Mermaids
Mermaid imagery appears as both visual illustrations and textual references. makes it quite clear through explicit narration that she feels a strong affinity for the creatures. Mermaid imagery is a dominant recurring motif through almost all transgender female accounts, not just Jazz’s, with a special emphasis on the breathtaking beauty of Disney’s Little Mermaid, Ariel. The physicality helps to explain the commonality: all girl from the waist up, but essentially genderless from the waist down because—in Ariel’s case especially and in most portrayals of mermaids suitable for children—the tail creates ambiguity about what exists below the waist. (Ariel does show up in the book unofficially in doll form as one of the mermaids, but one must look close to spot her.)
Dancing
Dancing children is traditionally viewed as imagery conveying pure joy. Throughout the book Jazz is presented expressing this joy. Notably, however, she is never shown expressing the joy of dancing in scenes where she is forced to conform to gender expectations of little boys. The message being subtly implied is “what kind of person doesn’t want a child to feel joy?”
Normality
Illustrations in the book which show her living out those experiences of being “normal” show Jazz being very unhappy. She is not merely not dancing, she is withdrawn and despondent. Conforming to normality is thus synonymous with misery. How normal is it for children to be in a state of misery? Yet, people by the millions seem to prefer that sense of normality to the normality of a child being free from the pressures of the society.
Family Support
Thanks to the very popular reality TV show, the familial support enjoyed by Jazz is legendary. This is not usually the case with trans kids, of course, and the imagery of her family at large as supportive of Jazz throughout the process once it became clear she really did know exactly what she was talking about cements the idea that the better course of action for parents and siblings is love and support rather than rejection and hate.
