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Nonbinary gender in fiction: Difference between revisions

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*In the Faction Paradox novel ''This Town Will Never Let Us Go...'' by Philip Purser-Hallard (a [[Gender in Doctor Who|Doctor Who]] spinoff), there is a species of posthumans who are engineered to change sex from male to female as they mature. Some of these transformations are never completed. One of the main characters, Keth Marrane, is part of this species and has a body with both male and female characteristics. Marrane is fully happy with this body and is referred to as a "hermaphrodite" by other characters; a word without negative connotations in the cultures that are described. Marrane uses "one" pronouns when narrating.
*In the Faction Paradox novel ''This Town Will Never Let Us Go...'' by Philip Purser-Hallard (a [[Gender in Doctor Who|Doctor Who]] spinoff), there is a species of posthumans who are engineered to change sex from male to female as they mature. Some of these transformations are never completed. One of the main characters, Keth Marrane, is part of this species and has a body with both male and female characteristics. Marrane is fully happy with this body and is referred to as a "hermaphrodite" by other characters; a word without negative connotations in the cultures that are described. Marrane uses "one" pronouns when narrating.
*Adam Rex's sci-fi novel, ''The True Meaning of Smekday'' (2007), features the Boov, an alien people with seven genders (boy, girl, girlboy, boygirl, boyboy, boyboygirl, and boyboyboyboy) based on their fish-like role in fertilizing an egg after they lay it in a designated part of town. Because of the impersonal way they reproduce, Boov society is egalitarian and aromantic. The sequel, ''Smek for President'' (2015), has a girlboy character named Ponch Sandhandler. She-he is addressed as "ladyfellow," and by she-he pronouns. The movie loosely based on the books, ''Home'' (2015), doesn't directly mention anything about Boov gender, and only refers to any Boov by he pronouns.
*Adam Rex's sci-fi novel, ''The True Meaning of Smekday'' (2007), features the Boov, an alien people with seven genders (boy, girl, girlboy, boygirl, boyboy, boyboygirl, and boyboyboyboy) based on their fish-like role in fertilizing an egg after they lay it in a designated part of town. Because of the impersonal way they reproduce, Boov society is egalitarian and aromantic. The sequel, ''Smek for President'' (2015), has a girlboy character named Ponch Sandhandler. She-he is addressed as "ladyfellow," and by she-he pronouns. The movie loosely based on the books, ''Home'' (2015), doesn't directly mention anything about Boov gender, and only refers to any Boov by he pronouns.
*In ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Left_Hand_of_Darkness The Left Hand of Darnkess]'' by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin Ursula K. Le Guin], the inhabitants of the planet Gethen are referred to as ambisexual, and lack sex characteristics for the majority of the lunar cycle, which they acquire in order to reproduce.
*In ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Left_Hand_of_Darkness The Left Hand of Darkness]'' by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin Ursula K. Le Guin], the inhabitants of the planet Gethen are referred to as ambisexual, and lack sex characteristics for the majority of the lunar cycle, which they acquire in order to reproduce.
* In Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's collaborative novel ''Good Omens,''  Neil Gaiman has confirmed that both of the main characters are non-binary, and they present as different genders at times in both the book and the 2019 tv-series (Crowley presenting as female as a nanny, and Aziraphale presenting as female while possessing madame Tracy). The characters usually present as males, and don't show any inclination to correct people on using masculine pronouns, but this is presented more as them not caring, and less them defining themself as males. The book specifically says that all angels and demons in it are neither male nor female, which is the standard belief about [[Gender variance in Christianity#Angels in Christianity|angels in Christianity]].
* In Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's collaborative novel ''Good Omens,''  Neil Gaiman has confirmed that both of the main characters are non-binary, and they present as different genders at times in both the book and the 2019 tv-series (Crowley presenting as female as a nanny, and Aziraphale presenting as female while possessing madame Tracy). The characters usually present as males, and don't show any inclination to correct people on using masculine pronouns, but this is presented more as them not caring, and less them defining themself as males. The book specifically says that all angels and demons in it are neither male nor female, which is the standard belief about [[Gender variance in Christianity#Angels in Christianity|angels in Christianity]].
* In ''Wyvern'', a kids book by Kyle McGiverin, there is a sentient race of beings called wyverns. The wyverns are genderless and use "wy/wym/wys" pronouns.<ref name="Helkio">{{Cite web |title=ALDIA: A World Where Gender Is Meaningless |last=Helkio |first=Raymond |work=theBUZZ |date=2017 |access-date=14 June 2020 |url= https://thebuzzmag.ca/2017/03/aldia-world-gender-meaningless/}}</ref>
* In ''Wyvern'', a kids book by Kyle McGiverin, there is a sentient race of beings called wyverns. The wyverns are genderless and use "wy/wym/wys" pronouns.<ref name="Helkio">{{Cite web |title=ALDIA: A World Where Gender Is Meaningless |last=Helkio |first=Raymond |work=theBUZZ |date=2017 |access-date=14 June 2020 |url= https://thebuzzmag.ca/2017/03/aldia-world-gender-meaningless/}}</ref>
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