Undisclosed gender in fiction: Difference between revisions
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* Anne Leckie's science fiction novels ''Ancillary Justice'' (2013) and ''Ancillary Sword'' (2014) were set in a futuristic society that is indifferent to gender, so all the characters are called by [[English neutral pronouns#She|gender-neutral "she" pronouns]], leaving their actual gender and sex undisclosed. Leckie says she had an assumption at the time that gender is binary, so these are likely not nonbinary characters.<ref>Geek's Guide to the Galaxy, "Sci-fi's hottest new writer won't tell you the sex of her characters." October 11, 2014. Wired. http://www.wired.com/2014/10/geeks-guide-ann-leckie/</ref> | * Anne Leckie's science fiction novels ''Ancillary Justice'' (2013) and ''Ancillary Sword'' (2014) were set in a futuristic society that is indifferent to gender, so all the characters are called by [[English neutral pronouns#She|gender-neutral "she" pronouns]], leaving their actual gender and sex undisclosed. Leckie says she had an assumption at the time that gender is binary, so these are likely not nonbinary characters.<ref>Geek's Guide to the Galaxy, "Sci-fi's hottest new writer won't tell you the sex of her characters." October 11, 2014. Wired. http://www.wired.com/2014/10/geeks-guide-ann-leckie/</ref> | ||
* In the Choose Your Own Adventure series of interactive fiction books, the player's character is always written with no implications about their gender. The idea was that the main character of the book ''was'' the reader, who could be any gender, so the character was described as little as possible. The illustrators were sometimes able to make the player's character look androgynous, such as by showing them in shadows, or wearing costumes that hide their face. This was all intentional. However, in some of the books they simply drew the character as looking like a boy, even though the player's character was still written about in only a gender-neutral way. | * In the ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' series of interactive fiction books, the player's character is always written with no implications about their gender. The idea was that the main character of the book ''was'' the reader, who could be any gender, so the character was described as little as possible. The illustrators were sometimes able to make the player's character look androgynous, such as by showing them in shadows, or wearing costumes that hide their face. This was all intentional. However, in some of the books they simply drew the character as looking like a boy, even though the player's character was still written about in only a gender-neutral way. | ||
* In K. A. Cook's short story "Misstery Man" in ''Crooked Words'', an androgynous-looking superhero by that name has never disclosed their gender, resulting in rude speculation in the local newspapers. This frustrates the unrelated nonbinary main character, Darcy, who thinks it would be easier to come out if only someone famous like that would come out or otherwise make the newspaper gossip stop.<ref>K. A. Cook, "Misstery Man." Crooked Words. Unpaged.</ref> | * In K. A. Cook's short story "Misstery Man" in ''Crooked Words'', an androgynous-looking superhero by that name has never disclosed their gender, resulting in rude speculation in the local newspapers. This frustrates the unrelated nonbinary main character, Darcy, who thinks it would be easier to come out if only someone famous like that would come out or otherwise make the newspaper gossip stop.<ref>K. A. Cook, "Misstery Man." Crooked Words. Unpaged.</ref> | ||
* In Alastair Reynolds's science fiction novel ''On the Steel Breeze,'' one character is called by gender-neutral [[English neutral pronouns#Ve|"ve" pronouns]]. The novel never gives any exposition about this character's sex, gender, or pronouns, and ver gender-neutrality doesn't influence the plot. The lack of remark gives the impression that a nonbinary gender is unremarkable, but this is also why some readers thought the pronouns were a misprint.<ref>Outis, "Gender-neutral characters and pronouns." November 20, 2013. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1580481-gender-neutral-characters-and-pronouns</ref> The lack of discussion about the character's gender also means that this is an example of undisclosed gender, rather than nonbinary representation. | * In Alastair Reynolds's science fiction novel ''On the Steel Breeze,'' one character is called by gender-neutral [[English neutral pronouns#Ve|"ve" pronouns]]. The novel never gives any exposition about this character's sex, gender, or pronouns, and ver gender-neutrality doesn't influence the plot. The lack of remark gives the impression that a nonbinary gender is unremarkable, but this is also why some readers thought the pronouns were a misprint.<ref>Outis, "Gender-neutral characters and pronouns." November 20, 2013. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1580481-gender-neutral-characters-and-pronouns</ref> The lack of discussion about the character's gender also means that this is an example of undisclosed gender, rather than nonbinary representation. | ||
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* ''Written on the Body'', by Jeanette Winterson, is narrated from the point of view of someone with unspecified gender.<ref>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15054.Written_on_the_Body</ref> | * ''Written on the Body'', by Jeanette Winterson, is narrated from the point of view of someone with unspecified gender.<ref>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15054.Written_on_the_Body</ref> | ||
* ''Sphinx'', by Anne Garréta, is a romance between the narrator and their lover "A***", which is written entirely without gendering either one of them. It was originally published in [[Gender neutral language in French|French]] in 1986, and an English translation came out in 2015.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_F._Garr%C3%A9ta</ref> | * ''Sphinx'', by Anne Garréta, is a romance between the narrator and their lover "A***", which is written entirely without gendering either one of them. It was originally published in [[Gender neutral language in French|French]] in 1986, and an English translation came out in 2015.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_F._Garr%C3%A9ta</ref> | ||
* ''The Cook and the Carpenter: A Novel by the Carpenter'', by June Davis Arnold, is written using na/nan pronouns, and the protagonists' genders are not revealed until near the end.<ref>https://www.amazon.com/Cook-Carpenter-Cutting-Lesbian-Literature/dp/0814706312#customerReviews</ref> | |||
== Comics and graphic novels == | == Comics and graphic novels == | ||