History Main / SecondLawOfGenderbending

* Somewhat subverted in ''Switch'' as [[spoiler: when in heaven]] the protagonist can't decide whether to be a male or female [[spoiler: angel.]]

* [[spoiler: Xion]] from KingdomHearts is an iffy example. [[spoiler: She is physically male or genderless but was treated as female throughout the game.]] Regardless "She" considers herself female even after the reveal.
-->[[spoiler:Xion]]: [[spoiler:Now its time for the puppet to play '''her''' part.]]

* In LoisMcMasterBujold's ''A Civil Campaign'' Lady Donna Vorutyer goes offworld for gender reassignment surgery so she can contest her vile cousin's ascension to her late brother's Countship. "Lord Dono" soon admits that while she primarily did it out of a sense of duty she'd discovered there were some advantages to being a man (especially in Barrayar's highly sexist society) so even if she lost she would remain a man in order to explore them.

* TenshiNaKonamaiki (AKA Cheeky Angel) provides a rare case where the second law applies without the first as the character in question only ''thinks'' her gender had been bent. She still goes through the acceptance routine, however.
* Averted in RanmaOneHalf: Ranma never, ever, ever stops looking for a cure for his curse (except for one filler episode after he hits his head) though he does stop complaining about it.
** That said, Ranma starts to bring his macho approach to acting girly and cute. As seen in his competition with Tsubasa, Ranma's competitive streak is so hardwired that he even refuses to lose in a contest of femininity.

A specific variation of IChooseToStay which often results from TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody. May involve BecomingTheMask or GoingNative depending upon surrounding circumstances. Can result in BeneathTheMask when the character reveals a hidden, more femenine side of his/her personality. Contrast YouCantGoHomeAgain for characters who don't have any choice in the matter. See the FirstLawOfGenderBending and the ThirdLawOfGenderBending, which frequently (but not always) overlap with this trope.

A specific variation of IChooseToStay which often results from TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody. May involve BecomingTheMask or GoingNative depending upon surrounding circumstances.Can result in BeneathTheMask when the character reveals a hidden more femenine side of his/her personality Contrast YouCantGoHomeAgain for characters who don't have any choice in the matter. See the FirstLawOfGenderBending and the ThirdLawOfGenderBending, which frequently (but not always) overlap with this trope.

A specific variation of IChooseToStay which often results from TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody. May involve BecomingTheMask or GoingNative depending upon surrounding circumstances. Contrast YouCantGoHomeAgain for characters who don't have any choice in the matter. See the FirstLawOfGenderBending and the ThirdLawOfGenderBending, which frequently (but not always) overlap with this trope.

* Somewhat subverted in ''Switch'' as [[spoiler: when in heaven]] the protagonist can't decide whether to be [[spoiler: a]] male or female [[spoiler: angel]].

Commonly, after someone gets their gender permanently bent, they will gradually get accustomed to life as a new man/woman. Eventually, they likely will experience an epiphany: that they are better off in their new gender than they ever were in their old one. This is the Second Law of Gender Bending, where a gender bent person who, if offered a chance to revert to their former gender, would turn it down because they have come to enjoy the benefits of the change.

* In LoisMcMasterBujold's ''A Civil Campaign'' Lady Donna Vorutyer goes offworld for gender reassignment surgery so she can contest her vile cousin's ascension to her late brother's Countship. "Lord Dono" soon admits that while she primarily did it out of a sense of duty she'd discovered there were some advantages to being a man (especially in Barrayar's highly sexist society) and even if she lost she would remain a man in order to explore them.

* Averted in ''{{Misfile}}''. Despite her life being much improved in almost every aspect, Ash is still vehemently trying to go back to being a boy, even if it meant that all the good things she achieved in the meantime disappear.

* Believe it or not, largely averted in ElGoonishShive despite all the GenderBending: Eliot has no interest in remaining female and considers his gender-bending PowerIncontinence distasteful, Justin specifically rejects the idea, Ellen accepts it without expressing a preference (though there are hints that the associated LossOfIdentity was a sore point until she got a new set of memories) and Vlad/Vladia says she's willing to accept ''any'' form provided it's human since her male form was not.
** It's touching in Vlad's case. There's nothing kinky about her accepting the change; she's just stunned that for the first time in her adult life, normal people aren't terrified by the sight of her.

* The [[OneSteveLimit ''other'' transgendered Megumi]] in TheDayOfRevolution goes the "reluctant admission" route when she's menaced by a boy and realizes that she fully understands how it feels to be a girl. Fortunately her new-found sense of femininity empowers her to free herself with a GroinAttack .

** To be fair, alot of the improvements he/she could have done as a boy(Like sending that letter to his mother), he has said that he would do those thing if he changes back. There's also the fact that the girl he likes won't dante him as a girl(Since Ash is attracted to girls),

* In Lois McMaster Bujold's ''A Civil Campaign'' Lady Donna Vorutyer goes offworld for gender reassignment surgery to contest her vile cousin's ascension to her late brother's Countship. "Lord Dono" soon admits that while she primarily did it out of a sense of duty she'd quickly discovered it was efinitely preferable to be a man in Barrayar's highly sexist society.

* The [[OneSteveLimit ''other'' transgendered Megumi]] in TheDayOfRevolution goes the "reluctant admission" route when she's menaced by a boy and realizes that she fully understands how it feels to be a girl in that situation. Fortunately her new-found sense of femininity empowers her to free herself with a GroinAttack .

Often used as an EndingTrope since invoking the second law typically ends the gender-bent character's FishOutOfWater status, though it may not eliminate all DifferentForGirls moments.

The one GenderBender plot that usually ''averts'' this law is when a male becomes female (and vice versa) via a FreakyFridayFlip.

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* The [[OneSteveLimit ''other'' transgendered Megumi]] in TheDayOfRevolution goes the "reluctant admission" route wnen she realizes that she knows far too much about being a girl to ever think of herself as a boy again.

* A reluctant admission, either because they've changed too much to return to they way things were or are loath to admit the enjoyment they get from their new lifestyle.

* A reluctant admission, as they at first wanted to get back to their previous gender, and are loath to admit the enjoyment they get from their new lifestyle.

** That said, Ranma starts to bring his macho approach to acting girly and cute. As seen in his competition with Tsubasa, Ranma's competitive streak is so hardwired that he even refuses to lose in a contest of femininity.

* ''KashimashiGirlMeetsGirl'' Hazumu never expresses any desire to return to her former gender. Of course, the aliens announced from the get-go that she couldn't become a boy again even if she wanted to, but you'd think she'd have missed ''something'' about life as a boy, even if it was only [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean the ability to write her name in the snow.]] However, since the gender change allows her to get together with the girl(''s'') of her dreams and his/her parents seem to prefer it she really doesn't have all that much to complain about. (It doesn't hurt that pre-change Hazumu was ''more girly'' than every other girl in the series...)
** There's fairly solid evidence for the [[WildMassGuessing theory]] that Hazumu was transsexual before the accident, which whould explain why she didn't miss much.

* In Lois McMaster Bujold's ''A Civil Campaign'' lady Donna Vorutyer goes offworld for gender reassignment surgery and comies back as "Lord Dono" in order to contest her cousin's assumption of her late brother's Countship. She soon admits that she much prefers being a man in Barrayar's highly sexist society.

* As one might suspect from the title, The entire plot of Justin Lieber's ''Beyond Rejection'' revolves around getting an involuntary GenderBender to this point.

* In Lois McMaster Bujold's ''A Civil Campaign'' lady Donna Vorutyer goes offworld for gender reassignment surgery and comies back as "Lord Dono" in order to contest her cousin's assumption of her late brother's Countship. She soon admits that she much prefers being a man in Barrayar's hightly sexist society.

Commonly, after someone gets their gender bent, they will gradually get accustomed to life as a new man/woman. Eventually, they likely will experience an epiphany: that they are better off in their new gender than they ever were in their old one. This is the Second Law of Gender Bending, where a gender bent person who, if offered a chance to revert to their former gender, would turn it down because they have come to enjoy the benefits of the change.

* Lois McMaster Bujold's ''A Civil Campaign'' has a woman, Donna, going offworld for sex-reassignment surgery and coming back as "Dono", in order to take the title of Count away from her brother. She ends up loving being a man, as do the ladies on Barrayar.

** It bears mentioning that the Exemplar power-set (MostCommonSuperpower as an actual power), the most common way ([[InvoluntaryShapeshifting Involuntary]]) shapeshifting happens in the series, also contains a psychological aspect to it -- the power eventually forces the person to accept their changes. There's also a theory that Exemplars only shape-shift into what they truly want to look like deep inside -- about half of the exemplared main characters realized they were transgender slightly before or right after the changes started.