Male or female...

I'm not quite set on deciding the gender of the MC. He's (well, currently) very androgynous and gets mistaken for a girl constantly whenever he is wearing clothings that are even remotely unisex. He likes to brew tea, speak in low and gentle voice, and generally good with domestic activities. Lastly, his best friend, a dude, hits on him incessantly.

When I was coming up with character designs, I realized that he's practically a male in name only. I could have made him a female right away, if it wasn't for his fighting style, which can be described as Combat Pragmatist cranked up to twelve. It just doesn't sound fitting for a girl.

My verse IS where Everyone Is Bi though.

So...which gender should I consider?

Do it as a female. Combat Pragmatism is a trait of effective fighters; the gender bit is just your own prejudice talking, so start stabbing it with a pen now before it causes problems.

I disagree with the poster above me.

If he's male, then he's male. Characters are more than just cobbled together traits and sexual attractions. And those DEFINITELY don't define their gender.

Females can do "manly" things and males can do "girly" things. The answer is to not change their gender so they will fit a stereotype.

That being said, the fighting style is gender neutral, and I highly advise you don't divide fighting styles by gender.

edited 5th Aug '11 10:06:02 AM by MrAHR

Which will be more interesting for you to write? If one or the other will cause more conflict, go with that.

Yeah, I got to admit that I'm quite biased when it comes to fighting style. I just can't picture a Badass Longcoat wearing combat pragmatist being a female. I mean, there are MANY action girls in my fic, but they all tend to be one of those military types or Lady of War.

I have no idea. If I were to make him a female, there certainly would be a hell lot of Les Yay, which I find to be good for some giggles.

edited 5th Aug '11 10:18:44 AM by dRoy

Biases are not good when writing. It limits the variety in your cast.

Also, how is lesyay more or less humorous than hoyay? I personally find each equally unfunny, for example.

As a reader rather than a writer, I tend to agree with Mr AHR. You're hobbling yourself as a writer if you limit certain fighting styles to certain genders.

Screw gender rules/stereotypes. Your character is your own, and no matter the opinions of anyone on this site, the decision is ultimately up to you. Decide for yourself how you want your character to be portrayed. It's your story, who cares what anyone else thinks? Write for yourself, not to please the world. Either people will like it or they won't.

If the above is void in this case and you honestly want us to help you out, what are you trying to portray with your character?

I would stick to keeping him a male. In my opinion, feminine males are more interesting than masculine girls, since the former is still territory that hasn't been overly explored by authors.

Inaccurate. Both have been explored greatly, with varying levels of sensitivity. Feminine males has it's own artistic shift going on, what with the Bishōnen craze.

edited 5th Aug '11 10:40:46 AM by MrAHR

Which half of the character's body does he use the most in fighting? I read somewhere that males have greater upper body strength and females have greater lower body strength.

Tooru: Strength doesn't matter if you're a pragmatic type. Any male can fight well with his lower body, and any female can fight well with their upper body. It's not so clear cut as that. Males do indeed have upper body strength, and females do indeed have pain resistance, but those vary from person to person, and should not be used to rigidly define your characters.

edited 5th Aug '11 10:47:26 AM by MrAHR

Speaking personally, I find that eliminating biases is important enough that, if I were you, I'd make the character female simply because I was biased towards making the character male (since it sounds like there's no particular reason for them to be either). However, as most people have said it shouldn't really matter either way, so do whatever you feel like.

I also agree with Mr. AHR that I can't see any reason why either Les Yay or Ho Yay would be funny.

edited 5th Aug '11 5:41:31 PM by nrjxll

Well, keep in mind, I was specifically referring to the type of hoyay/lesyay you described. I am sure there are very talented writers who can pull off amusing moments, mostly by making the humor be about the fact it's a misconception, not the "lol, that would be gay"

edited 5th Aug '11 5:51:49 PM by MrAHR

I actually like the idea of an extremely girly male protagonist, those are like hella rare.

And if the story works better with the character as a girl that's one thing, if actually being a guy when they look and act girly is part of their characterization and a plot point in the story then that's something else all together.

(And to my knowledge the main thing that girls have on guys is dexterity, rather than pain resistance. Most of that super fine, crazy welding done on, say, space shuttles and tanker trucks, is mostly done by women, I'm told).

edited 5th Aug '11 6:14:13 PM by NoirGrimoir

I'm curious how long you could leave it ambiguous.

I also think the idea of a super girly male protagonist would be interesting. You don't see too many of those, especially in shonen.

But, it's your story. Play around with the ideas of "him" as male and as female, see what you like better.

Count D from Petshop of Horrors? Although I don't think that's shounen...

That's Josei, I think.

I think I'll stick him being a super girly male. Girly or not, he's still a male and I find writing male characters a lot easier anyways.

Thanks for all the advices though.

I actually think Combat Pragmatist would suit a female fighter well. Since women are not as physically strong, a woman with shades of Determinator would use Combat Pragmatism to win over a stronger opponent.

Technically speaking, most real life battles consist solely of Combat Pragmatism.

roy, i just wrote the first bit where tanya meets the others who later revive the nightmare recon team.. and she was FAR from girly. the gender has no effect on how someone fights. now how they were brought up might, as well as their temperament. a girl brought up conventionally with a timid temperament might be more reserved in combat, but if she grew up on a farm with a bunch of boys and had a temper, she might be more vicious and aggresive.

The gender itself has no effect when one is trained for combat, even if their expected gender roles and upbringing negatively effect them. If he/she isn't trained for combat, then at least in real life the instincts take over, and their temperment would be a better guide.

essentially, unless they are trained, the only thing about themselves that will effect how they fight is instincts and temperment, the fight or flight kicks in. If trained, they will fight or react to the way they were taught too. gender has no effect on how someone fights

"As a reader rather than a writer, I tend to agree with Mr AHR. You're hobbling yourself as a writer if you limit certain fighting styles to certain genders."

Not if that is a specific custom of an imaginary culture.

But that's not what's being described here, which is the OP's self-confessed bias towards viewing combat pragmatism as limited towards males.