Assuming that homosexuality isn't an option...

[Mitera Nikkou]

As some know, I toss out one of these more serious-type polls every now and again.

This one was inspired by something in a manga that I recently read. If you can guess which one it is, I'll actively be your play-thing in Muffinville for a week. I'll be there every day, too. How strange is that? Pretty strange. Which is one word away from strangle.

I wonder why that is...

[Raleigh]

I would assume Simoun. I'm not sure if all the options are covered here. What about those who would pursue both sexes as that isn't strictly homosexuality? How about those who would be friends but not lovers to both genders? My option would have to currently be to seek friendship with both as I find that to be preferable. Some of my best friends have been female while some of my oddest and amusing friends have been males so I would think I would stay that way even if I could pick my gender at some set point.

[Mitera Nikkou]

Nope, not Simoun.

The question isn't as open as you'd think, since what it boils down to is just how important sex is to someone even when they get a restriction on top of being able to choose their gender. Yes, you could befriend someone from the opposite sex, but the problem is that it could lead to sex. So, either you will have sex, or you will not. The whole point is that you can't have it both ways, you see.

[Zilla]

I'm confused by the topic's premise.

My guess is Hourou Musukou.

To me, it's a strange hypothetical, as gender identity and sexual preference are quite separate, although sometimes related things. So... The premise you are giving here, is that you are free to choose the gender you want, but you cannot have sex with the opposite gender, right? Does it not matter what gender you take, or would that change the restriction?

For instance, take someone who was male and decides to be female. Would the choices reflect opposite sets of people from someone who is male and decides to be male?

Personally, I don't think someone's gender should dictate their partners. I'm a girl, I like girls. There's no reason to feel bad about that or avoid relationships because of it. For the sake of a hypothetical though... are you saying that if you persue a sexual relationship with one gender, you can't have friendships with the other? Because that's just cruel.

Wouldn't the real question then be, if you can choose your gender, would you have sex with the opposite gender?

[Mitera Nikkou]

Not Hourou Musukou, either. Hint: the character starts as neither male nor female.

It's a contest of values. Friendship and sex are very different beasts, especially when viewed through the lens of society instead of your heart. The character who inspired this poll thinks that their only option is to either have a close female-female friendship or to be a guy and take things further than friendship. I have nothing against friendship and sexual relations in any form, but if I had it my way then your options wouldn't lead to the same dilemma that the character is in: becoming the opposite gender to work toward sex, or become the same gender to build on an already-solid friendship.

[Zilla]

Well... I wouldn't change my gender for anyone else, sex or not. It's a part of who I am, and I can't change that.

To me, such a dilemma is quite strange... The entire concept seems quite strange. I'm still not sure what it's asking about.

Edit: Are we talking about a specific person, or something? Is this more of a "You find yourself attracted to someone of your own sex, so would you change gender to be with them" kind of question?

[Mitera Nikkou]

It's basically a hypothetical regarding what you would do if these were your choices, regardless of whether you'd ever find yourself in that kind of situation. You basically have to break down your already-limited choices to whether a sexual relationship or friendship with someone close to you is more important than the other on some fundamental basis.

[Zilla]

Kinda really depends on the person, doesn't it? It's a very situational question... I don't think it's fair to ask on a fundamental level, because... without giving an identity to the target in question, it's basically like "would you rather have sex with anyone, or become friends with anyone?" And that's.... well... you just can't make that kind of call on such limited data.

[Mitera Nikkou]

Well, you're only seeing a problem because you're creating it yourself by adding considerations outside of the context of the poll. The poll tries to lead you into its confines, but you're claustrophobic and need more room to work with. There's nothing wrong with asking the reason for why the options are so specific (despite any perceived extra option that could also be explored), but I'd like to make it clear: it wasn't a mistake or accident on my part to have the options that are available, as they serve a specific purpose.

So much for making a srs bznss poll, eh?

[Zilla]

Well.... if you remove gender from the equation entirely, it's just asking "Which would you prefer, sex or friendship?"

And really... what role DOES gender really play in this poll? I don't really get the thing about homosexuality or whatever... It's not about being uncomfortable with limiting options or whatever, I just purely don't understand what the premise is. There's unsaid assumptions that kinda need to be made in order to understand the context of this poll.

I'll lay out what I thought when I answered it.

"Assuming homosexuality isn't an option and you could choose your own gender..."
female, can't have sex with females, in this case.

"What would you prefer to do?
Desire sex with the opposite gender.
Desire friendship with the same gender.
Neither."

Well, strictly speaking, I'd like to not have to desire anything, so neither would be the most literal answer, because it's asking what I'd prefer to do, not what I would do.

Since I doubt that was the intent of the poll, I answered friendship with the same gender, as I'm not interested in sex with guys.

That's all it was to me, but... I sense something going on more than that. Am I wrong to think that? Did I answer the right question?

[Mitera Nikkou]

It's interchangeable: friendship or sex versus male or female. Do you choose to be male because you would prefer having sex with a female, or do you prefer friendship and thus choose to be female? That also works the other way around.

The character that inspired this poll doesn't know what they want, with the exception being that homosexuality isn't an option to them. Had that not been the exception, their choice wouldn't have been so problematic. They're stuck with wondering if they should become the same sex and be friends, or the opposite sex and hope for something more, when they don't even know which gender they want to be. Thus, it becomes a battle of preference, either from the gender angle or the relationship angle.

Does that clear things up?

[Zilla]

I see, but... in that scenario, I'd pick something based on an entirely different paradigm to what this poll is asking, because for me, gender isn't really a choice, or at the very least, it's a foregone conclusion. And the poll kinda seems to go with that. It seems to say "Okay, you can decide your gender, but do so before taking into account this poll."

"Now, with your gender decided, pick among these options."

The way you presented it in the last one, is more along the lines of this kind of setup:

Say homosexuality isn't an option and you have feelings for someone. Would you:

switch to the opposite gender for the chance at having a sexual relationship?

switch to the same gender for the chance of friendship?

neither?


That's the question I seem to be seeing you asking.

[AmbushCat]

In a topic such as this, I'm going to let this be my answer.

[Mitera Nikkou]

You and I can be mates, then, since I plan to be alone forevers. How that makes sense, I have no idea.

@Zilla:

I honestly don't see what the problem is, except that you're overcomplicating things. To begin with, whether you believe gender is a foregone conclusion or not, the context of the poll says otherwise. It's a choice; end of story, moving on, no need to include something irrelevant into it even if you perceive it to be relevant because the matter in question may be important on a personal level and deserves to change the scenario which had not been constructed to suit your perceptual inclinations. (Man, that's probably the longest phrase I've ever written. Oh, and despite how that may read, it's coming out like that because I'm exhausting explanations for something that I, personally, don't see what's so hard to grasp. It's getting harder for me to phrase things in a way that doesn't make it sound like I'm insulting your intelligence. I'm a bit exasperated, to be sure, but I understand that not everyone can come to the same conclusions based on the same information.) And if you must choose your gender first, then you're only forcing that on yourself, because there's nothing that says you must choose your gender first. Just because the question is introduced before the options doesn't mean that matters must be taken care of in that order. The character that inspired this poll is weighing both their gender and their relationship to find out which is more important to them; they're not hung up on their gender alone. In fact, the options are given so that the matter is settled on both fronts at the same time, because they really do go hand in hand, for all intents and purposes. Even though it actually approaches the question more from the relationship side of things. XD

So, basically, you could approach the question by first deciding that being a friend is what matters to you the most, regardless of what sex your hypothetical self would have to be for it. Can't see yourself having sex with guys, but want to have a sexual relationship? Then choose to be a guy so you can seek a sexual relationship with a girl. Is it friendship that you want, and not a sexual relationship? Then choose to be a girl so you can be that girl's friend. It's ultimately a matter of what's worth more to you, no matter which way you look at it.

[AmbushCat]

Nah. I'll pass.