The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang tells the story of Frances, a young seamstress from Paris, and Sebastian, the crown prince of Belgium. With Frances’s bold designs, Sebastian transforms into the beautiful and elegant Lady Crystallia, allowing Sebastian to take the streets of Paris by storm and Frances to have her designs proudly showcased. However, both of them must keep Lady Crystallia’s true identity a secret as the world is not ready for a prince who likes dressing as a princess.
Why is Sebastian’s gender expression particularly disruptive to society?
The desire to categorize is a deeply-rooted part of human nature. To this day, understanding how difference can be grouped together helps us make sense of chaotic world. However, people have also inevitably created categories for other people based on different criteria, such as, homeland, religion, and sex and gender. Categorizing itself isn’t inherently wrong; it can actually be quite beneficial when the information is used in an ethical manner, like using census data to make sure communities are properly represented. However, categorization can lead to ascribing subjective ideas and beliefs on to a certain group of people, which fuels prejudices and overall ignorance. In Sebastian’s case, the conflation of sex and gender, their categories, and the strict ideas placed on them are personally hurtful.
Credit: Jen Wang
A seven-panel page.
First Panel: A close-up of Frances’s inquisitive face.
Second Panel: Sebastian looking back at Frances over his shoulder.
Frances: Can I ask? Why do you wear girl’s clothes?
Third Panel: While Frances is sitting down, sketching, Sebastian is standing, facing the mantlepiece.
Sebastian: I don’t know.
Fourth Panel: Sebastian is looking closely at a set of figurines on the mantle.
Sebastian: Some days I look at myself in the mirror and think, “That’s me, Prince Sebastian! I wear boy clothes and look like my father.”
Fifth Panel: A close-up of the figurines, a gladiator and a woman. The panel mostly features the gladiator.
Sebastian: Other days it doesn’t feel right at all.
Sixth Panel: A close-up of Sebastian’s face, a soft look on his eyes.
Sebastian: Those days I feel like I’m actually…
Seventh Panel: A close-up of the figures again. The speech bubble completely hides the gladiator from view, so only the woman is visible.
Sebastian: …a princess.
Despite our present understanding of the world, a great number of people still believe in a strict gender-sex binary: men are masculine, women are feminine. Each category has a definite set of norms and expectations that must be followed and taught to the younger generations. In a great number of societies, this gender binary is an essential part of how they are built and function. In the time this comic is presumably set, this gender binary was even stricter, particularly for a public figure such as Sebastian. While it might be easy to conclude that Sebastian is a transgender woman (which is certainly a possibility), his conversation with Frances shows that it might be something else. Some days he identifies as Sebastian and is comfortable presenting as male; other days it feels wrong, so she presents as Crystallia. Both ends of the gender spectrum are part of their identity.
Sebastian’s personal experience could perhaps be described as being genderfluid. In general, this means that they feel most comfortable identifying and presenting along various points of the gender spectrum. Like Sebastian said: sometimes they feel like Sebastian; other times they feel like a princess. Unfortunately, genderfluid people are often met with criticism and attacks at their inability to be fit into an established category. Even among the queer community, many people are uncomfortable with genderfluidity despite the community’s support of diversity and expression. Overall, genderfluidity effectively exemplifies how gender is definitely a construct, defined by an arbitrary set of rules, norms, and expectations. Sebastian can only find their true self by challenging these notions and embracing the best of both worlds as best they can.