naoto shirogane is not trans.
before we begin, iâd like to preface this post with saying that i have no problem with headcanons. however, i personally criticize headcanons that go against canon, erase an important message, or erase a characterâs traits. and i cannot help but feel so strongly about a headcanon when it goes so blatantly against a character and when it happens to be a character i deeply care about.
naoto, throughout the course of the game, makes an effort to present/pass as male and wishes that she could have been born male. without context, itâs easy to understand why some may misinterpret this as her being trans. what is important to grasp here is what her motivations are behind these things to begin with.
the most significant factor is that the game is set in japan - you canât look at this story in a western perspective because unfortunately, sexism is a major issue in japan. women are seen as less capable than men, and this is especially prevalent in male-dominated career fields. from a young age, naoto was exposed to what a detective should be, and as a result tried to change herself to fit this âidealâ in order to be respected by her coworkers.
to put it into simple terms: naoto believed she had to change herself to fit her âidealâ image of a detective. she believed that it would be more convenient and easy for her to have been born male because, in her eyes, it is the only way for her to be respected and accepted by other people.
now, whatâs also important to understand is what actually motivates a trans person to transition/wish to transition. the thing is, if you were to put a trans person on an island with no gender roles, no society, etc, they would still want to transition because of gender dysphoria - a disconnect between their brain sex (gender) and their birth sex. itâs entirely internal. they want to transition to relieve personal discomfort. (yes, trans people still wish to be accepted, but it is not the direct source of their motivations).
see, thatâs the difference between naoto and a trans person. naoto is entirely motivated by external factors - her motivation is to be accepted by other people, whereas one who is trans is motivated by internal factors. if it were not for sexism in japan, naoto would have no reason to present as male or wish to have been born male. what she struggles with is internalized misogyny, not gender dysphoria.
another reason why headcanoning naoto as trans goes against canon is because naoto herself says that she is a woman. she directly states that her true desire was never to be a man, but to be accepted.
naotoâs character arc is a narrative on workplace sexism in japan. itâs important to acknowledge this because many women, iâm sure, could relate heavily to naotoâs struggles. by saying she is just trans, you are in turn minimizing and undermining the struggles of those who experience the same thing as naoto on a day to day basis. it trivializes the issue and essentially says that these kinds of experiences donât matter.
to those who argue about representation:
i understand why you would like trans representation in media. as someone who is also lgbt, i really do understand the struggle of not being able to find a character who is lgbt that i can relate to. however, this isnât about trans representation. itâs better to try and find representation in a character that is actually trans. can you really say that naoto is âtrans representationâ if she was never intended to be representation to begin with? if she directly states that she is a woman? iâm not sure thatâs the definition of good representation.
to summarize this post, naoto is not trans because a) she shows no indication of experiencing gender dysphoria, b) only wishes to be a man because she feels itâs the only way to be accepted by others, and c) because thatâs not the intentions of her character arc.
by saying she is trans, you are doing the exact opposite of what naoto would want, at the end of the day. she wants to be accepted as she is - a woman. by molding and changing her character to fit your ideals, you are doing to her exactly what she was trying to do in order to appease other people.Â
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