Japanese trans people: these characters are not representative of our experience and so while having a headcanon/au is ok please do not insist these characters were written to be trans
Have all the aus and headcanons you want!!! But if Japanese trans people!!! Have literally said!!! Those characters DO NOT accurately represent them!!! Do not insist!! That they have to!!!
It is okay for trans people to say "this character's portrayal does not represent me nor is it written with the intent to represent me"!! You can still headcanon whatever the fuck you want!!
But that doesn't make it right for you to say that anyone who DOESN'T accept those characters as trans is wrong WHEN FOR SOME TRANS PEOPLE IT IS INCREDIBLY OFFENSIVE TO THINK OF THESEE CHARACTERS AS TRANS
Like really I have no problem with headcanons or AUS but it's 100% valid for Japanese people to be like "that headcanon is offensive to me as a trans person actually living in Japan, where this canon is from" and you just gotta respect that!!!
I will admit I am pretty curious about the Japanese perspective on a character in a canon I recently got into tbh since I know there’s been a little discourse in the EN fandom
I wish I knew where to direct you, I only know what I know because of previous discourse where at least one Japanese trans woman was bullied off the internet for saying Chihiro isn't trans
[Stares at the actual Japanese trans people who habe said for years that shit makes them uncomfortable while Actually Trans characters in Japanese media go ignored]
Also in all fairness I have no idea how bad the grell discourse got but at least it seems people haven't brought it up as much as the Dangan/Persona discourse
People are OBSESSED with Chihiro and Naoto (who are good characters! I get it! But they aren't trans!) but ignore characters that are actually written to be trans rep
Hoshikawa Lily from Zombie Land Saga, whom you may know as the centre of some discourse from fall 2018 when she was revealed to be a canon trans girl, or as the girl from the "STFU TERF" meme that made it to the British Parliament as an exhibit.
my ex was very attached to writing Jude Matthis from TOX as a trans guy, and she took offense when I basically said "that's cool, write what you love, but I personally view him as an effeminate GNC cis male because there is literally zero representation of that identity and I think that's how he's supposed to be written"
Chihiro honestly more represents the experience of a transman than a transwoman and trans women in Japan have stated repeatedly they do not feel Chihiro is indicative of the Japanese trans woman experience and instead is an example of how bad bullying can be in Japan
Insisting he MUST be a trans woman to be a valuable character not only steps on the feelings of those trans women but also shits on what his story WAS supposed to represent: the fact that bullying culture in Japan can be so bad it forces you to live as someone you aren't
Dangan Ronpa jumped the shark a liiiittle bit but at its core it was intended to be a commentary on bullying culture as well as the harsh education culture in Japan
also, a lot of these trans headcanons hinge on rigid binary presentation of trans people when there are trans women who dress butch and trans men who dress effeminately
and like again if either of them being trans in that way makes you feel good, sure, do it but you can have a trans headcanon without being like THIS IS HOW IT HAS TO BE AND YOU'RE TRANSPHOBIC IF YOU DISAGREE EVEN IF YOU'RE ALSO TRANS
2) naoto is often treated poorly within the narrative as a gnc girl responding to sexist pressure, because persona is often casually cruel to its characters who are female and/or gnc.
3) naoto....related....content in p4 included some VERY uncomfortable material wrt trans men and srs, unnecessarily throwing trans men under the bus in pursuit of its statement about naoto.
like, the thing with Naoto and her dungeon... I don't think it's a disservice to say that the thought that "well, if I had been born male, my life would be so much easier, right?" didn't cross her mind
people can go through questioning phases throughout their life, but the narrative makes it pretty clear after you finish her dungeon that she's not trans
????final) different portrayals of naoto in fan content are permissible because characters are fake and "writing it to better suit your own tastes/needs, whatever informs those tastes" is a valid type of fan content but holy shit persona does not deserve the credit and i would never rec p4 to someone for trans content holy moly
the Shadows aren't necessarily one's "true" thoughts, but the anxieties one holds back, which certainly includes internalized homophobia and transphobia, so I don't necessarily hate the way atlus treated Kanji and Naoto's dungeons BUT
for a game about accepting yourself and being true to yourself sure is weird that naoto's only option for romance is if she conforms to rigid gender norms
i was joking that in p6 there would still be no fem protag or option to be gay but like..... it's depressing to think about how, no, it probably won't be a joke
on a similar note, really tired of the idea that masculine women can Only be liked by other women & the accompanying connotation that that is somehow lesser
I think what tires me out most is like.... aside from all the stuff already said wrt these canons, esp Persona, which I agree with 100%, I am so.... exhausted with English speaking and other western fans of Japanese media being such complete assholes to Japanese fans
Bonus points that these fans think they are so woke and unproblematic and yet they consistently talk over the people who this media actually comes from and ignore their knowledge and experiences, like... you fucking hypocritical head ass mother fuckers
Americans treat Japanese people like shit already, like way to be transparent as you gorge yourself on their media while shitting on any that actually speak up about their experiences and your bad takes
man all this ever does is make me want to write transboy-ok-with-dresses Chihiro BUT EVEN THAT IS STIL JUST AN AU, CONSIDERING HOW IT'S LEARNED THAT HE'S A BOY
Honestly this is part of why when I work on stories with larger casts (which are always lgbt+ casts) I almost always end up including a crossdressing cis male who says plainly that they identify as male, along with all the other trans characters included
You’d think it’d be the one thing people would learn from the rise of drag queens but nah I guess it only counts if you’re being performative and campy
and the Dees (hyperfemme lesbians) that usually accompany Toms are into toms.... BECAUSE THEY'RE WOMEN and ID as women no matter how masculine they seem
I'm very much here for straight cis GNC male rep because while we get SOME GNC female rep for girls via the tomboy stereotype, we very rarely get the same for boys
and it's like... to insist that a straight male HAS to be gay or trans or whatever because he shows interest in anything even remotely feminine is pretty toxic imo?
I always thought it was unfair that girls get a free pass to explore masculine presentations, but boys aren't really allowed that space to explore feminine presentation
and I'm sure that the resentment that builds up from that kinda bullying just reinforces toxic masculine behavior, which was demonstrated quite well in Kanji's arc, I think?
P4 basically was basically a critique on the patriarchy extending all the way back to the mythology of Izanami and Izanagi, and while some parts of it were handled in a clunky manner, I am glad that the media exists
It’s why i feel so bummed out about the current state of atlus bc honestly with all its missteps, considering when it came out, p4 had a lot of really good stuff in it that was important to me, it’s a shame atlus never took that and got.... better than it
also, idk if this is true, but I heard the scenario writers for the social links was a different set from the main scenario, which might explain some of the dissonance between those two areas in the narrative?
Westerners: but they are trans
But they weren't written to be trans and it is completely okay for trans people to say "this is not it"
I think it's very limiting and personally offensive
but you can have a trans headcanon without being like THIS IS HOW IT HAS TO BE AND YOU'RE TRANSPHOBIC IF YOU DISAGREE EVEN IF YOU'RE ALSO TRANS
atlus is also a special case wrt all treatment of... non-cismen
it would have been
fine
but they like that look
and they like the fact that they are women
not everything is created for the West
Missed