It's Kind of a Gendered Story : gender identity and mental illness in two young adult novels

Abstract: This essay examines the theme of depression in two young adult novels, It’s kind of a funny story and By the time you read this, I’ll be dead. It analyzes how the protagonists are represented according to their gender and in relation to their mental health. The main question for this study is whether  the mentally unstable state of the characters is an expression or transgression of gender norms. The novels are analyzed in line with Judith Butler’s gender theory about representation as a reinforcing practice and bell hooks’ feminist theory which posits that several factors of identity need to be taken into account when one’s political position is discussed. hooks’ perspective is also known as intersectionality. From theses perspectives the study shows that even though the characters feel separate from normative gender, their depression does not exclude them from their gender categories. Despite being novels that aim to normalize mental issues among men, and show the effects of body norms for some women, the narratives still analyze gender by showing the alienation people who deviate from psychological and physical norms experience and places the characters in gender categories. Comparing the two stories intersectionally one can say that By the time you read this, I’ll be dead relies very much on the character’s gender in the representation further concretizing the gender aspects of her identity, while in It’s kind of a funny story the character’s sexuality, class and ethnicity are important to the story and make his identity more versatile.