If you believe that a male character model for a character that self-identifies as female and wears women's clothing makes them "appear to be a clown" then that's your perspective.
So you mean to say that I'm just entirely off base in making the assumption that other people view such a thing with ridicule?
I'm sorry, but I've been around long enough to know that people find the idea appalling and worthy of a laugh. The fact that I am aware of the attitudes of others does not mean that I have internalized that attitude. Even if I assume that you've put forward this idea for entirely different reasons than every other time it's been brought up in media, it's still hinging on a sense of shock value over this person's gender variance. Her entire character has been reduced to her transgenderism, and nickname. All that we are conveyed through this depiction is that she is transgender, has done modeling out of desperation, and goes by the handle of SMA. Compared to the character of The Cleaver, this is a hollow and meaningless depiction by comparison.
SMA in reality is a very scholarly person who has a lot of knowledge about a lot of things, and here we're seeing a transgender archer who's done some nude modeling as the embodiment of everything she's posted here, and again with regard to your 'inclusion' of myself, we simply see references to my nickname and the fact that I'm transgender.
Other than the character model and character sheet, no.
Yeah, it's not like those things stand as essential or definitive within the context of CRPGs, those are just incidentally mentioning that she's male, it doesn't hold any more weight or gravity to list it on her character sheet than it would for somebody to whisper it in a text bubble.
We both know that's bullshit, because the character sheet is like going back behind the curtain and telling us 'how it really is,' and here you seem to be taking the two most essential and iconic manifestations of the character, visual representation and stats, and using those to indicate that she's male.
There was the "bowman" reference but given the issues transgender people face every day with being identified as the gender they're trying not to be, I don't think that's an entirely invalid reference or "mistake" that someone might make.
Again, her entire character is about being transgender. She's a token, you're explicitly including this information simply because it's relevant to her being transgender. I don't think that in and of itself justifies the inclusion of misgendering her, especially given that we aren't given any sort of insight into how it makes her feel or how it influences her life. From the perspective of the player, and not the person who designed the encounter, we're just seeing another example of a transgender person who isn't where they want to be yet, and indeed I'm saying that seems to be the only way that anyone wants to depict us.
In this case, "Lady Sarah" is clearly identifying herself as female. She's wearing a dress which is also a female identifier. As dresses usually allow others to see the legs, we indicate that the legs are shaved. Again, another female identifier. There is the potential that she may simply be perceived as a cross-dresser, something which the name and the legs attempt to alleviate. IE: She is clearly trying to present as female by doing feminine things. There's also the possibility she may be a Drag Queen but we're hopefully avoiding that by not saying, for example, that she's wearing a blonde wig and heavy make-up.
You seem to have a tremendous amount of faith in the ability of the audience to sense these nuances and interpret them appropriately. I think that the distinctions you're citing, even if I allow my guard to slip and assume they are well intended, will be entirely overshadowed by the alread extant attitudes of the viewer.
Except now we run into the disconnect in that she's "not" - or at least wasn't born that way (I don't want to get into whether she's post-op or pre-op).
So let's go for the quickest, easiest, and most well trod route to demonstrating it.
Not that I even agree with what follows:
Now the entire issue of trans-genderism is the struggle for people who are one thing, to try and appear to be another.
See, this just isn't how I would described 'the entire issue of transgenderism,' as a transgender person that is. I strongly doubt that any transgender person would describe 'the entire issue of transgenderism' in such a way.
For one, we're talking about *gender,* not *sex*, so from that angle it's possible that somebody *is* what they are 'trying to be.' While somebody's biological birth sex is immutable, how they are perceived by society can and does change, and while these two things do not always line up, the fact that they don't line up for some people is not essential to the struggle of
all transgender people. There are transgender people who effectively function within society as the gender they present, not the gender they transitioned from.
Some pull that off more easily than others ("How others perceive them" - things that play into this perception include: breasts, penis, Adam's apple, sound of their voice, physical build of their body and what they're wearing - all the things that make us determine whether someone is "male" or "female").
How others perceive them is central to the issue of 'gender,' and while not wholly definitive of it, when one perceives themselves as female gendered and all of the people around them similar perceive them that way, they are functionally female gender for all intents and purposes so long as those perceptions stand.
You've been a bit more civil with this post and put me off my guard, but I have to wonder if tidbits such as this are truly intended to be informative rather than simply inflaming. As you know, it's rather frustrating to be reminded as a transgender person by somebody who isn't transgender what transgender people encounter. Honestly, I'm not sure what would be more insulting, if you think that you know more about the experience of transgender people than I do, or if you were just trying to deconstruct my viewpoint
Given this is a game and the entire point of this character is to portray a trans-gender individual, we at some point need to make it clear to the player that this person, is in fact a trans-gender individual.
Maybe that's the problem? Why is it important that we include a transgender person? That doesn't seem to fit any sort of vibe that the rest of the party has going on. I don't see how it overlaps with any of the other characters. The inclusion of a transgender person seems arbitrary when we look at the bases on which the other characters are included.
I mean, just why were the other guys included? Let's investigate that:
St. Proverbius - 'Cool dude,' seems to be held up as an example of something that was lost in the decline. We see references to his staff position and use of the banhammer. A tenuous but fair connection to his forum persona.
Cleve - Epic lolcow who has written thread upon thread of scientology style science fiction narratives. We see too many references to count, all from divergent threads, honestly the best designed character of the bunch imo.
Andhaira - Troll who spawned the rat diplomacy meme.
Vault Dweller - Another 'cool dude' who represents some sort of erudition that's been lost.
So why is a tranny the best fit here again? I'm honestly not even sure how we're all that indicative of codex culture at large. Why not include one of your little internet detectives instead? There seems to be a rather strong culture for that around here.
1. We have an entirely female model, with nothing to "arouse suspicion" and we address it entirely in dialogue. The issue with this option is how we get that across. It's unlikely of Sarah to say "So, did you know I was born a man?" as it's unlikely an issue she'd bring up in random conversation. The other possibility is to learn it from someone else who knows the character, such as running into someone who used to date her before (or even after) she transitioned, or someone who grew up with her (for instance, you could meet her father who constantly refers to his "son" - something that is reasonably common with transgenderism). However, the player will never get a chance to meet anyone else to have this conversation - given we are designing just this short encounter.
Given it's an issue Sarah herself wouldn't bring up, it's unlikely any of the other characters travelling with her would bring it up either - if they did, it would end up becoming a HUGE issue during the encounter with Sarah becoming the central character, gaining a lot of unwanted attention, and eating into the time available to outlay the background of the rest of the characters. My preference is also to not have it as an issue that's mentioned in conversation at all. That, quite literally, all you meet is a "male character model" that identifies as female and tells you about (some) of her past - because that's what normal human beings do when they run into people.
2. We use a male character model, and yet refer to Sarah as "her" and never raise it as an issue at all. The player will be able to look and perhaps see "You see: Sarah. She has nice shaved legs." and will be able to identify it as a male character model (if they can in some way access the character sheet) but it's not something that comes up at all. And at this point we might say "Tell me about your bowman." which one of the characters corrects as "Bow-woman" and moves on - without batting an eyelid.
All of that is fair enough, but again without any sort of context I just don't see how having us is 'worth it.'
Again though, the fact of the matter is that you are rendering SMA. If you render SMA and don't make any mention of me, then I am forced to bite my tongue and bear whatever insensitive portrayal you come up with. Because I say with complete sincerity that I don't feel it's my place to decide whether or not SMA makes it into the Codex's referential circlejerk. I only commented to begin with because I was glad that I was being left out given how it looks like she's going to be included.
However, if you mention myself, or it becomes a 'generic tranny,' then I have a personal stake in this issue. While I'm fully aware that I've made a buffoon out of myself here in the past, I've had my fill of playing the fool for the Codex.
All I had in the original "Sarah's NPC model and character sheet clearly identify her as a male, but she is wearing a female's outfit - and has shaved legs." This is what you derided as "entirely unoriginal and derivative". But as I said, if you believe someone who has the physical characteristics of a male (physical body build, sexual organs, adam's apple, deep voice) and yet is wearing a dress and identifies as a female - is "a clown", then I'd argue the issue is with your own perception.
Again, there is being aware of how others think, and while you might try to browbeat me by saying that I'm simply assuming others think that way, I know damned well that most people do not see that as a positive image, and my simply being aware of this does not mean that I have internalized that bigotry and sense of revulsion.
All right, so design a transgender character that you would be happy with.
I will if we make it so far as $3000 dollars.