Gender Bender Bait

[LightNovelNovice]

I can't be the only one who feels that stories wherein the character is originally one gender, dies/gets transported to another world, and is from then on the opposite gender, are kind of boring?
It just doesn't feel like it's an actual Gender Bender at all... It would make more sense for it to just have the character always be a girl if they're a girl in the new world or life, or vice versa.
Am I crazy???

 

[Azhurie_Mythephan]

You are not crazy. That word is reserved solely for talking about me, with my mild schizophrenia.

 

[PancakesWitch]

I dont understand what you mean, you're saying you dont like the idea of a character changing their gender and sex upon reincarnation, or that the very thought of such a thing to be nonsensical? Because it isn't, its just another genre/trope. Deal with it and move on, complaining about it won't change anything. It just exists and it will continue to exist, made for people that like it. Instead you should complain about specific books or novels and how they handle the concept poorly instead, because criticizing a whole genre will ultimately not work, it's too broad.

 

[Deleted member 76176]

I dont understand what you mean, you're saying you dont like the idea of a character changing their gender and sex upon reincarnation, or that the very thought of such a thing to be nonsensical? Because it isn't, its just another genre/trope. Deal with it and move on, complaining about it won't change anything.

I don't suppose he meant that. Most of these stories have the main character turn themselves into a girl upon being isekaied, but otherwise, it doesn't go any further than that. There is no comedic, plot, or emotional significance to this, and as such, I'm inclined to partially agree that it is bait in some manner. Sure, gender bending happens, but it doesn't really matter regardless.

Edit: Perhaps, no. Calling it a bait would be too far.

 

[SternenklarenRitter]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe LightNovelNovice's complaint is not with the premise but the execution. I have read a good number of reincarnation/transmigration stories with a female lead who was male on Earth. Many of these stories indeed never again mention any of the social, physical or cultural trappings of different genders after the first chapter establishes 'was a dude, now a lady'. For example, 'The reincarnated vampire just wants to nap' flops on taking advantage of this plot point.

 

[ChronicSleeper]

Well, I'm gonna be so honest I used to really enjoy those stories and wish it happened to me, so excuse me if I'm a bit biased here. I'd like to think its a plot device the author uses to turn a character from this mundane, average person into someone special, and being the opposite gender expresses that in ways more direct, marking the start of the story. Or it could be an allegory for cracking your egg. But it can be a really good way to force the character to confront everything they had taken for granted/gotten used to and grow from there, after all, if you were suddenly the opposite gender after being isekai'ed, would seeing magic/monsters/2 suns/etc. be as strange?

 

[melchi]

I don't think the issue is if it'd make more sense or not. People can rationalize anything.

IMO, the bigger issue is relevancy. If the synopsis says that it is a big part of the story then it should be. The same could be said about other reincarnation stories. Like if human becomes a dungeon core. Most of those stories have some element of conflicting with the new reality of what they have become. I get that the majority of them only have maybe a chapter of relevance for the conflict. Maybe that is the problem?

 

[Cipiteca396]

You're not the only one. People make threads complaining about this at least once a month.
By the way, I'm two spaces away from getting Bingo now. So thank you.

To give the barest effort of a response, this type of story is one of the major contributors to me getting into web novels. It's a decent gateway drug for the style of stories you get on the internet.
Is every version of the trope a masterpiece? No.
But that just makes it a better draw for the uninitiated. It gets people to ask 'What would that be like?'

And then either they write their own version, or they go and find better quality novels that do a better job answering their question.

For you who've already read the "better" version, it is not meant. Or maybe you just aren't giving it a fair chance, but that's not something we'll figure out here.

 

[LightNovelNovice]

I dont understand what you mean, you're saying you dont like the idea of a character changing their gender and sex upon reincarnation, or that the very thought of such a thing to be nonsensical? Because it isn't, its just another genre/trope. Deal with it and move on, complaining about it won't change anything. It just exists and it will continue to exist, made for people that like it. Instead you should complain about specific books or novels and how they handle the concept poorly instead, because criticizing a whole genre will ultimately not work, it's too broad.

Im saying it doesnt make any sense to add such a detail to a premise and *not use it at all* like basically every one of these types of stories does.

I dont understand what you mean, you're saying you dont like the idea of a character changing their gender and sex upon reincarnation, or that the very thought of such a thing to be nonsensical? Because it isn't, its just another genre/trope. Deal with it and move on, complaining about it won't change anything. It just exists and it will continue to exist, made for people that like it. Instead you should complain about specific books or novels and how they handle the concept poorly instead, because criticizing a whole genre will ultimately not work, it's too broad.

I prefer the gender bending to actually be a proper plot point.

I don't suppose he meant that. Most of these stories have the main character turn themselves into a girl upon being isekaied, but otherwise, it doesn't go any further than that. There is no comedic, plot, or emotional significance to this, and as such, I'm inclined to partially agree that it is bait in some manner. Sure, gender bending happens, but it doesn't really matter regardless.

Edit: Perhaps, no. Calling it a bait would be too far.

i prefer she :c

 

[PancakesWitch]

Im saying it doesnt make any sense to add such a detail to a premise and *not use it at all* like basically every one of these types of stories does.

I prefer the gender bending to actually be a proper plot point.

i prefer she :c

I suppose its because the authors would find it cringe for the mc to go through struggles adapting or accepting what they had become, they usually just want this gender bending to be for the mc to become a cute girl so he's not an ugly mofo anymore. Questioning their gender, seuxality, or identity is too "cringe and woke" and will probably not write that in detail, if not at all adress it. Usually these people are just guys, the times i see it written in more detail its when the authors are trans or queer, as they are more open to write these things without feeling ashamed or "gay".
And I agree in such cases the mc should have just been a girl instead from the beginning, but at the same time you can't just say the entire genre is pointless because of that. There's many good gender bender stories in this site with mostly trans-coded characters that explore these things in fine detail. Meanwhile, I also believe that stories that don't adress it and are more carefree in terms of emotions and all of this are fine too and can eb enjoyable anyways.

 

[LightNovelNovice]

I suppose its because the authors would find it cringe for the mc to go through struggles adapting or accepting what they had become, they usually just want this gender bending to be for the mc to become a cute girl so he's not an ugly mofo anymore. Questioning their gender, seuxality, or identity is too "cringe and woke" and will probably not write that in detail, if not at all adress it. Usually these people are just guys, the times i see it written in more detail its when the authors are trans or queer, as they are more open to write these things without feeling ashamed or "gay".
And I agree in such cases the mc should have just been a girl instead from the beginning, but at the same time you can't just say the entire genre is pointless because of that. There's many good gender bender stories in this site with mostly trans-coded characters that explore these things in fine detail. Meanwhile, I also believe that stories that don't adress it and are more carefree in terms of emotions and all of this are fine too and can eb enjoyable anyways.

hearing this makes me feel better. I like ur stories and was sad for a second there cuz I thought you were mad at me ;;;

 

[PancakesWitch]

hearing this makes me feel better. I like ur stories and was sad for a second there cuz I thought you were mad at me ;;;

Thanks :) There's also the issue of trying to please audiences. There's an audience that is willing to tolerate gender bender as long as it is not adressed and made "cringe" and are more focused on a badass girl killing things with no other plot. And there's also the audience that comes spefifically for the gender bender, so sometimes authors are forced to write the more boring take to please more readers.

 

[Terrate]

I think of that too sometimes when the mc is acting all cutesy like it was the most natural thing in the world.

 

[aattss]

I think one reason it may happen sometimes is the author fantasizes about becoming a girl because they're an egg or something, but the author themselves don't realize that it's something they fantasize about, so they gloss over it because they haven't put a lot of thought into it.

 

[Llamadragon]

Yeah, the gender bender genre has a lot of overlap with the 'generic fantasy anime' genre I enjoy so I've read a lot of it. I get what you mean.

It doesn't bother me, but it also wouldn't really take much to make it a bit more realistic. It's such a big thing that I at least wish they'd have a reaction.

That said, I'm perfectly ok with reading it as long as I don't accidentally pick up the kink stuff. I'm a little tired of reading what looks like a generic adventure novel only to read about a gender bender character whose only reaction to being genderbent is to suddenly be obsessed with womens underwear or something. Especially when the authors idea of 'womens underwear' is entirely incorrect, or where they made a world where women are too dumb to make comfortable underwear until the modern MC invents it (despite MC having never actually worn any before).

Just. Please, give the locals basic IQ.

 

[LightNovelNovice]

Yeah, the gender bender genre has a lot of overlap with the 'generic fantasy anime' genre I enjoy so I've read a lot of it. I get what you mean.

It doesn't bother me, but it also wouldn't really take much to make it a bit more realistic. It's such a big thing that I at least wish they'd have a reaction.

That said, I'm perfectly ok with reading it as long as I don't accidentally pick up the kink stuff. I'm a little tired of reading what looks like a generic adventure novel only to read about a gender bender character whose only reaction to being genderbent is to suddenly be obsessed with womens underwear or something. Especially when the authors idea of 'womens underwear' is entirely incorrect, or where they made a world where women are too dumb to make comfortable underwear until the modern MC invents it.

Just. Please, give the locals basic IQ.

Its kind of horrifying how dirty a lot of my fellow gender bender writers get... like its so much smut?! blah.

 

[Lysander_Works]

I don't suppose he meant that. Most of these stories have the main character turn themselves into a girl upon being isekaied, but otherwise, it doesn't go any further than that. There is no comedic, plot, or emotional significance to this, and as such, I'm inclined to partially agree that it is bait in some manner. Sure, gender bending happens, but it doesn't really matter regardless.

Yeah, that's what I feel is often the case. It is bait when it's used for clicks. It actually ticks me off anytime I see a story or anime use the isekaie method to switch genders and hold almost no significance beyond that mere fact. Maybe it's cause in my taste I would only enjoy that if it were explored more seriously. I like extensional situations.

 

[Cipiteca396]

I think one reason it may happen sometimes is the author fantasizes about becoming a girl because they're an egg or something, but the author themselves don't realize that it's something they fantasize about, so they gloss over it because they haven't put a lot of thought into it.

I prefer the ones where they did put a lot of thought into it, but it's abundantly clear that all that thinking can be summed up as, "I have to justify this as normal so people don't think I'm queer." It can be very hilarious. If frustrating- I suppose it's important to read those sorts of stories sparingly, or it's just depressing.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I tried to focus more on those elements in mine because it seems kind of cheap to ignore some of the biological and social complications ("I would like to take this moment to apologize to every woman I ever did that to..." "No, you did not take a blow to the stomach, at least not from your description of the pain. Let me put it this way: we now know that you are not but can become pregnant.") - of course it kind of helps that the guy she hooks up with was raised with shape shifters and kind of "required" to be bisexual...

 

[Golden_Hyde]

ah yes.
>previously a man in his previous world
>dies
>get reincarnated as a girl in another world
>Yuri galore whenever there's a chance

All in all, if I want to read Yuri—or anything involves lesbian stuff, I'd rather read anything without the premise of a man who was dead and—I did said those up there lol