History Main / GenderMisdirection

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16705553870.24157200 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.
Gender Misdirection happens when an unseen character is referred to by gender-neutral nouns and honorifics (Doctor, President, Judge), or also nouns generally associated with one specific gender, causing the viewers to assume the character is male when they are actually female or vice versa. TheReveal that they are the opposite gender is generally treated as a surprise by the other characters, and if the twist is done correctly by the writer the reader/viewer should have the same reaction.

This trope loses its subtlety in languages that have gendered definite and indefinite articles or gendered verb forms and adjectives. The use of the character's name instead of pronouns is a major giveaway that this is the case. [[GenderBlenderName This is, however, possible to subvert by using diminutives usually associated with one particular gender]] (e.g. "Alex" for Alexandra or "Sam" for Samantha).

See also SamusIsAGirl, which is the same but with a character who has appeared on screen prior to the reveal, and SheIsTheKing, where the character has a title associated with a specific gender, but is the opposite gender the title implies. Contrast with GenderNeutralWriting. CastAsAMask may also be used to further obscure a character's real gender, especially if the character is not directly seen on screen such as through a voiceover or ImagineSpot.

'''Examples May Contain Spoilers.'''
----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess'', Mauser is referenced throughout the series either by name only or as "Lord God Mauser". Mauser's name even sounds like it would belong to a male. In the end, however, not only is Mauser revealed to be a woman, [[spoiler: she looks like a twenty-something version of Pacifica!]]
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', the heroes talk about the rumored Kuukaku Shiba as a guy (not helped by the fact that the name sounds very masculine in Japanese) until they discover proof of the contrary and see that ''she'' is in fact a very busty woman.
* In ''Manga/HappyYarouWedding'', Todou refers to Chiharu, Kazuki's tutor, as being a "substitute mother" to Kazuki. Yuuhi assumes he's a woman because of this ambiguity, but he ends up being a man.
* In the ''Manga/OnePiece'' fandom, Dadan was speculated to be a man, but eventually proved to be a woman. [[BrawnHilda An ugly woman]] but still a woman.
* Alluka from ''Manga/HunterXHunter''. Turns out that the second youngest "brother" in the Zoldyck family is a girl (likely a UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} girl). Not important to the story, but it had fans in an uproar. Made more confusing by the fact that one of the actual brothers, Kalluto, is a case of DudeLooksLikeALady, so fans were already used to expecting a feminine looking figure, especially in that family, to actually belong to a boy.
* In ''LightNovel/{{Maoyu}}'', Hero comes to the Demon world to search for the Maou (translated as "demonic ruler"), and is extremely surprised to discover that ''she'' is in fact a very polite, buxom redheaded woman. Though her title in Japanese is technically gender neutral she's assumed in story to be male until the reveal, and some translations refer to her as the Demon ''King'' to keep the ambiguity.
* In ''VisualNovel/SteinsGate'', alleged time traveler John Titor is given a male voice when his online chats are read aloud in the narration, which along with the name disguises that he's actually a female character, [[spoiler:Amane Suzuha]].
** Also used in regards to the true identity of FB, Moeka's contact and LivingEmotionalCrutch, since the distinctly feminine tone of FB's texts to her disguises that they're actually being sent by [[spoiler:Tennouji Yuugo/Mr. Braun]].
* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' the leader of GREMLIN is only ever referred to as either One Eyed Odin or One Eyed Othinus, named after a male god from Myth/NorseMythology, which makes it quite surprising when she's revealed to actually be female.
* With a name like [[Manga/GetBackers Clayman]], it's no surprise that the main characters are quite shocked to see that she's a woman instead.
* In-universe, Irene Vincent chose the alias "Larry" to disguise that she was a female bounty hunter. When ''Manga/GunsmithCats'' was dubbed into English they apparently missed this and translated her name as "Rally" due to the [[SpellMyNameWithAnS L/R confusion]] in Japanese, but the intent was there to have it be this trope.
* In ''Anime/WorldConquestZvezdaPlot'', the unseen commander of White Light speaks to the agents as a male voice coming from a blank screen. When the commander finally shows up in person, White Robin and White Egret are both surprised to learn that she's actually a woman who used a vocal filter to mask her voice.
* In '' Manga/DandelionAmongLilies'' when Kanae's older sister asks if she could come over with someone she is surprised to see it's a girlfriend, not a boyfriend.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comics]]
* In 1988, British girls' comic ''ComicBook/{{Bunty}}'' ran a story called "The Seven Sisters", in which a young girl named Emily travels around Victorian England searching for her six siblings, the oldest of whom is named Pat. For most of the story, Emily believes Pat is short for Patricia - and the title leads the reader to make the same assumption. However, in the final installment, Emily and her sister, Mary, meet a young man named Patrick who turns out to be the missing sibling.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* In ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'', Gozer is assumed to be a man, but appears in the form of a woman.
-->'''Winston''': "I thought Gozer was a man."\\
'''Egon''': "It's whatever it wants to be."
* In ''Film/TheAvengers1998'', the head of the Ministry is a man codenamed "Mother", as in the series. To continue the joke, his deputy is a woman called "Father".
* ''Film/{{Hitch}}'' has characters repeatedly referring to Allegra Cole's "best friend," Maggie, who is a designer. Everyone assumes Maggie to be a female, but when Albert finally meets "her," Maggie's a man.
* ''Film/Cube2Hypercube'' has many people looking for "Alex Trusk," who is only known by name, as a hacker. [[spoiler: It turns out that "Alex" is Sasha, who has been in the hypercube with them the whole time. Also doubles as a BilingualBonus since "Sasha" is a common diminutive for people named Alexander/Alexandra in Slavic countries]]
* Neville's dog in ''Film/IAmLegend'' is referred to as "Sam" throughout until Neville yells out "Samantha" when she is injured and infected trying to protect him. The reveal makes the scene extra sad.
* ''Film/{{Them}}'' features Dr. Pat Medford, who the characters expect to be a male entomologist, presumably named Patrick, instead of the female entomologist named Patricia. ''Them!'' was [[FollowTheLeader such an influential film]] that a great many science fiction films of the era also had female scientist characters with male or androgynous names... sometimes even when there wasn't any actual misdirection!
* In ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'', Indy and Marcus know that "Dr. Schneider" will meet them in Venice, and expect a man, not the beautiful Dr. Elsa Schneider.
* In ''Film/{{Madeline}}'', [[spoiler:when trying to convince the Uzbekistan ambassador couple to let them keep the school, Ms. Clavel appeals to "Mr. Ambassador" only for the man to reveal his wife is the Ambassador. Lord Covington apparently never knew either, despite being the one who initially sold the school to them]].
* ''Film/MissionImpossible1996'': The weapon's dealer Max is thought to be a man before she meets Ethan, who has a moment of surprise realizing she's a woman. Later Kittridge walks right by her while looking for Max because he's looking for a suspicious man and doesn't look twice at her.
* ''Film/{{SWAT}}'' features Chris Sanchez, who was one of the members of the SWAT Team, who was thought to be named Christopher, turns out to be a woman named Christina. Most women named either Christina or Christine (especially younger women) tend to go by either Chrissy, Christy or Christie these days.
* Happens twice in ''Film/TheViewAskewniverse'':
** In ''Film/ChasingAmy'': When closet bisexual Alyssa starts dating Holden, she tells her lesbian friends that she's seeing someone new, but they notice she's very cagey when it comes to her partner's pronouns, forcing her to admit she was always a bisexual who just happened to skew towards women.
** ''Film/ClerksII'' has "Kinky Kelly", one half of a depraved donkey show. Randall points out that Kinky Kelly's website doesn't have any photographs and Kelly's handler only ever refers to Kelly by name, never by pronouns. Then Randall and company find out that [[spoiler: Kelly is the donkey - who is male because "Kelly can be a guy's name, too" - and Kelly's partner is a fat guy]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''[[Literature/TheBelgariad The Malloreon]]'', everyone just assumes Zandramas is male until Salmissra spills the beans.
* In ''Literature/NiceWork'': Factory managing director Vic Wilcox is told he will have an academic shadowing him, called Robin Penrose. The name is spelled incorrectly, is actually "Robyn Penrose", and the academic is actually a woman.
* In ''Literature/TheLostSymbol'', Langstron assumes that the head of the CIA's Office of Security, Inoue Sato, is a man before meeting her.
* In ''Literature/{{Otherland}}'' by Tad Williams, Orlando Gardiner and Sam Fredericks only know each other through their online role-playing personas, which are both male. Later it is revealed that "Sam" is in fact a girl.
* The ''Literature/{{Quarters}}'' series by Creator/TanyaHuff often refers to minor or background characters by their occupation — "two guards," "a secretary" — a few lines before the gendered pronoun is used. The reader then realizes that the guard or secretary to which s/he had unthinkingly assigned the "conventional" gender is, in fact, just the opposite.
* In ''The Subtle Knife'', the second book in ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'', Lyra goes searching for a Dr. Malone in our world's version of Oxford and is surprised when she meets Dr. Mary Malone, since "scholars" in her world are exclusively male.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* During the first episodes of ''Series/PrisonBreak'', we learn that Lincoln was framed for killing the Vice-President's brother. Behind this conspiracy, there's a mysterious unseen and unidentified woman, only heard and usually seen doing seemingly household chores, who seems resolute to expedite Lincoln's execution. Later it runs out that ''she'' is the Vice-President. %% The reference to her as the Vice-President is this trope, as the viewers would expect a man. %%
* In a deleted scene from ''Series/DoctorWho'' story ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E3TheClawsOfAxos The Claws of Axos]]'', American government official Bill Filer arrives at UNIT HQ looking for Jo Grant. It's clear when they meet that he was expecting a Joseph rather than a Josephine.
* During most of the first season of ''Series/{{Alias}}'', Sydney and SD-6 run up against an organization led by a mysterious character referred to as simply "The Man." In the season finale it is revealed that The Man was a woman, namely [[spoiler:Irina]].
* In ''Series/{{Lost}}'', Danielle Rousseau abducts Sayid thinking he was one of those who had kidnapped her daughter. She questions him about her whereabout, but only refers to her as "Alex" and "child." In season two, we meet a girl who only later is revealed to be Alexandra, her long lost child. (This created [[DubInducedPlotHole issues in foreign languages]], as some DVD subtitles had referred to Alex as male.)
* In ''Series/TheXFiles'' this was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen planned]] for Mulder's new MysteriousInformant Mr. X (after [[spoiler: Deep Throat is killed]]), an actress is even the one providing the silhouettes initially, but this was changed at the last minute.
* Done InUniverse on ''Series/TheCommish'', where Tony's new NumberTwo is a female but his wife doesn't realize that until she meets her, because Tony always refers to her as "Syd."
* In the ''Series/StargateSG1'' pilot, Captain Samantha Carter is intentionally referred to as "Sam" so that O'Neill can shoot his mouth off about having 'some new guy' added to his team as she walks in behind him.
* Similarly on ''Series/LasVegas'', famed Casino Host Samantha Marquez is referred to as "Sam," and thus assumed to be a man by Danny.
* In an early episode of ''Series/ThirtyRock'' Jack sets up Liz with a friend of his named Thomas, who turns out to be a female named Gretchen Thomas. Jack thought Liz was a lesbian.
* {{Averted}}: On the episode "All Mixed Up" of ''Series/CougarTown'' they do a similar thing with Jennifer Aniston's character who repeatedly brings up "Gabriel" while discussing Jules' son. Then it turns out Gabriel was her dog.
* In one episode of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' Marshall and Barney keep on telling Ted stories about a wild coworker named Jenkins. Jenkins is purported to have done many things, like telling bawdy stories, drinking heavily, and participating in eating contests. Since the show is narrated from Ted's point of view, the scenes involving Jenkins show an enthusiastic, overweight, and middle-aged man (presumably what Ted imagines Jenkins to look like). Of course, later on, Jenkins is revealed to be a young woman, and when Ted replays the scenes in his head with the real Jenkins, they take on an entirely different tone.
* In the TV series ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'', Steed's boss, codenamed "Mother" (or some variations on "grandma" in translations), is a man in a wheelchair.
* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'': Al works at Gary's Shoes & Accessories For Today's Women. Al worked there for 20 years before finally meeting Gary and learning Gary's actually a woman.
* ''Series/MimpiMetropolitan'': When Juna hears that Bambang's cousin Dian is coming to the dorm, he assumes that Dian is a beautiful girl and makes plans to attract Dian. It's only when Dian arrives that Juna (and the audience) finds out that Dian is a muscular guy.
* The mysterious BigBad of ''Series/{{Utopia}}'' is [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname only known as Mr. Rabbit]], but turns out to be a woman.
* There was an episode of Series/StepByStep where [=JT=] Lambert dismisses the idea of female mechanics before sending his car to get fixed by a mechanic named "Sam," who's considered to be the best mechanic in town (and who [=JT=] assumes is a guy). It's not until JT meets Sam in person that he learns that Sam is actually a girl (her real name is "Samantha"). JT also discovers that they actually have a lot in common besides cars and mechanics (such as both of them being big fans of the Green Bay Packers)--as a result, they develop feelings for each other and even become boyfriend-and-girlfriend.
* Series/{{Titus}}: An episode revolves around Christopher Titus trying to talk his niece out of suicide because she's distraught over her relationship with "Charlie". Come TheTag, it's revealed that Charlie is actually a blonde biker babe (played by a young Creator/RikiLindhome), to Titus's astonishment.
* In-universe one in ''Series/ThePuzzlePlace''. The viewers, as well as Julie and Kiki, know Jodi's karate instructor Grand Master Li is a woman, but Ben, Leon, and Skye do not. So when they refuse to accept that Jodi is better at karate than Ben even after beating him more than once, they video call Grand Master Li and presume the man she's sparring with is Grand Master Li. Leon's question about if boys are better than girls is answered when the man informs him his female partner is Grand Master Li.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}''
** When John Crichton tries to assure the aliens who've thrown him in a cell that he means them no harm, Rygel points to another occupant of the cell--a menacing figure in a black spacesuit with smoked-glass helmet--and says, "We can no more trust you than we can trust ''[[ItIsDehumanizing that!]]"'' Of course calling their captive "her" would have given the SamusIsAGirl trope away before Aeryn Sun [[DramaticUnmask removes her space helmet]].
** In "Family Ties", Aeryn relates an incident from her childhood.
--->'''Aeryn:''' When I was very young, one night a soldier appeared over my bunk. Battle-hardened. Scarred...
--->'''John:''' Your father.
--->'''Aeryn:''' My mother.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Radio]]
* In ''Radio/CabinPressure'', when Martin is practicing for his Swiss Air exam, Douglas decides to throw a question at him, asking what he'd do if he was on layover, went to the hotel bar, and saw his first officer in a cocktail dress. Martin begins "Well, we're not on duty, so I respect his life choices and..." before Douglas interrupts to ask why he assumes a first officer must be a man. Carolyn assures him they don't actually do trick questions like that any more.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''' module ''Castle Caldwell and Beyond'': The quest ''The Sanctuary of Elwyn the Ardent'' mentions that the information in the initial briefing was written in a way that implies that Elwyn is male, and the party should be allowed to believe this so that they will not immediately realize the woman's voice is actually Elwyn, and instead spring the surprise at the final battle. There's no mention on what the surprise should entail.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* A minor example in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll''. Until the trial in chapter 2, the prosecutor is only referred to as "Prosecutor von Karma" or with gender-neutral nouns like von Karma's "kid" or "successor". When the trial starts, ''Franziska'' von Karma's opening dialogue acknowledges the reveal and wonders if Phoenix is surprised.
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIIILiberation'', "The Company Man", a Master Templar in charge of the New Orleans chapter of the Templar Order that Aveline has been trying to find turns out to be [[spoiler:her stepmother Madeline]].
* The early levels of ''VideoGame/CandyCrushSaga'' introduced a mysterious, friendly dragon who is described to be male, but was later on revealed to be actually female and given the name Denize.
* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' we hear about Dr. Clark, who turned Gray Fox into the Cyborg Ninja. In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' we discover that Dr. Clark is a woman, Para-Medic from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3''. In this case it's one-half this trope (in universe, since the character who referred to her as man had never actually met her) one part RetCon since they decided to combine what were originally two different characters.
* Harold Berselius, the MadScientist in ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny2'', is in fact a woman and chose "Harold" on purpose to surprise people.
* An early subplot in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' has the party searching for a great mage named Mordio. Upon meeting ''Rita'' Mordio, they are surprised to find out they're not only female, [[ChildProdigy but much younger than they expected.]]
* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', you don't see "Jack", the deadly Subject Zero, until the end of the mission. You've heard a number of people in the nightmarish prison Purgatory refer to Jack in terror up until this point. When you release Subject Zero from the cryogenic cell the notorious criminal's been sealed in as a safety measure, most players were probably a little surprised to find that ''she's'' a small young woman in her twenties. Unless, of course, you [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil watched the trailers]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}} 6'', the character Leo seems to deliberately invoke this trope. (It's short for Eleonore/Eleonora)
* The true identity of the Imperator Librarius in ''Videogame/BlazBlue'' turns out to be a female, [[spoiler:Jin and Ragna's long-lost sister Saya]] a fact disguised by the masculine sounding title. Less so in the original Japanese where the title is the gender-neutral "Mikado."
* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has the protagonist be contacted by someone going by the name of "Alibaba"; despite the name being an obvious pseudonym, the thieves still refer to this person with "he" pronouns. It's only once they piece what little information they have together that they realise that Alibaba is [[spoiler:Futaba Sakura, Sojiro Sakura's adopted daughter.]] Her previous online handle of [[spoiler:Medjed]] is also fairly gender-neutral.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/CheckPlease'', Bitty and the readers are led to believe that the hockey team's manager Lardo is male like the rest of the team due to the hockey players all talking up Lardo as being capable of outdrinking and besting all of them at beer pong. Turns out Lardo is a tiny Vietnamese girl who just happens to be TheLadette.
* In ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': [[TheOmniscient Jadis']] Prophecy of the Successor speaks of TheChosenOne, the Successor, who will defeat the [[BigBadEnsemble Seven Black Emperors]] flanked by a black and white flame and wielding the terrible Blade of Want. It is heavily implied that the Prophecy was mistranslated by her priests, however, leading to the use of a male pronoun and thus the Emperors to believe that [[DistressedDude Zaid]] is the Successor and not [[TheHero Allison]]. Only Jadis [[spoiler:and Incubus]] knows better, and neither are telling.
* ''Webcomic/ZebraGirl'': Turns out that [[spoiler:Tomie, Jack's Grimoire, is a girl when she takes a physical appearance]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* Season one of ''WebVideo/PrettyDudes'' has [[spoiler:Eagle]], who is referred to in the first several episodes and doesn't appear until the final moments of the fifth.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Oil On Candace", Dr. Doofenshmirtz is awaiting a visit from his old [[CardCarryingVillain evil science professor]], "the mighty [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Dr. Gevaarlijk]]!" No pronouns are used to refer to Gevaarlijk before she appears, and she turns out to be a diminutive older lady.
** Brazilians don't have a gender-neutral equivalent for "Professor". When the episode where Professor Poofenplotz was first mentioned was translated for Brazilian audiences, they used the masculine equivalent. Then the episode "Isabella and the Temple of Sap" reveals Professor Poofenplotz is a woman.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': Batman believed the terrorist known as "Red Claw" to be a man until they met.
* ''WesternAnimation/PolePosition'': The heroes once had to meet a T. D. Russel and were never told if Russel was a man or a woman. After getting rid of two men claiming to be Russel, they learn the real one is a woman.
* ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'': The gang once went to an amusement park without knowing anything about its owners than their names ("Chris" and "Terry") and their fame obtained by building the park's rides. The gang initially expected both of them to be guys, but it turns out that Chris and Terry are actually both girls (and sisters).
* The season 2 premiere of ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' introduced KnightOfCerebus [[SheIsTheKing Lord Dominator]], who's set up as an AlwaysSomeoneBetter version of erstwhile BigBad Lord Hater and is only seen as a suit of towering armor until the ending reveals her to the audience as an adorable [[PsychopathicManchild Psychopathic Womanchild]] of a GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe. The other characters continue to assume Lord Dominator is male and refer to "him" with male pronouns until [[spoiler:she gets a very public SamusIsAGirl reveal in "The Battle Royale," changing the game considerably since more than one of her rivals now wants to date her.]]
* Done in ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' when Luna Loud repeatedly frets over whether a classmate named Sam returns her affections. It isn't until the end of the episode that we learn Sam is a girl and Luna actually [[QueerEstablishingMoment likes girls]].
[[/folder]]
----

* Done in ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' when Luna Loud repeatedly frets over whether a classmate named Sam returns her affections. It isn't until the end of the episode that we learn Sam is a girl and Luna actually likes girls.

* Harold Berselius, the [[HotScientist Hot]]/MadScientist in ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny2'', is in fact a woman and chose "Harold" on purpose to surprise people.

* A minor example in ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyJusticeForAll''. Until the trial in chapter 2, the prosecutor is only referred to as "Prosecutor von Karma" or with gender-neutral nouns like von Karma's "kid" or "successor". When the trial starts, ''Franziska'' von Karma's opening dialogue acknowledges the reveal and wonders if Phoenix is surprised.

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has the protagonist be contacted by someone going by the name of "Alibaba"; despite the name being an obvious pseudonym, the thieves still refer to this person with "he" pronouns. It's only once they piece what little information they have together that they realise that Alibaba is [[spoiler:Futaba Sakura, Sojiro Sakura's adopted daughter.]] Interestingly, he continues to use this name at other points, and her previous online handle of [[spoiler:Medjed]] is also fairly gender-neutral.

** More relevantly, ''Lily'' thinks Jenkins is a man and finds the behaviors amusing when she thinks they're being performed by a man, but Marshall worries Lily will get upset if she finds out that a woman is doing such suggestive things (like removing her shirt in front of Marshall.)

* The ''Literature/{{Quarters}}'' series by Creator/TanyaHuff often refers to minor or background characters by their occupation — "two guards," "a secretary" — a few lines before the gendered pronoun is used. The reader then realizes that the guard or secretary to which s/he had unthinkingly assigned the "conventional" gender is, in fact, just the opposite.

* Done in ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' when Luna Loud repeatedly frets over whether a classmate named Sam returns her affections. It isn't until the end of the episode that we learn Sam is a girl and Luna is actually a lesbian.

** More relevantly, ''Lily'' thinks Jenkins is a woman and finds the behaviors amusing when she thinks they're being performed by a man, but Marshall worries Lily will get upset if she finds out that a woman is doing such suggestive things (like removing her shirt in front of Marshall.)

* The Quarters series by Creator/TanyaHuff often refers to minor or background characters by their occupation — "two guards," "a secretary" — a few lines before the gendered pronoun is used. The reader then realizes that the guard or secretary to which s/he had unthinkingly assigned the "conventional" gender is, in fact, just the opposite.