This is nothing but an observation on the state of TG Fiction today.
It seems to me that in the majority of TG Fiction the author takes the easy route to a story. In so many cases, it skirts many of the real issues facing TG/TS people in the world today. What do I mean?
Well, Do the following quotations seem familiar?
Quote #1.
Cory was never able to hold his own against the ‘jocks’ as he was slightly built, 5ft 4in tall and only weighed 130bs.
Quote #2
Jimmy had often been mistaken for his sister Tammy especially when he grey his hair long enough to be held in a pony tail.
I created these at random but, there are many similar phrases in many of the TG stories that have been posted on this and other TG orientated web sites.
The male characters in the above stories fit a mould. That is, they have the physical size & shape for them to pass easily when they are changed in to their new female persona.
In my opinion, the above quotes are the EASY option.
How many TG related stories are there about people who are not in this mould? You know, the 6ft 6in Linbacker who weighs in at 280lbs who wants to wear a dress and heels.
This is just one example of many that I could list. I have to put my hand up here (along with the majority of TG authors for ignoring these people)
I know that most TG stories are pure fantasy but there is an opening for some serious work amongst the fun. After all, why are TG issues primarily restricted to people of white anglo saxon origin? Where are the stories about black & asian TG people? Where are the stories about the many people from whatever background who would never pass for someone of the opposite sex no matter what was done to them including large amou nts of surgery?
As an author myself I have tried to write stories what encompass some of these concerns but it is not easy. I have succeeded in one story to include a black character but have found it hard to include others in many of the stories I have written (most are unfinished and likely to remain unpublished).
There are huge problems faced by us TG people in their quest to be who they really are. You become adept at hiding the truth from your loved ones. You become accomplished liars. Where are the multitude of stories about this?
Another couple of quotes
“If you don’t do as I say I will send all these pictures to all your friends etc…”
“If you don’t do as I say, I’ll divorce you and take everything”
Here is another cop out in many stories. Where are the stories where the TG person at the receiving end of these saying, “Ok, go ahead do that. You will look the fool” etc etc etc.
There are a lot of opportunities for a wealth of stories to explore these issues. In this day and age, it is very unlikely that a court would let the wife take everything from the marriage even if there were children involved. (Ok, I accept that there are some places where local laws would allow this but the majority of writers here don't set their stories in these places)
I got the idea for this article/rant after getting bored reading lots of stories that are almost identical in characters & plot lines. If it spurs just one of my fellow TG authors to tackle some of these topics then it will have been a success.
Samantha Michelle
PS
For me, any story that mentions SRS on the first page almost certainly is never read right through.
Comments
The Easy Route
I don't think most authors use the first two tropes because they are easy, per se. I think it has a lot more to do with wish fulfillment.
Look at romance literature, or TV, or any other form of media that broadcasts what the feminine ideal supposedly is. You know what you'll find? A height/weight range somewhere around what you have listed, with much more of an emphasis on those who are built lithe and light than those who are sporty, muscular, or even just tall. It's actually considered more noteworthy when you encounter an actress above 5'8" than it is to encounter an actor under that.
With most TG individuals -- at least those I know -- a large portion of their desires is not simply to be female, but to be a NORMAL female. None of us want to stand out as obviously transgendered, whether that be a male to female or a female to male individual. We'd rather imagine or hope that, once our transition is complete, we can be who we want without the social stigma of being easily identified as transgender hanging over our heads.
Hence the emphasis on those who are feminine, or the right size/height, to begin with in TG stories. It's a comfort thing. Most of us don't want to read a story where the character never passes, and lives their life in ridicule and torment for who/what they are. We want stories where, at least on some level, the individual overcomes their circumstances to live a happy, normal life, where the focus of who they are is not on the fact that they are TG, but that they are the man/woman they always knew they should have been.
That's the way I see it, anyhow.
Melanie E.
You are right about wanting
You are right about wanting do being 'Normal' of course. However some of us also accept that we could never satisfy the 'Normal' bit. As must as I'd love too, there is no way on this earth that I could pass in public and be a normal female. So I have resigned myself being me in private.
I still try to write about real people, warts and all.
Normal women
come in all shapes and sizes and remember most of the top models are over six feet tall.
I've lived as a woman for over twenty years and most of the people I interact with seem to have little if any idea about my origins. I've interacted with the public of all ages including children, and while I don't claim to be any oil painting, probably a rather plain, and now overweight woman, I seem to get by. I've done swim suits, was in lycra cycling earlier today so it's about presenting what people expect or giving them cues as to how you want them to see you. If you act like a woman, people usually assume you are.
As far as characterisations go, the younger the better for transition but I have had characters who didn't pass well in Bike and other stories. The problem then is you feel you're being cruel both to the character and some of the readers who might identify with them, rather than the pretty ones.
Keep writing about people with warts and all, and I'll do the same but some of our sisters who transition young can make attractive women.
Angharad
that's so true
the girl I had the biggest crush on in 6th grade had a growth spurt and was head and shoulder taller than everyone else in class, but so cute even with her braces. the other odd thing in so many stories is, "the only boys that ever interact with me are just to bully me, but now that i'm in a dress and panties that boy is so cute". there are all types of boy and girls.
See, Angharad, There ya go again...
You just expressed another of mt pet peeves! Maybe I've got too many pets...
I see us all as Normal, Natural, Real Women & Girls for you youngsters. Woman and Girl comes from the heart and the brain and the soul. We are how we identify. I hate the term T-Girl or Trans-Woman. My friends here are women and girls: They're not some kind of hyphenated almosts but not quites! Women! Girls! With all the brain power available at this site we should be able to find a better way to identify. Even though circumstance and my vow dictate I must present as male, I know what I am and there are no hyphens.
as you so clearly point out women (and men), if we are sticking to the very flawed binary system of thinking of gender, come in all different heights and weights with varying musculature and features!
All are normal, all are correct: What is there to second guess?
We are what we are and when we are able, we should rejoice in it!
I hope I wasn't too confusing, Angharad, I agree with you.
Ole
We are each exactly as God made us. God does not make mistakes!
Gender rights are the new civil rights!
Yep!
The only time a further definition should be necessary is when it comes to medical necessities... And even then we're just women who happen to have some slightly different needs from most. There are other women who need hormone therapy... though there admittedly aren't very many other than us who have a prostate. And some other parts are a bit oddly developed... And we're missing parts that most have... But there are other women (born genetically recognized as women at birth) who also lack a uterus, or even ovaries.
In short. We're women. Just with some development oddities well outside the typical values ranges.
Of course, this is only true for what on the trans spectrum would be called trans-women... genderqueer or however they wish to identify themselves are a bit of a completely different topic and kinda do need their own definitions outside the binary. They themselves are only too happy to point this out... Some a bit too much, insisting that EVERYONE exists outside the binary... which isn't entirely true.
Abigail Drew.
I try
I try to keep my stories as close to life as I can, however a little feel good fantacy doesn't hurt. If I wanted real life and the ugly truth I'd read the obituaries. Getting lost in fantacy is why we read the stories posted here. My stories have had girls taller than average, Big Men, Little Women and the girl didn't want anything to do with femininity after dressing as a woman, or Runway where the super model couldn't get out of her clothing fast enough and become a man again, and I could go on but two spoilers in one blog is enough. As I mentioned we read these stories to feel good about ourselves and if I want to feel like s--t I'll go to the Tenderloin and watch the crack whores destroy their lives, Arecee
My struggle...
...it's awfully hard to portray authentic if you've never lived it. I try to be as real as possible; sometimes maybe too much. But my goal from the beginning has been to be as authentic as I can, based upon the broad range of narratives of friends who have been through many of the things I try to portray. I can only hope that I approach something that is successful.
Love, Andrea Lena
Easy?
I agree that there are many stories which take advantage of these themes, but as I don't do a lot of writing (and have never published anything online) I couldn't comment on whether they would make such a story much easier to write or not.
I agree that the themes reoccur due largely to the desires of the author and expectations of their audience. The stories posted here are partly intended as a form of escapism from reality ... and who wants to enter hell when picking up a book?
But I think the fact some of these tropes are trotted out time and again doesn't preclude the stories from being varied and unique. Each one focusses on their protagonist differently; throws a set of circumstances at them which differ... I think that by utilising these tropes it may actually only be a shortcut in being able to move along to the time, place and circumstances an author wishes to focus on.
And while it would be nice to see some stories which go out of their way to focus on what is for many all too familiar circumstances, I think most stories address enough weighty topics without having to spread out the attention to even more.
Not every story has the ability or capacity to span 300 pages, but among those that do?- maybe having the protagonist faced with the reality of never passing and working towards accepting that would be a good way to go.
Sorry for writing so much.
Xx
Amy
Are you saying it should be easy for me?
Admitted, I haven't even finished the stories I started last year, but my characters are really pieces of myself. One of them practically is me, or at least a me that might have been.
And I'm 5'4", don't even chart on the male frame sizes chart, have a naturally wider pelvis and naturally wider hips...
The thing that destroys me passing more than anything else is hair. I'm very fair and pinkish skinned and my hair is very dark and ashy. So even with a completely fresh shave my entire body has an obvious hair shadow, the worst being on my face.
Also, and I do mean my entire body. I'm hairier than most guys.
Abigail Drew.
Removing one obstacle
Aside from the reasons mentioned in earlier comments, it's removing one of the main obstacles - the one that prevents many from even starting transition. People generally want their stories to have a happy ending, and if the character ends the tale where they began - dressing in private, hiding it from everyone for fear of ridicule, there's not much you can do in character development or plot.
While there is an abundance of stories featuring youngsters who have body dimensions many girls would envy, if you look hard enough you'll find characters who, while they pass, are at the upper end of the height / weight specturm and are below average on a scale of aesthetically pleasing (e.g. a retired navy welder is a recurring character in Bike).
As for the final two quotes, they tend to be a staple of the forced fem genre. Never mind that by not risking short-term humiliation at the start of the tale they're setting themselves up for long-term humiliation, and the blackmailer quite often emails around the photos anyway. Increasingly, couples retain separate bank accounts and the marital home will be in the name of one partner rather than joint, so rendering the "clean you out and leave you destitute if you don't comply" threat null and void. So even if the partner found another means of initially signing the protagonist up to her scheme, there'd be multiple opportunities to exit the relationship with some finances and some dignity.
In fact, IMHO a far better tale than the standard forced fem is where the protagonist realises they're being set up and turns the tables to their advantage - perhaps providing the springboard to a more conventional transition. Having said that, I've seen a couple where the protagonist turns out to be just as deceitful and scheming as their partner, subjecting them to humiliation and destitution (or worse). Nope, not for me. Exit the relationship by all means, maybe vacating the home means the partner has to find somewhere else to live (as can't afford rent solo), but that would still leave them a few weeks to find somewhere - and they'd still have any savings in their bank account to contribute to deposits etc.
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Easy? Reality?
I guess it all really depends on what the writer wants to write. Nobody here is writing under contract, they are free to write whatever they want. Each story will find it's own readership. You may not be part of that readership. Nothing against you, and certainly nothing against those authors.
You might like "Sky" by Angela Rasch, Amelia R., et al. It seems to embody what you are looking for. Sky
However, you probably need to read "Peaches" by the same authors first. It probably won't be to your liking, though. Peaches
To be honest, there are a lot of stories here I don't care for. The keywords "preteen or intermediate", "Bimbos / Bimboization", "Identity Theft", "Sissies", "Dominance & Submission / Bondage", "Autobiography", "Identity Theft", "Femdom / Humiliation", and "Verse, Poetry, Lyric", are just a few that will cause me to skip a new story posting.
Some of those used to cause me to rant and rail quite vocally. I'm trying to change my ways and just ignore stories that are going to piss me off.
So the moral of this tale is you can't always get what you want. A lot of us like writing and reading what you call the "easy" stories. They really aren't any easier, the stories just have a different focus.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
What's wrong with poetry?!
Most of your objections I can understand... but poetry!?
Even Autobiography, while I don't agree with, I can understand...
Abigail Drew.
She doesn't like interspecies sex either.
And without that, where would the catfolk come from? = (
Awww!
Poor Extravagance... here, I'll pet you! *scratches Extravagance between the ears and makes exploratory moves towards the underside of the neck... A real favorite but only if they trust you fully*
Abigail Drew.
English Class
In junior high and high school English Lit we did poetry and verse to death, analyzing and reanalyzing it to death. I have had any enjoyment of it literally beaten out of me during those six years. The "classics" - you know - Dickens, Austen, etc., is another area that makes me cringe. So, for me English Lit made me hate English Lit. I'll say if I like a story, might even say what I liked about it; but if you want an analysis of a story (what some might call critical feedback), I'm not your girl.
Autobiography, well that's another place English Lit ruined me. Autobiography has a very carved-in-stone definition, and I've never seen a story on here that really is an autobiography, they are more like the 'docudramas' seen on TV or in the movies. A small grain of fact wrapped up in reams of fiction.
Yeah, I don't do furrys either. I never said I was giving my complete list, just a sampling. And I can flex a bit, some. These are not cast in concrete. But it usually requires me to be very bored.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
That's kind of a shame....
...that the "Preteen Or Intermediate" tag bothers you, Karen J. I think Raff01's "Through The Years" saga, to mention just one which contains that tag, is an excellent example of how to do that kind of story right.
The story ideas I have usually involve child characters, but only because my fondest wish is to be able to relive my childhood as a girl. That is, of course, not attainable in reality--so I accomplish it in fantasy, through writing. I do realize it's treading dangerous ground because the main characters are children, but I would never consider putting sex into such a story for that very reason.
I agree with Samantha that a writer should try to move beyond the clichés. In the partially-completed story I posted back in December, I followed the convention of making the main character, Joey a.k.a. Ivy, kind of girly to start with. But I differed, I hope, in other ways. For one thing, the character was disabled, as I am.
For another, I tried to make it a forced-femme story that isn't a forced-femme story, if that makes any sense. I did that by personifying Joey's feminine self, who occupies a world inside his mind. As the story progresses, she starts to make her will known more and more. But unlike a standard forced-femme, the one doing the forcing is a part of Joey that he's suppressing.
To Samantha: I agree that there ought to be characters who aren't white and middle-class, but seeing as I am white, and was raised middle-class, it would be presumptuous of me to try to write about the black trans experience or that of any other minority. If I tried, I'd surely offend someone. What we need are more minority authors who can better write about that experience.
As for writing about people who aren't particularly beautiful or even passable, well...that's me. Fifty-one years old with crooked teeth, acne scars, a spinal curvature, too-large hands, ears and feet, and about forty extra pounds. I don't want to write about me (it's bad enough I have to live with being me) but the person I wish I could be. Or the me I could have been if I started earlier.
Livin' A Ragtime Life,
Rachel
Oh, God, Karen, Key words! I agree with all of yours except...
Autobiography" & "Verse, Poetry, Lyric". But I'd add a few: Age Regression, Body Suits, Body, Mind or Soul Exchange, Bizarre Body Modifications, Head or Body Part Swaps, Mannequin or Doll, Turned into an Object. I guess I prefer to stay in the realm of possible. I'm too literal minded!
"Captain, It does not compute!
Ole
We are each exactly as God made us. God does not make mistakes!
Gender rights are the new civil rights!
Thanks
For the comments. As I suspected, there is a wide range of opinion being put forward.
Thanks.
Common Conventions in Transgender Fiction
I find this blog entry spot on in oh so many ways. Another writer and I have discussed many of the issues Samantha has raised. In 2011 we put on a presentation at Southern Comfort entitled 'The Write Stuff,' in which we discussed the issue of writing and TG lit. One of the slides in our Command and General Staff College/Sandhurst approved Power Power Point presentations addressed conventions typically used by people who dabble in TG lit. That list included;
• Protagonist is easily transformed
• Forced transition
• Tricked into cross dressing
• Accidental transition
• Raised as the opposite sex
• Mistaken identity as with a twin
• Acceptance of a bet or challenge
• Bad boy to good girl
• Disguise or in hiding
• Corset training
• Surgical or chemical alteration or enhancement
• Fetishism or fetishist behavior
• Bondage or submission to one degree or another
• Denial of TG behavior or tendencies
• Confused by new role, particularly in regards to sexual orientation
• Solicitation of help by the protagonist in coping with TG issues
• Acceptance of a new role as a member of the opposite sex
• Rejection of family, friends, lovers to the protagonist’s TG identity
• The new role is embraced by family, friends, lovers
• Reconciliation with some or all members of the family, friends, lovers
Needless to say it is not all inclusive, but it does cover about 90% of what you find as the basis for stories here on TS/BC.
Now don't get me wrong, I use some of these, but sparingly. One does need to move the story along.
To me, I enjoy stories that are about characters who happen to be TG. Focusing purely on the stum und drang, the 'To be or not to be' of being a TG gets boring after awhile, at least to me. So do what another writer once said, "If you can't find something good to read, write something."
So press on, write away and be happy. But as you do so, think for a moment and see if you can find another, more creative way to tell your story.
Until next time, write on.
Nancy Cole
"You may be what you resolve to be."
T.J. Jackson
I like that mindset!
Not just about writing something if you can't find something good to read...
but this:
To me, I enjoy stories that are about characters who happen to be TG. Focusing purely on the stum und drang, the 'To be or not to be' of being a TG gets boring after awhile, at least to me. So do what another writer once said, "If you can't find something good to read, write something."
speaks so much to the best TG fiction out there.
There is a time and a place with a protagonist questioning their gender identity/sexuality and so on - but at the same time there has to be an almost independent story going on which the character is involved in.
xx
Amy
I have to say I'm a bit hurt....
That pretty much rules out the partial story I posted, and probably all of my ideas for future ones. They all follow at least some of the conventions, even though I try to find unique ways to work within them. But after this, I'll be less willing to write or post anything, lest I receive a criticism such as yours and Samantha's.
Livin' A Ragtime Life,
Rachel
I Do Not Understand
Really!
If you were to read my comment, you would see I myself admit using some of these conventions. How my comment can be taken as being hurtful is beyond me. No criticism was intended. My comments were observations, period.
Write your story. Just because I may not read it does not mean it does not have value. It might even be far better than anything I write.
Nancy Cole
"You may be what you resolve to be."
T.J. Jackson
My apologies, Nancy, I misunderstood
I took it the wrong way and assumed you were saying that my stories/ideas were unoriginal. Just a little oversensitivity on my part.
Livin' A Ragtime Life,
Rachel
I think you have
I think you have missunderstood what I was trying to say.
I was trying to draw attention to the fact that an awful lot og TG fiction is awfully samey. IMHO, far too many stories use the quotes and cliches I mentioned. That is my opinion and that's all.
Well, ok, a few others seem to agree with me.
However, I am sure that there are original stories out there to be written within the sub genre that I have described. So please go ahead and write the stories and publish them. I am sure there will be an audience for them just that I may well not be one of them.
Think of it another way. If other authors move on from the type of stories I mentioned, the field will be less crowded for scribes such as yourself to excell!
The quiet instead of the storm
Hi Nancy - a shame your message was diluted by a typo.
the correct expression is "Sturm und Drang", and it comes from German. That first word is spelled with a 'r' in the word, not without the 'r' as you have presented it. (It means "Storm" in English. The combined expression should of course have the German 'und' rather than the English 'and' since 'Sturm' and 'Drang' are not 'proper' English words.)
'Stum' is a (Dutch) term used in wine-making which is both a noun and a verb. The english equivalent of the noun is 'must'.
The English word 'stum' is probably derived from the German word "Stumm" and it means to keep quiet - since the German word is used to describe someone who cannot speak - a mute, in other words.
So it could be said that the use of 'Stum' rather than 'Sturm' has the exact opposite effect - quiet instead of storm !!!!!
Cheers
Di.
I agree, Samantha, with most of what you say,
Though I have to admit to using the "picture ploy" in my first published story in the '80s. The publisher, a friend, insisted on a forced fem theme, and while it's not my favorite, I did want sales so followed suggestions. So even though I don't usually enjoy FemDom, I can write it. It worked out well in that regard, so he was right.
But I'd rather write, or read, a more realistic story: One in which the protagonist is changed by love, not by a plot of evil women.
Now there's something unreal! Where do all these evil, man hating women come from? I've never met them, and I try to understand everyone's point of view. I've met girls and women who have been abused by men, hurt by men, dismissed by men, but none who hate men at the visceral level described in some stories.
I've know vehement women's rights lady's who usually, if you discuss it reasonably, just want equality not dominance, same as I do. And I've had wonderful lesbian friends who have become very close. They aren't interested in men and neither am I, but they don't hate them.
So where do these rabid, ravening, man haters that we read about come from? I don't believe they exist! I respect everyone, and others seem to respect me I don't try to impose my will... Well you get the idea.
When I run into the man hating woman plot device it makes it difficult if not impossible to finish the story.
Ole
We are each exactly as God made us. God does not make mistakes!
Gender rights are the new civil rights!
I myself don't find cliches
I myself don't find cliches to be a problem, it's only when they are used badly that they become one.
One of my favorite authors is Jim Butcher and he uses the hell out of cliches. From grumpy wizards to teen werewolves to tough cop chicks making it in a 'man's' job, he uses so many cliches that TVtropes almost explodes every time he comes out with a new book. but what Jim does is take the cliches and make them his own, giving them his own spin here, playing it straight but dialing it up to 10 there, and adding things that make the cliches new and interesting all over the place.
Cliches are the main building blocks of fiction. Yes you can go off the beaten trail and try out new things, that's fun in it's own right, but using cliches for you foundation can lead to a really good story if you know how to build on top of it. Of course if you leave your construction with not much besides that foundation it's not going to be too impressive.
So I guess it all comes down to the skill of the writer, at least to me, cliches are a strong place to start it's where you go from their that determines if your story is good or not.