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Just a Face and a Caption: Transgender Fetishization

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PlasmaPower Piece of Cake. Since: Jan, 2015
Piece of Cake.
#1: Dec 21st 2020 at 3:03:06 PM

I feel like this relies too much on Fan Myopia, since without the captions desiginating what the characters are, people not familiar with Street Fighter or Final Fight wouldn't get that Poison is a trans character just by looking at her.

Thomas fans needed! Come join me in the the show's cleanup thread!
Willbyr Hi (Y2K) Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Hi
#2: Dec 26th 2020 at 8:56:26 AM

I think it's too busy overall.

Spark9 Since: Nov, 2010
#3: Dec 26th 2020 at 9:02:19 AM

The picture is too close to JAFAAC to my liking. Many characters in fighting games are sexualized or sex-themed, that doesn't have anything to do with them being cis or trans.

Pull it.

petersohn from Earth, Solar System (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Hiding
#4: Dec 26th 2020 at 9:17:49 AM

[up]The point is that the trans character has sexually themed powers, while the cis one doesn't. There is no problem with the illustrativeness. Still, the composition is rather clumsy, borderline JAFAAC / image macro, so I can get behind a pull.

Fjón þvæ ég af mér fjanda minna rán og reiði ríkra manna.
Snicka Since: Jun, 2011
#5: Dec 26th 2020 at 9:29:33 AM

I don't know how to visibly show that the character is trans other than what this image does, i.e. writing "this character is trans" over them.

thecarolinabull01 from North Carolina Since: Jun, 2014
#6: Dec 26th 2020 at 9:40:57 AM

[up]Exactly.

I vote Keep Until Better Image Suggested.

If not that, we may need to go the BUPKIS route.

Edited by thecarolinabull01 on Dec 26th 2020 at 12:42:19 PM

Spark9 Since: Nov, 2010
#7: Dec 26th 2020 at 9:50:15 AM

[up][up] Possibly by a screenshot showing a character's backstory, or by a comic discussing it.

jandn2014 SMILE! from somewhere in Connecticut Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Hiding
SMILE!
#8: Dec 26th 2020 at 10:13:37 AM

Keep Until Better Image Suggestion.

Kappaclystica Since: Jan, 2019
#9: Dec 26th 2020 at 10:23:40 AM

Weak keep. It works, and it'd probs be tough to find something that works better.

Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#10: Dec 26th 2020 at 11:32:34 AM

Keep Until Better Image Suggested. Saying “character is trans” works for the trope’s purposes. I don’t see the need to pull it because it uses text to explain that.

rjd1922 Best robot boy | he/him | Image Pickin' regular, from the United States Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: Love is for the living, Sal
Best robot boy | he/him | Image Pickin' regular,
#11: Dec 26th 2020 at 12:25:34 PM

[up]Exactly. It's hard to show a character is trans without being NSFW. Keep Until Better Image Suggested.

Keet cleanup
Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#12: Dec 26th 2020 at 12:49:47 PM

It can be accomplished without being NSFW (Queer Colors, etc), but we shouldn’t pull an otherwise serviceable pic and go out of our way to find something less texty but that would probably be less clear.

Edited by Synchronicity on Dec 26th 2020 at 3:00:03 AM

Drope Since: Oct, 2012
#13: Dec 26th 2020 at 12:57:02 PM

Keep.

Unless the OP has a better way to identify a trans character through illustration alone, especially in a fetishization context.

Edited by Drope on Dec 26th 2020 at 12:57:49 PM

ccorb from A very hot place Since: May, 2020 Relationship Status: It's not my fault I'm not popular!
miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#15: Dec 26th 2020 at 3:06:12 PM

Keep

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
Karxrida from Eureka, the Forbidden Land Since: May, 2012 Relationship Status: I LOVE THIS DOCTOR!
#16: Dec 26th 2020 at 8:24:26 PM

My issue with current is that it looks like someone screencapped the moveset entries of a couple wiki pages and lazily stitched them together. Hell, one or the moves looks like it's being highlighted by a mouse. It's very inelegant.

Edited by Karxrida on Dec 26th 2020 at 8:26:07 AM

rjd1922 Best robot boy | he/him | Image Pickin' regular, from the United States Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: Love is for the living, Sal
Best robot boy | he/him | Image Pickin' regular,
#17: Dec 26th 2020 at 8:27:03 PM

[up]Can we get images from the actual game that show their movesets?

Keet cleanup
mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#18: Dec 27th 2020 at 3:31:01 AM

I did find comics discussing the concept from Trans Girl Next Door (which might end up illustrating most of our imageless trans tropes at this rate but it's the only comic I know to illustrate this stuff in depth) but they're mostly based on text.

  • Panel 2 of this but we'd need Panel 1 or 3 for it to make sense.
  • There's also this but it's very busy.
  • And then there's this but it's just a bunch of faces and text, so it's pretty lousy.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Drope Since: Oct, 2012
#19: Dec 27th 2020 at 4:10:59 AM

[up]The problem is that there's no non-fetishized cisgender character for comparison, which is part of the trope.

This is not just "sexy transgender character", but rather "transgender characters are sexier than everybody else for some reason".

Edited by Drope on Dec 27th 2020 at 4:13:17 AM

Spark9 Since: Nov, 2010
#20: Dec 27th 2020 at 6:24:45 AM

[up] I'm not getting that from the trope description. Rather, this trope does seem to be "sexy transgender character" (just like how we have tropes for "sexy nurse", "sexy Russian", "sexy librarian" and so forth).

[up][up] I think a few frames from the second would work best.

petersohn from Earth, Solar System (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Hiding
#21: Dec 27th 2020 at 6:33:00 AM

[up]From the first paragraph of the trope description (emphasis mine):

Transgender Fetishization is the practice of placing a transgender character in a hypersexualized role, often as someone that does Fanservice better, or focuses on sexual content more candidly, than the other characters in the setting.

Edited by petersohn on Dec 27th 2020 at 3:33:15 PM

Fjón þvæ ég af mér fjanda minna rán og reiði ríkra manna.
Spark9 Since: Nov, 2010
#22: Dec 27th 2020 at 6:39:33 AM

[up] Right. The sentence explains, "Fetishization is the practice of placing a transgender character in a hypersexualized role".

And then it goes to give two examples, stating that it is "often" (so not necessarily) someone that does it more "than the other characters in the setting."

The contrast is an example but not a requirement of the trope, per that very sentence you're quoting.

I mean, that could have been worded more clearly. But a lot of the examples on the page are, indeed, "sexy transgender character". And we do have many other tropes just like that.

Edited by Spark9 on Dec 27th 2020 at 6:41:17 AM

Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#23: Dec 27th 2020 at 4:16:08 PM

I personally find a contrast with a non-sexualized cis character a better illustration of the mentality, whether or not it's required.

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (10,238/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (10,238/50,000)
#24: Dec 27th 2020 at 4:21:34 PM

I'm wondering if Frank N' Furter would be a decent illustration, actually...the only issue is that he's (in the original), not even really trans, just an alien from the planet Transexual.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#25: Dec 27th 2020 at 4:28:55 PM

Hm...using Laverne Cox's take on the character might mitigate some of the funky wunkyness regarding gender identity. Here's her FNF contrasted with the more straight-laced-looking Brad and Janet. It doesn't explicitly point out that Frank is trans, but one of those three characters is obviously more sexualized.

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lavernecox_fnf.png


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