I think it’s about time I made my own explanation about “genderbender” fanfiction. Personally, it’ll be a combination of a rant and a dissertation about genderbender fanfiction and the term “genderbender” itself. I hope you take the time to read through the entirety of this before you make your judgment about my perspective.

Objectives:

-          Discuss the term “genderbender” and its current usage in K-Pop fanfiction

-          Discuss genderbender fanfiction, especially in the Girls’ Generation fandom

-          Explain my own perspective of genderbender fanfiction

1. The term “genderbender” and its current usage

I find it quite interesting how this term is being used. In my observations, people use this term to signify that their story is between two originally female/male/what-have-you individuals, but one of them has their gender ‘bent’. Basically, if the story is between two females, then ‘genderbent’ becomes a male and a female where one of the females is automatically changed into a male right from the get-go. For males, the idea is that at least one of the males in the story becomes female (also without explanation). As for the ‘what-have-you’, the idea is that they become the opposite gender.

Examples:

-          Taemin/Minho (SHINee) – genderbent would usually mean Taemin becomes a girl

-          Yuri/Jessica (SNSD/Girls’ Generation) – genderbent would mean Yuri becomes a man

Genderbender as a term is a little more complex than what people assume it to be. People label their stories genderbender if one person changes into the opposite “gender”, but really that’s true to an extent.

Genderbending means to bend one’s gender, but in how it’s being used that isn’t the case. Genderbender in the context it’s often used in actually means “-swapped”. A lot of authors retain the personality and psyche of the character’s original “” while only switching out their “”. If the person did change “gender” then their psyche of their own changes.

2. Discuss genderbender fanfiction, especially in the Girls’ Generation fandom

Genderbender fanfiction should mean that the person is on a journey or has a belief that their gender is different. Usually, this is in the means of having a character being transgender. They may or may not be in the process of transitioning, but they see their gender as something different from their biological .

In reality, whenever we write about anyone we (as writers) are actually bending the real person’s gender. We don’t know if they personally see themselves as effeminate females, effeminate males, masculine females and masculine males. We only assume and write about how they are based on what we see and know about them. For all we know, whoever we’re writing about has a completely different gender than what we know. For example, whoever we assume is a masculine female may actual perceive their gender identity as not being masculine at all, but rather being as feminine and their behaviour and actions just speak differently. So in reality, 90% of how we write real-life people in the K-Pop fandom can be labelled as genderbender based on this explanation.

In the Girls’ Generation fandom, genderbender fanfiction practically exploded after a particular Lady Gaga inspired photoshoot occurred. The concept in a nutshell was “boy meet girl” and Sooyoung, Jessica and Yuri were dressed as “men”. Ever since that photoshoot, there appeared to be more and more fanfiction where those three (now including Tiffany and Taeyeon) became men with no explanation.

It just seems that people write about -swapped characters because they are fond of the idea of their characters having a different . It’s uncommon to find an author of genderbender fanfiction be against same- relationships. It’s really based on what the author likes or dislikes. For those who write genderbender fanfiction in hopes of increasing readership because it’s a “heteroual” couple, try to avoid it. It just sends the wrong idea.

3. My own perspective of genderbender fanfiction

Personally, I have a bone to pick with every writer who writes genderbender fanfiction. It’s quite rare for me to find a genderbender fanfiction where the content of the story is actually true to the term. 99% of everything I’ve found should’ve been tagged or labelled as “-swapped” because that’s what is really going on. Everyone who changes a character from a man to a woman or a woman to a man without much context is just -swapping; changing their biological/perceived identity into another. Now for those who swap es in the context of gender dissociation or gender dysphoria (where they believe their gender identity does not match their biological they were assigned at birth), I will let “genderbender” remain.

However, there are those who misinterpret the idea of transgender people as well. I read a fanfiction story (a while ago) where one of the lead characters was found out to be a man who originally was a woman. I thought it was okay, but then I read the reasoning for why that character became transgender and personally went “What the ?” The character’s reasoning for changing es was not because they had gender dysphoria, but rather that person was a homoual who found their life to be too difficult and just decided it was easier to be the opposite , in that case Female to Male.

My instant reaction: What the ? Are you stupid? What is this ?

As a general FYI, if you want to write something like that in those lines then expect my reaction from any individual from the LGBT* community. Why? Changing one’s because it was hard to live their life in their original is just wrong. Yes, life as homoual person is difficult, whether you’re gay or lesbian, but living life as a transgender individual isn’t easier.

This isn’t from personal experience, but I know people who would agree that being transgender won’t be any easier. There are people who will be in fear of having people find out that their original is different from their current . The process of deciding whether or not to transition to the opposite is time consuming and significantly important. Once you change es, it’ll be difficult to go back because of money and biological changes, especially if you’re a man transitioning into a woman.

So, simply writing and implying that your character had a change because they felt that it would be easier is a huge mistake. That just offends an entire community and devalues the individuals who are transitioning.

Conclusion:

Be careful of what you write and how you label. The last thing you want to do is offend an entire community and be labelled as an ignorant . If you’re actually writing about someone’s journey about their gender, which may or may not include changes to their actual , then by all means you can label it as genderbender. If you’re simply going to change a man to a woman or a woman to a man without any context about their change, then label it as -swapped otherwise you’re twisting the meaning.

So, why is the term “genderbender” in its current usage so popular? It’s a term that flows, but is grossly misused. I just hope that people from now on can begin shifting the term’s meaning and use what is actually appropriate for their story.