There is a great discussion topic over
issahime about "
Genderbend in Fanfiction World : Why?". I know that we've discussed this among friend circle, why people read/like/write them, so when I found that entry, I got happy to see other opinions.
As for myself though, I rarely read genderbend anymore. I tried it for a couple of times and they didn't bode well with me. I have nothing against genderbend (in rl or fiction) however the way it happens (for real or for kicks) but it's not my taste. Nor is Mpreg (Male pregnancy).
What I can say about my fiction taste can be described as this, I think :
I like women as women and men as men. They can be asexual, bisexual, heterosexual and homosexual, I have nothing against it as long as they use their bodies functional and as the way they feel. But reading a character whom you know how he/she is like in normal times and the struggle afterwards is unnecessary for me. I can make myself believe that Merlin/Harry/Dean/Anyone is gay in fictionland, but my brain gives an error to make myself believe that he is a woman trapped inside that body.
I do understand the POV relying on "What if X was a girl/boy from the start?" stories though, they are different, they are different characters and they were always that gender from the start.
I just love all the questions the plot device can raise, be it genderfuck of a slash or het pairing, about sex and sexuality. Are you still a gay man when your boyfriend is fucking your pussy? When you're the one fucking the female body of your male lover? Does it truly matter? THAT totally fucks with societal norms, because it challenges that idea of either/or. Society says, if you like to fuck men, you are gay; if you also fuck women, you must be bi, but in reality we pick and choose what we are and often change our minds several times over the course of our lives. Even if the author totally goes for the story where the male-cum-female is slotted into a traditional female role, it still fucks with everything, because that is a man having to fill that role.
I guess my mind thinks that it matters. I'm not sure that if my boyfriend/fiancee/husband and even a male friend turns into a woman overnight I'd be fine and dandy about it. I don't think that I could wake up and kiss
himher good morning.
I've never been interested in genderbend fics. I just don't get the idea because it is so out of character. And the most interesting and important thing about fics for me is the tension between the wonderful characters. I would not like to change the original characters that much, especially when I see no point at all. I guess I'm quite at ease with homosexuality and there is no reason at all I could figure why I would need to change the gender of one of the boys. I love them as boys and I have no need or interest in seeing one of them as a girl or"the girly one".
That too. I love/like/respect two people just like they are. Why change it? To me when you do this, you are creating a new couple, and it's different. Maybe labeling with gender, but it
is labeling with gender when you bend
the gender as your
plot.
In the end I think I prefer everyone as they are, and if they are couple like that, okay for me. If not, changing/bending anything is just cheating. And I don't like that in relationships.
Like I said, maybe I am single minded, but everyone has a limit it seems. Hm.