The State of TG: An Analysis of the Genre         by: Anonymous

 

This is not an attempt to start a flame war. I’m not even sure what one of those is.

Rather, this is a benign attempt to write an analytic, occasionally critical, but primarily insightful essay about the art and community, as I perceive it to be. Naturally, I assume that many will differ on my views. That’s okay. I encourage them.

First, I’d like to talk about the Internet sites that comprise the global transgender community. For the longest time, the ‘light’ as some have called it has been a ‘little’ place called Fictionmania.

I’m not too well versed in the history and origin of Fictionmania and only know a little of the problems that faced its brave, hardworking creator, Mindy. Or the troubles all around that led to its closure, which one person equivocated to the ‘fall of Rome’.

Let’s consider this for a moment.

As I’ve heard, newsgroups and small enclave sites were the first ‘villages’ of the community. And as they grew, a dream that was Fictionmania grew too.

And it was not built in a day. But like Rome, throngs of people filled it day in and day out. Those that came saw a place built from hard work and persistence of a dream.

But also like Rome, the ‘empire’ did not last forever.

In the aftermath following its ‘fall’, the visitors of Fictionmania had dreams of their own. They built sites.

During a Dark Age places of worth and inspiration are not erected but rather defiled, sacked and looted but riotous hordes.

Well, perhaps that’s taking the historical analogue a bit too far. But one must remember the East during this time in history. For, China in particular, other places were not afflicted by such darkness. And in the Middle East, scribes and teachers kept the knowledge of the Romans alive.

So to equivocate the ‘fall’ of Fictionmania with the fall of Rome is to make a generalization of human history and its complexity.

There are places in the community where the light of the dream is and has been flickering out. Such as the Transformation Art Archive, which had a large section devoted to a vein of TG. Lana’s site also seems to be a casualty. Jennifer’s site has faded from view, if it even exists any more.

Other places are hush throughout the year, with only occasional updates.

But some are booming, the throngs flocking to them. If Fictionmania was Rome, then Crystal’s site is Constantinople. And even Rome has not fallen. For it is managed by a Senate of volunteers.

Indeed, the future of the sites seems bright, with stories popping up all the time, new writers emerging and new ideas.

And best of all, a true community has been forged. One where people can share their fears, their tears, dreams, and fantasies. Where people can talk and meet other people like them that know what they’re going through.

But there’s still the issue of the art. Which is what I clump altered photos, original drawings and prose under. All of this, especially the writing, is an art. Writing a line to go with a photo is similar to creating a tagline for a movie poster. You must be brief, interesting and if possible, perhaps a bit whimsical. In original art and movies, similar things apply.

Interestingly enough, the two previous typically stay within the vein of transformation. But prose art covers the whole, diverse TG genre. From far out sci-fi changes to down-to-earth hormone therapy. A she-male transformation to the whole she-bang. Transvestites to turning into the clothes they wear. Gender operations that change the human body to body swaps. And being flesh and blood to being a display in a store window.

One could argue that some of these veins are not true TG. Well, that’s just personal preference. I have my own too, which I will discuss later.

With all these varying ideas, realities and fantasies how can it all be reconciled to one genre? Can it? Is there enough room to fit all this into "TG"? Will a hard-core CD/TV reader even think about touching a magic story? Or visa versa?

Perhaps these differences are wide, but they all follow one prescription, ‘gender’. What about clothes and mannequins? You probably wonder. Well, the topic may be fetish or desire, but a hidden sexual, gender theme is prevalent throughout. In clothes transformations, the article or articles of clothes that the hero or anti-hero becomes is usually female clothing, often satiny or silky. Relating back to the CD/TV vein in that the participant becomes that which they most desire. A theme that is in a lot of TG fiction.

With the mannequins, the form that the transformee takes on is typically that of a female mannequin. This is a sudden, submissive transition. The participant is no longer able to do anything and must sit back and watch as those around do whatever they wish to him. A theme that CD/TV often gets into.

But these themes, along with many others are relegated to the community because transgender seems to have been largely overlooked by outside groups. Occasionally a show comes along with a sex-changed character but because the actor involved is a genetic female, the presentation is skewed. Instead of presenting transgendereds with credibility, they place an ideal woman in a Jerry Springered situation and play it for shallow laughs.

‘Ally McBeal’s’ sub-plot is perhaps the closest television has come to an honest presentation, but even then, the situation was milked. I would love to see a series, even one with a tone similar to ‘Will and Grace’ on NBC, where a transgender, both the character and actor, is the focus. Humor would undoubtedly have to be integral for mainstream audiences to watch but not at the expense of the complexity and emotional depth of the characters. Unfortunately, a trait lacking in most network shows.

If at all possible, and this is a personal preference, I’d like to see a magic-type series in addition to a realistic one, merely because that’s my preference and due to all the fun that could be had with that kind of setup.

Now, whereas a series with this kind of plot could have episodes and situations in which its characters could grow, movies lack that benefit. Unless part of a series of films, its two hours and out.

Such an environment has prompted a number of lower-budget films about real transgendered people, even a few documentaries. As well as visual-minded transformations for magic and sci-fi-based stories. But the success and lure of such a film with a fictional transformation lies on two levels. First, it must suspend disbelief. Otherwise the viewer will not understand or feel for what the hero or anti-hero is going through.

On a second level, the film must have real characters. A scientist that tests his invention/discovery before its time was a cliché long before "Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde."

This is a lot to ask of even a mainstream film. Very few can fulfill both of these. Some say it’s because there are not any good stories left to tell. I doubt that. It’s simply a case of an unimaginative crop of screenwriters recently and the predisposition of film companies to stay with what has perennially been the ‘sure thing’.

Even in the art, such a problem is prevalent. With only a few exceptions, the endings of TG stories are clear. There is no going back. For the transvestite, his wife, aunt, etc, succeeds in making him submissive and obedient or he gets breasts from hormone pills that they’ve been slipping in his food. The Jock is feminized. The authorities never suspect anything. And the man comes to love his fate.

With magic, the man or sometimes woman takes to their new identity with shocking swiftness. Naturally, relationships result. First, learning the particulars of womanhood. How to put a bra on straight. What looks sexy and how to pee sitting down. Interestingly, none of them have any questions or qualms about dildos or vibrators.

Of course, the man must go on a date or meet Mister Right early on with no possibility of changing their mind as the story goes along, which I find a little odd. Hasn’t anyone seen ‘Sex and the City’?

Although I will not forsake Mary Sue her sex with a man. And of course, she discovers it’s better than sliced bread.

In fact, she comes to love sex as a woman so much that she jumps all the way to Acceptance on the Koepler-Ross scale. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage.

Of course, this is not always what happens. Endless, hot sex is another possibility. But never a return to his former state, no matter how hard he struggles, the former man always seems to succumb to the pressures and desires around him/her.

Not all stories are like this though. Some stop at the transformation and tack on a saccharine ending. Beautiful Mary Sue gets to be the top model, a happy prostitute, or a stripper that makes a mint.

Back to endless sex for a moment.

Are stretched out monosyllables, moans, and grunts really necessary? Do they really add to the general message the author is trying to get across that the sex is rough and the woman really wants it? I for one feel it’s not that necessary, but rather a lazy writerism. Instead of walking down an original path, the writer goes on the well-worn road. And in the end, I feel it actually takes longer and there’s more filler than if the writer had gone for shorter and well thought out prose.

One thing that gets to me too is mind-altered stories. What’s the point of the transformation in the first place if the character has their mind wiped and replaced with a woman’s? It’s like having a version of the film Psycho that rolls credits when Janet Leigh is killed. Or, to use a better metaphor, a "It’s a Wonderful Life" where George Bailey doesn’t get to live again. There’s no growth to the character. They don’t evolve. Might as well start out with a female in the man’s place.

Regular magic-type or sci-fi TG without mind-altering also leaves George never born. Imagine the story as it would follow in the movie. George is arrested. Maybe he goes to jail in Pottersville. When he gets out the CIA recruits him. As a man that was never born, he has advantages. He takes another wife and lives as a spy.

All this relates back to the simplicity of most TG stories. In some cases, they’re idealizations of real-life experiences. Other times transcribed true stories. But they’re so shallow. Like watching a movie of a television screen.

I’ve read true-life stories by writers, mostly amateur writers. Some are disturbing, others melancholy, and a few lightly nostalgic. What they all share though is an impact that I’ve never felt in a TG story, save one. And that one was, hopefully, fiction.

So, what’s my goal here? Is it to rip apart all of the fanciful, if derivative fiction out there? No, of course not. I’ve written a lot of that kind of fiction. It’s easy to write. And that’s the problem. Fantasies are too easy to write. Grab a plot, or an item or idea in some cases, drop your Marty Stu or Mary Sue into the environment and push them along until they get to the Event or Thing. The rest writes itself.

Another major flaw with TG is its predisposition toward idealized women, or satin and silk as orgasm inducing. Because both are grounded in the author’s fantasies. And stories born of fantasies tend hold tightly onto the plus side rather than the negative and good fiction alternates.

Sometimes, for art reasons, these rules are ignored or followed not quite as closely as they could be. But they often are. First, the story begins on a positive or negative in some portion, often a critical aspect of it. Movies follow these ideals religiously. Let’s return to "It’s a Wonderful Life", Bailey’s gonna jump, big negative for the people of the town. Now while the movie takes place mostly in flashback, the main action is over the course of a few hours when George meets Clarence and is never born. A big plus when he gets his life back and has a new appreciation of it.

These are large, overall changes. But between scenes, there is also a smaller shift. Lets take a movie I saw recently, "Contact." With a look, there’s the inciting incident, the signal. The negative is Ellie’s inability to come to terms with her father’s death and her constant need to rationalize the world.

For a small change, take the scene where she learns her long time adversary, National Science Foundation head, Drumlin, has decided to terminate her ability to use the New Mexico array. Ellie walks out and is alone, like in a previous scene where her father died. The change is in emotion with a shift toward isolation.

Not to say that ‘Contact’ is the perfect movie. Some of the changes and parallels are a little too blatant. But it’s good for showing transitions.

So, in conclusion, I’m not trying to change the way people write. I know most of the writers out there have fantasies that they satiate through writing about idealizations of the universe. If only they were perfect females or males. Or fetishes about being sexy clothing. Or underwear. Or submissive, immobile mannequins. Or never having to remember being male. Or being made sexual slaves. Or accepted by their family and friends despite their transvestite or transgender attitudes.

All I ask is that along with expressing all this, tell a story. Tell it well and be true to it.

To those out there that are, I salute you.

I also salute those hardworking people that created the community and sites and that work hard every day to make sure that the sites are updated, the pages working and the words and ideas keep coming.

Thank you. Thank you all.

 

 

© 2001
The above work is copyrighted material. Anyone wishing to copy, archive, or re-post this story must contact the author, through Storysite, for permission.