Cycler, by Lauren McLaughlin
McLaughlin, Lauren (2008). Cycler. NY: Random House. 256 pages.
So, Jill has this big problem: every month (right before her period), she turns into a dude. That’s right: new author Lauren McLaughlin’s novel is about a girl who turns into a boy. In the novel, Jill turns to Jack for four days every month (kind of like being in the Army Reserves?) and then turns back to Jill again. And she hates it. Jill and her parents have developed an elaborate system of cover-ups, lock-ups and meditation practices to keep Jack from interfering in Jill’s life; however, when Jack finds a way to escape Jill’s house during one of her “cycles,” things start to get complicated.
I’m intrigued by this book because it is one that is invested in both challenging and reifying gender norms. That the main character “cycles” between female and male–the transformation from female to male body (including genitalia!) is described as physically and psychologically painful–and that, in each body, that same character confronts sexual desire is intriguing. Equally interesting is Jack’s lust/love for Jill’s best girl friend, an attraction Jill has hypnotized out of her own mind but begins to feel as a physical response.
It would seem that everything would be set up to really kind of turn the whole biological essentialism premise on its head; however, there are two things that screw it up for me. The first: Jill’s crush on a new guy at school who turns out to be–gasp!–bisexual is an overly ironic addition to the story. That Jill is initially confused (and kind of disgusted) by her crush’s orientation contributes to the intense irony. This plot point wouldn’t be nearly as ironic if the novel itself didn’t seem to be invested in compulsory heterosexuality. Not surprisingly, both Jill and Jack are heterosexual and stereotypically so; it seems like their sexual preferences are the only things that really separate the characters.
I’ve said this before: I don’t expect or even appreciate young adult novels that become polemics. That said, I feel like this book is more provocative than really revolutionary. A girl turns into a boy and has to deal with his-’n'-her crushes. Ho, hum. I feel like this does for bisexuality and gender ambiguity what M or F by Lisa Papademetriou and Christopher Tebbetts did for homosexuality: namely, nothing. Both books allow for the potential of a gender continuum; however, this seems to be as far as either is willing to go. While some might argue that this is as far as Society will allow us to go, I feel like this novel (and M or F) is less socially reactionary and more reliant on a solid and sharp gender binary for effect.