Genderswap

Trope · Genre
Synonyms:	Rule 63, Genderswitch, Sexswap, Salad
Related:	Genderfuck, Genderbender, Bodyswap, Transfic
See Also:
Tropes · Slash Tropes · Tropes by Fandom
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Genderswap is a fanfiction and fanart trope in which one or more characters switch sex. Genderswap fic is a subset of the more general genderfuck type of fic. The swap is usually carried out by some magical or technological device, making the trope popular in sci-fi or fantasy stories. In most genderswap stories, the character is restored to their original sex by the end, although some stories consciously subvert this trope.

Star Trek had a genderswap (actually a bodyswap, too) in canon in the final episode, Turnabout Intruder, and in one of the first collections of professionally distributed fiction, The Procrustean Petard in Star Trek: The New Voyages 2. Despite this, genderswap stories have only recently become hugely popular; much easier to find in recent fandoms like popslash, Stargate Atlantis, Supernatural and Star Trek reboot than in Classic Star Trek, The Professionals or Blake's 7.

Terminology

While it should correctly be called sexswap, since the biological sex is being swapped (and the social gender only as a consequence of the biological change) , the term is established for a number of likely reasons, e.g. the conflation of sex and gender in discourse or the better flow of words.

Further pointing to the fact that the gender is not what has been changed, in the large majority of genderswap stories, the character who has been swapped retains their pronouns in the (generally) third person narrative.

Always been a Girl

A variation on the genderswap trope is "always been a girl" AUs, where one or more of the canon characters are written as if they have always been the opposite of their original sex. These stories tend less towards crackfic and more towards seeing what might have changed in a favored character if this one piece of their life had been changed. In fandoms where alternate realities exist in canon, these sorts of AUs seem almost inevitable. However, in the show Sliders, where the entire premise of the show was based on traveling to alternate realities, they only once encountered a sex-swapped version of one of their team. In fandoms such as Supernatural and SGA, where the main action heroes are all men, the use of the trope to write the universe from the point of view of a cisgender woman is popular. Rewriting female characters (such as Teyla) as men is very rare.

With the release of the Star Trek reboot movie in 2009, there has been a surge of interest in genderswap fic in which one, or more, of the characters — almost exclusively male — has always been a different sex from what s/he is in canon. Kirk appears to be the character most often portrayed as female, with McCoy, Spock and Chekov trailing well behind with less than half the number of instances. This offshoot of the reboot fandom is popular enough to have launched the Livejournal community st_genderswap, two months after the movie's release.

Naming and Labeling

These stories are often tagged or labeled Girl!Jim/Spock or Girl!John/Girl!Rodney. There is some controversy in fandom as to whether a pairing is het or femslash if you've made one or both of a popular slash pairing female, either from birth or from some magical change. If a story involves a temporary change, and gender is therefore not altered, most fans will consider the change to have no bearing on the classification. If a story is an always a girl, or always a boy, opinions vary more widely.

With always a girl genderswap fics, the author is essentially creating a new character, and their new character needs a name. Popular "girls" names for characters rise out of canon, like Meredith McKay or Deana Winchester, or by using a feminized version of the original name, like Johanna or Joan Watson. In some cases, writers simply use the original name, either without explanation or as a nickname or short form of a more standard female-sounding name. Rarely is a totally unrelated name chosen, reinforcing the idea that the swapped character is directly derived from the canon source, not just a child born to the same parents, but of a different sex.

Trans issues

More recent genderswap stories, and genderswap stories in newer fandoms (especially bandom) are more likely to reference, overtly or not, trans issues as part of the genderswap.

Criticism

[T]oo often I will see the author switch into new pronouns to match the new body, or depict the character enthusiastically "trying out" their new body, often sexually. I can tell you for sure, suddenly having the wrong body means CRAZY issues. I can't even look at myself undressed. A new body means learning to use it, first of all, and then all the dysphoria that comes with it, and one thing it isn't going to do is turn its owner on. Long story short, most "genderswap" (which should really be called "sexswap", considering the context the term is most often used in) offends me hugely, and manages to avoid all the opportunities to bring trans issues into the mix.

Genderswap is also commonly criticized for focusing on stereotypes of perceived gender differences and for having characters immediately adopt a conservative gender performance without question. Men having to learn how to shave their legs, when they could as easily choose not to, is a common trope in stories where men experience female bodies.

Notable Genderswap stories

• My Fair Jeanne by Ruth Gifford is an influential early genderswap story, in which Jean-Luc Picard is turned into a woman by Q. Winner in the 1995 ASC Awards Best Next Generation Story category. (1995)

• BJ Sandburg by Gillian (The Sentinel)—Blair switches sexes for a year on his thirtieth birthday. Blair/Jim. Quite unusual at the time, certainly for the fandom, and won over a lot of fans. (1999)

• The Same Inside by helenish (popslash) An important step; the viewpoint character has fun being female, and delivers non-didactic feminist smackdowns on his teammates when they get gender essentialist on him. The story is famous for not explaining the switch at all. Characters simply 'waking up a girl' became thereafter quite common. (2000)

Switch

• And Now For Something Completely Different by Silvia Kundera (Harry Potter)—Harry/Draco, Ron/Hermione one-shot humor fic. "Harry Potter wakes up as a girl." (2003)

• Girl by Maya Tawi and Viridian5 is an epic Weiss Kreuz story in which Aya turns into a girl mid-fight. Aya's body shifts between male, female and intersex during the story, and he has sexual encounters with both men and women. (2003)

• Seven Things That Didn't Happen On Valentine's Day At Hogwarts, Or Maybe They Did by Rageprufrock (Harry Potter)— Marauder's era Sirius/Remus story in which several things happen, and one of them is Sirius getting turned into a girl. (2004)

• Best Laid Plans by Asuka Kureru. One of many Naruto stories utilising the canon Sexy no Jutsu (an ancient ninja technique for turning into a hot girl) for porn purposes. This useful ancient ninja technique is also popular for mpreg purposes. (2005)

• Biography of the Cheated Girl by sesame seed is a Mirage of Blaze story about the time Naoe, a male centuries old 'possessor' who remembers all his previous reincarnations, was born into a female body. (2005)?

• Tennis no Ojousama by scoradh. Crack wakes up a girl fic in the Prince of Tennis fandom. (2006)

• Being Ray Kowalski by Isis (Due South)—and its companion piece Anima by J S Cavalcante are genderswap via universe-swap; Ray Kowalski and "Rae" Kowalski from an alternate universe switch places and each face difficulties coping with being stuck in an opposite sex version of their own bodies, as well as being stuck in an alternate universe. (2006-07)

• Right Here Next to Yesterday by sageness (SGA)—a femslash story where Kate Heightmeyer is the inadvertent target of the ubiquitous Ancient device and spends some time in a male body. The story is one of the very rare examples of a woman changed in a story. While the story switches between the terms sex and gender to describe what has changed, the depiction is clearly a sex only alteration. (2007)

• Girlfriend by Resonant (SGA)—Rodney has exact zero trauma going male to female to male; Sheppard is the one to have life-changing revelations. (2008)

• Should've Been My Girlfriend by Crysothemis (SGA)—does an unusually good job of showing how it feels to be in the wrong body, and how the chance to have the right person be attracted to you might not be enough to make it worth while; borderline transfic. (2009)

More Lovely and More Temperate girl!Arthur manip by Saucery

More Lovely and More Temperate: The original Arthur

• The Course of True Love by Puckling (Merlin)—The Old Religion turns Merlin into a woman and he has to sleep with the rightful king to turn back. (2009) Dewiniaeth (2008) by claire_debonair is an earlier story with a similar premise.

• More Lovely and More Temperate by Saucery (Merlin)—Arthur's newly-acquired female body makes him notice Merlin in a totally inappropriate way. (2010)

Always a Girl (or Boy)

• Helpmate by subterrain (Iron Man)—a Tony/Pepper slash story in which Pepper Potts has always been a boy. (2008)

• A Step to the Left by greensilver (Merlin)—a retelling of the first series with always a girl!Merlin which reveals the typical romance dynamic between first season Merlin and Arthur. (2009)

• Karma by graceandfire (Star Trek Reboot)—is set in a Mirror Universe where women are second class citizens and Mirror McCoy is just as bad as the rest of the men...until he gets turned into a woman. The context allows McCoy to examine his own assumptions and gender stereo-typing, while helping him realize the women have a degree of resourcefulness and cunning they rely on to survive that he was previously blind to. (2009)

• Through the looking-glass by tucuxi (Naruto)--A series that explores what the characters might have been like had they been born female. (2011)

Fanart examples

Fandom: Supernatural. Dean as a girl in Sam Winchester's embrace. Artist: sillie

Harry Potter

• The Pumpkin Juice Incident by Naadi, Halloween-themed poem and art, Harry/Draco, both magically 'swapped
• Girl-Sirius by lizardspots, Sirius is genderswapped as a result of a potions accident.

Merlin

• As Her Highness Commands by lizardspots, girl!Arthur/Merlin (NSFW).
• Merlin's magic another epic fail by rnng. Merlin has accidentally turned himself into a woman and Arthur tries very hard not to watch.

Pokémon

• Genderswap: Ash Ketchum by Y-Mangaka, a play on the ability to chose the playable character's gender in the Pokémon video games.

Sherlock Holmes

• The Adventures of Shirley Holmes by Johanna Watson by Mutecornett, one of several recent art (and fic) examples of always-a-girl Holmes and Watson. This one is based on the Ritchie film.

Star Trek (2009)

• All turned around by ileliberte, with Kirk, Spock and Uhura genderswapped
• The L-Word: Starfleet Edition by oxboxer, with Kirk, Spock, Sulu, Scotty, Chekov and McCoy genderswapped

Supernatural

• The Winchester sisters, by ileliberte

Cosplay

A lot of cosplay involves genderswap as cosplayers don't limit themselves to characters of the same sex.

• Gender Bent Justice League (LA Weekly)
• Genderswap And Other Alternative Cosplay From Comic-Con 2012 (The Mary Sue)

Genderswap Picspam

Part of the trend of recasting picspams, where photos of actors of different races, ethnicities, genders or sex are assembled to "recast" a show.

• Gender-reversed Star Trek 2009 cast picspam.
• Natalie Portman photo-manip of girl!Spock by Ashley.

Thematic Lists

• [1] Sheppard/McKay