Gender in future Bionicle reboots

[Regitnui]

 

--Snip--

well, that got pretty steamed pretty fast,

 

tell me, what does the incessant need to argue against gender-identity-inclusive plastic robots feel like?

This one just thinks it's kinda pointless, given the setting. If we were talking about LotR elves or MLP horse-variants, creatures that have mental and physical gender like humans, then let's go.

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

 

 

--Snip--

well, that got pretty steamed pretty fast,

 

tell me, what does the incessant need to argue against gender-identity-inclusive plastic robots feel like?

This one just thinks it's kinda pointless, given the setting. If we were talking about LotR elves or MLP horse-variants, creatures that have mental and physical gender like humans, then let's go.

 

 

well what we're tlaking about is fictional human analogue creatures, which honestly function however the flip you'd want them to, and thusly can possibly include things you would think would only exist in humans or human-like beings.

 

who's to say there isn't some intristic difference between "male" or "female" matoran, physically, that would cause some to become transgender? we've never been given much, but the original-three movies, iirc, put a difference between them similar to humans, and most fan-artists who don't follow the sets to the letter do. it's kidna a thing.

 

shrug.

[Alyska]

My thoughts on nonbinary and transgender characters...

 

A transgender character would certainly be interesting and innovative, and could be done very subtly- "oh, yeah, most Le-Matoran are guys, but she's not. It happens." But, on the other hand, I have seen actual transgender people get offended by things like the trans-Tamaru headcanons. Their reasons vary, but the two most common ones are A) It's partly based in gender stereotypes (ie, being shy, cowardly or fearful as a feminine trait, having a feminine-looking mask, etc) and B) Matoran not having a physical sex, (and therefore, to some, no "assigned gender"), making several aspects of transgender lifestyle non-applicable, and so not really being a fair or accurate representation of transgender people .

 

Now, I fully understand the first criticism, but I will confess I don't fully understand the second. I'd say that Matoran do have "assigned" genders via their programming, even in the absence of a physical sex. We've seen that Matoran transcend their programming in several ways, and Greg has left open the possibility of the occasional Matoran who does not identify as the same gender as the rest of the tribe.

 

Now, the question is, do these individuals count as trans? With Orde, it's a straight "no." He was designed as a male, has lived as a male his whole life, and has not, that we can tell, ever wanted to be anything else. With others, who might have been intended to be one gender but turned out another... I don't know. I sorta feel like it would be wrong to outright say "yes these are transgender Matoran. Look at how progressive we are!" when many transgender people feel that it's not a true representation. It would be nice to have these characters just... appear, and be themselves, and if transgender people see something of their own experiences in them, that's great. And if they don't, then the characters don't have to be "trans" in their eyes at all.

 

So, ultimately, what I understand of the situation as a cis person is largely irrelevant- what needs to be considered first are the feelings of actual transgender people. While I would really like to see a trans character from LEGO, I don't think Bionicle is the most appropriate context for that- at least, not for their first transgender character. Some characters might have trans subtext (reading Takua as bi-gendered or genderfluid is actually pretty easy to do), and there have been some great works of fiction that explore gender identity in non-human characters (I'm reading a great webcomic at the moment called "O Human Star" that uses humanoid robots as a metaphor for transgender folk), but trying to officially label a sexless robot character as such could upset a lot of people- and not just the ones who deserve to be upset.

[SailorQuaoar]

Seeing as most Okoto characters don't even have names, any hope for more female characters is out of the question at this point.

 

Though I suppose we were naive for actually thinking Bionicle would be egalitarian.

[Jobber]

Dang patriarchy. 

Edited June 29, 2015 by Minty Green

[Dane-gerous]

The patriarchy must have done this.

[MasterweaverX]

Seeing as most Okoto characters don't even have names, any hope for more female characters is out of the question at this point.

 

Though I suppose we were naive for actually thinking Bionicle would be egalitarian.

To  be fair, none of the protectors have established genders either. It's implied that the online descriptions are for both genders, and the only reason we consider them all male is because they hired a male narrator/voice actor for the animations.

[Aanchir]

 

Seeing as most Okoto characters don't even have names, any hope for more female characters is out of the question at this point.

 

Though I suppose we were naive for actually thinking Bionicle would be egalitarian.

To  be fair, none of the protectors have established genders either. It's implied that the online descriptions are for both genders, and the only reason we consider them all male is because they hired a male narrator/voice actor for the animations.

 

Well, also every description of the Protectors so far that uses singular pronouns uses male ones.

[MasterweaverX]

 

 

Seeing as most Okoto characters don't even have names, any hope for more female characters is out of the question at this point.

 

Though I suppose we were naive for actually thinking Bionicle would be egalitarian.

To  be fair, none of the protectors have established genders either. It's implied that the online descriptions are for both genders, and the only reason we consider them all male is because they hired a male narrator/voice actor for the animations.

 

Well, also every description of the Protectors so far that uses singular pronouns uses male ones.

 

 

Really? Where are these descriptions?

 

I could argue that technically male pronouns are considered gender neutral in some cases, but that would just be nitpicking.

[Ballom Nom Nom]

 

 

 

Seeing as most Okoto characters don't even have names, any hope for more female characters is out of the question at this point.

 

Though I suppose we were naive for actually thinking Bionicle would be egalitarian.

To  be fair, none of the protectors have established genders either. It's implied that the online descriptions are for both genders, and the only reason we consider them all male is because they hired a male narrator/voice actor for the animations.

 

 

Well, also every description of the Protectors so far that uses singular pronouns uses male ones.

 

Really? Where are these descriptions?

 

I could argue that technically male pronouns are considered gender neutral in some cases, but that would just be nitpicking.

 

Here's the one for the Protector of Earth, but the line is the same for all six Protectors: "The Protectors wear sacred Elemental Masks that have been passed down through the generations from father to son along with the Prophecy of Heroes, which foretells the coming of Tahu and his allies."

 

Also technically male pronouns are not longer applicable as gender-neutral. How can they be? They're explicitly male pronouns; pretty much the only standard gender-neutral pronoun in English is "they." Besides, father and son are rather unambiguous (unfortunately for Gen 2 gender ratios).

 

~B~

[Tuuli]

I hate gender in Bionicle. Causes too much unwanted discussion and unwanted theories and ideas.

[Dane-gerous]

Yeah, I agree. I mean come on, they're sexless robots.

[Tufi Piyufi]

If you don't like a topic, the best solution is to not post in it. Posting simply to say how much you hate a topic isn't welcome and stops now.