I asked this on Fictionmania, but I figured I would ask here as well.
I often find myself in this quandary and hope people don't mind helping me out. I wonder if I do, in fact, write transgender fiction. I am beginning to think that I don't.
Now I write stories that contain transgender and transsexual characters. I also write stories that deal with transgender issues like acceptance and bullying. But do I actually write transgender fiction.
I look at stories on this and other sites and I notice that I do not write similar things. I do not spend time talking about how nice it feels to wear a pair of panties or hose. I do not discuss the joys of being penetrated and performing oral sex. My characters aren't forced into doing anything they don't want to do and I often discuss the inner turmoil of coming out.
So what makes trans fiction trans fiction?
Do I need a salon scene? Does I need to discuss the transformation? Does it need to have sex?
Currently I am writing a book and I am around 120k words. I have only left a random smattering of hints that the character is trans. So would the story be considered trans fiction or just a story that happens to have a transgender character in it.
Take for instance Wrestling Against Myself (my latest true novel). Would that story be considered Trans fiction. It does contain a TS character, but we don't even follow her around. We follow around a non-TG wrestler. Is that book considered transfiction or not?
I would like to know. Thank you.
Katie Leone on Amazon
Comments
I don't think I can improve
I don't think I can improve on the reply I posted on FictionMania. Transgender fiction is what people who use transgender fiction sites enjoy reading.
Since that definition is so broad as to be useless, here's what I consider to be the central components. This is a personal view, and I don't expect everyone to agree with it.
Assuming that m to f transitioning is the subject under discussion, any transgender story has to raise the following issue: how does someone who's been brought up to think of themselves as male react when circumstances compel them to begin thinking of themselves as female? Whether this is brought about by years of questioning or achieved in moments by a magic stone or a mysterious mind transfer device is beside the point.
Almost as important is how others behave towards them. If the protagonist isn't transitioning, how do they feel about people who are?
Of course these questions can be implicit. In my own story 'What The Day Did' I made a conscious effort to leave the reader guessing. But there were plenty of hints that the protagonist hadn't always been female. To me that made it a tg story.
just my two cents
but I think you write transgender fiction. And darn good fiction at that.
Yes,
You write TG fiction. But don't let it become a straight jacket. It is good to spread your wings now and then.
You might even make it with a straight novel some time, nothing wrong with that.
Trans Fiction
I would say that it is fiction that revolves around a main character that is Trans. It need not have sex, long passages describing clothes or feelings, a visit to a salon, store, x-rated bookstore, or anything you don't want to put in it.
There is my thoughts, where is my penny?
Why does it have to be transfiction?
Can't a story just be a story? If a character is M to F then so be it. All my stories have some sort of Trans in them, but some are tg, 'Show me the Money' for example, others because it was the best choice, 'Assassin', or done for other reasons, 'Twins'. I don't do forced or bondage because it's not my thing. Some of my stories have sex, and some not, but that doesn't change the fact that there is a Trans theme? I seriously doubt Assassin could be considered Trans fiction even though a sex change does take place as does sex, with a person of the opposite sex. I don't even list Assassin in the Trans section of Amazon, but that's my choice. I wouldn't worry too much about classifications, just enjoy writing your stories and let them fall into what ever category someone wants to put them in, Arecee
Transgender fiction first should be thought in terms of the
what the adjective transgender means. Being a transgender person is any person living or experiencing life outsider the gender norm of their assigned gender. Not a perfect definition, but I have never found a perfect one. It gets a little tricky when the issue involves an intersex person. By definition, if you have an intersex condition, then you are not a transgender person. If you want to be DSM accurate,than a story about an intersex person would not be transgender fiction, though for all practical purposes, it should be. No matter the cause, a transition is involved, that most often results in some kind of medical intervention (or magick) so the path traveled is the same.
At this point, I should point out that my bias is toward being a transsexual woman. I tend to ignore the fact that Cross Dressers and Drag Queens are also transgender people. That is not a judgement call, more than it is in lack of interest of what is not me. So in fairness, a transgender story could involve characters who are not at all interested in transitioning, but do experience life as the opposite gender.
That leads into another category of often missed transgender people; those who are gender queer, androgynous, or simply prefer to have no gender at all. I don't have much to say about this group other than my girlfriend is gender queer, and I'm having a wonderful time learning a lot about it all.
What I look for in transgender fiction is journey of the character. I like to see the emotions and thoughts of self-discovery as the protagonist goes through their transition. It does not matter if it is a forced transition or not. Though in the case of a forced transition, I prefer that it is helping the protagonist to become their true selves. So my favorite stories have elements of self-discovery, the path of learning, and acceptance of the character being transgender.
Of course, all this is just my opinion and most of it is based upon the path that I have gone through in my life.
Bright Blessings,
Cassie Ellen
I would say, transformational fiction
In my small bit I can not dive into the wants or feelings either, perhaps why my stories under Work In Progress have stalled, however the characters have been transformed, most often into a female form.
So why do I write here? because a very friendly authoring platform, great readers, and the aside that since I starting reading here I've become a bit addicted to these stories and at times wish I could live them.
Why do I read here? Because I enjoy the range of ideas, and the effort you and many others have put into these stories.
Thank You for what I've read, and for what I have yet to read.
Dreammaker
Great stories well written.
Katie I love your work because it is such high quality. I identify with it because many of them have transgendered characters experiencing real life issues that all people need to deal with the only difference is the identified gender of the person or persons. Some issues are universal some are specific to the TS TG community.
I am inter-sexed but forced to live as a boy for years it was only when my biology forced me to switch camps. I my self considered I survived being transgendered, until emotionally I accepted I was a women.
Don't break your mind over this love your
Huggles
michele .
With those with open eyes the world reads like a book