Educators at the online course I'm participating in (FutureLearn's "Start Writing Fiction"), has tasked us to "enrich" stereotypes—that is, "taking a stereotype and portraying it in a way that goes against the usual expectations to make characters more complex."
I came up with six stereotypes—or, more accurately, classifications that are highly stereotyped: a serial killer, a janitor, a transvestite, a health advocate, a nun, and a hacktivist.
With the purpose of making them complex and go above the usual expectations, I decided to tweak them a bit.
- A serial killer who is extremely meticulous in choosing her next victim; her only targets are those who are abusive to their wives.
- A janitor who is highly intellectual but decides to have a simple job simply because "cleaning relaxes him."
- A popular transvestite who participates in underground fight clubs under an alias.
- A drug-free health advocate who is actually a drug lord.
- A nun who has deliberately decided to be one to counter her hypersexuality.
- A hacktivist who hacks government websites, relaying messages that actually support the government.
—
I don't know if I did an excellent job of deviating from the usual expectations of such classifications, but I must say that the formerly empty-sounding stereotypes now have been potential characters. There are so many possibilities I can think of, but for now, I've decided to write about the transvestite.
I especially enjoyed writing about "Rox Anne" (hir name) because, simply put, I'm fascinated by the LGBT culture. Using gender-neutral pronouns has also been a novel experience for me.
Since I don't want this post to become about my ideologies, I must stop there.
—
Glamor, vogue, extravagance: three words that best described Rox Anne. A literally colorful personality, hir eyes and hair were different every day, representing the flamboyant paradox that was hir character. Perhaps today ze wanted to match the sunny sky; hir left eye was bright yellow and hir left eye was blue. Ze wore a short, blonde hair, fulfilling the requests of some of hir fans. Hir alluring lips were the only ones left untouched by makeup.
The rare ones who didn’t know Rox would mistake hir for a real woman who just had a peculiar fashion sense, but everybody practically knew that ze was a crossdresser. When one of hir fans asked hir hir sexuality, ze just teased them that it was up to them to figure it out.
Every time ze went to a mall or park with the purpose of relaxing, ze would always be bombarded by haters and supporters alike. It didn’t matter to hir whether opinions to hir were favorable or hurtful; what mattered was ze was getting attention.
Ze looked different every day, and no one even knew of hir true, naked physicality. Did ze really have female breasts? What if she really a woman who just pretended to pretend to be a woman? Did ze already undergo sex change?
What was this person’s true identity? For what purpose was ze doing… whatever it was ze was doing?
No one knew. Ze did an excellent job at making sure that no one knew.
In “The Strongest”—the underground fight club that he participated in—they only knew him as “Iceman.”
Everybody underestimated him. Having a feminine body build, he would always be laughed at by his overly muscular opponents.
Until he started to defeat every single one of them.
A title holder, he would defend his metaphorical championship belt for the tenth time tonight. He heard that his upcoming opponent fought exactly the way he did: rapid jabs to shroud a thunderous kick to the waist, relentless sidestepping, and python-like choke-holding to make the opponent helplessly submit.
Iceman was especially concerned, having a gut feeling that this individual thoroughly researched him. He probably knows that I’m Rox Anne, he thought. Just who is this fellow?
For now, ze tied hir short, blonde hair into a bun, having a talk with some of hir avid fans. They noticed that ze was spacing out, but they didn’t mind.
Everything that Rox Anne did was, to them, mystical.
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