On The Fringe: Standing On The Roof Naked 10-8-13

*Are the characters realistic (do they seem like they could be real people)? Why or why not?

So, Standing On The Roof Naked, my favorite short story in this collection so far,  is about a girl named Jeanie. She's flat chested, has short hair, and dresses like a boy.
"Supposedly there aren't any tomboys anymore. Nowadays girls can be anything we want to be.  Astronauts,  construction workers, basketball stars. Why would any self respecting girl want to act like a guy? We can be female and still do it all. So then why did the Spice girls, those so-called spokeswomen of Girl Power, wear miniskirts up to their pubic hair? Why do all the girls in my school giggle and preen whenever a cute guy walks by? And why is it that most girls spend more money on a single haircut than the average Ethiopian family spends on food for an entire year? Believe me, feminism is a long, long way from being a reality. So don't blame me when I don't want to dress like a stripper and act dumb so some loser stud can feel important. I'm no hypocrite. I'm walking the walk, not just talking the talk. Only the truth is, that's just the story I tell myself to feel better. Actually, I don't know why i wanted to be a boy until I was thirteen years old, and why, to this day, I still feel more comfortable in baggy boy clothes than in dresses. Or why I like my hair short and tangled and in my eyes instead of long and silky like some Pantene commercial. And I can't explain why I'd rather stay at home and listen to CD's than go to the school dance. Or why, at fifteen, I still haven't kissed a boy, let alone done the dirty deed. All I know is that I'm different. And in this world, let me tell you, different is not good."
This the best hook to any of the stories so far. Also, I completely agree with her view on feminists, it does have a long way to go. I can completely imagine her as a real person, or at least being based off of someone that the author knew.  A lot of trans gender teens could probably read this and really relate to her.
So, in the story her two best friends have moved away, and her dad is sick from cancer (and dies at the end). Plus, her mom doesn't seem capable of comprehending the fact that her daughter doesn't like wearing dresses. As well as the two jocks at school that think that it's humorous to call her Johnny and make fun of her. At one point shoving her into the boys bathroom to see for themselves what her real gender was, which was interrupted by Reilly, a boy that creates rap music who she was paired up with by a teacher because she writes poetry. Just for fun, and because Reilly needed lyrics. After they create a song the school dance happens. Jeanie's mom makes her go, wearing a dress. She sits alone at a table until Reilly calls her up to sing and starts the music for the song.
"Soon everyone is applauding, cheering- some sincerely, some with ironic smiles on their faces because they think it's all a big joke. And I'm standing  there in my bike shorts and undershirt, barefoot, shredded dress at my feet,  suddenly just me again- only different. because for the first time in years, in centuries, in eons, I didn't stuff my emotions down inside of me. I was standing on the roof naked, screaming my lungs out, and it felt good."
I think that this is a great story because of the view it puts on kids who feel that they should be the gender they physically aren't. It gives kids who aren't like that a better understanding through a relatable and realistic character so that they have some background info on people like them and are less likely to be bullies. It also helps shed a light on the torment kids like Jeanie face in school, and things teachers need to look out better for.

I chose this picture because it's the flag for transgender pride, and I have a feeling that she'd be trans if her mother'd let her.