Adds to "possible writing experiment" list.

Tbh more or less what I do, except I go in alternating order.

I recall hearing something about the screenplay for Alien actually being written without deciding characters' genders, with that being chosen at the end, and Ripley specifically chosen to be a woman to balance gender in the movie.

~B~

That sounds a lot like what goes on in Mock Trial events, actually. The relevant figures of each case are almost always gender-neutral so that anyone can play any role.

An interesting idea, but many aspects of the story would have to be crafted to provide some degree of separation from the real world or vagueness. In a story set in the modern day, with real world influences on gender expression, not all characters will have their gender interchangeable. A lesbian in the deep south is going to be affected by her setting in a far different way than a straight man in New York. So unless you're writing a story set in an ideal world where sexism and homophobia are nonexistent, you'll have to purposely write your story in such a way in which all the characters have interchangeable backgrounds. That, or you randomize the genders earlier in the writing process, so that you're still free to take your randomized characters and adjust them for how their gender or sexuality (and how others perceive it) has shaped them over the course of their lives.

Don't get me wrong; I'm all for greater diversity and representation in media. At the same time, I think that gender and sexuality are in many cases inseparable from good, realistic characters, especially for minorities who are subjected to real prejudices and stigmas that can affect how they perceive and respond to the world.

I think it would be interesting to see a story where the Main characters gender isn't revealed. Like a first person narrative thing. If it was done right it probanly wouldn't even be noticed.

An interesting idea, but many aspects of the story would have to be crafted to provide some degree of separation from the real world or vagueness. In a story set in the modern day, with real world influences on gender expression, not all characters will have their gender interchangeable. A lesbian in the deep south is going to be affected by her setting in a far different way than a straight man in New York. So unless you're writing a story set in an ideal world where sexism and homophobia are nonexistent, you'll have to purposely write your story in such a way in which all the characters have interchangeable backgrounds. That, or you randomize the genders earlier in the writing process, so that you're still free to take your randomized characters and adjust them for how their gender or sexuality (and how others perceive it) has shaped them over the course of their lives.

 

Don't get me wrong; I'm all for greater diversity and representation in media. At the same time, I think that gender and sexuality are in many cases inseparable from good, realistic characters, especially for minorities who are subjected to real prejudices and stigmas that can affect how they perceive and respond to the world.

I was talking exclusively about gender, not sexual orientation or gender identity. It's pretty much the only representation issue I didn't really touch on that much in my last entry on the subject, which dealt with the representation of more marginalized groups (as opposed to, in this case, over 50% of the population).

 

An interesting idea, but many aspects of the story would have to be crafted to provide some degree of separation from the real world or vagueness. In a story set in the modern day, with real world influences on gender expression, not all characters will have their gender interchangeable. A lesbian in the deep south is going to be affected by her setting in a far different way than a straight man in New York. So unless you're writing a story set in an ideal world where sexism and homophobia are nonexistent, you'll have to purposely write your story in such a way in which all the characters have interchangeable backgrounds. That, or you randomize the genders earlier in the writing process, so that you're still free to take your randomized characters and adjust them for how their gender or sexuality (and how others perceive it) has shaped them over the course of their lives.

 

Don't get me wrong; I'm all for greater diversity and representation in media. At the same time, I think that gender and sexuality are in many cases inseparable from good, realistic characters, especially for minorities who are subjected to real prejudices and stigmas that can affect how they perceive and respond to the world.

I was talking exclusively about gender, not sexual orientation or gender identity. It's pretty much the only representation issue I didn't really touch on that much in my last entry on the subject, which dealt with the representation of more marginalized groups (as opposed to, in this case, over 50% of the population).

 

While you didn't mention sexual orientation, it would inevitably come up as an issue if any one of the characters showed any romantic interest in another character (since different outcomes of the randomization would affect which genders the two characters are, leading to an implied sexual orientation). Of course, you could easily write a story without any romantic attraction, but that's yet another limitation on what your experimental story could contain without breaking suspension of disbelief. Romance, after all, is a significant aspect of the human condition.

I'm not saying that your hypothetical story would be bad or implausible. There are loads of stories where gender is hardly relevant (including The Little Prince, a personal favorite). I'm just musing on what limits there would be on such a story, and to what extent gender affects characterization in general.