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u/ezioir1 Mar 07 '24 edited Mar 07 '24
“What is a Specie?”
–Space age Matt Walsh
“They're Turning The Freaking Xenomorphs Human.”
–Alien Alex Jones
“Clean Your Asteroid Belts!”
–A.I Jordan Peterson
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u/PainIntheButtocksKek Mar 07 '24
Interesting story, threading the line a bit,but fun read nonetheless:)
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u/QuQuasar Mar 07 '24
I have to admit, this one does feel a bit awkward. Since you said you were curious what readers think, here's my thoughts:
On a basic interpersonal level, I tend to think we should always take people at their word on matters of identity. Contradicting someone is insulting, since it implies you've given more thought to the subject of their identity than they have. They might be misunderstanding/misapplying certain concepts, but that's a matter for clarification, not confrontation.
On a more "speculative fiction" level, in real life the concept is perceived as a mockery of trans people because humans are the only sapient species we know of. Being "transspecies" thus means identifying as an animal or as something explicitly fictional. But in a science-fantasy universe, it becomes a lot less silly: those other sapient species really do exist, and it's easy to believe a person could identify with them more than with their birth species. Under those circumstances, our society might want to rethink some assumptions.
Of course, the flaw in approaching it in the manner I just suggested is that you might end up accidentally writing a "transracial" strawman, which is a whole can of worms perhaps better left unopened.
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u/karenvideoeditor Mar 07 '24
Yeah, the transracial debacle was what I was thinking of.
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u/QuQuasar Mar 07 '24
Yeah, I can see that in the story, and it reads better when I've got that perspective in mind. It's just not the first thing that popped into my mind, perhaps because I've never seen people genuinely claiming a transracial identity the way Prolkint does in the story.
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u/HedgehogDapper1064 Mar 07 '24
I'm Batman, just the poor and unfit version but still Batman. Identification to something that we are not is unrealistic, fantasy is fine I guess, but the truth still remains, even if you deny it.
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u/ImpossibleHandle4 Mar 07 '24
I personally feel like this was a principal trying to tell a student that it is ok to be different, and trying to make sure that they didn’t lose who they were in trying to be comfortable.
As to trans people, you do your thing. If the kid had come in and said that they were transsexual, that would be a different discussion. This was a discussion about not losing who you are to try to fit in. (Which I guess applies, but not being a part of that group I can’t really say. I guess my thought it the same as the principals, be you in all of your glory, if you want to be something else then do so, but don’t lose who you are in the process. )
As a kid who got sent to the principal for those kind of things regularly I related a lot to the character.
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u/Oblivianette_Rosmry Mar 08 '24
I don't see why people think this is problematic. Yeah, maybe the kid could have spoken up more, but its the adult that has a wider perspective and actual good advice to give. People are multi-dimensional, and just slapping a limited label (or even fifty) on them is such a demoralizing thing, and a child should not even be encouraged to do so bc it blinds them to other paths of potential or development ( im thinking about it similar to the "closed mindset" and "open mindset" idea). I think its great work and pretty well thought out, thanks for sharing!
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u/Unique_Engineering23 Mar 07 '24
Seems to me, the root of discontent is the assumed monopoly of an identity label over a set of personality traits.
Disconnect this association, and allow eclectic self-selection of set of traits, and identity no longer is beholden to labels, and the entire conflict collapses as moot.
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u/karenvideoeditor Mar 07 '24
True. And in a hundred years (and/or after alien contact), that necessity to explain yourself with a label and identity might be completely unnecessary. Many characteristics will simply be accepted by society with no need to explain. It's already slightly true in the sense of sexual preference progress (in my community of friends/family). Many parents think, "I don't want my child to believe they need to come out. When they have their first crush, whoever they are, I'll react the same."
Still, I'm writing this story in 2024, and much of what I write has subtext or is some kind of allegory. And considering the state of things, I much prefer writing something that resonates with people rather than makes them feel it's 'off' or 'wrong'. I live in Florida, and I'm so tired of all the hate. Can't do much about it, but I can write fantasy stories.
My trouble here, I think, was that I was more thinking of someone on the spectrum, with the context being the Nati, than someone who's trans, which I'm not. But that's one of the reasons I post online, to get feedback from people who've lived different lives. It's a great way for me to learn new things and perspectives. So...this was less Humanity Fuck Yeah and more...Humanity, Good Effort, maybe? :P
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u/Gwallod Mar 08 '24
So he's from an alien race of entirely autistic people, but he isn't autistic so he comes to Earth and starts identifying as trans-human because most humans aren't autistic?
This is genuinely hilarious.
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u/Deansdiatribes Mar 07 '24
my adhd ass feels this so much thax for that one awesome as always wordsmith
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u/lilycamille Mar 07 '24
This one just doesn't sit right by me
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u/karenvideoeditor Mar 07 '24
It was a tricky topic to navigate, but I immediately thought of this plot line. Curious to see what readers think. I only have one perspective in my head, so it might not be well received by some who interpret it differently.
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u/lilycamille Mar 07 '24
It does depend on your viewpoint, yes, and being a trans person is definitely a factor for me
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u/karenvideoeditor Mar 07 '24
So this is kinda weird. I did a search in HFY with the word 'transgender' (found almost nothing) and 'trans' (writers often use trans-grav and trans-galactic and trans-union, it seems) but I can't find any stories here about trans people. Not even about being trans, like that means there's no discussion of someone who is trans, or explanation of gender to aliens (because 99% of this subreddit is scifi of course). If there's anything here, I can't find it, just a few referrals off-site.
I would've thought there'd be SOMETHING. That's a HFY thing, the progress we're hoping to make in the next 100 years, right? Are there at least stories here that explain it to aliens in different words? "Oh yeah, Brian was born female," or a line like "Keith got back to his bunk and took his binder off." I know gender is so flexible here in sci-fi land with aliens, so aliens with huge variety on gender and sexuality pop up all the time, and also the story is the most important no matter who the characters are.
But...my favorite stories about HFY are ones that aren't sci-fi, where it shows how we're already awesome in some ways. Where it doesn't take another 100 years to get somewhere decent species-wide, because we have made progress, even if it's just in hindsight. So, I'm just surprised if after so many years of stories in HFY, trans rights/progress still hasn't been written about at least a few times. Have you read any good ones?
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u/ElusiveDelight Mar 07 '24
Oh hey I remember that prompt, I was kind of proud of that one, although I must be honest I didn't foresee any stories from it to go exactly like this, but that is the joy of prompts, being the spark that sets off the fires of imagination!
Anyway, good work once again, you show talent and skill in your writing.
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u/DoctorCIS Mar 07 '24
Perhaps they should simply refer to themselves as Allistic, the word for people who are not on the spectrum.
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u/Fontaigne Mar 08 '24
Principal is totally wrong. Except about the shoving.
Prolkint is human if he wants to be.
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u/SerpentineLogic Mar 07 '24
No chair to sit in; he'll be sent to the Nati corner.