Sex change in Fantasy

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Roxxsmom

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I am not transgender, so I can't speak for the experience personally. I was in a writing group once where this issue has come up, actually, so I'm basing some of this on the conversations that were had between cis and trans gendered people about this, and thinking and reading I've done about the issue since. I could be really wrong, though, and if I am, please tell me, as I do not wish to hurt anyone either.

There's a book I read where a character was magically transformed into a boy at birth in order to hide her identity, then later, she was converted back. One of the biggest criticisms I've seen of this book is that the author failed to explore the issue of whether the the character had a male or female identity to begin with, and how the person felt about either being in the wrong body as a child, or being changed "back" to a body that didn't match their previous identity.

Now (and I am most assuredly not an expert) suspect that there might be people who can swing either way with gender identity. They're happy in the body they were born with, but they would have been fine in a body of the other sex. People for whom gender is pretty plastic and malleable.

I suspect I'm such a person. If I was transformed into a male, I think I'd regard it as an interesting experience (though it would create some issues for my very heterosexual husband, so I wouldn't want it to be permanent). But I can't say for sure unless it happened. Maybe it would be cool for a bit, then I'd be desperate to have my old body back, even if my husband didn't mind me being male.

But I also know that there are people for whom being in the wrong body is a horror. And the solution to the problem is not to get the person to adjust to life as the gender that matches the body of their birth, but to transition to living as the gender that feels most natural to them (for some, this might even mean being off the binary completely).

In light of this reality, I think it's important to go carefully. Even if you want to portray your character as being pretty accepting of the magical sex change (or have the gender identity be changed by the magic too), I think it would be very important to somehow get across that this experience isn't typical. It should at least be worthy of comment and reflection (Have the character wonder why she doesn't care more that she's the opposite sex now and adjusts so easily to thinking and feeling herself as a she).

Another thought. Is it possible for your character to actually be transgender before this magical change occurs? Then it could be regarded as a very good thing.
 

StarWombat

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The character begins the book as a woman in a man's body. The question at its root is, should she be accepting when someone transforms her body into a woman's body, or should she be outraged?
 

Roxxsmom

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The character begins the book as a woman in a man's body. The question at its root is, should she be accepting when someone transforms her body into a woman's body, or should she be outraged?

If it's not done with her consent, I can see it being an issue, even if it's something she would have chosen for herself in other circumstances.
 

frimble3

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The character begins the book as a woman in a man's body. The question at its root is, should she be accepting when someone transforms her body into a woman's body, or should she be outraged?
Outraged! Outraged to the point of hunting down the person who transformed her, and doing something awful to them!Even if, as Roxxsmom says, it's something she might have gone along with if she had been asked. You don't just do something likethat to people! It implies that the transformer knows what's best for them, and is going to do it regardless of their wishes, no need for consent.
In real life, who would put up with someone sneaking up on them and cutting their hair 'because it suits you so much better'? Or, "Hey, you know you were talking about getting married, well, I found you a guy. It's all taken care of, the wedding is tomorrow!" It's a matter of autonomy.

Actually, that might be a real eye-opener for your woman-in-a-man's-body: This is how a 'real' woman gets treated -with paternalistic disdain and disregard for any feeling or opinions she has. The transformer thinks she should be a woman, and, boom, she is. What's this nonsense about having an opinion about her own body? She's a woman - even in a man's body, her opinions are, at best, trivial, and usually pointless.
It's not a bad rape metaphor, either. Physical changes, without any interest in her opinion or agreement.
 

Zoombie

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Reading this thread, I'm actually musing...

See, one of my novels has a gender switch too. The character dies, goes to the Afterlife, then hijacks their reincarnation to get back to the land of the living ASAP and wakes up in a female soldier's body - essentially, if a soldier dies, they can reincarnate into a new body because the government has kidnapped the Gods and forced them to alter reincarnation to suit their needs rather than the natural course of things.

But my main character essentially shrugs the whole thing off for the very simple reason that...in my universe, people regularly access past life memories. SO, he just remembers previous lives where he was female and deals with it.

Do you think that would seem insensitive or dismissive of trans peeps' feelings in real world transitions?
 

StarWombat

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Wait, they highjack the body of someone who's already died?
 

Roxxsmom

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It implies that the transformer knows what's best for them, and is going to do it regardless of their wishes, no need for consent.

Exactly. I wouldn't be happy if I woke up in a new house with a makeover, with my teeth whitened and my deviated septum repaired to give me nice, straight nose, even if I might have wanted any or all of those things.

And a sex change is much, much bigger than any of that that.
 

Diana Hignutt

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I went to be every night from the ages of 10 to 30 praying someone would do exactly that to me...but I have discovered that people are individuals with differing reactions, and as no one ever did change my gender without my knowledge, consent or complicity...I honestly couldn't begin to tell you how I would really have reacted. Write it well, and have your character react the way your character needs to react, and you'll be okay. I have learned to trust my characters above all else...also to never force a reaction on them...learn who you character is...you can control the situation...but if you are true to your characters...they control their reactions. My two cents.
 

StarWombat

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Ultimately, I went with a mixture of delight at what had happened, and outrage at how it had been done. I want things to feel right to the reader, and from the multiplicity of opinions I've received, there doesn't seem to really be a wrong answer here provided I keep in mind that people are complicated.
 
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