: Re: How to write about transgender issues while avoiding cognitive dissonance? As a writer, it is difficult to help your readers hold two dissonant ideas in their heads. This can occur when the

@Kristi637

Vote Up Vote Down

Some trans people are going to be easily offended, no matter what way you put it, while others will not. The most important thing to remember is just to be respectful about the pronouns when you describe the character or just fit it in the story. Before a character transitions, and no one really knows about the transition that's going to happen, it would make sense to use the pronouns people use to refer the person by. For example, if a girl was transitioning to a guy (trans man), you would use she/her pronouns ahead of time. After the transition, you would use he/him pronouns.

And maybe not all characters know or accept in the book. In one of my books, a trans guy (a wolf in the story) walks around and gets mistaken occasionally for a girl when someone just bases him off smell. I don't tell the reader that the character is trans; I just give them a hint. Here's an example: (I haven't written the story yet, so I'm just making this up as I go along, so it's not going to be that great)

As I walked down the dirt path, a dragon bumped into me. "Sorry, miss," he said, turning to me.

"What?" I asked, confused. "I'm not a miss."

He looked at me for a second and then dipped his head in apology. "Sorry. My sense of smell was never really that great." He turned and started to walk away. "Have a good day, sir."

In another one of my stories the main character is a gay trans guy. He's introducing his boyfriend to his parents during this scene: (I haven't really written that story either, so it's not going to be the best right now, and the character's name will be different once I've figured out what it will be)

J. led his boyfriend down the hall, feeling like he was about to explode. He entered the dining room, and turned left into the living room. There they sat, with smiles on their faces: his parents.

He took a deep breath as he entered the room, anticipating the worst. J. and Blake took a seat on the couch opposite J.'s parents, settling in the comfy cushions.

J.'s father, Jack, held out his hand to Blake. "Nice to meet you, Blake."

Blake shook the hand, nodding. "Same here, sir."

J.'s mother, April, spoke next. "Hope our daughter hasn't been much of a handful!"

J. tensed. He had asked them to call him their daughter, and yet they always refused. Always.

Blake just smiled, "It's fine. Your son is just fine."

April's smile faltered. Both parents looked at J. "So, you've tricked him into calling you that as well? How many more are you going to trick?" asked April.

Jack stayed silent.

Blake jumped in, "He hasn't tricked me. I have a free mind and will, ya'know."

In this scene, we can see that he parents don't respect J., but Blake does. In the first scene, there was a mistake. Just remember the difference and try to keep it balanced. As long as it's well written, it should do fine.

(0)

Login to post a comment!