I kinda find it sad that the basic essence of genderbender, which would be the actual dealing with the subject, with all the problems, implications, and personal conflicts it brings.
Instead, it became some sort of escapism as some mentioned, or simple tag bait for clicks. Sometimes it's also specially because the author believes it would be easier to write someone with a male mind, which I believe is a concerning wall against using the other gender (even if men and women aren't so different to write in my opinion)
The tag often just doesn't give much to the story and it leaves the question why not simply using a female protagonist.
The problem I see with the additional transgender tag is that those often tend to be a wish-fulfillment where the author goes for euphoria instead of dysphoria. It's just personally that I don't like them, but it leaves cis-protagonists out (which I prefer as they represent a group I can better relate to) and almost makes it impossible to find those. Sometimes it even feels like a tiny bit of hate for the former (often male) gender mixes in the elation.
One of the reasons why I for example can't read "Ryn of Avonside" as, even if I'd like the rest, is that it's pure celebration of not being male.
I still feel weird being in this thread xD
Yes, I think that's an in analysis of what's going on. Writing the opposite gender intimidates a lot of writers. I think that many people get afraid about "how do I write all the small details" and feel like the deeper stuff in the character will be just as difficult.
I do think that, being human, people, not just across gender, but across lines of race, religion, nationality, have the same feelings in them.
A boy and a girl will both feel the same trauma on a fundamental level from losing a loved one. The real difference comes in that individual's personality.
Maybe the girl hardens, trying to take it more toughly, because losing her single mother requires her to take care of younger siblings.
A boy could have clinical depression, and losing a grandfather, someone who cared about his dreams more than his parents, might cause him to be in greater grief.
I think it really is the details of what the diverging experience of men and women are that dissuades people from writing characters opposite them in gender.
It seems trivial, but having to pause to think about what a girl's morning routine would be seriously interrupts the flow of writing for me.
The difficult truth is that this is likely helped greatly by having IRL people of the opposite gender to talk to and ask for little suggestions for details.
But of course, this is all conjecture. Women are an elusive species and all past attempts of mine to communicate with them have not resulted in any meaningful data.
Your words warm my heart, but it is a sad fact of life and economics that authors rarely write what they want. That privilege is reserved to selected few. Most (successful) online novel authors write what pays and what generates profits. They couldn't care less about quality or the readers. In fact, finishing a novel is not profitable. Better a quick bump and comet like rise to cash out ala George Martin style.
