the still point of the turning world

One of the hot issues of the moment in SGA fandom seems to be genderswap. It's something that turns up in fic all over the place (almost always men turning into women, interestingly), and while it can be totally fascinating to read (if done well), it's also a subject that often gets mired in horrible out-dated stereotypes. So, herewith, I offer:

Three Things I Wish People Would Bear In Mind When Writing Genderswap

1. An adult male suddenly turned female by magic or technology is not a woman; he is a man trapped in a woman's body.

I'd think this would be obvious, but apparently it isn't. The analogy shouldn't be "woman", but something more like "female-to-male transsexual", really - the individual in question identifies as male, and has done so for their whole lifetime; gender identity is generally quite fundamental to the way we are socialised, and changing it is notoriously difficult. Take transsexual and transgendered individuals; they're born into one sort of body, but their gender identity is different, and remains different, despite the huge amount of hassle involved in maintaining it. Look at the lives of people like Brandon Teena, or films like Boys Don't Cry, The Crying Game, and the recent Transamerica. The hypothetical changed character has even more reason to identify with a gender different from their new biological sex, with several decades of conventional socialisation behind them - so why have them immediately (or rapidly) switch, using female pronouns, identifying as a woman, wearing girly clothes and makeup?

NB: I'm not saying that no one could ever transition; it could happen. But it wouldn't be quick or easy, and it would require an awful lot of re-evaluation.

2. Stereotypical images of femininity are not actually genetically linked

As someone who identifies as female but doesn't generally present as feminine, I get a bit touchy when I read a story which suggests that becoming female inevitably makes the character want to wear makeup, shave various body parts, wear skirts and tights (sorry, I mean "pantyhose") and generally do lots of things I don't do. These aren't inherent elements of being female - they're stereotypes! Not even all women bother with them. So why would a man want to do so?

Why are they never butch? Why don't they wear unisex clothing? Why don't they keep their hair short? All these things are perfectly acceptable for people in female bodies, and would surely feel much more "natural" to people who are used to being in male bodies. If you almost always wear trousers and shirts, then skirts feel weird; so do halternecks and other strappy tops. High heels - even very small ones - are difficult to walk in unless you have practice. I know all this from personal experience *g*. Most straight men suddenly finding themselves in female bodies are going to have similar unfamiliarity, and probably aren't going to want to bother making themselves look feminine - they're still men, after all.

NB: Transvestism, "drag", and similar situations are different; there, a man is deliberately performing femininity, and may therefore choose to take on stereotypically female dress and style as part of the process. I'm talking about men who involuntarily find themselves biologically female. Similarly, if a man-turned-female decides that he wants to present as actively female for a specific reason or occasion, that's different; I'm mostly talking about everyday life. Also, bras may be a different category to most other sorts of clothes, since they serve a specialised practical purpose as well as an aesthetic one.

3. Gender is a performance, but it is also flexible

As I said earlier, it is possible to perform a gender which does not match your biological sex. You can also choose to refuse some or all aspects of your biological sex identity, accept some traditional gender-linked characteristics, and generally live whatever way makes you happiest. Even if you adjust to suddenly ending up biologically a woman, and wear female clothes, you don't also have to wear makeup, watch romantic comedies and shave all your body hair. Mixing and matching is perfectly acceptable behaviour *g*. This is probably the most likely outcome, too; someone who ends up switched will take on some characteristics of the new sex, as well as retaining large sections of the former identity.

...there's lots more one could say, but I've spent too long on this already. Just to finish up, some SGA genderswap stories:

The World According to Rover by Orithain and Rina - Becoming female immediately causes the men to grow long hair and fingernails, as well as adopt more female (in fact, girly) body-language and mannerisms. There's some decent stuff about sexuality and orientation, but the female / male categories are exceptionally stereotypical, and for no obvious reason that I can see. The long hair thing, in particular, felt completely unnecessary and added nothing to the story.

Ardhanarishvara by auburnnotlisa - Teyla has a lot of trouble with the transition, which is good. But John, particularly, starts out having a lot of trouble accepting his change, while simultaneously using female pronouns about himself, right from the time the change happens. I couldn't see why he would make such a fundamental change in his self-image so quickly, particularly since he was bothered by it. I had less trouble with Ronon, since he seemed to accept it quite readily.

At the Violet Hour by linaerys - John turns female and no one notices, at least at first. No dramatic changes, which was interesting, John still thinks of himself as, essentially, male, and carries on with his life.

A Female Thing by TMar - This was actually pretty good. John continues to use male pronouns and thinks of himself as a man; he adapts reasonably well to his new body, deals with the assorted reactions of those around him, and generally finds a credible middle ground. He does dress up as a woman a few times; I felt it went a bit far, but he did it for a specific reason, and it was clearly John choosing to perform femininity at a specific occasion, rather than "being a girl". I particularly liked the fact that he insisted on flat shoes *g*.

Human Vacillation by trinityofone - An interesting one. John had clearly made a total transition, but he'd had twenty-odd years to do it in, and changed early enough that I found it not too incredible. This is unusual in that rather than the normal "man has to learn to be a woman" trope, it's "woman has learned to be a man", and we don't see the process involved. I'm still not sure that John would have become so thoroughly male, but I can just about buy it.

You're Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl) by trinityofone - Again, interesting; I like the balance between Rodney's masculinity and his new body, the middle ground he finds; I felt that the issues of his orientation were (unusually in a genderswap story) somewhat elided, but there was examination of related issues. Um. This is also different because it's bodyswap and not genderswap, so the issues of "passing" and changing clothing and so on are not quite the same; Cadman's body is female, and dressed and treated as such, so that's the baseline Rodney is dealing with, rather than a body which has previously been male.

Basically: Genderswap can be great, and people write it for all sorts of reasons. But I wish people would think more about the concepts of gender they use; femininity and masculinity are not monolithic categories, and there's no reason to assume that any given individual - especially one not socialised in a particular gender - would buy into the stereotypes wholesale. Everyone should read more about transsexuals and less Cosmo or GQ! That would be cool, yes.