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

On Wed, 10 Jun 1998, Scott Pollert wrote:

Well, another well written story, in similiar vein and mood to "A man I'll
never be" by... er, SKJAM was it? Or at least that's the story that this
reminded me of. 

Er... I wrote AMINB, a long time ago.  

Still, the person who wrote that should have checked the story before
actually stating the author.  A quick check of the Author: title of the
story would have helped.  I'm not saying it's a serious mistake, but since
ideas do come from respective authors, it's a good idea to quote correctly
and to give credit where it's due.

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)

This story has always been well written and an enthralling read, but
originally, when the premise was first introduced, that of Ranma exploring
his feminine side, I had been hoping for a little more balanced treatment
of the issue. In the course of the story however, events seemed to have
skewed off that desired course. Sooo....

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)

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

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.

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)

As a matter of fact, what about people who change identities on a regular
basis?

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. 



----------------------
Jonathan Ng
jonathan@worldy.com
alternate address: jonathan_ng@my-dejanews.com

"Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!  Rage, blow!"  King Lear, III, ii, 1

"I am a man more sinned against than sinning." King Lear, III, ii, 62-63