Bina (Aasha Davis) further blurs the line in her friendship with Alike (Adepero Oduye)

In an effort to force her daughter into friendships with women she sees as straight and cisgender, Audrey (Kim Wayans) forces Alike (Adepero Oduye) to spend time with Bina (Aasha Davis), a young woman from her school and their church. Although initially disinterested in one another, they eventually bond over a shared love of music, specifically underground hip hop, and they quickly form a close friendship. The similiarities between the two, however, abruptly end there. While Alike is a quieter, more masculine identifying individual, the viewer's first impression of Bina is that of a vibrant, blatantly feminine woman dressed in obnoxiously bright colors. 

Bina represents a more feminine identity (29:38)

As Alike and Bina grow closer, Alike begins to adapt to Bina's more feminine style of dress and color palate, as well as listening to more of the softer sort of music Bina often listens to. In a pivotal scene where Alike and Bina are expressing their distaste for the situation they are put in by their mothers, the color differences between their wardrobes are almost obnoxious. While Alike's clothing takes on more neutral tones of black, grey, and maroon, Bina is dressed in bright, heavily saturated jewel and neon tones that would suggest a more traditonal, heteronormative gender performance. 

Laura represents a more masculine identity (4:17)

Opposed to Bina, Alike's friend Laura represents the stereotypical 'butch' appearance of a queer woman, wearing do-rags, jerseys, men's athletic wear, and speaking in a more urban, profane manner. At first, Alike is willing and even actively engages in this same sort of gender performance, but when Laura pressures her into wearing a prosthetic penis under her clothing at a gay club, Alike becomes disillusioned with the hyper masculine identity Laura tries to force on her.