Fat Ham

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes references to assault, murder, racism, and anti-gay bias.

Juicy recalls wanting a Black Barbie doll as a child and being gifted one by his mother. He details how he admired the doll and her beauty, along with its clothing and adornments. The doll is a display of traditional femininity and female sexuality. Juicy’s appreciation for feminine traits indicates his disinclination to adhere to traditional gender norms and his discomfort with traditional masculine traits. The doll is a way for Juicy to live out femininity in a way that he cannot physically do so for himself. Tedra’s gifting of the doll symbolizes her support and approval of Juicy—she wants him to be happy and whole, no matter what his sexual identity is or his performance of gender.

Juicy’s father, however, destroys the doll out of disapproval. He wants to prevent Juicy from displaying feminine traits and feels that only traditionally masculine traits—like toughness and a lack of emotional empathy—are acceptable for Juicy. By destroying the doll, Pap seeks to destroy feminine traits within his son. Pap destroys the doll by way of his barbecue fire because his identity as a chef is one that he deems especially masculine.