Sunday, July 7, 2019

YOU MUST SOCIALLY CONSTRUCT ADDITIONAL GENDERS

Image result for genderqueer dnd character art
(from mollymaukandmayhem, art credit to ryuichifoxe)
Pride Month is over, but that just makes July LGBTQ+ Wrath Month. Can't wait for Lust Month, Greed Month, Gluttony Month, Envy Month, and Sloth Month.

Here's a few tables about gender! If you want your character to have a more complicated gender history than "man" or "woman", try rolling on these for some neat results that include a lot more experiences with gender than most tables I've seen online.

(None of these lists are exclusive;, and people often have lots going on with their gender at different times in their life. There is no one trans narrative that fits all, or most, or even more than a few people's experiences.)

Some of this terminology won't be familiar to readers who aren't entrenched in the trans community. Here's a quick glossary:
(gender)-aligned: Similar to a gender, but not quite there. Maybe you like being treated as that gender, but don't feel like you are that gender.
Assigned gender: what the midwife said you were when you popped out of the womb or were found lost in the forest, and/or what your parents raised you as.
Binary & nonbinary genders: The two binary genders are man and woman. Not actually opposites, despite populat opinion. Nonbinary genders are any gender that isn't always and exclusively a binary gender; includes fluid genders, genders beyond man and woman, multiple genders at once, lack of gender, etc.
Closeted: You know you're trans, but you haven't come out publically yet.
Egg: You have confusing feelings about your gender - maybe you feel like life would be better/easier as a different gender, or that you wish people would treat you differently, or you dislike gendered qualities of your physical appearance - but haven't realized you're trans yet.
Genderfluid: Your gender changes depending on the day, situation, or other criteria.
Physical & social transition: Physical is all the medical stuff (hormones, surgeries, hair removal, etc). Social is all the interpersonal stuff, changing name/pronouns, clothes, etc. None of this is strictly necessary for transition.
Stealth: You know you're trans, but you present as your gender in all circumstances and no one in your public life knows your gender history.

Roll on the first table, then on the second one to figure out which gender(s) your character is. If an assigned gender is implied, figure out what gender that is yourself (it doesn't have to be a binary gender, these are for fantasy games with plenty of fantasy cultures). If you're not sure what pronouns your character would use, or you want to determine that at random, roll on the third table - pronouns don't have to line up with gender.



What's up with your character's gender?
1. (gender), egg
2. Has realized they're (gender), but don't know how to come out
3. Knows there's something up with their gender but have put that on the backburner until they're in a more stable place
4. Out as (gender) to some people in their public life, but not others.
5. Out as (gender), but reconsidering their label to something more specific
6. Out as (gender) again after recloseting for d12 years after coming out the first time
7. Thought they were (gender) for a bit but unsure, taking baby steps of presenting and seeing what feels right
8. Still unsure what their gender actually is, uses assigned gender and pronouns by default
9. Does not understand gender at all, refers to everyone with they/them pronouns or by name, including themself
10. (gender), but magically or spiritually counts as a different gender
11. Identifies with assigned gender but enjoys presenting as (gender)
12. Adventures as (gender), uses assigned gender in public life
13. Adventuring for money/resources to transition to (gender)
14. (gender), intentionally visible
15. (gender), stealth
16. (gender) around partner and close friends, (gender) in public life
17. (gender), but presents as (gender) instead by choice
18. (gender), currently physically transitioning
19. (gender), currently socially transitioning
20. Roll d4+1 times, gender is complicated

Genders!
1. Binary man
2. Binary woman
3. Man-aligned
4. Woman-aligned
5. Boi
6. Femme
7. Butch
8. Tomboy
9. Agender
10. Maverique
11. Cultural gender (make one up if your character is part of a fantasy culture)
12. Sexuality as gender
13. Genderqueer
14. Genderfuck
15. [word]gender
16. Class as gender
17. Job as gender
18. Roll twice, bigender
19. Roll d4+1 times, polygender
20. Roll d4+1 times, genderfluid

Pronouns
1. They/them/theirs
2. She/her/hers
3. He/him/his
4. Find a set of neopronouns you like
5. Any pronouns, no preference
6. Any pronouns, roll again for which one is preferred
7. Roll twice
8. No pronouns, use the character's name instead

4 comments:

  1. This makes me super happy for reasons I can't completely articulate.
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lots of fun! For some reason, I keep rolling characters with multiple pronoun preferences. Hmm...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ahhh this is just what I've been looking for!

    ReplyDelete
  4. does the existence of pronouns imply the existence of corresponding antinouns?

    ReplyDelete

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