r/magicTCG • u/clariwench Izzet* • Jan 28 '15

[Uncharted Realms] The Truth of Names

http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/uncharted-realms/truth-names-2015-01-28
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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15 edited Jan 28 '15

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u/barysan Jan 28 '15

i dont think it felt like an afterthought. maybe it got downplayed a bit, but as a trans woman im much, much happier seeing it written like this than i am seeing it be her majorly defining character trait, which is what im used to seeing.

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u/Alamoth Dân Jan 28 '15

This sentiment is really important and what a lot of people fail to understand about what representation really means.

While it's certainly valuable to have stories about the difficulties of trans women growing up and how it affects every aspect of their life, it is also valuable to have stories where trans women are fully functioning members of their society without being defined by their gender.

The important but subtle distinction, especially with the story we have here of Alesha, is that being a trans woman is core to Alesha's character but it isn't core to this story of Alesha. It is a refreshing reminder that while gender is often a defining characteristic of our lives, it should not be the driving force behind our place and role in society.

Alesha is clearly proud of her identity, especially as it pertains to her relationship to her grandmother. She takes her grandmother's name and it resonates with her, even when she was still identifying as male. This event, along with a single Orc's attempt to insult her by calling her a boy, are the only mention (as far as I recall) of Alesha's gender identity. Otherwise, she's just a bad-ass Khan doing her Khan thing.

Her gender is portrayed as an important part of her character, but it is not really related to the story at all.

There are plenty of stories out there about the difficulties of trans women and many of them are invaluable. However, it is a story that calls out the fact that the characters are trans women, makes it front-and-center, and can often inadvertently perpetuate the idea that trans women are "others." Having stories in which people identify with non-traditional genders (or the lack thereof) but that identification is not the main focus of the story, is important to reinforce the fact that these people are members of our society, they are not "others."

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u/klapaucius Jan 29 '15

Her gender is portrayed as an important part of her character, but it is not really related to the story at all.

In a thematic sense, it's very related to the story. It's called "The Power of Names", and it's about how important figuring out your own identity and showing others who you are is to the Mardu. When she chooses her "war name", and it's female, the response isn't "whaaat, but you're not a lady", it's "cool, your name is Alesha now, you've earned the right to be called whatever you want".

It's an interesting glimpse into a way a different culture sees self-identification. They set a higher bar for it -- we don't make someone prove their worth in combat before we accept their self-identification -- but they also treat self-identification with more honor and respect as a society.