Jane the Virgin has never been the type of show to shy away from unconventional storylines. The show itself is inspired by the dramatic nature of Latin soap operas, or telenovelas. The protagonist, Jane, was artificially inseminated when she went to the gynecologist for a simple check-up. Because she was a virgin at the time, it was an especially huge deal for Jane to be bearing an unexpected child. The show becomes a tale of how Jane adapts to her new life, covering a wide range of unconventional and taboo topics.
In the most recent episode of Jane the Virgin, Jane was getting ready for a party to celebrate her first book being published. While getting ready for the party, Jane was standing by her vanity with her family surrounding her to help with whatever she needed. Jane’s son, Mateo, noticed a sparkly blue bracelet on her vanity. He called the bracelet pretty and asked if he could wear it. Jane replied, “Of course you can!” without any hesitation.
Courtesy: The CW
It was a brief moment, but that scene sent a clear message to its viewers: let kids be kids. The fact that the show didn’t make such a spectacle of the situation reinforced the idea that it really wasn’t a big deal. It was a chance to normalize an issue that has been blown so wildly out of proportion in the media. From Megan Fox letting her son wear dresses to Angelina Jolie letting her daughter wear suits, celebrities have been under fire for allowing their kids to dress beyond gender-binary standards.
Courtesy: FootwearNews.com and Scribol.com
We live in an age where children are making headlines for expressing themselves, and the majority of the media’s feedback is critical and unkind. When Megan Fox allowed her 4-year-old son Noah to wear a dress inspired by the Disney princess movie Frozen, people took to Twitter to criticize Fox as a parent. One user said, “It’s clear that Megan Fox wanted a daughter but got a son instead, so she makes him dress like a girl.” The entire point of what Fox is trying to do is to let her son be himself. She isn’t making him dress in any way other than his way.
As more parents refuse to force their children to conform to the restrictions of our gender-binary society, there are still people who refuse to accept and grasp the idea that all children are unique. There are boys who prefer dolls over trucks and girls who prefer basketball over ballet. Yet, for some reason, society continues to place kids in boxes beginning at such a young age.
Jane’s son, Mateo, was simply fond of his mother’s bracelet. If Mateo were a girl, no one would have even had a second thought about that scene. However, the producers of the show made the strategic choice to send this important message over the course of about 8 seconds. They slipped that moment in (rather than dwelling on it) to show how perfectly normal and casual a moment like that should be.