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That’s an interesting interpretation! It’s always cool to see how different people read a text, and I can definitely see the effects/role of misogyny in Ovid’s version, where the father like literally describes having a daughter as like a waste of money and resources. And like, Iphis definitely felt a lot of shame for falling in love with Ianthe (well, they were mutually in love and Ianthe was looking forward to the wedding regardless, while Iphis was dreading it bc gender reasons). I agree, the story can be read as tragically putting a lot of pressure on Iphis and like reinforcing misogyny and heteronormativity.

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I suppose the way Gower revised the medieval version of the story, it became a lot more “progressive” if that’s the right word? Although the father was still terrible, Iphis consistently uses he/him pronouns and it focuses more on Iphis and Ianthe’s love than Ianthe’s shame. And then Gower includes like this whole morality tale explanation that by working hard in love and being committed to your partner, the gods will reward you. And I feel like that reward wasn’t just making their love more heteronormative, but like aligning the way Iphis felt about himself. There’s less of a focus on physical transformation, but more on the spiritual/love transformation.