Transgender protagonists

[Venusaur26]

After reading Gender Bender novels where the MC was actually transgender, well, at least before they become 100% girl, I’ve been wondering two things.

1) How to do characters like that right, people who are male on the outside and female on the inside and/or vice-versa? And people who were still dense of that?

2) What about people who were Cisgender male or female and then becomes of the opposite gender?

Both scenarios, how people portray their insecurities, anxieties, and their journey towards figuring out stuff and making their final decisions?

 

[Puji-Maki]

This is the first time I encounter the word cisgender(I'm from Philippenis) and I quickly googled it to know the definition, thank you, I learned a new word.

Anyway, I don't know how to answer your first question but I can answer the second one. You just have to live with that, if you transmigrated into another world and you became a girl(in my PoV), you have nothing to do but to live with that, as if you have a choice anyway. Although it depends on you if you still want to have sex with girls(yuri) or you will try to have a relationship with guys. By the way, I read some gender bender doujins and I found that most of the male MCs who turned into girls ended up liking their new life because having sex as a girl feels good, I don't know to be honest.

 

[Cipiteca396]

1) How to do characters like that right, people who are male on the outside and female on the inside and/or vice-versa? And people who were still dense of that?

It's a very, very complicated topic. There's several different components that make up a person's identity, and playing with any one of them could cause serious issues.

In this specific context, there's probably two things to consider.

Spoiler

First is dysmorphia. If you've ever looked at your body and thought you were too short/tall, too fat/boney, too ugly/weak, or anything like that, that's dysmorphia. It's something that everyone experiences. Even if you were born perfect, at some point you probably wished you could grow up faster so you could be taller, or look more adult. It's a mental issue based on the perception of your physical body. It can also be a good base for understanding transpeople.
For transpeople, dysmorphia is caused by traits associated with the sex they were born with. Those traits may be considered normal or even attractive for someone of their sex, but it brings them nothing but misery. Being told that you are attractive when you hate your own appearance creates the most horrible sense of dissonance, as if you're the only sane person in the world. (That's dysphoria, though, not dysmorphia.)

Which ties into the cultural issue. Even if you're totally fine with your body, it's unpleasant to be constantly told that you can't do the things you like because they don't suit your sex. Or even worse, being told you have to do something you detest because it's a part of being your sex.
After a while, resentment and regret start to build up. Resent the people who forced you to act a certain way, regret that it doesn't come naturally to you, or that you weren't born as someone who was allowed to do the things you like. In most cases it's easier to play along and pretend to be what everyone says you should be.
(As far as I know, this is the most common source of imposter syndrome. The type that affects celebrities is more well known though, for obvious reasons.)

I think I've said enough for now, but there's far more to consider. Hopefully someone else will fill in the blanks.

2) What about people who were Cisgender male and/or female and then becomes of the opposite gender?

This is how transpeople feel every day, you know? The knee jerk reaction is the same as you'd get if you suddenly turned into a furry, or if you got in an accident and woke up without any legs. The extended reaction depends on the person.

In fiction, you usually get one of three answers here.
They become trans, and try everything they can to go back to their true gender.

---

They accept their new body. This can come about in two ways: Either the author secretly thinks something like "Everyone secretly wants to be a girl, right?", or the character was trans/gender fluid to begin with.

---

They don't notice the difference. This is basically the same as the above, but the author either doesn't know what they're talking about or the character was gender fluid.

 

[PancakesWitch]

We can't really tell you because every main character has their own background, personality, and insecurities that you build, it is up to you to make them and build them. If you want them feel troubled, if you want them go through difficulties, or if you want them to accept it and be happy over it. Usually if you want to portray the mentality of the mc, write it through first person POV

 

[FinallyFeminine]

This is a complicated couple of questions, ironically enough. I'll try to keep it simple though.

1) - Work with actual transgender people when writing characters like this. Give them drafts of your writing and get their opinions on how authentic your trans protagonist is.
- Don't focus too much on the gender dysphoria , but focus more on the euphoria of presenting as their true self and being seen as the gender they really are.
- Don't make your story all about the suffering and sadness of the transgender character. This kinda ties into the above point, but show your trans character being happy too, succeeding in their goals as they get closer to living an authentic life as their true self. Also just show them doing normal things like anybody else, because in the end trans people *are* just like anybody else, aside from the gender part.
- If you have someone who's really "dense" about themselves and/or is having a tough time accepting that they're trans, try to think up reasons why they'd be like that. Are they scared of what society would think of them? Do they not feel like they're showing enough signs to be "really" trans? Is there some sort of trauma in their past that makes them scared to admit it? Or are they just kind of a lovable dumbass who really can't put two and two together about themself?
- Remember, in a story where a transgender protagonist gets their body transformed, they're going to be happy about it. A trans woman getting a feminine body / a trans man getting a masculine body; both of them are going to enjoy their new bodies, or at least should. Sure, maybe there'll be some hesitancy and resistance at first, but if in the end they decide to stay as they are and love their new selves, then congrats, you've written a transgender protagnist.

2) To put it simply: someone who is cisgender would HATE to suddenly find themselves in the body of another gender. They'd feel a lot of gender dysphoria almost immediately, or at least after the novelty of the experience wore off. Things wouldn't feel right, their body wouldn't look the way they want it to, and the way everyone would treat them would make them incredibly uncomfortable. Remember: only a transgender protagonist would want to stay transformed. A cisgender protagonist would always be looking for a way to turn back, either magically like they originally changed, or if everything else fails, through more realistic medical ways.

Hope this helps! This is a pretty simplified version of things, but it should put you on the right path. Feel free to reach out to me sometime if you need anymore advice too. Good luck writing your trans protagonist!

 

[RepresentingCaution]

- Remember, in a story where a transgender protagonist gets their body transformed, they're going to be happy about it. A trans woman getting a feminine body / a trans man getting a masculine body; both of them are going to enjoy their new bodies, or at least should. Sure, maybe there'll be some hesitancy and resistance at first, but if in the end they decide to stay as they are and love their new selves, then congrats, you've written a transgender protagnist.

I would also add that, even when they are happy about changes to their bodies, major surgeries still hurt. Depending on the person, they might choose to take pain medications that make them high while recovering while others might have responsibilities to perform where they don't feel comfortable taking opioids. Some people don't feel high on opioids but just feel sleepy. Still others might find a certain amount of pride enduring the pain of transformation and turn down medication for that reason. It really depends on the character.

 

[foxoftheasterisk]

Hoo boy. That's quite a question, because well, there are so many ways to do it right. (Seriously, like 90% of what I read on this site is exactly that, and as a trans woman myself, almost all of it rings true in one way or another. (Feel free to check out my reading lists if you want good examples btw.))

I have one piece of good news, though: the answer to your two questions are almost exactly the same. A cis person forced into a body of the other sex is trans now. (Barring magical tweaking of gender or just not being aware of their gender in the first place, ofc)

Writing-wise, I think the more useful split is between aware trans folks and eggs (as we call those who haven't yet figured out they're trans). Cis people forced into the other body will usually be aware of their transishness, but some may end up trying to perform their new assigned gender in a way that makes them eggish. This isn't a hard split though - the closer an egg gets to hatching, the more like an aware trans person they'll react.

So with that split in mind, LET'S GO

1: terms of address
An aware trans person will generally HATE being referred to in any way that indicates the wrong gender (names, pronouns, son/daughter, sir/ma'am, etc etc). Seriously, it's like a stab to the brain every time, oh, and it's even worse coming from someone who should know our real gender.
An egg might have some discomfort around these, but honestly it's kind of rare? Because those terms just seem normal to them. Honestly, this is one thing that I think is overplayed - using discomfort around gendered terms of address to indicate someone's an egg. (Exception being for situations where the egg has been getting gender euphoria and the wrong-gendered term brings "reality"(dysphoria) crashing back in - that's gold.)

Inversely, getting correctly gendered feels great. More so the less you're used to it - but even for someone who's been out for years, getting a new term applied, or one in a situation they're not expecting, will give them the warn fuzzies.
For eggs, this only applies sometimes. Because yeah, it's what they want, but they don't think it really applies. So they may think it's genuine and feel great, but it might just remind them of how they're "really" not that gender. Or it might just confuse them. Context matters, a lot.

2. Dysphoria
Dysphoria suuuuucks. So much. In fact it sucks so much that people maybe don't want to read about it too much, BUT it's also important.
So dysphoria actually presents in a few different ways. It can be the painful jabs of something unexpectedly reminding them that something doesn't match their real gender, or sadness about a missed opportunity, or anger about someone misgendering them. Heck, dysphoria can present as just about any negative emotion in the right context. But for eggs (and aware trans folks who are waiting on transition) it tends to manifest as just a bone-deep Tired feeling, like a lead weight on their soul.
And of course, the egg's been feeling that approximately their whole life, so they probably won't even notice it until it's gone. And even if they do manage to notice it, correctly identifying it as dysphoria is just about impossible for an egg. (Which, of course, many eggs use to invalidate themselves - "how can i be trans if i don't have dysphoria?" Nevermind that there are some trans people that don't even get dysphoria (lucky bastards))

3. Euphoria
This is the good shit.
It's also apparently hard for me to describe in a way that doesn't feel obvious. Like dysphoria but inverted, it can present as different positive emotions in different situations, and basically anything that makes them feel like their gender can cause it.
It's also what hatches most eggs, simply because it's so different from their previous experience.
Unlike dysphoria, I've never heard of trans people that don't experience euphoria and I expect that's not a thing.

4. Presentation
This is most important for eggs but I'll go over it for the other groups as well.
The thing is, eggs are actually really varied in their presentation, because they haven't realized they're trans yet. Honestly any person you see on the street could be an egg. But, there are a few that come up more often than others:
* The Hider: baggy clothes all the time, tries not to draw attention to themself. This is honestly the cliche egg presentation, but it's cliche because it happens.
* Gender Harder (tm): tries to match their assigned gender's Correct Presentation as closely as possible. It's unintuitive but this happens all the time, because often eggs think the reason their assigned gender is unfulfilling is that they're doing it wrong.
* Zero Effort: does whatever lets them think about their appearance the least, because if they look bad no matter what they do, why bother trying? Often coexists with the Hider, but not always.
* The Leaning: basically, going as close to their real gender as they think they can get away with. Way less common than you'd think, for a couple reasons. First, eggs tend to feel trapped by their assigned gender and are scared to test the boundaries. But second, when they edge too close to their real gender, eggs tend to see someone of their assigned gender pretending to be their real gender, which is usually abhorrent to them.

Aware trans folks ofc just present themself as their real gender, when they can. But it's worth noting that newly hatched trans folks lean WAY harder into their real gender than those that have been out a while, because they're so happy to finally be able to present that way and aren't yet thinking about what aspects they actually like or not. (Also they tend to be more worried about passing but that may or may not apply with magical gender changes.)

Okay I think I'm done. I really hope this helps cause I spent like two hours writing it.

 

[Cipiteca396]

cause I spent like two hours writing it.

And deleting it every time I went to like it.

 

[Ai-chan]

After reading Gender Bender novels where the MC was actually transgender, well, at least before they become 100% girl, I’ve been wondering two things.

1) How to do characters like that right, people who are male on the outside and female on the inside and/or vice-versa? And people who were still dense of that?

2) What about people who were Cisgender male and/or female and then becomes of the opposite gender?

Both scenarios, how people portray their insecurities, anxieties, and their journey towards figuring out stuff and taking their final decisions?

This is not a writing prompt. This is a discussion. Please do not post discussion threads on writing prompts. Read the pinned thread. Writing prompts are to request people to write, not to ask for information.

 

[foxoftheasterisk]

And deleting it every time I went to like it.

I WASN'T DONE, OKAY

 

[AliceShiki]

1.1) How to do characters like that right, people who are male on the outside and female on the inside and/or vice-versa?

I think you should mostly try showing that they feel comfortable and happy with their new bodies. Like... Well, it's someone who hated themselves their whole life, but now can have their biggest wish granted. Showing happy and comfort in this situation is probably the main thing to go with.

Do keep in mind, that it will feel a lot like a wish-fulfillment story IMO. The main thing I personally like seeing in Gender Bender is the internal struggle of the person, of them having to cope with their new body and the new societal expectations of them... But when you put someone who is a transgender into the gender bender scenario, there is no internal struggle, because you're giving them exactly what they want.

This is not a bad thing, but it will feel quite different from the more serious gender bender stories (I'm not saying this can't be a serious story, btw. I'm just comparing it to other serious gender benders... Since well, comedic gender benders are hardly comparable to serious gender benders) that actively deal with internal conflict of the genderbent character.

1.2) And people who were still dense of that?

Then I think you should try highlighting the confusion aspect and the internal struggles. Like... The person won't necessarily dislike their new body, but they might feel strange with it, they might feel like they miss something, or they might feel uncomfortable at first... There needs to be a process of acceptance, until the person understands themselves, until they realize what makes them happy about their current body, what makes them unhappy, and what they thought of themselves before the genderbent.

It's probably the kind of genderbender that I like the most. Where there is a lot of confusion within the character who doesn't quite know what they want, but has to keep on living and adapting to their new circumstance, trying to understand what is best for them, until they eventually start understanding themselves better and becoming happy being who they are.

2) What about people who were Cisgender male and/or female and then becomes of the opposite gender?

I think the main thing that should be highlighted here is the uncomfortableness with the new body? And perhaps a search to see if there is a way to get changed back?

Another way you can try doing it, is having the character become more and more apathetic about themselves. Plenty of trans people that have yet to realize they are trans, simply don't think about themselves. They may consider themselves as ugly or the like, but they don't actively worry about themselves, don't try to maintain their appearance and just... Live. Live while thinking of anything else other than themselves. Constantly occupying their head with work, school, games, books or whatever. In a very subconscious process of never having time to think of themselves, because they don't want to think, they don't want to acknowledge how much they hate themselves.

And yes, those are symptoms that can be found on people diagnosed with depression. They don't necessarily have to be depressive, but it's not strange for some depressive symptoms to appear on people that suffer from Gender Dysphoria.


And then there is also the option of actually writing about someone that doesn't necessarily fit into the female or male ends of the gender spectrum, because like... It is a spectrum, not a duality.

If someone doesn't fit that well with either side, they might be very confused about the change, like some things, dislike others, and be like... Unsure of what to do next. This is very similar to the "1.2" situation, but with the caveat that 1.2 is more about understanding that they are happy with the genderbending, while this one is more about understanding they aren't unhappy with the genderbending.

This could go in a lot of ways, like making the person accept the genderbending, or trying to refuse it, asking other people's opinions on which version of them they prefer (which is not the best of ideas, since it's something that they should decide themselves, as it is their happiness that is at stake... But hey, confused people relying on others isn't strange) and the like.

 

[Venusaur26]

This is not a writing prompt. This is a discussion. Please do not post discussion threads on writing prompts. Read the pinned thread. Writing prompts are to request people to write, not to ask for information.

Well, how do I move?

 

[Ai-chan]

Well, how do I move?

Already moved. Just read the pinned thread next time.

 

[Venusaur26]

Already moved. Just read the pinned thread next time.

No, it haven’t…

 

[AliceShiki]

Well, how do I move?

No, it haven’t…

The thread is currently in "Reader General", so it was moved from the "Writing Prompts" subforum to the "Reader General" Subforum~

In any case, you can just report your thread if you want it to be moved to a different subforum.

 

[bibrosko]

After reading Gender Bender novels where the MC was actually transgender, well, at least before they become 100% girl, I’ve been wondering two things.

1) How to do characters like that right...

You realize I could take your question straight out of context? How to do them right. Right? You and I got to be kidding about doing any character right.

As if there is a right way.

Stop reading. That single line I texted up up there, if you have an active imagination then that's all you need to go on. There is also the fact that I don't enjoy writing about this stuff. If you require more stuffing for that fluffy cranium, read on.

Before thinking about giving anybody a sexy switcheroo, think over what is wrong. Think on their past, the life they had and that their body was wrong and they might never thought about it. They felt uncomfortable. Growing up from a tiny sack of flesh into a sack of bones and more tends to be painful — specifically when the brain is included in that meaty package. That uncomfortable feeling would be natural.

Natural. That's gonna mean them, you, me getting used to a psychosomatic pain on a chronic level. It is an acknowledged damage. We're aware of its presence and feel it festering as we mature. Why it's happening or what's causing it is fuckall if anyone knows. It's painfully wrong and we don't know what to do about it.

We won't know until an idea hatches.

After getting that body fixed up — figuratively fixed — it's still wrong. That person had never in their life walked, talked, or moved around in a body other than their own. This new set of arms and legs? Unless that brain also had a fix too, it's not synchronized with the alien form it has inhabited.

Contrary on how unrealistic a scenario as that happening, I'm getting too realistic.

We know most writers of this genre don't want to go that far into realism. Most stories, those that are fun and exciting, are about escapism. The exceptions would be if you've got a desire to go through all details of the marathon on a pretty bride wiggling their big toe as a monumental achievement. I doubt you have a foot fetish like that Kill Bill writer did. No. You know, I bet I know what would be a better triumph. I bet this character, newly transitioned with ladybits, never shat their drawers in a body like that and wouldn't have a clue how to wipe down there.

Some wouldn't know.

It's true.

Fact.

Not without first asking somebody of the same sex. That would be a complicated and interesting dumpster fire to read. "Hi, I shat my pants, can you show me how to wipe mud out of my kitty?" Wouldn't you want to know how that conversation ended? In reality, I'm positive those who've gone through a surgical transition asked that question too. "Is wiping enough or do I need a showerhead to flush that crap out?" It can be a seriously real scenario. I know, this sounds so disgustingly wrong.

That's the point.

You want to know the first step in getting a genderbent, transgender character right? First, with some show n tell, explain what is wrong. Do this before and after their transition. Have that character go through this new life by striking out those wrongs. Figure out what is making this character horrible and what can be done to change that fact. Remember to have some reflection on their differences between lives. Build relationships with other characters by including their physiological obstacles. Use yourself as a template on how, psychologically, you'd respond and behave having dove into a dumpster fire. Ask a friend how they'd react to that dive. Have them become aware on how walking on their own two fucking legs was difficult before and after. Between those bodies, show off before how they've'd learn and grew and they're learning and growing up after.

A wronged character righting their life, gradually improving it, might be fun to write. If you manage to have fun with it, I will wager there's gonna be peeps who'll enjoy reading it.