About a Book I'm Writing

[ExceedingLime]

Alright, so, I'm not really sure how to start talking about this, so here's a warning that I'll probably be rambling a lot. Hopefully this is the right forum to talk about this... I think it is, but let me know if I'm mistaken. I'd like to start out by noting that I am not a transsexual and I am not used to using any terms that may or may not be familiar to members of the transsexual community or this forum in particular. I am a (mostly) cisgendered white man, who sometimes daydreams about being a woman, and occasionally deeply longs for it, but has never made any actual move to dress or behave in a manner counter to male stereotypical 'norms', nor have I ever truly considered physically changing my gender at any point.

But all that is not why I'm writing here. I am currently working on writing a series of novels (very early stages... still working on prelim stuff like characters and plot points... haven't even gotten to actually writing chapters yet), and I am strongly considering writing one of my main characters as a transsexual. Some more clarification: this is a sci-fi/fantasy (mostly sci-fi) series. In the world I am constructing issues like race, gender and sexuality are not really societal problems, because this is a world filled with aliens, so most bigotry has transferred to them, and humans generally rally around each other regardless of those formerly dividing issues. I'd like to make it very clear that I'm not writing a book about transsexuality, or one that deals heavily with transsexual issues. The character is accepted in this society because of the human 'rallying' mentality I mentioned, and because the aliens don't care about that sort of thing. I don't have many details ironed out at this stage, but generally the character's transsexuality does not affect them in relation to the novel series' plot. The character would have an operation if they had the money, and once the plot gets moving, the time, but that is not going to be a huge part of the series, since this character is not the viewpoint character and each character's life fulfillment is not the focus of the books. And to specify how exactly the character is transsexual: she is a morphological male who identifies as female, and is attracted to men.

Basically, what I would like to do is to portray a transsexual character "straight". I admit I have not been exposed to a whole lot of transsexual and/or transgendered people in media, but the few times I have, they seem to usually be portrayed as either a joke or as a horror story like, "oh gosh this person ended up being transgendered and I slept with them!" They seem to rarely be treated as true people or characters, though I hope and assume there are at least a few examples to the contrary. I simply want to portray my character as a strong and interesting character who is also transsexual. I want to portray this character well, and not in a way that would hurt or embarrass the transsexual community, and so that is why I am here talking about this. I'd just like to see if anyone has any opinions, such as if they think this sounds like a horrible idea on my part, if there are things I could/should do or consider when writing the character, etc.

I'm very open to any constructive criticism/advice/etc. Hopefully I haven't accidentally said anything offensive, and I profusely apologize if I have. Thank you in advance to all who reply!

[Cindy]

Hi I will reply.

Firstly this topic can be extremely offensive. So do take care.

What is it like to be a 'transgendered' female. No real idea. I'm a female who was born with body defects, sadly. I was born with a penis and testicles rather than ovaries, uterus and vagina. This means that I, and many other women cannot conceive a child. I have never identified as being male. I am increasingly perplexed what being male means.

In my life there is nothing about being 'transexual' that makes me different to any other woman. I am a strong willed, well educated person.

I suggest as a character in a book I would expect to be portrayed as such.

There is some sort of belief that TG or TS or whatever people are different. They are not. If I stand next to a female from Japan, from Iran, from Africa, from anywhere what is the difference? Possibly our pigmentation, possibly our culture.  And that is it.

To be regarded as anything different is profoundly insulting, intolerant, naive and self serving.

Cindy James (A/Prof, PhD, FRACP,)

[ExceedingLime]

Thank you for your very well said reply, Cindy.

I realize this topic is very sensitive, and it is quite easy to cause offense, which is part of why I posted here. I definitely want to be as careful and respectful about it as I can.

Thank you for your insight into the way you think about the issue. I confess I hadn't thought of the fact that 'transgendered' is itself a term created by outsiders describing something foreign to them, and in fact you, for example, are not a male who should have been female, as society would unfortunately likely see you, but a female sadly born with birth defects. It's a point of view that is difficult for someone who does not suffer the problem to come up with, so I profusely thank you for it.

Yes, that is exactly what I wish to portray. The woman I wish to portray is (or rather, will be) a strong, well-written character who is no different from other women in any way except for her unfortunate body defects, which I don't intend to make a big deal of or "other" the character with. I wish for her to be no different than any other character in the book as far as who she is as a person and a character, which seems like something that is hardly if ever done in current media. I want to try to support the idea that "transsexual" people are not some strange "different" group, but are simply people, no different from anyone else.

[BunnyBee]

It is rare for transsexuals to be portrayed as normal people by media.  It has been getting better, but for the most part it's still rare.  So by all means go for it, in my opinion.

Like Cindy says, if your character is meant to be a mtf transsexual that identifies wholly as female, the correct way to think of her is that she is a normal female born with the wrong physiology, with all the idiosyncrasies and variations from the norm as you might find in any other female.

Pretty much everything that sets us apart from other women, especially when you consider that early transition usually means having an indiscernible appearance from cis-women, comes from social non-acceptance.  The emotional pain and psychological suffering, the sometimes lacking self-acceptance, the reprogramming of our socialization and the varied degrees of success that people have in so doing, etc. etc., anything else you can think of.  Every reason a forum like this is even needed or useful, all of it is borne of non-acceptance.

So, in a society like you describe, where something like being transsexual is not seen as being a big deal by the whole of humanity, there would not be any reason for a transsexual woman that identifies fully as female to not have had surgery and transitioned at the first sign of it being an issue, which for most of us comes right about the time we come to understand the meaning and existence of gender.  This means there would be no reason for her to be treated, act, or appear any different from any other female, and that I think would be your problem.  The fact that she is a transsexual would be a uninteresting footnote in that society and you would have to either write it as such or find a reason for it to be interesting or cause a conflict.  Many ways you could go with that, but it would be up to you as the author to figure it out.

[ExceedingLime]

Thank you, Jen, I'm glad you approve!

Yes, I understand, and will certainly portray her as such to the best of my ability.

Yes, what you said about society being what sets you apart is what I had assumed. Society can be truly horrible, not just on this issue but unfortunately on many, many issues. As far as my fictional society and character goes, the reason she will not have had surgery yet is a matter of finances and lack of facilities where she has lived her life thus far. I don't want to ramble on about what I'm planning to write, but basically she and the main character (they're best friends) have lived in a rural area for their whole lives, and the two are still rather young (young enough to not have left) - 18 and 19. Due to these circumstances and then the circumstances that end up occurring in the novels, the character doesn't have the time or money to have surgery, likely until after the main events of the series. But yes, there are many ways I could go about writing her and events surrounding her, and I have yet to fully determine specifics... but I sincerely thank both you and Cindy for your insights, as I'm sure they'll be very helpful in crafting her.

[Pinkfluff]

I like the idea of a character with this condition in a story where said condition isn't the entire focus. You're right that typically such characters are used as items of comedy or horror, sometimes novelty or shock value, but rarely (never as far as I've seen) just for being themselves. I think social understanding of this condition but the character simply being unable to get treatment for it for other reasons is a good way to about it.

[Pinkfluff]

Personally I would introduce her as a woman and only later, eventually, get around to mentioning that she's trans.  That's a good way to establish her personhood before you let your readers' bias stamp her with a 'trans' label.  You don't want them to think of her as a 'transwoman,' as much as you can help, just as a woman.  In fact, I suggest you don't define her at all.  Don't actually say 'trans' or anything like that, just let her do her thing and let your readers gather that she is a woman with a man's body.  Let them get to know her and the way she thinks and they may be more willing to roll with it than if you stamp that label on yourself.

Good stuff here. I guess I assumed that first sentence because as a writer myself that's how I'd do it, but it is good to explicitly point it out. I also think it is a good idea to not even mention trans at all. Just let people figure it out, and by the time they do they will already know her for who she is.

[cindianna_jones]

It might help for you to read a couple biographies on the subject. I'm not trying to push my own book, but you should do your research. I do believe that understanding the motivation to change ourselves is fundamental in an accurate character portrayal. While so many of us do feel female from day one, there is always some marker left by the chromosomes, some mental challenges posed by the change, .... you get the idea.

None of us like to be put in one of the shoe boxes society has designed. The greatest compliment to grant to your character is that she is female. You'll need to pull in her past in some fashion. But it would give her credulity to feel offense at any reference to her other than female.

Look through the forums here. It's easy to see what we feel like, what we worry about, and for those who have the golden ring, how we ultimately join the life we have been so long denied.

Even in a perfect world where "we" would be fully accepted, the challenges we face to make the change, seem overwhelming.

[ExceedingLime]

I'd again like to thank you all for your responses and perspectives. They are all very helpful.

This paragraph will be mostly in response to Logan, but also some to Pinkfluff. Yes, Logan, I agree with how she should be portrayed as a person and a woman, who later is shown to have physical issues, rather than mental as some likely think. But as you both recommended, yes, I definitely intend to introduce her as a woman, and only later recognize the 'trans' issue, and I also did not intend to even use that word, just to insinuate. I never want her physical issues to be made a big deal of, as if she is strange or there is any reason to 'other' her. As for the suggestion to do a segment in her perspective, I'm not sure about it, but it's definitely something I will consider. And thank you for the note on not overcomplicating; how you put it is pretty much exactly how I intend to portray her, and so it's good to see my vague thoughts spelled out by you, so I know I should be on the right track.

Thank you, Cindi. Reading biographies, such as yours, would indeed be a good idea, and is something I am very strongly considering doing. And certainly, if there were any situation in which the character were referred to as anything other than female, she would take offense, though in these early stages I'm unsure if there will be any situation like that.