The Game of Translife?

[Alexei]

So my university has their Ally week coming up. For the past few years, the school's chief diversity office got involved and extended it to include minorities of all types, but this year it is being planned by our GLBT advocacy group, and we are returning it to its roots. Unfortunately, its roots are more GLB than GLBT. This year however, the group's executive board includes their first transgendered representative (That would be me) and we are trying to have an event to raise awareness of trans-people on campus.

We have two general ideas so far. First is something like the Game of Life. It would be life sized, laid out on the floor for people to walk on, and the spaces would be trans-themed, with events like "start HRT" or "come out to friends". My problem with it though is that it is too linear and confining. Whenever I see a trans character in a movie or tv show, it bothers me that they usually do everything, up to and including SRS, which leads the uneducated viewers to think that all trans people do everything.

The second idea is based on something that is included in training for our RA's. The original game is to teach people what it would be like to be a hearing person in a deaf world. There are a bunch of booths set up, and each person has to go to every booth and do a small activity, without using any speech. Our idea would be to give each participant a card with their "identity" on it and make each booth something a trans person may or may not want. For example if a card says "you are a crossdresser comfortable with never telling anyone anything and only dressing once every few months," then that person would only go to booths about where to find non-traditional gender clothes and how to hide clothes from family. But if a card says "you are a transsexual that wants this, this, and this," then they would have to go to the therapy booth, and clothes booth, and the tucking/binding booth, and the HRT booth, and the evil insurance company booth, and the SRS booth, and whatever other booths. This idea is more open and inclusive than the first one, but the problem is that it is harder to include negative things. With the Game of Life, we can include a space "get harassed, feel sad". I hate to assume, but it's probably a safe bet that the majority of trans people wouldn't want to go to the get harassed booth.

What do people think? Suggestions for improvement on one of these? or an entirely different idea? even a name for the event? Whatever we end up doing, I feel the key messages are that there are many different types of trans person, there are many different things a trans person may want, we face more discrimination than many other groups, and most importantly: we exist.

[fries]

Maybe you can have more than one path for the Game of Life idea. Like, there can be a fork in the path. Going left would be "living in the closet", going right "coming out" or left would be "getting srs" and right would be "being no-op", things like that. But, that could get kinda big and I'm not sure how much space you've got.

[Colleen Ireland]

But if a card says "you are a transsexual that wants this, this, and this," then they would have to go to the therapy booth, and clothes booth, and the tucking/binding booth, and the HRT booth, and the evil insurance company booth, and the SRS booth, and whatever other booths.

They would also have to jump through flaming hoops, of various heights... 

But seriously, I really like the "Game of Life" idea.  Perhaps on certain squares, they would pick up a card of some sort.  There could be some "Coming Out" squares, where they would pick a card to determine who they're coming out to, then they'd have to go to the center of the board and find out what the result was ("Your mom kicks you out of the house", or "Your friend still loves and accepts you."), and then they'd have to re-start at a predetermined point behind where they were.  So they could hit a "Coming Out" space numerous times (like in reality, where there are not only many people/groups to come out to, but various types of coming out, like Telling Them, Dressing, etc.).  This could also be applied to other sorts of things, like GIC assessment ("You are diagnosed with  ->-bleeped-<-")...  Just a thought...

[Dante]

I agree with both fries' and Colleen's ideas. I think a game of Life would be a very interesting way to display these types of ideas. I think adding some wild cards, and either giving them the option (i.e. choose which side of the road to go to) or using a random draw to decide if they want SRS, hormones, etc. As long as you show consequences of actions you took (that you did for your happiness), either good or bad (you are accepted, you're kicked out of the house, etc.), it should be a good game. Also make sure to include lots of "everyday" events, like being harassed, or being called by your preferred gender.

I think something good to do, to make it more "realistic" is to create separate wild cards for the MTFs and FTMs. The males would play the FTM cards, and the females would play the MTF cards. This way, if a male got a card that said, "Your friend told you that you're a woman." they would actually feel bad about it, because most males don't like to be called women. It seems kind of odd to segregate the two, but I think it would add to the experience. Just a thought.

Good luck with the project.

[Alexei]

I think something good to do, to make it more "realistic" is to create separate wild cards for the MTFs and FTMs. The males would play the FTM cards, and the females would play the MTF cards. This way, if a male got a card that said, "Your friend told you that you're a woman." they would actually feel bad about it, because most males don't like to be called women. It seems kind of odd to segregate the two, but I think it would add to the experience. Just a thought.

I do like that idea, and it's probably the most practical, but I don't want to completely ignore genderqueer non-binary people.

[pebbles]

Don't try to put too many concepts in. As much as I'd like to include everything it maybe too complicated to do everything.

I was thinking

You have a first circute whitch is a circle with a single escape. This could be The therapy circute. You go around this loop until you collect enough "cards" avalible on a particular number of squares (at whitch point you then move onto HRT)

At the start you have 2 or 3 different branches some of the routes are alot harder and longer than the others... Somehow using a gameplay mechanic you work out how your "coming out" gose the fact the player dosen't get to choose there path but it's decided by some kind of chance. The long path shows the kind of delays you experience with a lack of support and it's designed to make the players on this path think "HEY THIS ISNT FAIR!" because it's not. Of course don't overdo it we don't want this to turn into a game of monopoly.

I'm woundering if I can work out howto insert some kind of money mechanic beforehand for the 3rd stage where you on your HRT loop where your saving up money for your respective surgeries :/ Or there should be some kind of trade.

At the end of the game the number of cards you got in the first+second stage combined with how much money you won are used to caculate how sucessful you were in your transition this sorta repays those who took the hardest path. And those cards are counted as a "self-exploration token"

And yeah the various stages need to have strange/funny names.
the swamps of androgyny for example.
The unpassing mountains

[Sinnyo]

I think something good to do, to make it more "realistic" is to create separate wild cards for the MTFs and FTMs. The males would play the FTM cards, and the females would play the MTF cards. This way, if a male got a card that said, "Your friend told you that you're a woman." they would actually feel bad about it, because most males don't like to be called women. It seems kind of odd to segregate the two, but I think it would add to the experience. Just a thought.

That's definitely a good idea! The Game of Life basis might be a good way to familiarise people with the journey too - it's not too complicated, most people will know how to play it right away, and so can concentrate on the messages within. I don't think it is all that representative, though.

Considering the diverse options in hormones, surgery, the pronouns you prefer, how different your new name is (e.g. Andrew-Angela, Andrew-Jodie), how far you go with presentation (such as in hairstyles).. I would probably put those down to dice rolls. Since it's all stuff that we have to work out for ourselves in counselling or in trial-and-error, I believe the non-trans player is going to benefit most from playing these as complete shots in the dark. It would be really good to see a game which doesn't prescribe the stereotypical transsexual lifestyle - awareness of options other than the MtF, deep stealth 'norm'.

Another option might be to consider Leela/Vaikuntapali (the original Snakes and Ladders), in which buddhist players would strive for enlightenment. It's a little corny, but the ups and downs in a 0-100 race left purely to chance seem like a good match - and you could set educational cards up, perhaps with those dice rolls I mentioned too, on all or just some of the squares. Sort of a Snakes and Ladders RPG set in the murky world of trans therapy and medicine?

"Whoo, +5 masculinity!"

[Eva Marie]

but the problem is that it is harder to include negative things.

I don't see it that way. Go to the health insurance booth and get harassed about coverage and costs. Go to the clothing store booth and get harassed about using the "wrong dressing room". Go to the DMV booth and get harassed about your gender. And so on. While extremely negative (not all booths have to harass people), I think that a game of life version like this would open the eyes of people that know nothing about trans people and what they go through on a daily basis.

[LordKAT]

You have a first circute whitch is a circle with a single escape. This could be The therapy circute. You go around this loop until you collect enough "cards" avalible on a particular number of squares (at whitch point you then move onto HRT)

The game idea I like but this part not. Not everyone goes through therapy to get HRT. Some need more than others for various reasons. I got my letter on my second visit. I am not alone in that. Some went the route of informed consent. If you do informed consent, however, you will need the therapist for surgery and that adds to the game. It would be like the real game where if you had an accident, you check to see if you had insurance, only here you get the money and Dr. consult only to fine you need to do therapy.