Beyogi- I suspect we all carry the burden of our parents neurosis; I don't think it's entirely fair to judge the mother for how she handled her grief. But yeah, it's not exactly normal, though in the world of TG Captions, ordinary standards of normality don't really apply. Putting pressure on your kid to change sex in a world like theirs is probably less of a big deal than it would be in ours; it'd be more like trying to push your kid into becoming a doctor or something. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Shannon - you and me both! If it becomes easier to change sex in the future, then some people will choose not to stay a constant gender. Physical sex will become less linked to gender, and gender as a social construct will disintegrate. I'm rather fascinated by what that will actually mean for society as a whole, though....
I bet you're right. If getting your sex changed was as simple as a haircut, a lot of people would try it. I think most of them would spend a few days or a week as the opposite sex before getting tired of it and changing back to their original sex. Some might stay changed for a longer period, a month, a year, or even a few years before going back. And some of course would never change back. And I'm sure there would be those who change back and forth frequently.
I'd love to live in a world where physical sex was as much a fashion choice as hairstyle. Even in such a world, though, I think gender will not completely vanish. Even if all the social aspects of gender vanish, I think something biological will remain, though it might not be the aspects that gender-stereotypes suggest.
Of course, the dark side to this is that in a world where sex is an easy thing to change, there might be the opposite effect on gender roles, in that they might become more calcified. The attitude might be, "Oh, you like the color pink/cooking/working with kids/fashion? Why don't you just go to the clinic and get fitted with a vagina and boobs?"
I don't think, in a post-physical-sex world, that gender would vanish either. I think it would probably fragment. After all, modern queer theorists see gender as performance - making it easy to change sex would probably make this performative aspect even more obvious. Some will probably opt for an exaggerated masculinity or femininity, others might emphasise certain aspects of gender roles while ignoring others. Throw in the issue of sexuality as well, and the possibilities start to multiply beyond comprehension....
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Ugh... I'm glad how this turned out. With this mother... well, I could easily imagine that this might have ended in a tragedy.
ReplyDeleteShe's lucky there is all this awesome transsexual technology :)
Thank you for writing this cool caption series, I can't wait for your next one,
Beyogi
I'm interested in the "gender commuter" concept you brought up in the last panel!
ReplyDeleteBeyogi- I suspect we all carry the burden of our parents neurosis; I don't think it's entirely fair to judge the mother for how she handled her grief. But yeah, it's not exactly normal, though in the world of TG Captions, ordinary standards of normality don't really apply. Putting pressure on your kid to change sex in a world like theirs is probably less of a big deal than it would be in ours; it'd be more like trying to push your kid into becoming a doctor or something. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteShannon - you and me both! If it becomes easier to change sex in the future, then some people will choose not to stay a constant gender. Physical sex will become less linked to gender, and gender as a social construct will disintegrate. I'm rather fascinated by what that will actually mean for society as a whole, though....
Rachel-
ReplyDeleteI bet you're right. If getting your sex changed was as simple as a haircut, a lot of people would try it. I think most of them would spend a few days or a week as the opposite sex before getting tired of it and changing back to their original sex. Some might stay changed for a longer period, a month, a year, or even a few years before going back. And some of course would never change back. And I'm sure there would be those who change back and forth frequently.
I'd love to live in a world where physical sex was as much a fashion choice as hairstyle. Even in such a world, though, I think gender will not completely vanish. Even if all the social aspects of gender vanish, I think something biological will remain, though it might not be the aspects that gender-stereotypes suggest.
Of course, the dark side to this is that in a world where sex is an easy thing to change, there might be the opposite effect on gender roles, in that they might become more calcified. The attitude might be, "Oh, you like the color pink/cooking/working with kids/fashion? Why don't you just go to the clinic and get fitted with a vagina and boobs?"
I don't think, in a post-physical-sex world, that gender would vanish either. I think it would probably fragment. After all, modern queer theorists see gender as performance - making it easy to change sex would probably make this performative aspect even more obvious. Some will probably opt for an exaggerated masculinity or femininity, others might emphasise certain aspects of gender roles while ignoring others. Throw in the issue of sexuality as well, and the possibilities start to multiply beyond comprehension....
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything in this post! I think it would be an interesting world to live in, and a nice one to boot. Nicer than this one, at least.
ReplyDelete