In recent months I have been consuming so much crossdressing girl in disguise media! It’s become my major comfort trope of the moment.

I grew up on a certain kind of girl power story about how women are just as good as men and can do all the same things. I later came to see how this kind of story undervalues feminine things and domestic labor and to value those things more, but this type of story still holds deep appeal to me. There’s something so satisfying about seeing young women succeed against the odds.

However, before I got into Chinese media several years ago I hadn’t read or watched many stories like this in a long time. I was mostly reading adult SFF where I wasn’t aware of many stories like that. Even as I started to get into Chinese stuff it took a while to get back to this beloved trope, as I started with stories that centered men. These shows aren't all crossdressing girls but they make a thematic cluster.

I slowly started watching dramas featuring extraordinary young women succeeding in traditionally masculine fields like in The Moon Brightens for You orA Girl Like Me and remembering how much I enjoyed this kind of thing

( Read more... )

Di talks about science fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction on her Booktube channel BookishDi and is one of the founders of the SFF book and fandom discussion show Stitch & Bitch. She can be found on BlueSky talking about books, politics, and women's sports.

On Wednesday, April 16, the UK Supreme Court issued a ruling on the legal definition of “woman” that excluded trans women. This case challenging the Equality Act was funded in large part by JK Rowling, and she celebrated the ruling with a series of disgusting, transphobic tweets. This is just her latest action to stigmatize trans women and destroy their ability to exist in public life in the UK. Coincidentally, the same day, UK based subscription box Illumicrate announced a special edition of the upcoming book, Rose in Chains by Julie Soto. This novel is based off of her hit Draco/Hermione fanfic, "The Auction", the premise of which is Voldermort winning the war and Hermione being sold into sexual slavery to Draco Malfoy. But don’t worry, he’s a good fascist and treats her well enough that she’s willing to defend the nice Nazis (I mean Death Eaters) when their actions come to trial. Plot points and names that directly identify it as HP have been changed for the trad pub release, but at its core it is still Harry Potter fanfiction.

( Read more... )

As we watch the United States get rocked by authoritarian weirdos and must weather the consequences of their dire decisions, I've been thinking a lot about apocalypses.

( Read more... )