GenderShifters - gender change in fiction & myth

Girls who are boys who want boys to be girls, you free your mind in your androgyny.

2010-05-23T18:08:53Z

Jumpstarting this comm with a question or two that's only sort of on-topic, about a film that may or may not be: Soft on Demand's Futanari Village (ふたなり村), released exactly a week after the last post here. (It's available for download from a variety of places, if you're not too concerned about the copyright status of products not licensed in your country.)

-1) Plot summary from the Zenra Movie Annex: "Imagine a secluded Japanese town where not only do all of its citizens walk around naked all day, but also have both female and male sexual organs to boot! Welcome to Futanari Village where some of manga's most bizarre fantasy's [sic] have come to life."

0) Necessary background of 1, for those who haven't yet seen the movie: the residents of the village are born intersexed, but differentiate in adolescence into osu and mesu (archaic Japanese terms for "male" and "female" usually applied to animals), as explained in an expository segment near the beginning.

1) If anyone has seen the film and has better spoken Japanese than I do: is the process of gender differentiation luck of the draw based on who impregnates whom, as (apparently) seen with certain of the film's characters? Or does "body examination" simply make manifest an adult gender that would have become dominant no matter who did what to whom?

2) Are the osu and mesu intemorphic, schizomorphic or somewhere between? (I'm inclined to view them as intemorphs because they're both apparently feminine even after adult differentiation, but schizomorphs in that they seem to fill recognizably male and female social roles.)

New Mpreg Archive

2008-08-14T21:14:59Z

Theres a new multi-fandom Mpreg Archive at http://thempregarchive.synthasite.com/index.php they also have a great forum!thought you might like to know!

TG Taizen - It Came, It Went

2007-11-02T00:40:27Z

It seems that the message boards for TG Taizen are disabled, probably for good.

The last message posted by Silence of the Clams before it went down stated that forum mod Olorin - who is apparently 17 - was caught reading TG-related material by his parents, who demanded he stop on threat of psychological treatment. I have no idea whether he was only reading TF-TG stuff (I'm assuming so), or anything relating to real-life transfolk, but I doubt it would even matter, if his parents are jumping on therapy that fast.

While I'd hardly see a 17-year-old going into therapy as tragic - especially if the result would be calm his unnecessarily-panicking parentals - this sounds ominous for Olorin. Given the way SofC said it, I have the chilling feeling that this 'counseling' would be of the "lock'em up until they stop being a freak" variety. I hope I'm wrong about that; SotC, if you're reading this, feel free to confirm or deny these suspicions.

I don't know the full details, but whoever Olorin90 is IRL, I wish him well in whatever is coming.

Open-source TG

2007-10-18T06:05:36Z

I've been forgetting to mention this for a while now: according to Allen Ecker of Umlaut House fame, TG technology is freely available and widespread in the UH2 era. Ecker explained in a forum Q&A session that after Rick reformed, one of the things he made a point to do was release the technical details of the gender-altering ray he developed for Dr. Pegasus to the public domain, in order to ensure that it would be available to anyone who needed it.

TG Taizen

2007-10-14T18:26:05Z

I only just came across the TG Taizen site, and I'm somewhat surprised I had seen it before. This is an entire message board site on the subject, more ambitious than anything I'd ever considered for this comm. I am sure it would be of interest to the folks here, though it may well put gendershifters out of business for good... eh, no, GS is a bit broader than TGT is, and it's not like there's been a lot of traffic here anyway.

gendershifters @ 2007-07-07T14:36:00

2007-07-07T21:36:23Z

Hello, I would like to share more of my webcomic Hott :D it is a bit crazy, as it deals with gender swapping and magic. The story is still in the beta stage as I develop it further. Being such a transgendered person and a wanna be Male to Female, even though I dont think I could ever go on the hormones, I love to make comics about boys being turned into girls and vice versa, maybe you will like it too, or hate it : ( lol.

someday I'd like to be professional, as you can see there's alot of work to be done, but I feel that I'm not doing too bad :3

the story is still in the beta phase as there is only about 10 pages of content total, but I have a full blown universe I want to develop for it : D

view more at:

http://hott.sakiria.com

thanksssssss :D

Would any of you want to take over as mod here?

2007-06-12T03:21:12Z

For various reasons, I haven't been as active in this comm (and in LJ in general) as I'd anticipated, and this comm has suffered for it. I am considering handing over the reins here to someone else, if I can find someone who would be more dynamic in running it. Would any of you be interested?

Factors in Behavior Change of the Gender-Shifted

2007-05-05T15:12:52Z

Hi everybody! Long time no see!

As an aid to writing gender-shifted characters, let's look at some of the factors that would affect the behavior of such a character, particularly how their behavior changes. Most of these actually apply to any transformation, really.

Gross Physical Changes: "Gross" as in "large." In addition to the innie/outie shift, and the possible addition/subtraction of breasts, there's height change, altered center of gravity, hair growth patterns, pelvis angle and the like. This is likely to be the most noticable and immediate source of behavior changes. What clothes will fit the character, how high they can reach, seat restraint settings, how they walk, a constellation of large and small adjustments that have to be made. Depending on the kind of transformation, these changes may be difficult to adjust to, or be done unconsciously.

Subtle Physical Changes: Changed hormone cycles will affect moods, especially before the character becomes used to the new circumstances. This may result in emotions being less controlled, and nasty mood swings. Also, there's at least some biological component to gender identity and sexual preference. If those "brain switches" have been flipped, there's likely to be some conflict between what the body thinks it should be doing, and what the character remembers as appropriate attitudes.

Social Pressure: Other people will react differently to the character who's shifted genders, in both obvious and subtle ways. (And this is likely to be amplified if they know about the gendershift.) Their altered reactions will in turn influence the character's behavior. (Deciding not to change to conform to others' expectations is in itself a behavior change.) Indeed, in societies with very strong gender roles, the character may be forced to change their behavior in some ways on penalty of physical punishment.

Psychological Factors: The character's own attitudes towards gender roles, sexual preference, conformity and the like will also influence how their behavior changes due to a gender shift. Someone whose self-image depends heavily on virile masculinity is going to have a rougher time dealing with being turned into a girl than, say, someone whose self-image is primarily based on being a good, charitable person.

Mental Changes: Actually, a bit of a cheat--if the transformer changes the victim's memories or attitudes by force, this will naturally change the gendershifted person's behavior. "You now think that childbirth is something you'd really like to do."

Thoughts, comments?

gendershifters @ 2006-12-18T09:34:00

2006-12-18T09:34:42Z

Hi hi, I'm new. Found this place by searching "mad science" interests.

Hmm. I should probably start by saying who my favorite switchers are, right?

Well, there's Quina from Final Fantasy IX. Quina is neither male nor female, and is identified as s/he throughout the game. On the Final Fantasy Art Museum cards (basically trading cards), Quina's gender is listed as "not applicable".

Then there's the gal in my icon, CyberSix. While not a physical switcher, she lives as a male, Adrian Seidelman, and has suitors in both forms.

And then of course there's James from Pokémon, who's pretty much a special case. I think the bikini elevated him beyond "transvestite" to his own catagory. Sadly, he hasn't crossdressed lately.

D&D

2006-12-08T06:56:41Z

If you know where to look, Dungeons & Dragons is full of gender changing and ambiguity, even leaving aside magic items and spells that change sex.

-I've noticed in several places, the descriptions of the new Changeling race (descended from humans and shapeshifting dopplegangers) in the Eberron campaign setting either implicitly or explicitly describes the naturally gendered race as often adopting forms of a sex distinct from that which they were born as, and changeling names can be applied to both males and females.
-In contrast, the sexless construct race known as Warforged, perhaps most representative of Eberron as a campaign setting, are described as "unconcerned with matters of gender".
-There's an old standard that female dwarves have beards just like the males, and/or are otherwise masculine enough that other races cannot distinguish them from dwarvish males.
-The psionic dromites are naturally androgynous, assuming sexual characteristics in a special ceremony that appoints them either Grand Queen (female) or Elected Consort (male).
-A Dragon Magazine issue even featured a new race called the adu'jas, which appeared to be outside of animal notions of gender and sex.

gendershifters @ 2006-09-05T11:31:00

2006-09-05T18:31:18Z

I realize it has been several months since I or anyone else posted anything new here; I apologize for slacking off, but I never seem to have the time or ideas to add here. I feel rather guilty about this, as it is to some extent my duty as a mod to keep the group going. I hope that something can still be started up here more regularly, and will try to post more material soon.

In the meanwhile, feel free to post any relevant material you have. Try to stay in the comunity guidelines, but certain don't think that you can't add what you want to it.

The Wotch: The long awaited return of adult Lilly

2006-04-23T01:49:25Z

This past friday's The Wotch (a series that rivals El Goonish Shive and Futaba-kun Change for the sheer quantity of gender-swapping, accidental or otherwise) has an in-story appearance of 'Missy', the adult form of Evan Onymous' female alter ego Lilly. While Missy has been a popular subject for fanart in the past, she's only appeared in canon once before, and that for only a few panels.

Not surprisingly, Robin and Jason are gender swapped (again), and are regressed back to pre-school age to boot; it's not entirely clear, but child-Anne and baby-Miranda seem to be male now, as well, which does rather leave everyone stuck (since Wotchcraft is specifically bound to femininity, even when bestowed on a man). Thus, it's safe to say that the main characters will spend most of the story arc transformed, at least until they can find some other way to undo the accident.

gendershifters @ 2006-02-24T15:29:00

2006-02-24T20:33:04Z

New Masks Story Uploaded

I have just uploaded the second story in my Masks series. It can be found at: http://www.dcr.net/~stickmak/Stories/MasksII.htm

Note that while this is not an "adult" story it is not necessarily appropriate for children. Most of the characters are adults, with adult foibles, tastes and motivations, as well as active sex lives.

There is more transgenderism in this story than the first. Besides the main character, there are two others who can switch back and forth, including one who was born that way. (Sie should'a been twins, y'see. ;-) There are also two general shapeshifters, one of whom goes from his normal male self to a female form three times (two of them off camera but commented on by others).

EGS: "Not Helping!"

2006-02-22T07:20:32Z

Today's El Goonish Shive has still more on the 'Pregnant Ranma Question' - or more appropriately, the 'pregnant Elliot question' - in regards to the TF Gun. A delay of several days makes a certain amount of sense physiologically - not only is their often a delay between intercourse and fertilization, but an embryo usually develops for several days before implanting into the uterus wall (which is why morning-after pills work). But since when does EGS need logical explanations, anyway?

(EDIT: Dan corrected me on this point in the Keenspot EGS forum. While he didn't elaborate, I gather that the 'remain female for several days' part means before the sex act; long enough for the individual to ovulate, perhaps?)

Sarah's overall reaction to the situation she and Elliot are in is priceless, and Grace's well-meaning candor only makes things worse. Only Grace could be more sex-positive than Diana while still remaining essentially innocent.

I'll try to come up with something a bit more substantial in the near future (preferably not about a comic, too - while I love webcomics, I don't want the community to be just about them). In the mean time, feel free to post yourselves.

Thank you for sharing, Mr Davenport

2006-02-07T05:57:38Z

From Dave's anguished cry of "Good Lord, I'll never have lesbian sex again!" in today's (6 Feb 2006) Narbonic, it's safe to say that the earlier speculations that he and Beta were doing kinky things with their transformation beam was on the money.

Ranma and Futaba: Outside and Inside

2005-11-12T23:51:58Z

Quite some time back, someone complained to me that he wished Ranma would simply accept that being a girl sometimes is a good thing. While yes, his negative reaction is part of the comedy, it's also part of how the transformation affects him, as opposed to (for example) Futaba Shimeru, another gender-shifter of approximately the same vintage.

Let's look at these two a bit more closely.

Ranma Saotome, star of Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2, has his female transformation forced upon him from the outside. It is literally a curse that he has to bear. Even the trigger for the change, water temperature, is external to him.

Thus, the change in Ranma's appearance does not change the way he thinks about himself. He may mimic female behavior patterns when it's convenient for him, but he never internalizes them. This is even more notable in Japanese, where he does not use feminine language in female form unless he's specifically pretending to be a girl.

Contrariwise, the transformation of Futaba Shimeru, star of Hiroshi Aro's Futaba-Kun Change!, is internal in nature. It's inherent in his/her genes, and despite his initial mental discomfort, is natural to his/her species. It's shown that Futaba's brain chemistry and way of thinking change slightly when in female form. Only the surprise of the transformation and lack of socialization really cause her to have problems with being female. His/her trigger is likewise internal, based on emotional state. And as the series progresses, Futaba slips into feminine speech when a girl without even thinking about it.

It's also notable that Futaba-Kun Change! focuses more on the body function changes between the genders. Ranma 1/2 treats female Ranma as more or less a meat disguise for Ranma, while Futaba pees and bleeds "like a real girl."

Both approaches have interesting things to say about gender roles and identity; I hope you'll find them worth your time.

A little advice anyone?

2005-10-25T17:18:09Z

Hello there, I'm a new member of this community and I am in need of a little advice, if you don't mind...

I noticed Orlando is listed in the "Interests" of this community, and I've been wanting to read the book/watch the film for a long time now. I was wondering if people who were familiar with it could recommend one or the other, and tell me what type of story it is. (I know the basic plot but not the way it is written) I've been put off the film greatly by the DVD price (£24 here) but I might be willing to splash out if people think it's worth it. I must admit it *does* look good.

Thanks for reading ^_^ (Feel free to shoot me/delete this if it's innapropriate)

"I'm pretty sure that was Dave"

2005-10-21T16:14:30Z

There was a tantalizing scene briefly in today's Narbonic, in which someone who appeared to be Helen Beta, but whose speech pattern and posture were those of her lackey/lover Dave Davenport, came by looking for equipment and warning the others away from the micro-gravity chamber. This came up in the middle of a conversation between Artie and Mel about Helen and Dave's relationship; Mel's response to it was, "I'm pretty sure that was Dave just now."

The panel, and Mel's comment, were ambiguous, and probably intentionally so. Did she mean that it was a sign of Dave's influence on Helen, or have Dave and Helen been doing kinky things with the gender-reversal serum and/or the transformation device again? Or did they develop a mind-swapping system of some kind? Perhaps it's better not to know...

A few minor items

2005-09-03T03:22:33Z

I've added a number of new 'interest' items, and removed several redundant ones (mostly chara names from series already mentioned).

Also, a recent El Goonish Shive strip confirmed that the Transform Gun in that series does in fact 'compensate' for the kinesthetic changes, as has been previously speculated. I had meant to bring this up earlier, but I've been rather busy and didn't get to it immediately.

I apologize for the glacially slow pace of this comm to date; hopefully, some discussion will come up as more people join. Anyone have anything to say?

Ozmagendered?

2005-08-20T08:33:16Z

I recently came across two terms related to gender-shifting: 'ozmagendered' and 'ranmagendered'. The definitions for them as given on the one website referring to them are:

Ozmagendered:
When characters change gender using magic, alien science, or other metaphysical means for an extremely extended period of time, but only when there is a sexual encounter with another character during that time period.

Ranmagendered:
When characters change gender using magic, alien science, or other metaphysical means back and forth from male to female, but only when there is a sexual encounter with another character.

The difference between them seems to be duration; the stipulation of sexual activity is, to me, questionable, especially since both of the characters that the terms come from were minors (at least in appearance).

It did remind me that I hadn't listed Ozma of Oz in the 'interests' section. This is an understandable oversight, as I've never read the Oz books myself, but someone had mentioned it before and I'd intended to include it earlier. This has now been taken care of.

As fans of the series know, Abstract Gender is now into it's main story arc. As an major plot point, Brian/Brittany can transform between the two states at will, which for the time being at least, Ryan/Rachel cannot. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the series. Meanwhile, the 'transgendered birthday party' in El Goonish Shive has finally begun, with the very reluctant Justin being the first to get altered. We can expect quite a bit of character development over the next twelve hours of story time (which will probably go for a year or two real time :)); already, there has been a very tantalizing flashback for Justin as he was getting ready to be transformed. We shall see. I find it somewhat gratifying that both series have made at least some passing reference to characters having trouble in their altered forms, though it does not seem to be a major story point in either case so far.

Metamorphose.org

2005-07-29T07:13:51Z

While looking up some related material, I found a web site, metamorphose.org, which has an entire section on fictional gender transformations.

I have also added a reference to the 1914 silent film A Florida Enchantment to the interests list. However, I'm again concerned that it may be too obscure a reference to bother with; I only know of it myself because of references to it in The Celluloid Closet and Bisexual Characters in Film. Is it worth listing?

gendershifters @ 2005-07-02T09:56:00

2005-07-02T17:00:48Z

From a recent discussion on the Venus Envy Yahoo! Group about the possibility of a crossover with El Goonish Shive:

As much as I love both series, a crossover with EGS (or AG, The Wotch, Misfile, or any other series involving sex/gender transformation) would radically change VE. Realistic or semi-realistic series such as VE or From Then On Forth have to address many issues that simply don't arise in TF-TG series. In the real world, transsexuality is a very long and often painful process, both physically and emotionally. We've already seen in VE how Zoe has had to cope with issue involving hormone treatment, to give just one example. The current storyline is another example: the whole objection to her being on the soccer team largely hinges on the fact that she is still physically male.

Also, transformational series tend to use TG as a plot device, usually a humorous one; they often handwave the psychological issues that it would bring up. Misfile does address the issue seriously to some degree (and it looks like Zanny's Curse might, if the series ever resumes), but most of the focus on those subject is predicated on Ash's resentment of his/her situation - in some ways, I imagine it is closer to how many TG folk must feel about their birth sex.

For that matter, few address the kinesthetic effects of suddenly having a different body. Indeed, the only fictional treatment of the issue I know of is in the novel Beyond Rejection by Justin Leiber, and in that case, it was the main focus of the story (I understand that the topic is raised in the Culture novels, but the transition is so slow - taking about a year, a minor matter to the near-immortal citizens of The Culture - that there is no dramatic disorientation). Realistically, one would expect that the changes in sensation, proportions, center of balance, etc, would require a period of adjustment of several hours or days at the very least. EGS fans (chiefly myself) have even speculated that the TFG must automatically adjust the targets mind to prevent shock and disorientation, and to allow them to function in their new form.

While removing such obstacles would doubtlessly change Zoe's life for the better, it would move the series too far from its semi-autobiographical basis, and in some ways would be something of a cop out. Even just knowing that such transformation was possible, even if she was unable to do it herself, would have a serious psychological impact on Zoe (or Larson, for that matter). While it would make for an interesting story, it would also be a very different one that which Erin seems to want to tell.

In any case, Dan Shive has repeatedly stated that he was not interested in doing any crossovers in the foreseeable future; he has even gotten quite angry over the issue in the past, when people have pestered him to do crossovers with The Wotch and Dan & Mab's Furry Adventures. He has never ruled it out entirely, but odds are it will never happen.

Shotgun Interest Listing

2005-07-01T00:11:18Z

For those wondering about the list of interests: I've tried to be as comprehensive as possible, and as a result have included a number of associations which are tenuous at best. Some of them are also potentially misleading, as they refer to a character or concept whose name is used elsewhere for some other interest.

I will also confess to a certain amount of bias in the initial listings; the listings, especially of character names and other story-specific elements, reflect my own interests and those stories and series with which I am personally familiar. Over time this bias should decrease, as new entries are added and less relevant ones are removed.

If anyone wants to know why a given interest is listed should feel free to ask. If you have an interest to add, please mention it with a brief explanation of why it would be appropriate. HTH.

gendershifters @ 2005-06-27T16:33:00

2005-06-27T23:35:36Z

Welcome to the Gender Shifters LJ community!

The focus of this community is gender change - especially gender transformation - in fiction, mythology, and mysticism, and mad-science speculation of possible future methods of transformational change.