It's not what the character says about themselves but how the author portrays it what is the problem. And so far nothing the character has said screams "I'm a girl!" at all, they don't see themselves as a girl.
"If only I could abandon this body and be reborn as a beautiful girl..."
"Goddammit! I hate this! Even though I finally look like my ideal self!"
I'm not even gonna cite the several instances the character states "I'm a man". No matter the desires of becoming a girl, the fact that they still perceives themselves as a man is what bums me off. My main concern is what the author wants to do and their views on the matter or intentions, and so far they don't seem promising, but rather like poking fun of trans people
Yeah, but that’s exactly the standard pre-transition transfem experience.
I'm not saying this story will necessarily turn out well - I don't know what direction it'll take. The love interest's focus on her lower bits could turn out fetishistic... or it could be the first step toward her realizing she doesn't need bottom surgery to be a girl. Hard to tell yet.
But here's the thing : no cis guy looks in the mirror and feels horrified at having a dick. That's just not a cis male reaction. This reaction is unmistakably transfem, even with all the "I'm a man" self-denials.
I think there’s some cross talk happening here. Here’s how I would lay out the foundations of these two positions: 1) Some of the attitudes and feelings this character expresses are common to real-world transfems. 2) The way this author positions and refers to this character may suggest suggest they intend for them to be read male.
This character is not an actual person. That they express sentiments that are transfem-indicating in real life does not mean they are in fact transfem or understood by the author to be transfem in this story, because in the context of the story the author gets to decide that.
At the same time, people resonate with these statements, and so it seems whether intentional or not, it does capture part of the experience of transfeminity. This is not necessarily a good thing: part of why people are nervous is that this can make the story far more painful and cuttingly transphobic if 2), it turns out the author does intend for the character to be a man and an imposter. Yes, the character calling themself a man could be a portrayal of internalized transphobia: it seems to resonate with people in such a way. It can also be consistent with the author saying “yes, you are in fact a man,” which would of course be horrible. And the way we try to sus out the distinction is by looking at the attitude the text takes to the character and the situation.
last edited at Aug 19, 2025 5:33PM
