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 Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:27 pm
A writing rant blog I keep up with and one of Ky's high school essays made me think over this while I was cleaning dishes earlier.
What would your story be like if everyone's gender was reversed? How would the character interactions be different? How would the plot change? How would the overall perception of the story change?
This is mostly a brainstorming "what if" exercise, but it's also supposed to help point out gender stereotypes you might be using and whatnot.
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Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:19 pm
Hokay, let's see, answering for R&N.
Arcisan as a woman might be more careless as a character, but overall wouldn't change too much. A woman from Arcisan's family would be expected to marry, not work, so "her" job might earn her some disrespect and make her prone to "I need to prove myself!" scenarios. Arcisan as a male is very sure and proud of himself, but a female Arcisan might constantly be looking for reasons to back up feeling that way, just due to the society's view of that gender in that job.
Just speculation, anyhow. A lot would change if Iris were a male, though -- a lot of the plot and interactions depend on the fact that she's a young woman. Arcisan and Janus in their normal gender roles find it easy to bully her because of this, and Kasume in his normal gender role naturally trusts Iris because she's female.
Hurr, the idea of a female Arcisan bullying a male Iris (I have no clue what a male version of the name Iris would be) is kind of odd, but since a male Iris would still be submissive, not impossible. Actually, I kind of like the idea of a woman bullying a man (without being a raging, PMS b***h, mind you).
Janus as a man ... wouldn't change that much, because she's already pretty masculine. I wouldn't even have to change her name! xd But "his" relationship with a female Kasume would change, because it seems a bit more taboo for a man to take care of a disabled woman than for a woman to take care of a disabled man. He would probably try a lot harder and be a lot more careful about holding up the guise that they're siblings to keep from seeming too creepy.
Kasume (who would become Kasumi Howard, I suppose, due to marriage laws and me trying to feminize "Kasume") as a woman would mess up a lot of his past history. He was supposed to be the jerky, abusive husband, but as a woman married to a man of Nina's personality, I don't see how "she" could be abusive. That whole deal would get really confusing.
Wow, that broke my brain.
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Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 11:54 pm
Yukio as a woman would be...well, I wouldn't like it. He'd be ridiculous in the sense that as soon as you get a female lead character swinging a sword around and being all "I DUN NEED NO BIG STRONG MENS", I immediately think of all those "GIRL POWAH"-fantasy novels I read in middle school. D:
On the other hand, he'd be a bit different from those girls -- a hard-drinking slut of a woman. rofl And we all know how those are generally received in stories...basically, it'd derail the entire plot, while a male character can get away with such things and still come across as perfectly respectable. Somehow.
He might have less angst issues, though. Yukio's dad was very sexist, and wouldn't have been so strict on a daughter. He'd also have a legitimate sibling, more than likely, and be much more of a background character...sort of the "black sheep" of the family. Who likes to go on random sword-swinging romps around the countryside. xd
(Oh and he'd have uber-boobs. Just because I say that Yukio as a woman would have monstrous tits. The end. xd )
...Zarr as a woman would be weird. He's actually more of a kind of hermaphrodite in my mind. Not literally, but the loud, spazzy Zarr is when he's being "male", and when he's being quieter (or Creepy Zarr), he's being "female".
Thinking about it, having Zarr be female would actually influence the entire plot heavily. It'd take a much creepier undertone, thanks to the lurking supporting character. Zarr's actions do tend to steer Yukio's, so it'd be...interesting.
(And since I made the comment about Yukio above...Zarr as a woman would be flat as a board.)
Well, great. Now I want to try writing a short story using female-designated Zarr. gonk
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 2:03 am
H'okay, I should be in bed right now, but I'm gonna try this.
Vitae as a woman. H'm. I'd probably have to call her "Vida," for one thing. She'd definitely be a lot more emo than Vitae, what with all the s**t in his/her past. She'd cry a lot more, and probably be a lot less emotionally blank through the start of the story. She'd probably be quite cordial to Boy-Yinda. She'd also be much more self-conscious about her mechanical arm. Vida would have smallish boobs.
Jericho as a woman would be a bit odd, as I don't think there are many female Border Guards. Her time in prison would be a bit weird, just because of the circumstances thereof--a woman isn't as likely to be jailed for sleeping with someone's husband than vice-versa. A woman being as hyper, careless, and reckless as Jericho would probably also be deemed incompetent, where male Jericho is...just almost incompetent. It would also be weird for grown-woman Jericho to be traveling with teenage-boy Yinda. Jericho would wear maybe a C-cup.
Yinda as a boy would probably wind up being like Toby from Sweeney Todd--I can just imagine him singing "Not While I'm Around" to Vida. Boy-Yinda would have an even stronger "protect people" urge than Girl-Yinda, only it would be directed more towards women than children due to the whole "mother died giving birth to him" scenario.
Sabine as a man ("Sabien") would be...probably a lot more firm and less apologetic about things he says or does. Being raised by his father, he would seek less affirmation among people his own gender, but probably be shy around girls. I'm not quite sure how Sabien could manage to let himself be tricked into going to Emanon by scatter-brained Jericho.
And finally, Nathan as a woman. "Nettie" would be an overdressed slut with too much make-up who obviously slept will all her professors in order to graduate and OH MY GOD nothing would change from one to another. gonk It would just be way more obvious that Nettie sleeps with everything in sight. Oh, and she'd be straight. She'd probably hold less of a grudge towards her adoptive parents for not telling her where she came from. And for the record, Nettie would have admirably large knockers.
As far as character relations, Boy-Yinda would be constantly trying to protect Vida and Jericho, but probably still wouldn't like Nettie for her bad attitude.
Vida would forever be trying to redirect Jericho's bad leadership. Vida would also be more justified in disliking Sabien, as a girl is probably more likely not to want a man looking at her body.
Nettie would not hit on Vida, but Vida would still dispise Nettie for her loose morals.
Sabien and Nettie's friendship would probably be viewed as very unhealthy, even from a brother-sister standpoint.
Now my brain is broken and I'm sleep deprived. Way to go.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:44 am
It's funny how the perceptions of a "slut" character change so much depending on gender -- a male character who womanizes or sleeps around is seen as normal, just having a good time, but because women are expected to be maternal and cautious, a female character who sleeps around is seen as Morally Wrong.
My character Ania, for instance, would be seen a lot differently if she were male. As a woman she's a slut, but as a man "he" would be sex-driven, but not seen in as bad a light.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:42 am
... O.o; Surprisingly little would change in TomK if all the main characters were female. I mean, magical power doesn't rely on your gender, and in an upperclass society where men and women have to be treated as equals (especially when your wife, sister, or daughter might have more magick in her little finger than you do in your entire body), few of the gender roles we see in our lives actually change.
And since Seishak is already chastised and looked down on for sleeping around so much as a male, I doubt that's going to change much when he's a woman. Although, as a woman, she would've been married off long before then xd
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 4:24 pm
...That... would be really wierd.
The Four Gods as 3 males and one "it" would be considerably less creepy. A lot of the creepy factor for them relies on the fact that most people don't expect females to enjoy killing or to have a slasher grin while doing so.
Robby would still dress like he was colorblind, though. razz (( I don't even have to change the name, lol. ))
Drazora would be more ******** up then "she" already is. Probably considerably more aggressive as well. Other then that, not too much would change. She would also be flat as a board.
Erin (Aaron, lol) would have some plot points effed up because some of them heavily involve the fact that Erin is female and able to reproduce.
Isaac would no longer make sense.
Tiamat's hard to imagine as a guy. Same deal with Eclipse.
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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 12:20 am
Iris's male name can be "Eyeball." biggrin
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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 1:12 am
I believe Iris's male name would be Ira.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 8:06 pm
Oh lord.
Amy, Amy, Amy...would be called...Amon, mebbeh? Too demonic. stare
Well, since she's THE MAGIKAL UTERUS!!!!! of the plot, that would kinda twist...Personality-wise, a male Amy likely wouldn't change much. Maybe more contained emotion-wise, but he'd still be stubborn and skeptical and really annoyed and pissed off.
Dejen...can't even go into names here, as the masc./fem. system is different where he lives. Dejen really wouldn't change that much. She just wouldn't swing a 6' sword around. And probably be even less into the "******** to save the world" thing. I can't imagine Dejen being more sexual as a female.
People would think Haedin was PMSing all the time, but that's more an outward reaction. I think Haedin would wish she were male, really. I can't see Haedin enjoying being female. Living in a world with gender roles is enough to make her go nuts. She'd probably go insane much faster than Haedin has because of it, and would find less solace in male Grae...as a male Grae would hardly be inspiring.
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Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 6:29 pm
There would definitely be more Sleeping Beauty quips in MOSI if Vitae were a woman. I can just see it now, when they first discover her asleep in the catacombs...
Jericho: "Hey Sabien, why not try kissing her awake?"
Sabien: "Whaaaa?!"
Jericho: "No? Then how 'bout you?" *points at boy-Yinda*
Boy-Yinda: burning_eyes "Girls have cooties."
>>
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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 3:34 pm
Charlie_The_Bad Iris's male name can be "Eyeball." biggrin
@Rae: You mention in your first post that "Vida" would cry more -- out of curiosity, why? I realize females are naturally more emotionally driven than males, but I don't believe becoming female would suddenly lessen She-Vitae's ability to control and hide emotion.
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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:44 pm
It just seems like something she'd do. Not in public, mind you, but still.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 12:41 am
On the topic of male/female emotions...it made me think of Yukio and Zarr PMSing.
To keep it brief and not get overly graphic, a PMSing Yukio would be absurdly horny and probably be considered a shameless disgrace. sweatdrop
He'd also be angry and irrational. Not weepy, he'd just be the kind to tweak out and throw things at peoples' heads. He's unstable enough without adding fluctuating hormones to the mix.
Zarr would be weepy. As a man, he goes through emo-fits now and then anyway, but he DOES have a bit of "male pride" and will hide it unless he's faking for attention (which is rare). Female Zarr would be a "give me chocolate and let me cry all over you" stereotype.
What I'd REALLY want to see is a pregnant female Zarr. Not because I'm into randomly impregnating my boy characters ( eek ), but because it would force him to
STOP
DRINKING
and I really want to see what a sober Zarr acts like. gonk At this point, I swear he just drinks to dull the pain from the twitching remains of his liver.
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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 12:53 am
Curse you and your pregnant female Zarr. For I had dreams last night, and lo, they were on crack. @.@ And yes, pregnant female Zarr (also Yukio) was in them. I am slightly traumatised.
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