How do you feel about writing the opposite gender?

[Sailor Marin]

For me, I came up with a bit of an 'alignment' table for this that helps me explain how I relate to the task.

	The Normal-Strange Axis of Social Norms
The Boy-Girl Axis of Gender​	Normal Boys​	Normal Girls​
	Strange Boys​	Strange Girls​

I consider myself a weird girl, and so that's the role I tend to write best/easiest. And I tend to adjust easier when I'm only one step removed from my own experience. Whereas, trying to write normal boys, that's the hardest for me. I'm pretending to be two things I'm not! Other people may wish to expand that alignment table for their own purposes. For me trying to play a genderless character would feel similarly to playing a boy in that it's something I'm not, but others might relate to that differently and something like non-binary between the two, or to one side entirely.

 

[Senkusha]

I guess this becomes easier with living experience. I've observed many people during my nearly five decades of living. I'm a bit of a people-watcher. This sometimes creeps people out, but truly, I'm harmless. Sometimes, these interactions find their way into my writings. I've also have lived life both as a boy and as a girl, and each social gender has its quirks. I've used role playing to explore alternative genders from a young age as well. People thought I was just weird, and perhaps I am, but I'm having fun exploring all that I can learn, and feel, while exercising my empathy muscle.

At the end of the day, I realize that we're all not so different from one another. Both men and women have thoughts and feelings, ideas, goals, and all genders require air to breathe, water to drink, and food to eat. Much of the struggle people have is from people wanting to enforce control of thier ideas onto other people.

Wow, this got philosophically deep!

 

[Sailor Marin]

I have a bad habit of getting philosophical. It's one of my hobbies. x3

Y'know, that's a really fun perspective! I think it's neat that trans people can have unique perspectives like that. Like sure, there's times where I've chosen not to disclose my gender and let people assume I'm a boy online. And I definitely learned niiice and young that if I mimic boys and behave like them, I'm going to get in big trouble, often with those same boys. But that's sort of a less complete picture, y'know?

Though to be honest, I'm told that my mannerisms don't pass as masculine at all. What with the emojis and the ...should I call it polite language? Ladylike language? I'm somewhat reluctant to swear or discuss vulgar thing is what I'm getting at here. So I'm not sure how many people actually assume I'm a boy when I actually talk to them. Though when I do, I notice people are noticeably more tolerant of me being blunt, forward, and critical in discussions.

I always credited me being a weird girl with me being an autistic, queer lesbian, and a bit of immaturity. My sense of humor got me into big trouble at school at times. Just because my idea of a funny joke was someone else's annoying and dumb. Oh, and being noticeably uninterested in gushing about boys got me in big trouble from time to time too. It took me years to understand why those girls hated me. (I lived in a transparent closet for like 10 years or something)

But that's sort of the thing about weird boys. Me knowing how to sell being weird can sorta partially cover up for the fact that I'm lackluster at thinking like a boy.

 

[Senkusha]

Lindsey can certainly teach you how to speak like a Sailor!

And my sense of humor is only now just beginning to blossom, now that I'm older, I really don't give a [redacted] anymore about what other people's opinions are of me. I'm like, if you're gonna be offended and all mad...then that's a you problem, not mine. I grew up in isolation, being lonely doesn't bother me, sometimes the quiet is nice--if only that damn shouting in my head would shut up from time to time though... where was I? LOL

Gender is truly just a social construct anyway, right?

 

[Ravenfreak]

I never really struggle to get a feel for female characters. Though again I only wrote Teen Titans fanfiction and pretty much knew how the female characters acted around the rest of the team. Raven is my favorite character in the series so I had a blast writing her parts. But it also probably helps that I'm a trans guy. Though I wasn't girly at all growing up, society called me a "tomboy" when in reality I was just a boy. :V

 

[Sailor Marin]

I envy people who are comfy writing everything. =3 And I bet having both perspectives is probably helpful yeah! Sometimes I wish I could have both perspectives, though that's much easier said than done for me. ||D

 

[Senkusha]

Having both perspectives, I do find that as being helpful. However, I will say that gender perspectives are also affected by your age. Younger girls behave differently than younger women, who behave differently than older women. Same for men.

 

[Sailor Marin]

That's also true. I'm probably less good at playing a convincing older woman. ...Mostly because I'm just not that mature.

 

[Senkusha]

I find that it helps to imagine yourself as a 90-year old who's chain smoked for most of her life. Got taht craggly, raspy voice... "Back in my day....", not holding back, no biting the tongue, mincing words... and then going off on a tangent about the color Blue or something else that's totally irrelevant to the conversation.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I'm really good at roleplaying as Beast Boy from Teen Titans, because I'm a goofball who's super immature lol. So it comes natural to me, he's pretty easy to incorporate in fanfiction and roleplays.

 

[Sailor Marin]

Funnily enough one of the first characters I RP'd was Starfire, a very weird girl. x3