one isnot born but rather becomes awoman. simone de beauvoir the second sex. one of the first things i picked up on when reading double house is that it is very very different from the mainstream narrative of transness set forth by the majority of transcentered manga. the way that double house approaches being trans is not through the lens of gender identity disorder or any other such narrative that makes trans people appear to be anomalies who deviate from the cisgender norm. instead its approach to transness is to interrogate the notion of gender in itself through nuanced character drama that examines the complex relationship between gender identity gender roles and personal freedom. this contrasts starkly with the more mainstream narrative focuses on the idea that trans people are simply trapped in the wrong body. for example one of the most common ways of framing transness in japanese is to say that the body is male the soul is female or vice versa. unfortunately this framework often reinforces the idea that trans people are merely exceptions to the rule of gender assignment at birth. this obscures a more fundamental truth of the matter: the process by which a trans woman and a cis woman become women or a trans man and a cis man become men is in essence the same. and the awareness of this fact is exactly what makes double house so unique in its approach to transness and gender in general. the two main characters are fujiko a young woman on the run from the stifling expectations of her wealthy family and maho a bar hostess a who has long since been disillusioned with the society that rejected her for being herself. both women struggle to live free of the cages the world has tried to trap them in and in doing so they encounter each other and lovely friendshipbordering on romantic at timesblossoms between them. maho in particular is one of the most deeply compelling trans characters ive seen depicted in comics as a medium. her introduction succinctly showcases her general perspective on life: bitter yet resigned creating a protective distance from the world around her by looking down on it a defense mechanism born of being treated as object on display rather than a human being. 600https://i.ibb.co/h72FsJs/oneswhoknowtheycam.png fujikos own experiences as someone who has also lived her life feeling trapped by societys gendered expectations give her the ability to penetrate the armor of mahos misanthropy and understand her perspective even though her struggles with womanhood are different from mahos. persistently friendly she offers maho the chance to open up about her hurt and frustration with the world around her. fujikos perspective is more optimistic than maho is used to but it comes from a place of careful consideration and empathy rather than dismissal of mahos own struggles. as the relationship between the two deepens their discussions offer various insights into the concept of gendered frames: a set of roles and expectations that dictate how we ought to live both defining the boundaries of identity stifling any attempts to move beyond them. and yet they also interrogate the ways in which gendered life can bring us a sense of belonging and with it a kind of freedom from uncertainty that comes with knowing who we are. 600https://i.ibb.co/LYzGT6P/IusedtoliveMy.png both women seek their freedom in very different ways: both in some ways want what the other one has. fujikos more cavalier dismissive approach to her gender contrasts with mahos longing to be seen as a woman among women. in spite of their kinship this makes them imperfect at understanding one another fujiko finds it easy to insist to maho that gender doesnt matter while maho thinks that fujiko ought to be more grateful for the gift of her more conventional experience of womanhood. in spite of these misunderstandings they find ways to meet in the middle. maho and fujikos perspectives play off one another but they are always given equal weight this may not seem so remarkable until you start to pick up on how many other narratives of trans womanhood paint cis women as authorities on what it means to be a woman. this i think is the crux of the mangas uniqueness its approach to gender is not that mahos transness makes her categorically different from fujiko but rather that both maho and fujiko are women who struggle to define themselves both within and beyond the frame of womanhood which neither can live up to. and this is precisely the recognition missing from so many mainstream discussions of transness that all people must navigate the same confining frames of gender through whatever options available to them about how to live in the world. additionally i would be amiss to discuss this manga without also touching on the 3rd and final chapter which shifts its focus from maho and fujiko to one of mahos coworkers another trans woman named koko. the narrative offers us a glimpse into her another perspective as another exploration of the frame of womanhood and the many shapes it can take. in particular kokos chapter explores motherhood as a particular dimension of how womanhood is constructed in society. 600https://i.ibb.co/pX4gcWK/SoifIloseher.png koko seeks out acceptance and validation through the roles she plays as a mans girlfriend a babys mother she throws herself in entirety into her role in relation to other people in the hopes that it will offer her existential clarity. she struggles to find ways to define herself in a society which has robbed her of the ability to occupy these gendered relations that she desires. and while she makes some illadvised choices in this struggle her desire to belong both in the world and to someone is universally sympathetic. tragically this manga is only a single volume so while it does a marvelous job at exploring its characters and themes given its length it is limited in scope due to how short it is. the 3rd chapter shifting its focus somewhat away from maho and fujiko also meant that their story ended without a truly satisfying resolution leaving their relationship languishing in limbo somewhere between friendship and romance. while i deeply appreciate the manga for what it is i do wish it had the chance to expand further on their relationship and their growth as characters as what we saw in the single volume was already so promising. at its crux this manga is an examination of this internal conflict that we all face: the desire to belong somewhere without having to contort ourselves into something were not in order to do so. frames offer us comfort and security but they are also cages which resist attempts to define ourselves outside of them. there is no simple solution to this and the manga doesnt attempt to platitudinously offer us one either. it simply offers us the stories of these women as they are: living their lives trying to define and understand themselves in spite of a society whose frames are not designed for them.