The show Euphoria, starring multiple famous actors like Hunter Schafer and Zendaya Coleman, shows a raw demonstration of the struggles teenagers go through daily. Euphoria is about a group of teenagers from California who are in high school. They experience a multitude of issues. Some important characters are Rue, Jules, Nate, Cassie, and Maddy. The group of friends is divided and united by their trauma, experiences, and conflicts with one another. The audience is shown clips of couples involved in toxic relationships and teenagers struggling with drug addiction. In this blog, I will discuss how this show illustrates the assumptions about gender, race, and sexuality of the main character, Jules Vaughn. 

To begin, Jules is introduced to the show as a transgender woman struggling with her identity for a long time. For instance, when she was 11 years old, her mother sent her to a psychiatric hospital because Jules had a history of self-harm and depression. She suffered from gender dysphoria – someone fighting against their biological and gender identity because they believe it is not the same. In Season 1, Episode 2, Jules talks to her therapist about a Supprelin implant embedded in her body that prevents her voice from dropping and stops her male genitals from developing. The thought of puberty scared her during her childhood because she felt out of place in her body from a young age. Although the journey of a transgender youth experiences highs and lows, Jules’s father serves as a positive example of a support system for LGBTQ+ youth. Jules has a father-daughter relationship rather than a mother-daughter relationship. This is unusual because typically, mothers are known for being more nurturing and accepting than fathers; however, in this case, the roles are versed and Jules’s father is the one who stays with Jules during her transition.

Sexuality also plays an important role in how Jules is presented to us. For example, we can categorize her sexual orientation as bisexual because she has a relationship with Rue Bennet, a female, and romantic feelings for Nate Jacobs, a male. In addition, she has sexual encounters with Rue in addition to Nate’s father. However, not everyone is accepting of Jules’s gender identity. Jules and Nate shared explicit text messages and images through a dating app. Nate catfishes her and creates a persona labeled ‘Tyler.’ He struggles with internalized homophobia, which causes him to lash out against Jules and blackmail her when he acquires some of her nude pictures. Also, internalized homophobia implies that Nate does not consider Jules a female but a male because she has a penis. He feels homosexual because he is attracted to someone with male genitalia. This is discovered when Nate’s girlfriend, Maddy, finds pictures of male genitalia on Nate’s phone. Nate blackmails Jules because he believed that she was going to make a report to the police about his father sleeping with Jules, a minor, and recording a sex tape, which would be considered child pornography. Other than this, every other character in Euphoria respects Jules’s pronouns and identity. However, in Season 1, Episode 8, Rue approaches Nate outside during a school dance and threatens him about ruining his life and his father’s if he does not leave Jules alone. Rue further expresses her anger towards Nate by saying that “I have no problem walking into any police station and telling them that Nat Jacob’s daddy likes to f*ck little kids.” This scene demonstrates the lengths that Rue would go to stand up for those who disrespect her friend Jules. You can see this in action in the YouTube video attached below. Warning: Inappropriate language is used. 

Lastly, Jules’s race is white, meaning she does not experience the same problems as a black transgender person in the LGBTQ+ Community. Euphoria follows the default of white representation in media rather than illustrating a diverse trans woman. Also, statistics have shown that across the United States, Latinx and Black trans women encounter more violence, discrimination, and hate crimes towards their identities. For example, in San Francisco, 47.9% of Black and 49.0% of Latina trans women experience hate crimes. Because the creators of Euphoria made Jules a white character, they failed to demonstrate the hardships experienced by other transgender POCs (Persons of Color). Another important aspect is that she gets involved in an interracial relationship with Rue, which shows us that Jules does not have a preference when dating someone. Jules’s interracial relationship with Rue illustrates that her experience of being marginalized in society allows her to be more empathetic toward other oppressed populations.

Euphoria portrays an accurate picture of teenagers who are transgender. Although Jules is a 17-year-old trans woman rather than an older trans woman who has encountered more obstacles, Euphoria mimics these real-life situations. A teenager struggles through a period where puberty and identities are questioned; however, adults are more secure about themselves, explaining the chaotic nature of Jules’s experiences. She has not only combated against gender dysphoria but her future and personal identity. Unlike other shows and movies, Euphoria shows us an accurate representation of the difficulties adolescents face throughout their lives that many prefer to conceal, although it can be inaccurate because the show is not based on true stories. It can be hard at times to digest the scenes presented by the actors, but it helps us better understand what it is like to experience these situations and develop sympathy. Although life is complex and complicated, it is essential to grow awareness about how people who are considered to be “different” in society face societal prejudice and learn to overcome these obstacles. 

Sources: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-11107-x