Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2018
- Messages
- 1,248
You like what you like. Everyone has their thing and it's valid. But TS (GB) stuff gets extremely trans-adjacent once you experience it past the surface. I just want to quote something I said elsewhere on this forum about the exact intersection between gender bend kink and gender identity exploration.
Another reason besides the above about why gender/trans identity discussions are unavoidable when discussing gender bend is our evolving understanding of gender dysphoria. Most TS (GB) protagonists don't tend to experience dysphoria, which is fairly unrealistic for someone that had their whole identity forcibly upended. TS (GB) protagonists aren't necessarily trans, it's true but they very often can be interpreted that way with the presence or absence of dysphoria/euphoria pointing at a true north. Tachibana is kind of the very rare case in manga where it's cut and dry + spelled out, which I find pretty refreshing.
(Sidenote on other gender bent protagonists: Japanese storytelling loves invoking ambiguity with character development of any kind, but the presence of ambiguity doesn't suggest the lack of a definitive answer. It's more saying without saying. That can include a character's ultimate identity or sexual orientation.)
(Sidenote to the sidenote: If one wants to ever visit Japan, picking up on reading between the lines is a super important skill if you want to be seen as being one of the cool tourists that buck the stereotype of being a bull in a china shop.)
Another reason besides the above about why gender/trans identity discussions are unavoidable when discussing gender bend is our evolving understanding of gender dysphoria. Most TS (GB) protagonists don't tend to experience dysphoria, which is fairly unrealistic for someone that had their whole identity forcibly upended. TS (GB) protagonists aren't necessarily trans, it's true but they very often can be interpreted that way with the presence or absence of dysphoria/euphoria pointing at a true north. Tachibana is kind of the very rare case in manga where it's cut and dry + spelled out, which I find pretty refreshing.
(Sidenote on other gender bent protagonists: Japanese storytelling loves invoking ambiguity with character development of any kind, but the presence of ambiguity doesn't suggest the lack of a definitive answer. It's more saying without saying. That can include a character's ultimate identity or sexual orientation.)
(Sidenote to the sidenote: If one wants to ever visit Japan, picking up on reading between the lines is a super important skill if you want to be seen as being one of the cool tourists that buck the stereotype of being a bull in a china shop.)
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