On Mon, 29 Jun 1998, Jonathan Ng wrote:

At 11:53 PM 6/27/98 -0400, you wrote:

On Wed, 10 Jun 1998, Scott Pollert wrote:

As to the comment itself... the day Scott Jamison writes a story as angsty
as AMINB, we're in deep trouble.  (In case you haven't noticed, he's a
writer who leans towards humour (and less seriousness) in his stories)

heeheehee...
 

Well, this is not an easy thing for me to answer.  Explaining transgender
psychology to someone without a good grasp of it is difficult at best,
impossible at worst - which is, of course, one reason why personal
relationships involving the transgendered and their next of kin tend to
suffer.

You mean *permanently* transgendered (ie sex change operation)?  Remember,
Ranma is a guy who can change sex pretty much at will (except in situation
where he needs to be near water)  As far as I know Ranma's the only person
who's ever been in his situation (transgender being such a difficult thing
to perform quickly)

Actually, no.  The term 'transgendered' is usually used to refer to anyone
who has some sort of gender problem - anything from casual cross-dressing
to full transsexualism.

Which also means *you* know enough about transgender psychology to explain
it to someone?

Probably not - at least, not in full detail.  I can try, though.  

In part 8 (finished in rough draft form; Kat and Hitomi are looking it
over for any corrections), Ranma will say the following words several
times in various situations: "I don't know who I am."  This is very true
of anyone who suffers from gender dysphoria.  They literally *don't* know
who they are.  Some days they feel like every other ordinary man, and
don't have the slightest urge to dress up or participate in some other
typically feminine activity.  Other days, though, the urges come on so
strong that they wish they were a woman forever, and would never go back
to who they were.  Part of them wants to go one way, part another, with
the feelings fluctuating wildly depending on the circumstances.  

Of course, Ranma suffers a lot of stress from things besides his curse;
three engagements in the span of a year; Cat's Tongue *and* Chiisuiton; he
was turned weak by Happousai once; finally settling down and staying in one
place; daily hammerings given by Akane... so on.  It's a surprise he didn't
break down and commit suicide a long time ago.

Stress is definitely a part of it.  Exactly how much of a part is anyone's
guess.  
 

What about crossdressers? (Ukyou, Konatsu, Tsubasa)  In fact, what about
the other Jusenkyo-cursed people, whose cursed forms *have* to have a
significant effect on them (and there's no need for magic to be involved)

Ukyou... the impression I got was that she did it out of family honor,
rather than any real desire to live as a boy.  Konatsu apparently sees
himself as a female, regardless of his body, primarily due to his
upbringing.  Tsubasa is open to interpretation, and probably will not show
up in Clothes.
 

As an end... well, that's the trouble with a gendered society... there are
always obvious and subtle differences between the sexes... and as such,
there's bound to be pressure in change. 

Always.

Jonathan Ng

-- Nick