on 8/21/2000 2:56 PM, Kyhdin@aol.com <Kyhdin@aol.com> wrote:
Nodaka and everyone else are making the same mistake Genma did. Ranko is
being pushed to embrace her femminity<sp?> and pushed, in my opinion, too
hard. Ranko, I think, needs to sit down and do some serious soul searching. I
don't think you can bury twelve years of being someone else as easily as she
seems to have and even so, some elements of Ranma will always be there no
matter what.
I think that Akane, Nodoka, and the others believe Ranko will probably
become a girl again, but I tried to make sure that they realized pushing her
would not be appropriate. Of course, being human, they may not be successful
at that.
The only scene where I felt Ranko was being pushed was in Dr. Toufuu's
office, where Akane and Toufuu were encouraging her to try being Ranko
again, to see how she felt about it. Even there, they told her it was up to
her.
I think Ranko embraced femininity all on her own, without being pushed. I
think being a girl again was a great relief to her. She is taking most of
the story, however, to reach equilibrium again, to understand who she is
again. Of course, that's what the story is really about: Ranko rediscovering
who she is. Deciding to become a girl again was only the start of the
process.
If there are places where you think the other characters come across as
pushing her (as opposed to wishing or thinking in private that she should be
a girl again), then please point them out, and I'll see what I can do.
By the way, with respect to Ranko returning so rapidly to being a girl, here
is a quote from a post that was made (not by me) to the FFML back in March,
when "Genma's Daughter" was first posted:
I have a friend who was born 'intersexed' (basically, having both male and
female biological parts). This friend was raised as a girl for the first
5 years of her life, and then her mother died. Her stepmother had always
wanted a son, and decided that since my friend 'could be either', she was
going to be a boy for sure.
So this friend grew up, raised as a boy, and was _miserable_. Even if she
never consciously, clearly remembered those first five years, they were
there in the back of her mind. She tried, as a boy, to enter the
military... did well, but still never felt right or that she fit in.
When she learned her past and finally decided to transition to living as a
girl again...?
Took her less than two weeks to fall back into place as a girl naturally;
less time than it took Ranko.
She's quite well, happy, and living with a boyfriend now, who knows but
can't believe she was ever trying to live as a 'boy'. Everyone except the
aforementioned stepmother has accepted my friend unquestioningly.
As a result, I personally, as a reader, find Ranko's transformation from
Ranma to be perfectly believable...and this is also why I don't believe
the claims that 12 years of life as a boy would have eradicated the female
core of Ranko from Ranma, and made it harder to adjust back. After all,
17 or so years, several of them as an Airborne Ranger who served in the
Gulf War, did not do it for my friend.
I see Ranko's situation as more like that of my friend than being like the
case of the 'classic' transgendered person you read about on the net.
The majority of transgendered folk seem to be worried more about 'will my
family accept me, will I be able to act naturally, etc.' I tend to think
that, much like my friend, Ranko's only real problem is allowing _herself_
to be a girl. She was a girl as a child, and I imagine it is a very
freeing experience to be able to know why she felt that way, and to let
herself act naturally.
I think this true story parallels my concept for Ranko's character very
well. It's actually kind of eerie; I hadn't heard this story until after I
posted "Genma's Daughter" to the FFML.
I think if someone is forced into a role that doesn't fit them, they may be
good at playing it, but they will also drop it in a second if given the
opportunity. Whether some of it "sticks" with you is, in my mind, a matter
of whether those pieces are compatible with who you are.
I realize there is disagreement on how much of who we are is nature vs.
nurture. I guess I tend to come down on the nature side. I know the issue
isn't settled once and for all.
Deborah