been thinking a lot on the forcefem vs forcemasc front lately
as many trans women have analysed, forcemasc as a genre has sort of rode the coattails of the rise of forcefem fiction; forcefem, coming from a lot of sissification pornography and being reclaimed as a fantasy rather than a form of humiliation (humiliation included to taste regardless), where being made into a woman becomes freeing and realising, is designed to be a twist on society's patriarchal establishment—what if being (forced to be) a woman wasn't embarrassing or degrading or emasculating? what if this was a moment of joy, of self-fulfilment? fundamentally, being a woman—and choosing to be a woman—is a downgrade from being a man in many forms of society today! there's no splitting hairs about it! you get paid less! you are ignored in favour of men! medical professionals take you less seriously!
so when forcemasc comes along, it often feels like a distortion of why forcefem exists—becoming masculine, or a man, is undeniably a step UP from being a woman, or feminine in general. trans men have said as much: that becoming visibly more masculine, or using a masculine name, has helped them in the workplace, or to garner respect, or so on. obviously, this isn't saying transmasculinity is a cakewalk, but that socially speaking, it is better to be masculine than feminine.
as a result, real examples of forcemasc are not exercises in humiliation, but of tactics: women having to use male names, or the names of their husbands, in order for things they've authored to be taken seriously! dressing as men to try and obtain better work and pay! even JK Clowning used her initials rather than her name because publishers feared her full feminine name would reduce sales!!!
when real-world forcemasc is analysed, it is used by women to try and improve their social standing and status—it comes from a very different point of origin to forcefem. it's why so many trans women say it's not the same thing; being made into a woman comes with countless negatives! being made into a man comes with a billion positives! that's society! sure, being transmasc doesn't make life easy, but it is noticeably easier given how patriarchal society operates.
as a nonbinary sort-of-transmasc, i've wondered how you could write forcemasc in a way that isn't just 'forcefem but with masc', and honestly, the best way i've found is just... owning the difference. write someone getting forcemasc'd and their life DOES get easier! people DO take them more seriously! make your forcemasc a reflection of the fundamental gender divide in modern society today! there's no point trying to copy the beats of forcefem fiction, because they're two wildly different commentaries that can't be aligned in that way. it can still be a story of joy and self-realisation—it just also has to acknowledge that there ARE differences in how society will end up perceiving the outcome.
ellievsbear
jbbartram-illu
blakekathryn
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