!!! Gender Bender Alert !!!

Chaki1718 · Nov 1, 2018

Hello YAers,

So I'm in the process of editing my novel with a male teenage protagonist.

I was informed that I don't get teen boy brain and all of its complexities during such a confusing time.

I was advised to change the main character into a girl (like me) so that the details would come naturally and jump off the page as they would be informed from my real experiences.

I flirted with the idea and now I have decided that this book would be a lot easier to write if I wrote what I knew: girls, girls, girls.

Question: Is it advisable to gender bend the entire manuscript during revisions?

I would have to scrap some scenes entirely but other scenes would flow with ease as I made edits because I would be able to comment on certain nuances that girls face.
The reason, however, I chose to write a teen boy was because I wanted to challenge myself and make the story something that was truly born of my imagination instead of just writing a protagonist that is essentially me. I've been accused of doing just that, nonetheless, with the added issue that this character is comes across as inauthentic boy.

Should I push harder to make a believable boy or write a girl?

Thoughts?

PS- I am half joking regarding my critic who offers helpful advise always challenges me with kindness.

Thank you!

Ellis Clover · Nov 1, 2018

If you want to write a teenage boy, it's certainly not an insurmountable challenge. Authors write characters not of their own sex/gender all the time. I'd recommend reading lots of books with young male protagonists, and asking your critic for specifics of the experience of 'growing up male' that, in their opinion, you didn't quite nail. It's not very helpful if all they've said was 'you don't get it' and then suggested you flip genders.

Maybe get a few more eyes on your work too - ideally, readers in the target audience of your book.

I haven't written any teenage boys, but I love writing male characters and find they develop as easily and naturally as my female characters, largely (I assume) because pop culture is crammed full of complex male experience. Growing up inside patriarchy, women/non-men are soaked in masculinity and male viewpoints from day dot and can't help absorbing it. I have a feeling your work isn't quite as 'off' as you've been told it is... (Possibly it's less stereotypical than your critic was expecting, which isn't a bad thing.)

Best of luck!

Roxxsmom · Nov 1, 2018

Flipping the gender of a main character is possible. It's been done with scripts (Alien was one), and probably with novels as well. Whether or not it works depends on how central the issues and experiences particular to a given gender (within the cultural and social context of the story) drive the plot, versus being simply incidental or not focused on at all.

How many people have told you your young, male protagonist doesn't seem right? If it's just one, I'd solicit more opinions. I say this because people vary within each group. Young men and young women don't all have identical experiences as others of their gender. It's a good idea to solicit a range of opinions and to spend time with young guys (to see a range of personalities and behavior) and to read books written by men with young male protagonists. What specifically do your critics think are unrealistic about your male character? Are these things you could change, or would changing them change the story too much?

lizmonster · Nov 1, 2018

I agree with Roxxsmom. If you've only had this feedback from a single source, get another opinion. Teenagers come in all kinds of variants - stereotypical boys and girls exist, but so do all sorts of people in between.

And if you are hearing this from more than one source, ask for specifics. Teenaged boys aren't aliens, they're people. If you want to write about a boy, you can do your research and write about your own, realistic, unique boy.

veinglory · Nov 1, 2018

I've gender flipped characters, sometimes it can lead to good results--but more because it subverts my unconscious gender biases than because it gives in to them.

Chaki1718 · Nov 2, 2018

Thank you so much Ellis Clover!
This is helpful. More opinions would be good. And my critic is my brother who thinks my character analyzes things too much like a girl.
I'll also keep studying teen boy material from books to shows to see closely how it is done.
So glad to hear your thoughts!

Chaki1718 · Nov 2, 2018

Roxxsmom, you ask some key questions and make some good points.

In all fairness to my one critic, my brother, I have not really spent a whole lot of time with teen boys in my life. I only had female friends as a teen and found boys to be an anomaly.
So, I do need to study up, I guess. For example, he was not convinced with how a guy would be touched by his crush but mostly only think about her eyes rather than her body. Idk. Little things.
The gender of the character is not central to the plot except in certain scenes that I could remove or rework.

Seeking more comment and opinion is also important to gaging whether my story and character comes off as believable, so I will sit on the idea in the mean time.

Thanks!

Chaki1718 · Nov 2, 2018

Thanks Lizmonster!

That's what I was going for: a nerdy, kinda introverted, not so typical guy.
I might just stick to what I started with if I don't hear the same opinion repeated!

Chaki1718 · Nov 2, 2018

Veinglory, exactly!

On the other hand, I'm intrigued by the result of gender flipping my character. She would become a tom boyish girl with more complex interests. She would definitely not be me and yet I would comfortably slip into the character and write freely without worrying "wait, do boys do that?"

I will sit on the idea and either way, all the feedback I get will build a great character.

Much appreciated!

kuwisdelu · Nov 5, 2018

Chaki1718 said:
And my critic is my brother who thinks my character analyzes things too much like a girl.

You’ve gotten a lot of good advice. I’ll just add it’s entirely possible his line of thinking is: “well *I* wouldn’t think this way, therefore no other boy would either.” Needless to say, it doesn’t work like that. I’d ask for very specific criticisms of situations where this happens in your story, and then decide if you think those criticisms make sense.

MaryLennox · Nov 7, 2018

Roxxsmom said:
Young men and young women don't all have identical experiences as others of their gender.

^^^Definitely this. Just because one boy thinks that way, doesn't mean *every* boy does.

There are so many books written by the opposite gender. Isn't that part of the fun of writing? Exploring different characters and stories outside of your own? I mean, I mostly write YA fantasy, but I've never met a dragon.

Chaki1718 · Nov 8, 2018

UPDATE

I have decided that my protagonist shall stay male. I love writing him and I know I can sell the teen boy perspective if I work at it.
Besides, I relish a challenge. Easy is too easy. Plus, it's the fun of it all: imagining, pretending, empathizing.
I'll make this the exact type of boy that I want him to be.

So thank you MaryLennox and Kuwisdelu for your input as well.

Laer Carroll · Dec 12, 2018

Good advice from some very smart people. Those people is why I've remained in AW for over six years.

I'll add this. Boys have been awash in propaganda about how we should be and should act from before birth (as of course girls have). How we react to it differs & is the substance of many stories: go along, rebel, some combination, etc. Plus the AVERAGE boy is influenced by a flood of hormones.

Here are some features of a TYPICAL boy. Most of us share some of them, or some degree of them.

We must Be Tough. Not cry, not show emotion, not HAVE emotion. We are warriors!
We are visual. Tits and asses exert an almost hypnotic draw of our attention. A pretty face can make us break many of the rules of honor and duty we cherish.
We are taught girls are prey. The best of us resist this, but before we do we are taught to lie and dominate physically or otherwise to get them in bed.

There is much more, but those are the big three factors in our lives. You may think this is a harsh reality, may want to reject it. May want to say this is only MY sick reality. Your choice, but I think acknowledging them and working with them is a better choice if you want to write works that embrace all of reality, the painful as well as the glorious.

!!! Gender Bender Alert !!!

Chaki1718

Ellis Clover

watching The Office again

Roxxsmom

Beastly Fido

lizmonster

Possibly A Mermaid Queen

veinglory

volitare nequeo

Chaki1718

Chaki1718

Chaki1718

Chaki1718

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

MaryLennox

Chaki1718

Laer Carroll

Aerospace engineer turned writer