Crazy gender-benders

[nonionay]

Here's a question I'm pondering. I've got a female-to-male transgendered kid in my current WIP, and am having fun playing with that. I've got another character who is happy with their sex, but for various reasons has to live as the opposite sex. (Actually, I should say opposite gender, since no one expects her to father any children, just dress and act "like a man".) It would be interesting if I could use this as an opportunity to show the negative effects of forcing a person to live as their non-chosen gender.

Honestly, I think she'd do all right living as a man. She's a strong, intelligent and it was her idea in the first place. Occasionally she fusses about feeling naked because she has to wear leggings instead of skirts, but she does fine. However, that's boring. How could I dig up some good, destructive neuroses?

Comments

[kehrli.livejournal.com]

:P

I just don't think this is really... um... yeah. Productive.

[criada.livejournal.com]

~>:-(

[pussinboots.livejournal.com]

Neither is saying that, you tool. hahaha

Poorly worded post, dramatically worded response, and you LIVE IN THE SAME HOUSE. Good thing Internet isn't your only means of communication.

[criada.livejournal.com]

That would be interesting, though not right for this situation. She's married (in a society that is accepting of monogamous homosexuality). I'll have fun with the relationship between her and her husband and children. But she is definitely straight.
Also, everyone knows she's a woman pretending to be a man. It's like Hatsheput. Only men can inherit, so she's "been turned into" a man.

[criada.livejournal.com]

What she's doing isn't usual. It's pretty controversial, since she's basically changing the order of the universe. (From a spiritual point of view, not a literal one.) The society is pretty rigid regarding its gender roles and understanding of the metaphysical nature of the sexes. I'm going with "women are dangerous, chaotic fountains of energy who need the ordered nature of the male to keep them under control, for everyone's safety." Maybe I can have her believe she really is uncontrollable, because she's not really a man.

[tlcadence.livejournal.com]

I may be missing the point entirely here, but why does she need good, destructive neuroses? She already sounds like an interesting character to me. My advice would be to start with what you have and perhaps let the more eccentric traits develop organically. I don't always know everything about a character when I start writing. They're kind of like meeting a new friend. I learn more bit by bit and sometimes they surprise me. I've tried it the other way (planning all their habits and quirks), but it always comes out forced and unrealistic. Sometimes events in the plot will bring out traits I never knew were there, and that's where some of the neuroses/weird conflicts will appear.

[criada.livejournal.com]

I'm not worried about forcing traits onto her. I'm looking to see if there's any situations I could put her in that would bring out the neuroses. I just want to brainstorm ways to explore the theme. (And I don't plan on forcing the theme, that's why I'm just exploring it right now.) What would you do if you had to live like a man for the good of the nation?

[tlcadence.livejournal.com]

Okay, I think I see what you're saying. You're looking more for the weird situation that may bring out the traits rather than defining the traits themselves.

Well, if I had to live like a man for the good of the nation, my first reaction would be to question it. Why do I have to live like a man for the good of the nation? What kind of nation benefits from oppressing me and why would I want to live there? Obviously, this character has reasons (the good of the nation being one). But why does she care about this nation?

Maybe it's the only place to live in the world you've created. Or perhaps she can't leave her family behind. She may be perfectly happy with living as a man. Even so, my biggest question as a reader would be why she was choosing this path in the first place? There has to be some personal reason. Something that means a lot to her. I don't believe in a completely unselfish person.

Perhaps she was taught that there were no choices. She had to be a man to survive. And being presented with the idea of choice is what throws her into a neuroses.

Again, I may be completely missing what you're trying to accomplish. But I hope I've helped with the brainstorming process :)

[criada.livejournal.com]

>>Perhaps she was taught that there were no choices. She had to be a man to survive. And being presented with the idea of choice is what throws her into a neuroses.

That's an idea. The fact that she might even question her gender a little could freak her out.

Her personal reason for doing it is that the empire needs a strong leader to survive. The current heir, her brother, is incompetent (at least as a leader), but she knows she'd do a good job. The king wants to change the laws so women can inherit, but she knows people wouldn't stand for that. So she changes herself instead of the laws.

[laurajerry.livejournal.com]

hmm... for me, some of the interesting things would be the logistics of it. Does she wrap her boobs? What happens when she has her period? Is she afraid of being found out? Does she have to disguise her voice? would she develop neuroses from these things?

I think pretending to be someone else all the time can give some one some neuroses too. I think if I were in the situation, I would get used to it after a while and forget I was pretending, except at night when I would have to get undressed, and once a month when I would be bleeding. It would be interesting to see the development here, of going from feeling naked in leggings, to feeling naked not being dressed as a man. The transformation, from feeling like a woman dressed as a man, to feeling like a man, until you realize you're not and you're only pretending, would be an interesting character development to me.

I don't know if that's what your looking for, it's only some ideas I thought of.

[criada.livejournal.com]

>>The transformation, from feeling like a woman dressed as a man, to feeling like a man, until you realize you're not and you're only pretending,

I like that too.
Everyone knows what she's doing. She's a man because the king (who's basically god on earth) says so. So how people act towards her is a measure of their faith in their king and gods. Her own attitude is that she's a woman, and that makes her question her faith as well.

[pussinboots.livejournal.com]

Destructive neuroses!? For a writer you're terrible at explaining yourself.

In this post (and when you first pitched me the idea tonight) I thought it sounded like you wanted to invent tranny angst for Alsabeta, like her other angst wasn't enough. (You must admit, she has freaking PLENTY of angst.)

I think what you MEANT was, "If a person is forced to take on the opposite gender's societal roles in X period of history, what daily challenges do you think they would face?" Don't make it sound like you're desperately trying to come up with reasons to make her life suck, and you're probably going to get a better response.

We went over some, of course, but here's some more: Her male clothes might be more comfortable in some ways and perhaps more difficult in others (how to go to the bathroom if you can't just pull it out, for example). As Andrew said, maybe her friends are alienated, or at least her peers. People are forced to take her more seriously now, but perhaps that brings her to a new level of courtly backstabbing doublespeak. Perhaps men can challenge her to duels the way they would with a rival for a lover or something, or if she insults their honor? There's new ways she can insult the honor of her male peers, now, that she might not be aware of. She has to learn a completely different set of greetings and behaviors, and that's very real.

For example, men don't say "Hi" to each other when they pass on the sidewalk. (Unless they're kind of feminine, or at least unused to dealing with other males.) They flip their heads in this weird little, "Yeah I saw you" way, and depending on their age and culture, the head nod ranges from a really obvious "Yes" type of nod to a slight lift of the chin. No one nods their head at me when I'm wearing makeup and extensions, but if I'm walking around like normal, that's how they greet me. I imagine there are probably equivalent differences in Alsabeta's culture.