On Fri, 24 Jul 1998, Gary Kleppe wrote:

Nick Leifker <nightelf@thekeep.org> wrote:

Well... Gary, that's one interpretation of it.  I have a whole slew of
divorces and breakups due to one person in the marriage wanting SRS to
tell me that the world just doesn't work that way.

Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. The question is whether it
would work for Ranma and Akane.

And, as characterization is always open to interpretation, there will be
disagreements, as here.

 

 And, though many may
disagree with me on this, I assure you that the decision to undergo a
sex-change is so traumatic and the urges behind it so powerful that it can
very easily be considered an 'involuntary' change.

Yes, but do the people demanding divorces *understand* how involuntary
it is? Akane does.

True.  Very true.  Most gender dysphorics don't understand how it works,
or why.  Explaining it effectively to others, as a result, is almost
impossible.

There are, by the way, a few cases where the couple stays together;
these are, however, the exception, rather than the rule.

If the person you loved all-of-a-sudden changed, would you be able to stay
with them?  It's a very easy thing to say 'yes'.  For Akane, it's easy to
say 'yes', as she deals with his female form part-time.

Yes, it is.

It's easy to say, as I said; after all, manhood's a hot bath away.  But
what if it wasn't anymore?  Could she truly love a woman in that way?  You
can't answer her character for certain in such a case; truth to tell,
neither can I.  

There are, of course, other factors to consider here.  Ranma will change
in and of herself due to the alteration of the curse; a lot of her pride
would be wounded, and ye olde fragile male ego would be shattered to bits.
That will affect Ranma's behavior, and how Akane will see her.

 It's a very
different thing entirely to deal with the stigma of a homosexual
relationship,

Akane's already lived with the stigma of a relationship to an
aquatranssexual, and as far as I remember it's never bothered her --
even when it looked like Ranma might be stuck in his cursed form
permanently.

There are differences.  People wouldn't know how to react to an
aquatranssexual; they simply do not exist in our world.  On the
other hand, there is a history of stigma attached to homosexuality.

as well as the concept of not being at all physically
attracted to your partner.  To do so requires a love and spiritual
awareness that goes above and beyond what most are capable of.  In this
case, I do not believe Akane capable of it.  This is my interpretation, of
course, and only one valid one out of many possible for Akane.  ^_^

It's your interpretation, yes, but I for one find it somewhat
unconvincing. Just MHO.

Ironic; I find your interpretation of her to be too messianic to be
credible.  She's a human character, with faults and frailties galore;
assuming offhand she would be able to continue the relationship strikes me
as a remarkably naive response.

As for Akane trying to get Ranma acclimated to her female form... she felt
it necessary.  Ranma is stuck, after all, and has a lot to learn.

Now this I don't get *at all.* Why does Ranma have to learn *anything,*
apart from basic biological necessities like how to handle menstruation?
Why should he need to change his taste in friends or what he does for
fun? He's still the same person underneath his feminine body that he
always was. He is still going to have the same likes and dislikes.

Ask society.  Whether we like it or not, society has preconceived notions
about how men and women should act.  This is even more true in Japan than
in the U.S.; in fact, one of the reasons why this gender-bending is so
common in their entertainment is that they ARE so rigid, and the breaking
of such taboos in TV and comics is found to be humorous.

Very easy case in point: What would be the likely result if I were to go
in to work wearing a white lace blouse, skirt, pantyhose, and heels?
Conversely, how would society view a woman who wears a man's dress shirt,
slacks, and wingtips every day?  The problems become even more complicated
in Japan, where even the appropriate language is clearly separated by
gender.  This is what Ranma has to learn: the daily ins-and-outs of living
as a Japanese female. 

And it's well-accepted.  However, your problem with the work can be summed
up with one sentence: 

You wanted more backstory clarification.  

Not quite.

My problem was that I had trouble accepting that the situation you've
put Ranma into could believably follow from what we know about the
character. I suggested more backstory as something that might help. The
explanations you've given here do help -- to some extent -- but I still
have reservations about it.

Well, we will always disagree on some things. 

That said, it's your story, so I'll shut up now. ^_^

Thanks for the comments.  It's refreshing to have a discussion like this
one; I so rarely get into character arguments anymore.

Gary Kleppe
http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics

-- Nick