “you simply made the choice between regular or relaxed fit, told the salesman the measure of your inseam and waist, and were then led to a huge wall of pants in your size, all of which you knew would fit just fine, even if you never tried them on.” 2 (155) As a man, body image is not always important. Choices for men are limited because they seem to care less. “As a woman, [Jenny] found that there were six different styles of jean, from ‘boot cut’ to ‘reverse,’ and that the sizes bore no relation to any known system of …show more content…
Jenny had “hitchhiked to Brown from Wesleyan, and there [she and Donna] broke up.” 15 (58) Just by the matter-of-fact commentary, Boylan is showing that hitchhiking is not a threat to men. She even states that “[b]ack when [she] was a boy, [she’d] hitchhiked lots of times” 16 (7). At this point, Jenny has already transitioned and she wonders about these women as she decides to pick them up. “They looked to [her] as if they were in trouble, or about to be. [She] pulled over, thinking, ‘Better me than someone else.’” 17 (3). Looking out of the two young women, Jenny realizes that she, as a woman, is more approachable and comes off as safer than men