So I was looking at my demographics today, and I saw to my extreme surprise that 20% of you are actually of the sex that the other 80% want to become! That astounded me, for one. For two, it got me wondering; why?
Why would females enjoy M2F captions? Why would they fantasize about becoming a sex that they are already a member of? This, of course, is assuming that the majority of viewers both male and female have some level of trans present in them, which I think is a safe bet, so if that's true, why the female demographic? (If you're female and enjoy M2F captions, please do comment on this post why, if you feel comfortable)
And then it got me wondering; if trans males are looking at an M2F blog, is it possible that they are just trying to sift through the overwhelming majority of M2F posts to find a couple of F2M ones? I figured it could be a possibility. The proportion of M2F captions to F2M ones is astoundingly skewed, and it's not really surprising that that's the case. Girls are sexier, so they make for better pictures, transformations, and captions. Plus many cappers are male (such as myself), so we are able to pretty easily imagine what it would be like to be a girl and write a reaction based on a given scenario, which would be harder to do if the subject of the cap were transforming into a guy.
But even with that understanding, the amount of F2M caps out there is staggeringly low. I can only think of one capper who makes even F2F's on a regular basis, and that's Tehswitcher. But there are dozens of M2F captions sites out there, and not a single one (At least, that I've found) dedicated to F2M's. I'm toying with the idea of maybe trying out a dedicated F2M blog, but I'd love your input on the subject.
What do you think? Are F2M's under reperesented? Would you like an F2M blog? Post in the comments and take the poll to the right! Thanks for your time, now back to the capping ^_^
-Asher
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I'm so glad my comment got you thinking about this. There's also a staggeringly low amount of "academic discussion" of the whole TG capping concept. I'm really impressed that you went and investigated the issue. I once encouraged Rachel Terzanelle to make an F2M cap and it turned out great: http://rterzanelle.blogspot.com/2014/09/joanna-no-more.html (Made her promise to use the line "God, I love my new cock, this is so much better than being Joanna!")
ReplyDeleteI'm male myself and ID as non-binary, which is probably why my favourite caps are the ones where people switch back and forth. I also really enjoy the F2Fs- http://emilyhydes.tumblr.com/ does rather good work, a more sexual counter-part to TehSwitcher's work - maybe because I don't have to imagine starting from a male form...
Cap request just occurred to me: Can you do a cap about a non-binary person? I have *never* seen one of those. Heck it could even be NB2NB!
I'm sure my F2M friends would be interested in seeing F2M caps, and you can probably entice the more M2F focused readers by having couple/friend swaps where both parties are in the picture and excited (or not, eh?) about the shift. In an odd psychological way F2M caps might be exciting for males wishing to be women, because one gets to put their head into that of a woman suddenly inhabiting a man's body- really makes you consider things from fresh angles...
Well that's a bunch of talk- hope any of that meant anything. I'm excited to see what you do!! -DAGS
Ooooh, a thought out response ^_^ just as I was hoping!
DeleteI think the main reason there isn't real academic discussion or really discussion at all is just the anonymous nature of the industry. It's a very private hobby for a lot of people, myself included. I'd love for there to be a forum or something where we can all talk about the craft and learn from each other, but I think with how in the closet it is that that isn't really going to happen.
I never even thought about non-binary people! Personally I identify as bi, both in sexuality and gender, but I never even stopped to consider exactly what we were doing with captions.
I suddenly realized that the majority of captions, at least ones that don't involve cross-dressing (which is the majority of them), are actually cis-gendered, straight males being confronted with femininity. I had to think really hard as to why (seeing as though it's safe to assume the majority of the audience is trans) we are so intrigued by cis people being put into the situations we ourselves would love to be in.
Maybe the real secret of TG Captions isn't that we enjoy turning into the opposite sex, it's that we enjoy fish out of water stories and the gender change is one of the most drastic and applicable societal changes there are. Personally I enjoy them for reasons both sexual and asexual, but why is it that I prefer caps where the victim isn't immediately on board with the situation, and instead has to grow into accepting it?
Maybe there's an underlying desire from us for the cis to understand what it feels like to be trans, and for their to be more acceptance between the genders and the non-gendered.
Maybe it's a societal thing, I dunno. Thoughts?
-Asher
Thoughts? Many. Figured you’d like a good response, geeked to have this dialogue.
DeleteRachel’s Haven has some really nice resources about the craft, and maybe I haven't looked hard enough, but not much in the way of a philosophical inquiry into what any of this means. I mean is it feminist or is it objectification? Does that matter? But hey, the more small conversations like this happen, the closer we get.
Oo! You’re bisexual and bigender? That’s so rad. Represent us some up in these caps! You could tell some really interesting stories I’m sure.
You’re right about the demographics for the most part. You do find a good amount of captions about guys who always wished they were girls. Wishes granted non-ironically. Girlfriends thinking they’ve punished their boyfriends when really they’ve given them a blessing. Potions and machines invented and discovered by thrilled transformees. “Willing” tags on captions.
So, I think you might not fully be capturing the picture with your “fish out of water” hypothesis. There’s a large contingency of TG erotica readers who love forced feminization, humiliation, coercion, and things like that which could be played out with partners or in hopes and dreams. Not to speak for people, but I assume they’re in it for the fantasy that it could happen to them (or is for the lucky ones). At the same time, there are enthusiasts like myself who appreciate the brighter, loving, happily ending, hopeful, and sometimes funny captions, probably because that’s the sort of situation I wish for myself.
I also appreciate a certain amount of “growing to accept it.” I think even if any of these things really happened to me there would be a period of disillusionment. Maybe in the form of a period, eh? Everything wished for isn’t as glorious as imagined. But then again, I don’t want all my fantasies to have that much reality in them! I don’t have any ideal cap, but I love the sense of wonder at having such a new and different situation- the exploration, the mental changes are my favourite— yeah, now I'm just talking about what I want you to cap, lol
But back to the “fish out of water” and your last point about wanting the cis to understand. I’d never considered it. Of course I want the rest of the world to understand. If Google’s policy makers had understood, there wouldn’t have been such a large scare. Although, I am under the opinion (without investigation) that the outcry from the TG capping community did save the Blogger home. Maybe they get it a little more now. But I simply get tired, after maybe 8 years of reading these, of uber masc cis guys flipping out about being chicks- especially when what happened to them could have happened to some much more deserving queers…Oo! Write that cap! “Damnit Jim! I was supposed to turn into a girl, not you!”
Leaving this post off with a couple of links to TvTropes, which, interestingly enough, actually does go into some of the points we’re thinking about: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GenderBender but more importantly http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FirstLawOfGenderBending and the other Two Laws …and a whole page of the Tropes in Spells R Us http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpellsRUs
Any of that jive with anything? -DAGS
I've actually looked into those tv-tropes, like the Laws and such. I was kind of surprised at the time to find such established tropes on the subject.
DeleteI agree that not all caps are "fish out of water", so I may not be entirely right. I'm of the opinion that some of the best caps come from scenarios where the victim is willing and even longing, since in those caps you don't have to focus so much on the subject's internal conflict and can focus more on the overarching story. I actually don't really like the ones with macho guys becoming girls either, for the same reason as you. The only reason I do them is because it's pretty easy to grow a character across a caption, and it's pretty fun to watch them change over time.
That sort of transformation is better suited for much longer, thought out stories though, so it's definitely getting old in terms of captions.
I'm not so sure if it was the outcry from the TG community specifically that changed Google's decision, I don't think we're big enough or vocal enough to be the only adult-oriented community to be affected that made a difference in the reversal, but at least we got some funny Google-centered caps out of it XD
Ooo, that's a good question! Is it feminist or objectification, or does it matter? Well, I suppose it depends on how you look at it, and it depends on the cap. If it's a cap that's just a guy turning into a girl and getting fucked in every orifice (ahem, Open TG Captions), then I think it's... shit this is harder than I thought.
I guess if you get off to it, it's objectification, and if you take it as a male discovering what it means to be a woman then it's feminism. And if you don't care then it doesn't matter XD
I'm thoroughly enjoying this little discussion, it's a very rare pleasure ^_^
-Asher
Sorry for the late reply, I've been up to stuffs.
DeleteTvTropes is way rad- used to be on there with hours with 7 tabs up.
Growing the character is really important, and it’s nice that there are established themes to draw from and mess around with. Caps are all just playing out fantasies, which are endless and always growing. You’ve been doing some really cute caps the past few days and I for one love cute caps. Something so warm about being cute and flirty. Stories where people find that joy are lovely.
You’re right about the Google thing; there’s no way we’re a big enough community, but a splash is a splash, and I’m glad it’s still here. Tumblr is screwy with comments…
I think until it becomes some sort of oppression, the feminist aspect doesn’t matter too much. I’ve learned that in modern sex positive feminism, it’s super important to respect people’s kinks, even if they squick you out. As long as you’re not hurting anyone who doesn’t want to be hurt, eh?
I'm glad you're exploring things. You can't have all of your favourite ideas in one 1200xwhatever image :)
-DAGS
Yes, more please.
ReplyDeleteI'm a male and I'm OK with both ,in fact I do like me some role exchanger. Since that's some real fucked up shit...well if it's bout swapped body parts.
ReplyDeleteRole Exchanger caps are my favorite for that very reason XD
DeleteHello I think f2m captions are more likely not be thought out; as women are sorta considered males in society as we just view them in a certain light. but if a man were to transform into woman then it would more difficult for them, as woman have a sense of higher standards that compells them to be better dress, professionally, casually, as well as deal with social environments (meeting friends, going to watch a movie, or grabbing a bite to eat.). These factors are considered more difficult if a man were to do this as men are given the status-quo of being just physically healthy, and occasionally good looking(e.g. bradly cooper vs jonny galecki (leonard from big bang theory). So it the thrill of seeing someone quickly adapt to such a difference that has me reading captions which I love yours caps by the way they are amazing. So I think you can make f2m but it isn't thrilling as m2f in a way as there only so much one can do as a guy. But there are so many things that are taboo as a girl. ;)
ReplyDeleteWell, I for one would like to see more F2M caps out there, and more F2M TG fiction generally. I love Kozmik Alaska's stuff, and Trapper Jock as well - give them a google if you're interested in that sort of thing. But generally they seem to be the exceptions - most nominally F2M stuff on Fictionmania (etc) is really just M2F with a body swap, the F2M being a minor subplot.
ReplyDeleteAs for explaining it's relative rarity? Well... Part of the appeal - for (some people, some of the time) of M2F is the submission/humiliation aspect. "Oh, being made to wear panties and a skirt! GOSH! How humiliating!" But given centuries of patriarchy, that doesn't really work the other way round. On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be a corresponding dominatrix-grows-a-dick thing going on.
When I tried doing F2M caps, I found one problem was I couldn't really find images I liked. I generally work with nude images, because hey, if you're working in a visual medium and writing about people's organs changing, it makes sense to actually see those organs. But the guys in porn are all aimed at gay men, and generally that doesn't quite work for me. I mean, I'm bi, I like guys. But there's a whole different aesthetic going on to what I'm into. It's like being the only guy who likes nerdy redheaded women and everybody else likes blonde airheads with massive breasts. (Does that analogy make sense? I doubt it).
There's one other aspect that may be a factor here. It's a generalisation, but they say women are more into stories than pictures, at least when it comes to sex. Hence why porn is mostly for men, and erotic fiction more for the women. Obviously, when it comes to TG stuff the gender norms kind of go out the window, but it could be that the female-bodied TG fans are more interested in the written word than caps.
FWIW, when I posted my one F2M cap, it only got around half as many views as my M2F stuff. But that could just be because my established audience don't generally like that sort of thing, and the people who do don't come to my blog.
Short version: I have no idea why there aren't more people making or following F2M caps. But I think any capper should at least give it a go once or twice, if only as an experiment. And I think somebody should start making them.
If you build it, they will come, after all...
I totally get the problem with obtaining images for F2M's. I'm bi myself, but I'm 70/30, so what I find attractive in a guy isn't the masculine, porn stereotype of sexiness. I guess girls have a broader spectrum of what is sexy? Like for guys it's pretty rigid, but girls can be sexy in a lot of different ways.
DeleteI don't think I'm going to make F2M's more than a token few times, and even then it will only be subplots to an M2F. Maybe you're right about women preferring written stuff versus pictures, that would explain why there's more F2M stuff over on TG Storytime XD
Hey! Terzanelle joined the discussion! Knew you'd get a kick out of it, Rachel!
DeleteI agree- a big trouble is pictures. So many of the guys in porn are gross. And it's on purpose too. Where are the good looking, well build guys in cappable situations? -DAGS