Is Gender Bender tag ruined?

[RepresentingWrath]

Anyone who says GB has to be deep and epxplore anything is wrong. Not every work has to be a deep analysis of real world issues with hundreds of hours of research put into it. Some works, most notably SOL stories, are there to make you relax and have fun after a hard day of work. GB can and should be used as any other genre. If you want to make a comedy about a trio of yakuza goons being GBed into idols to pay off their debt, you can do it. And you can even find a moderate success with it. If you want to make a lighthearted SOL of an old office worker getting isekaied into a different world as a girl, and have slow farming life, you can.

GB isn't a sacred cow that should be treated any way differently than other genres and tags. Do whatever you want with it.

 

[Alski]

So the answer is not that the Gender Bender tag is ruined. It's just that most recent stories using it are lazy. The tag itself isn’t the problem. It’s how it’s used.

Dam humans riuining everything.

 

[Ruti]

That said, a lot of people are a bit tired of the gender bender stories where the gender bender doesn't matter to the plot. But this is just because it's a tired and unrealistic trope, it has nothing to do with gender politics, and there is still a sizeable audience for it.

They don't write GB stories; they write straight GL.

We sure do love the trope of "man get hit by truck, become girl, completely ignore the past life and previous gender, act as if they were a native of said world with basically 0 earth knowledge"
all for the sake of GL

cause apparently making a girl like a girl for no reason other then just liking them is a near impossible feat to do

 

[Empress_Omnii]

GB isn't a sacred cow that should be treated any way differently than other genres and tags. Do whatever you want with it.

I agree... but the problem I notice is not that there is a GB and it is used as a comedy or instead an analysis of world issues. Instead more than a few that I have read just have a character gender bend then ignore it. As in, I've seen it only be mentioned a couple times in the first ten chapters then never again. It at least should have something done with it beyond a couple mentions and no resolution...

 

[unlaumy]

I agree... but the problem I notice is not that there is a GB and it is used as a comedy or instead an analysis of world issues. Instead more than a few that I have read just have a character gender bend then ignore it. As in, I've seen it only be mentioned a couple times in the first ten chapters then never again. It at least should have something done with it beyond a couple mentions and no resolution...

You have to understand that some people usually use that tag as an excuse to a specific premise. It's like another exhausting first 10 chapters of infant life as a reincarnated person, thrown into a forest in another world and survive, in a cave, a beginner village, caravan being attack by a tribe of goblins, etc.

 

[Leti]

Dam humans riuining everything.

That's why cats are superior.

 

[Ruti]

I agree... but the problem I notice is not that there is a GB and it is used as a comedy or instead an analysis of world issues. Instead more than a few that I have read just have a character gender bend then ignore it. As in, I've seen it only be mentioned a couple times in the first ten chapters then never again. It at least should have something done with it beyond a couple mentions and no resolution...

yeah that's the main issue honestly for me

yeah, having GB is great if its done well, but so many people use it like for the first 4 chapters and have ABSOLUTELY ZERO mentions or reminders of it again, and have the gender bent MC instantly have the instincts of their new gender while completely forgetting the instincts of their old gender

like at the very least have a chapter or two having it be somewhat important, even if its as simple as revealing it to their Yuri lover. doesn't need to have drama or anything, just have it somewhat relevant, cause otherwise just... don't do GB at the start and make MC female from the start? Not like anything will change since you didn't even use that plot point ever.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I have tried to keep it in mind in Strange Awakening. Even had the character keep his/her short hair (and then find out that it doesn't grow anymore... and is resistant to dyes... but that's another point) - though it becomes less important to the character over time until things force a reminder (like getting a period).

 

[RepresentingWrath]

I agree... but the problem I notice is not that there is a GB and it is used as a comedy or instead an analysis of world issues. Instead more than a few that I have read just have a character gender bend then ignore it. As in, I've seen it only be mentioned a couple times in the first ten chapters then never again. It at least should have something done with it beyond a couple mentions and no resolution...

If that is what they want to do, they can do it. It's not a problem. People write what they want, and you can't police their tastes. If you disagree, go ahead an write a novel of your own, popularizing what you think is a better way of using the tag. Lastly, you can't critisize art.

 

[Erysion]

Lastly, you can't critisize art.

Exactly. Nobody know what art is. And WW2 happened the last time someone critisized the art of an Austrian Painter.

If this is art, anything can be art. Just write anything you want. You can't please everyone. If someone don't like your story, then they are not your target audience.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Exactly. Nobody know what art is. And WW2 happened the last time someone critisized the art of an Austrian Painter.

If this is art, anything can be art. Just write anything you want. You can't please everyone. If someone don't like your story, then they are not your target audience.

Yes. And if you want to write about underag- scratch the last part.

 

[Llamadragon]

If that is what they want to do, they can do it. It's not a problem. People write what they want, and you can't police their tastes. If you disagree, go ahead an write a novel of your own, popularizing what you think is a better way of using the tag. Lastly, you can't critisize art.

It's art. Half the point of art is to be enjoyed, the other half is for humans to have something to criticize that isn't each other.

 

[ShrimpShady]

If this is art, anything can be art. Just write anything you want. You can't please everyone. If someone don't like your story, then they are not your target audience.

Tape banana, my beloved. Pissing people off since 2019

 

[Llamadragon]

You have to understand that some people usually use that tag as an excuse to a specific premise. It's like another exhausting first 10 chapters of infant life as a reincarnated person, thrown into a forest in another world and survive, in a cave, a beginner village, caravan being attack by a tribe of goblins, etc.

Yah but that's also why some people tend to dislike it. It's introducing a premise but then abandoning the premise.

 

[Ruti]

Tape banana, my beloved. Pissing people off since 2019

Valued at millions

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

This site has lots of gender theory ideology, it's impossible to escape online because reality is antithetical to their way of thinking.

You can still write a story without engaging in that but it will draw that sort of audience to start. They might get bored if you don't write it a way they expect it, but complaining is also a common pastime for people on the internet.

 

[Ruti]

Yah but that's the entire issue. It's introducing a premise but then abandoning the premise.

A premise exists so that a story can exist. Using a premise then not using it in the slightest means there was no reason for that premise in the first place

its like making a "Hero must save the world from the demon king" and then suddenly your reading about the love life of a mole girl and a dragon while the premise just never existed

 

[RepresentingWrath]

It's art. Half the point of art is to be enjoyed, the other half is for humans to have something to criticize that isn't each other.

No.

 

[Llamadragon]

This site has lots of gender theory ideology, it's impossible to escape online because reality is antithetical to their way of thinking.

It really sums up the entire issue that I can't even tell which side of the argument you're on.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

cause apparently making a girl like a girl for no reason other then just liking them is a near impossible feat to do

But that would be gay.