idle thought #322

[madimpossibledreamer]

i think I've figured out why I write genderbends.  like many writers culture tells me 'you have to understand women to write female characters' and makes it out to be this huge hurdle that only a few people can jump, but the main thing is just to write a character that happens to be female.  so by writing genderbends, I'm writing established characters and am slightly shocked by how little changes.  they're still the same person, and you can immediately recognize them.  and yes, stuff changes, of course it does, because you can't erase the effect of systemic oppression, even if it's just a line here or there.  but, like mulder said, not everything they do goes back to that.  also not enough people actually treat the ptsd of characters as an actual important thing (coughbbcsherlockcough).  really, all it takes to write a woman is to understand people + do even a little research into sexism/societal stuff and be willing to listen when somebody tells you you screwed up and fix it in the definitive edition or do better next time.