put your hand between an aching head and an aching wound.
So. A rant, about "genderswap".
It's almost disguised as meta, because of the rational language, relative lack of capslock, and list format. Do not be fooled. I am Ranty McRantpants.
An Open Rant Regarding The Genre Of "Genderswap," Specifically Referring To Supernatural And Weemo Bandslash Fandoms
Or, Wherefore Does Patrick Turn Into a Smoking Redhead With No Qualms About Wearing Belly Shirts As Soon As He Has Breasts? Why, Fandom, Why?
To clarify and lay out my biases and base of knowledge beforehand: I'm transgender.
On with it, then:
1. Any gender theory course worth its salt will start with this point and the next: sex is determined by the genitalia you've got. Medically, there are at least three: female, male, and intersex.
2. Gender is the way you behave socially. Generally, most people assume that there are just two genders: feminine and masculine. For many people, gender coincides with sex, which has led to widespread assumption that gender=sex, and that the terms "sex" and "gender" are interchangeable. They ain't.
3. When Character A wakes up feeling funny and discovers that he's grown breasts and his penis has been turned all higgledy-piggledy, his gender has not changed. His genitalia has changed--his SEX has changed.
4. Growing breasts and a vagina will not automatically change the way Character A wishes to be perceived by the world, or the way he perceives himself, which is as male (and, because sex=gender for most people, as a person with masculine gender. A guy).
5. Incidentally, I've never ever seen a "genderswap" fic where Character A actually wanted to be female before the swap occurred. That might be kind of neat.
6. A sex change does not necessitate a shift in pronouns, especially in Character A's POV. A sex change does not necessitate a change in the way Character A dresses, walks, or speaks. Because having breasts and a vagina does not mean being possessed by a mystical uterine desire to wear make-up, high-heeled sandals, and flirty skirts.
7. Speaking of mystical uterine desires--if Character A grows breasts and a vagina, does he also grow ovaries? Has his endocrine system changed?
8. If so, since hormones do change the way your brain works after prolonged exposure (which equals "not THE NEXT DAY"), it's possible that Character A would eventually start feeling more feminine than masculine, after a few months. He might start enjoying stereotypical feminine activities, and disliking stereotypical masculine activities. He might start displaying stereotypical feminine personality traits, and stop displaying stereotypical masculine personality traits.
9. HE ALSO MIGHT NOT. He might be a flannel-wearing, beer-swilling, football-watching bulldyke, regardless of how femme he was before the swap. I mean, seriously, since his prior butchiness (see link for "femme") doesn't seem to factor either. In SPN fandom, at least some of this has Actually Happened to Dean in "genderswap" fics, because seriously, he is kind of a dyke already.
10. With further regard to the ovaries issue (everybody's got at least one)--a frequent complaint I hear about "genderswap" is the idea that Straight Sex Fixes Everything! And, in case there's a pressing deadline, Unprotected Straight Sex Fixes Everything Faster!
A quote from my darling kitten impasto, because this is her biggest peeve about "genderswap":There seem to be a couple of common scenarios [in weemo bandom particularly]:
(1) The character(s) learn that having sex will change Character A back, so Character B, with no prior romantic feelings, selflessly volunteers and then through the act falls in love with Character A. Plausible when B falls in love with A for who he is, not which equipment he has.
(2) Character B has had no prior romantic feelings for Character A until he turns into a girl and suddenly it's heteronormatively acceptable for B to lust after A. He does, they shag, and then somehow it's just okay when A changes back, which has the unsettling implication that A is still (always was?) a girl.
(3) The scenario in the fic you read [withheld to forestall unnecessary wank], where Characters A and/or B have had secret romantic feelings for the other, which surface during the sex-change episode, and they have sex. Still has squicky heteronormative overtones (why can they confess now that A has a vagina?) and the additional bizarreness of why, if B likes A as a BOY, they are so eager to have sex with A and his girl parts (this can work, if the author makes it clear that A is still himself and B still sees him as a boy, the same person he has a crush on, but it doesn't work in fics that show B seeing A as a girl, as DIFFERENT than before, but shagging him anyway).
11. Which, don't get me started on the Menstrual Goddess and her trials of bloody humiliation and rage. Or pregnancy angst and the relative lack thereof.
12. I've also never seen a female>>male swap. Has anybody? Or is it like the missing link: logically, we know it must exist, and yet.
13. Anyway. What I'm saying is that the swap in "genderswap" is really an accelerated, non-consensual sex reassignment process.
14. EG, "genderswap" is really "sexswap."
15. I'll give you that "genderswap" certainly sounds better than "sexswap," and doesn't bring to mind some seedy 1970s key party. Still.
16. The thing is that "genderswap" as a genre is living the unexamined life right now (when the genre first emerged in SPN fandom, I was impressed by the depth of thought that was going into the characterisations of Dean and Sam as suddenly female, but the quality has gone swiftly and sadly downhill. Weemo bandom--well, it's hard to find quality fic at all, so). If I got the feeling that an author was writing with some mindfulness of what sex and gender actually are and mean (even if the author's beliefs about those things are different from mine), I would be much less likely to stop reading their fic in disgust. It is the assumption of gender and sex binaries and that crazy sex=gender thing which drive me batshit insane.
17. I probably will never stop complaining about the incorrect use of "gender" in "genderswap," though. Just so you know.
---
A million and three thanks to impasto for being inarticulate for once in her life, and yet helping me find my words (best girlfriend ever). Several black hearts for tangleofthorns for telling me it's not whiny. Huzzah!
Bye.
It's almost disguised as meta, because of the rational language, relative lack of capslock, and list format. Do not be fooled. I am Ranty McRantpants.
An Open Rant Regarding The Genre Of "Genderswap," Specifically Referring To Supernatural And Weemo Bandslash Fandoms
Or, Wherefore Does Patrick Turn Into a Smoking Redhead With No Qualms About Wearing Belly Shirts As Soon As He Has Breasts? Why, Fandom, Why?
To clarify and lay out my biases and base of knowledge beforehand: I'm transgender.
On with it, then:
1. Any gender theory course worth its salt will start with this point and the next: sex is determined by the genitalia you've got. Medically, there are at least three: female, male, and intersex.
2. Gender is the way you behave socially. Generally, most people assume that there are just two genders: feminine and masculine. For many people, gender coincides with sex, which has led to widespread assumption that gender=sex, and that the terms "sex" and "gender" are interchangeable. They ain't.
3. When Character A wakes up feeling funny and discovers that he's grown breasts and his penis has been turned all higgledy-piggledy, his gender has not changed. His genitalia has changed--his SEX has changed.
4. Growing breasts and a vagina will not automatically change the way Character A wishes to be perceived by the world, or the way he perceives himself, which is as male (and, because sex=gender for most people, as a person with masculine gender. A guy).
5. Incidentally, I've never ever seen a "genderswap" fic where Character A actually wanted to be female before the swap occurred. That might be kind of neat.
6. A sex change does not necessitate a shift in pronouns, especially in Character A's POV. A sex change does not necessitate a change in the way Character A dresses, walks, or speaks. Because having breasts and a vagina does not mean being possessed by a mystical uterine desire to wear make-up, high-heeled sandals, and flirty skirts.
7. Speaking of mystical uterine desires--if Character A grows breasts and a vagina, does he also grow ovaries? Has his endocrine system changed?
8. If so, since hormones do change the way your brain works after prolonged exposure (which equals "not THE NEXT DAY"), it's possible that Character A would eventually start feeling more feminine than masculine, after a few months. He might start enjoying stereotypical feminine activities, and disliking stereotypical masculine activities. He might start displaying stereotypical feminine personality traits, and stop displaying stereotypical masculine personality traits.
9. HE ALSO MIGHT NOT. He might be a flannel-wearing, beer-swilling, football-watching bulldyke, regardless of how femme he was before the swap. I mean, seriously, since his prior butchiness (see link for "femme") doesn't seem to factor either. In SPN fandom, at least some of this has Actually Happened to Dean in "genderswap" fics, because seriously, he is kind of a dyke already.
10. With further regard to the ovaries issue (everybody's got at least one)--a frequent complaint I hear about "genderswap" is the idea that Straight Sex Fixes Everything! And, in case there's a pressing deadline, Unprotected Straight Sex Fixes Everything Faster!
A quote from my darling kitten impasto, because this is her biggest peeve about "genderswap":There seem to be a couple of common scenarios [in weemo bandom particularly]:
(1) The character(s) learn that having sex will change Character A back, so Character B, with no prior romantic feelings, selflessly volunteers and then through the act falls in love with Character A. Plausible when B falls in love with A for who he is, not which equipment he has.
(2) Character B has had no prior romantic feelings for Character A until he turns into a girl and suddenly it's heteronormatively acceptable for B to lust after A. He does, they shag, and then somehow it's just okay when A changes back, which has the unsettling implication that A is still (always was?) a girl.
(3) The scenario in the fic you read [withheld to forestall unnecessary wank], where Characters A and/or B have had secret romantic feelings for the other, which surface during the sex-change episode, and they have sex. Still has squicky heteronormative overtones (why can they confess now that A has a vagina?) and the additional bizarreness of why, if B likes A as a BOY, they are so eager to have sex with A and his girl parts (this can work, if the author makes it clear that A is still himself and B still sees him as a boy, the same person he has a crush on, but it doesn't work in fics that show B seeing A as a girl, as DIFFERENT than before, but shagging him anyway).
11. Which, don't get me started on the Menstrual Goddess and her trials of bloody humiliation and rage. Or pregnancy angst and the relative lack thereof.
12. I've also never seen a female>>male swap. Has anybody? Or is it like the missing link: logically, we know it must exist, and yet.
13. Anyway. What I'm saying is that the swap in "genderswap" is really an accelerated, non-consensual sex reassignment process.
14. EG, "genderswap" is really "sexswap."
15. I'll give you that "genderswap" certainly sounds better than "sexswap," and doesn't bring to mind some seedy 1970s key party. Still.
16. The thing is that "genderswap" as a genre is living the unexamined life right now (when the genre first emerged in SPN fandom, I was impressed by the depth of thought that was going into the characterisations of Dean and Sam as suddenly female, but the quality has gone swiftly and sadly downhill. Weemo bandom--well, it's hard to find quality fic at all, so). If I got the feeling that an author was writing with some mindfulness of what sex and gender actually are and mean (even if the author's beliefs about those things are different from mine), I would be much less likely to stop reading their fic in disgust. It is the assumption of gender and sex binaries and that crazy sex=gender thing which drive me batshit insane.
17. I probably will never stop complaining about the incorrect use of "gender" in "genderswap," though. Just so you know.
---
A million and three thanks to impasto for being inarticulate for once in her life, and yet helping me find my words (best girlfriend ever). Several black hearts for tangleofthorns for telling me it's not whiny. Huzzah!
Bye.