Galvez Victoria Francesca (U060290Y)

Introduction: Summary of Just Follow Law

Just Follow Law is a satirical movie that explores office politics in the Singapore civil
service. Through the eyes of blue-collar worker Lim and Vice President Chew, the film
depicts the inflexibility of government rules, and the manner in which civil servants
respond to it.
Lim and Chew meet with a freak accident which causes them to change souls and bodies.
It is not my intention to concentrate on the critique of the Singapore civil service but the
themes on gender.
I begin with multi marginality, contextualizing Lim and Chews experiences in the
Singapore workforce. I explore three themes: biological sex/gender model versus gender
performance model, gender ideology in the family, and objectification of the genders.
Multi marginality
Multi marginality implies the connection between social identities, which simultaneously
disadvantage individuals from various sides. I situate Lim and Chew in social structural
variables of gender, class (cultural capital of education, skills, income and language) and
age.
Lim is a middle age, blue-collar male worker. Chew has an advantage in her class status
but is marginalized by her age and gender.
In Just Follow Law, class outweighs gender. Gender operates behind the scenes, quietly
shaping social relations and interactions.
On the presidency of class over gender, this could be due to the growing gender equality
in the Singapore workforce. Women are nearly on par with men. Also, capitalisms focus
on competitiveness turns a blind eye to gender.
Theme 1: Biological Sex/Gender model versus Gender Performance model
In Just Follow Law, the essentialist notion of equating sex with gender is present.
Conflating the two makes gender biological, rooted in ones sub-consciousness. This is
evident after the switch. Lim and Chew automatically exchange masculine and feminine
characteristics.
These views are endorsed by medical institutions and wider society. In the former,
doctors dismiss Lim1 and Chew2 as having a psychological problem. Likewise, the
people Lim and Chew come out to believe that they are joking about the switch.
1
2

Lim refers to Chew in Lims biological body after the switch of souls and bodies.
Chew refers to Lim in Chews biological body after the switch of souls and bodies.

Why such a model exists is because Singapores medical institutions adopt a Western
perspective on sex and gender. It conflates both in a binary system. Then, hegemonic
meanings are institutionalized, infiltrate society, and are normalized. Hence, it is
stupendous to accept Lim and Chews switch.
Yet, gender can be learned/socialized and performed, separate from sex. Perhaps then,
gender is fluid, flexible and contingent, defying essentialist logic.
Theme 2: Gender ideology in the family
Before the switch, Lim is a loving father of a daughter. Chew has a loveless relationship
with her aged mother. After the switch, Chew desires to share her wealth with her
daughter. Lim picks up filial piety.
This is reminiscent of Confucian familial values. The male is to be the provider and
protector of his young. The female role is age-structured linked to filial piety and
respect. Hence, gender ideology is moralistic and individualistic.
Singapores history reveals why Confucian values were encouraged in the 1980s, and still
are today. Then, the PAP feared a loss of traditional Chinese values with the Westernlike modernization of Singapore. Thus, Confucian values were naturalized. State rule
became indirect; individuals perpetuate the gender ideology in the contemporary family.
Theme 3: Objectification of the genders
Females are objectified as sex objects in conflicting terms. On one hand, female sexuality
is sacred. On the other hand, female sexuality is sensationalized.
Males too are objectified, but as success objects.
A similarity between the objectification of the genders is this: individuals become a
means to an end. Nonetheless, differences abound. Females endure embodied
objectification. Males face disembodied objectification. Being success objects tend to
empower males over females.