Consent and Mind Control

[settecorvi]

I’ve started listening to podcasts while I run, since I discovered the delicious number of free fantasy and scifi stories on iTunes. One of the first I stumbled upon was Metamor City, a scifi/ fantasy fusion, and it kept me entertained on the elliptical until episode seven. Then I flew into a teeth-gnashing rage and promptly lost all sympathy for

Comments

[anison]

the author doesn’t even seem to realize what he’s written

Well, there's your first problem. :|

Joking aside, that's really gross. Disappointing, from what sounds like it might have been an interesting world idea.

[settecorvi]

Oh man, there is so much potential in this setting if only the author weren’t such a stunning specimen of the white upper-middle class male libertarian. The next story centers around a male telepath who decides to become an androgyne, someone who can change sexes at will, and the exploration of his choice and the consequences could have been fascinating. Instead, we get retro genderfuckery for all! Plus bonus female side character who’s broken for not wanting babies*! And assertions that only polyamory with one man and multiple women will work, because Science Has Shown that men are naturally more competitive and women more cooperative!

That was when I stopped listening, which is probably for the best, since my stockpile of sarcastic exclamation points is running low.

* Okay, that one is a bit of a simplification. It makes sense within the context of her society that her friends, family, and even she herself would believe there’s something wrong with her for not wanting children and that nothing she could do will ever be as

[anison]

I can't think of any authors I'd trust with that idea. I am currently imagining all the horrible ways it could go wrong, and nyaaaargh my mind, it is melting.

[settecorvi]

Time for a great big teal deer response to your jokey comment

[anison]

Oh, I'd definitely love to see more gender and sexuality diversity. I just... only read terrible books, I guess. So which mainstream author would be most likely to rescue that story premise from utter fail? I honestly can't think of any. If I'm going to read a trans or genderfluid character, I'd rather be getting it from a trans or genderfluid author, which means that I'm not getting anything because I only read terrible mainstream books. Which is bad behavior from both me and the publishing industry. I should seek out better sources of reading material.

Anyway, the problem I have with the story as you've described it isn't just that it's a cisgendered dude writing about a trans or genderfluid experience, but it's also a dude having a male character that can turn into a woman for a lark, experience the ways in which it sucks to be a woman, and then switch back and escape them, probably while acting all enlightened about it and using his new-found wisdom and sensitivity from being catcalled once on the street as a lever to pick up

cont'd

[settecorvi]

Anyway, the problem I have with the story as you've described it isn't just that it's a cisgendered dude writing about a trans or genderfluid experience, but it's also a dude having a male character that can turn into a woman for a lark, experience the ways in which it sucks to be a woman, and then switch back and escape them, probably while acting all enlightened about it and using his new-found wisdom and sensitivity from being catcalled once on the street as a lever to pick up chicks afterward. That's what was running through my horrified imagination, anyway.I think you’re absolutely right about the root of the problem. I’m certain there are cis male authors who could handle the topic with respect, but Daniel’s experience reads transparently like a man’s fantasy about what being a woman is like. The way I remember it - and I freely admit that by that point I was losing patience with both character and plot and wasn’t being particularly forgiving - it was dude writing about a male character turning into a woman for a lark and

[settecorvi]

Sorry about the belated reply. Work’s been leaving drained enough that I get home and cannot brain