30-08-16 FanExpoCanada/Reverse Gender

[Passing Through]

Whelp, that's me convinced.

[Spidrift]

For those who want a link:

http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/at_f ... p20a_and_b

Obvious comment here: gender-swapped Sonya is basically indistinguishable from Jerzy, to the point that I'm now wondering if those two should turn out to be related. Second comment: the way that this is written and (especially) drawn makes gender-swapped Sonya's state of denial look even less sustainable than female Sonya's.

And as I've noted before, a gender-swapped version of this comic would not always be simple to sustain. Female Sonya's bubblegum-bitch machinations make her look bad enough at times, but she can just about get away with them without looking like a complete monster to everyone because she's basically roleplaying a specifically female character type. (And yes, I realise that even so, some over-committed readers manage to hate her. Kind of my point.) A gender-swapped Sonya going round acting the same way, sabotaging relationships and engaging in violent hate-sex with another guy, is going to look like a slasher movie villain.

[brasca]

Uncanny Spidrift! When I first saw the stamp I thought Jerzy was making a cameo appearance. Then I read the strip and saw that this is Sonya's male doppleganger.

[True_Avery]

Took me a second to realize that was Sonya, but clicked pretty quickly

And as I've noted before, a gender-swapped version of this comic would not always be simple to sustain. Female Sonya's bubblegum-bitch machinations make her look bad enough at times, but she can just about get away with them without looking like a complete monster to everyone because she's basically roleplaying a specifically female character type. (And yes, I realise that even so, some over-committed readers manage to hate her. Kind of my point.) A gender-swapped Sonya going round acting the same way, sabotaging relationships and engaging in violent hate-sex with another guy, is going to look like a slasher movie villain.

There are some moments that become pretty horrifying when you switch the genders for sure. Yuki is a pretty good example of a character that works as a parody of a female character trope that turns absolutely nightmarish when flipped, as does Kiley. On the other hand, despite conversation, characters like Peggy just stop working altogether - like what, is male peggy also wearing progressively bigger strapons? To me large parts of many arc's just stop functioning

Other than that there are scenes that become downright bizarre and surreal when switched, like that scene where Yuki is therapy touching matt's junk. Actually, oddly I can believe this scene with male Sonya a lot more than I buy her "not lesbian" act as a woman as theres more than enough tough guys who'll go to gay clubs but insist to the point of madness they're straight, while girls I typically find immediately find themselves running into the "oh I guess I'm bi" wall that most menagea3 characters so often fail to hit.

tl;dr, best not to think too hard about what happens when you flip these stereotype tropes around -- it'll make your brain bleed into itself

[JackApostrophe]

I'm sick today and apparently one of the symptoms is stupid-brain because I thought it was Gary at first and I reacted with "When did Gary get so sexy?"

[LegendaryKroc]

Nice. I realised it was Male!Sonya pretty quickly, but still thought it was Jerzy for a split second there. Any other swapped gender characters they want to bring in?

[Don Alexander]

Add me to the "Jerzy" conga line. My first thought, upon just seeing that face and nothing else, was "Spidrift will be so happy, they're previewing the upcoming Stick Dilly Buns continuation!"

[Spidrift]

Any other swapped gender characters they want to bring in?

I'm sure that we'll find out when Giz finishes this side-project. But as T_A says, there are a number of characters who probably can't be gender-flipped without their schticks going from "comedy" to "utterly stupid" or "seriously horrific". Mind you, female-Gary is grossly implausible enough.

On the other hand, despite conversation, characters like Peggy just stop working altogether - like what, is male peggy also wearing progressively bigger strapons?

Actually, thinking about that - a male Peggy could just about work, provided that the swap wasn't too literal. Peggy's key feature is the high-responsibility, heavy workload job, leading her to engage in mildly unconventional sex as a way of relieving the stress. Male-Peggy could be in a similar job - nurse would be fine - but would need to be engaging in something that relieves the weight of implied responsibility that comes down on men in such occupations.

So I'd swap out the pegging and make him the sub in a BDSM relationship. Bonus points for forcing a confused-looking Garii to act the dom, I guess. Additionally or alternatively, put Male-Peggy in a very macho sort of responsible job - fireman, say - and add in the issue of Peggy's intermittent bi tendencies.

[True_Avery]

So I'd swap out the pegging and make him the sub in a BDSM relationship. Bonus points for forcing a confused-looking Garii to act the dom, I guess. Additionally or alternatively, put Male-Peggy in a very macho sort of responsible job - fireman, say - and add in the issue of Peggy's intermittent bi tendencies.

Peggy being a sub while convincing a very awkward Garii to be a domme, or a situation where Garii is the one with the strapon instead?

Take my money. The checks will be arriving in the mail shortly.

[Spidrift]

I'm afraid that the logic requires it to be Male-Peggy (Perry?), before you get too financially excited.

[True_Avery]

The money is already on the way. Just give me Garii being an awkward domme, don't care on whom, and it'll be worth being homeless

[ThrottleSaber]

...as T_A says, there are a number of characters who probably can't be gender-flipped without their schticks going from "comedy" to "utterly stupid" or "seriously horrific". Mind you, female-Gary is grossly implausible enough.

Does make me wonder what Garii's first time would be like. And how the SGR goes from a kissing technique to what I assume would be a fellatio technique. And a bunch of other scenarios that would take forever to list.

[BlairFan]

Are they Gerri, Sonny, and Ziik?

[Spidrift]

Does make me wonder what Garii's first time would be like. And how the SGR goes from a kissing technique to what I assume would be a fellatio technique. And a bunch of other scenarios that would take forever to list.

All those are real problems. But the big problem with Geri is explaining how a passably cute, slim, sexually desperate young woman can fail to get laid by the age of 29.

With Gary, it's plausible; the extreme social awkwardness would be a real issue. Like it or not, men are expected to display minimal social competence in approaching women with a view to forming relationships, and women probably almost always find stuttering desperation a real turn-off. But a woman with the same issues might as well be walking round with a flag saying "I'm desperate! Exploit me!", and plenty of sleazy men (and maybe a few fairly nice, sympathetic ones) would be happy to make the running.

I could just about believe a Geri type lasting for a about as long as, say, Ruby - though Ruby's problem is rather different, and involves actively driving men off. But 29? Geri wouldn't be a desperate virgin; she'd have a string of crap relationships to her name, and complain about men being bastards, not unavailable.

Are they Gerri, Sonny, and Ziik?

From the volume 4 bonus strip, we have Geri and Zigg (along with Dilla, Didier, Erika, Min-Jung, Matilda, Sanford, Jordie, and Yuuki), but no named Sonya-counterpart.

[Maechris]

It seems we can start coming with crazy theories now.
Is Jerzy Sonya's half-brother?
Or is she Felicia's twin-sister, and when we finally actually see Felicia in 3-4 years from now, we'll be stunned by finding that they look EXACTLY THE SAME? (Only that Felicia has a grounded sexuality and isn't drama-loving, perhaps.)