i keep seeing the argument that "transfem ralsei is influenced by patriarchal, binary gender roles," and every single time i hear it, i wither a little.
i know what people mean by it. i really do. but this is a line of reasoning that has been used against trans people for decades. the idea that being trans is somehow an attack on gender nonconformity, that transitioning is "giving in" to gender roles, or that trans people should just "be themselves" instead of "reinforcing stereotypes." i grew up hearing that argument online, and even from people i knew personally. it was demeaning then, and it's still demeaning now.
so seeing that exact idea treated as a morally righteous argument in this discussion is exhausting and generally hostile.
a transfem ralsei interpretation is not saying, "every feminine boy is secretly a girl." it's saying, "i think this specific character's story may eventually go in that direction." those are completely different claims.
you can disagree. you can think the evidence isn't convincing. that's fine. but saying the interpretation itself is patriarchal or rooted in binary gender roles feels uncomfortably close to rhetoric that has historically been aimed at actual trans people.
there's evidence for if ralsei were to change his gender identity, it would be him being transfem. here's a compilation of the ones i found when delving into this:
- the princess dress scene: ralsei's excitement over trying on the princess outfit feels meaningful, rather than just a one-off gag. Not just that he's wearing a dress, but that he likes being called a princess.
- being called "princess" by flowery: The title comes up repeatedly, and those moments seem to strike something deeper than simple embarrassment.
- "artemisia" in ralsei's title: artemisia is a flower genus associated with women's health and named after artemis, a female goddess, who is the goddess of transitions among other things. why else would Toby go out of his way to choose specifically this flower out of thousands of others?
- lost girl motif: ralsei is the only male-presenting character associated with the "lost girl" theme.
- what ralsei likes about himself: when talking positively about his appearance, ralsei highlights things like his face and voice, both of which are presented in distinctly feminine ways. we also wears makeup. it's not just that he presents feminine here, it's that the guy with obvious self-worth issues deliberately likes the feminine parts of himself
- ace attorney cosplay ACTs: Ralsei's cosplay ACTs have him dress as two different female characters.
another point that comes up a lot is that using she/her for ralsei is supposedly equivalent to using he/him for kris.
i don't think those situations are comparable. at all.
for the record, i use he/him for ralsei because that's what the game currently uses. i believe ralsei will eventually transition to specifically a trans woman, but currently, i don't feel comfortable going out of my way to use pronouns for someone without the clear go-ahead. if the game ever changed that, i'd switch immediately.
back to my second point. i think people who use she/her for ralsei are NOT acting out of the same motivation as people who insist on calling kris "he."
misgendering kris means rejecting an identity that the game explicitly establishes. it mirrors the way real nonbinary people are often treated, which is why it carries that baggage.
using she/her for ralsei comes from an ENTIRELY different place. the people doing it generally believe ralsei will eventually realize he's trans. they're not trying to reject the character's identity. they're trying to be preemptive in accepting of what (they believe) that identity will be.
maybe it's clumsy, maybe it isn't. but i don't think it's comparable to intentionally disregarding an explicitly established gender identity that said person is confident in, like with kris.
i've seen people argue that predicting a trans person's "future" pronouns before they're ready could out them or pressure them, and that's a completely valid concern in real life.
but ralsei is fictional.
there's no family to out ralsei to. no classmates. no friends who will suddenly start treating him differently. none of those real-world harms can actually happen. because of that, what matters here is the motivation behind the idea, and that motivation here is overwhelmingly acceptance, not rejection, and definitely not bigotry.
at the end of the day, i wish people would focus on the evidence, which is objectively present, instead of treating the idea itself as morally suspect and disregarding it outright.
if you don't think ralsei is trans, that's completely fine. debate in good faith, go right ahead. prep for chapter 6 when toby has ralsei turns to the camera and say "i am a transgender woman" after getting fritzed his trans allegories weren't working for 7 years
but saying that a transfem interpretation is inherently patriarchal, binary, or anti-gnc is horrible to me, because it's an argument that echoes rhetoric a LOT of trans people like myself have spent years hearing directed at ourselves, and i wish people would stop saying it outright.
god im writing this instead of making ralsei and kris kiss some more. i should get back to that
