The Window - “The Window”
Mary Jean Chan writes, “Once in a lifetime, you will gesture at an open window.” The open window is emblematic of an unequivocal viewpoint that emboldens candidness on the topic of gender. The open window does not confine the viewer’s unique sensitivities on gender.
Queerness - “The Window”
Mary Jean Chan asserts, “tell the one who/detests the queerness in you that dead/daughters do not disappoint, free your/sore knee from inching towards a kind.” The queerness implies that the subject bodily appears feminine, but psychologically she is masculine. The subject was programmed to be a daughter, but she wants to be male. The absolute transformation of gender relates to the allegorical ‘dead daughter.’
Genderless - “The Window”
Adopting the ‘open window’ would empower the subject to “reprieve, declare yourself genderless/as hawk or sparrow: an encumbered body/let loose from its cage.” Genderless-ness relates to being neither male of female (androgynous).Constraining one to a specific gender based on the societal criterion is comparable to padlocking an individual’s body in an overbearing cage.
Names - “Names”
The speaker confesses, “I am trying to talk about you without/mentioning your name, so I say: we/went to see a film last night, meaning/you and I, or she treats me very well,/as in, you love me, or I'm going out/for Indian tonight, implying a candle-/lit dinner for two. It isn't always easy,/keeping your name sheltered from my/mother's ears, but I try and try.” The names are trademarks of gender. Perhaps, the speaker dodges revealing the lover’s name to her mother because, the mother may not endorse a lesbian relationship.
