Why Sanji is a Transgender Woman – A One Piece Essay No-One Asked For
Does contain spoilers!
Now, I’ll start off by saying I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this. And that’s okay! Honestly, different fan theories are one of the best things about being in a fandom. The only thing I would ask is for people to restrain from transphobia in their replies. I can wholeheartedly promise that if you do this, you will be ignored to death.
Sanji has issues, that’s clear enough. What I absolutely love about how One Piece handled Sanji is Oda taking what looked to be this typical anime perv character and delving into his issues with toxic masculinity, his father issues, and giving plenty of subtext as to why he is obsessed with women. You don’t need a psychiatrist’s degree to see that Sanji was heavily abused by his father and brothers, while his mother and sister showed him love and kindness. So it’s no wonder he gets angry and defensive towards men, while showering women with affection.
But this theory delves deeper into Sanji’s issues and explores the transgender tendencies the character shows. One thing that does worry me about this is that Sanji could very well embody the myth of ‘that trans person who just says they’re trans because they want to see nekked ladies in the locker rooms.’ But because I know Sanji’s backstory, I honestly have more sympathy for him here and don’t see how that could be the case. For one because I know he just wants to look not hurt/assault anyone, two because I grew up in a privileged generation of the internet so anytime I wanted to see naked ladies I literally just typed that into google (when I was thirteen my father bought my a computer for my room after he found out I wanted to be a writer lol) and lastly he suffers from a serious case of ‘Boarding School Syndrome.’
For those of you who didn’t grow up in Europe, this is basically when you’re sent to an ‘all boys’ or ‘all girls’ school and spend your entire puberty exclusively around people of that gender. So when you come out it’s natural to be excited by seeing people of the opposite gender, which can lead to some inappropriate behaviour. Not sexual assault (there is no excuse for that) or anything serious, just inappropriate social behaviour. Since Sanji grew up in an all-male environment it’s natural for him to want to be around women and to get over-excited.
So with that out the way, let me power forward with my silly, little theory. (I will also be using she/her pronouns beyond this point. I will also be referring to Anime-exclusive scenes as part of the canon.)
Let’s start with the most obvious point that comes up: Kamabakka Kingdom.
Sanji was sent here after the battle at Sabaody by the warlord Kuma. The warlord looked into the Strawhat’s hearts and picked destinations where they would be able to maximise their skills and train to become stronger. In Sanji, he saw that Kamabakka would suit her well.
This is obviously because of the 99 recipes, there being an opportunity for Sanji to grow as a cook. But it can’t just be coincidence that this is the island of “Girlie Hearts.”
Let me also put in the disclaimer that I am well aware that the residents of Kamabakka are not, or at least not all, transgender women. I suspect some are, but most are just cisgender men who like to live their lives in a femme manner without judgement. But even this terrifies Sanji! Throughout the series, she is shown to be literally afraid of feminine men. This isn’t just someone mildly uncomfortable by something they don’t understand- she completely freaks out.
Because she is scared of being seen this way. She doesn’t want to embrace being female as she doesn’t want the world to see her as a comical man in a dress. This is honestly a fear a lot of transwomen go through and one that is not easily overcome.
Let’s also mention how Caroline manages to open up that part of Sanji during their fight. The technique was called ‘A Maiden’s True Awakening.’ For that to have worked, there would have had to be a Maiden to awaken to begin with.
Caroline’s speech to Sanji during quotes verbatim things I have said about Sanji prior to this scene. Mostly the whole ‘deceiving your own heart and being honest with yourself thing.’ It’s easy to brush the scene off as purely comical filler, but it’s also fair to look for a deeper meaning behind it.
(Also, we can’t ignore that Sanji already knew how to run, jump and kick in heels when fighting Caroline. I’m sorry, but you don’t know how to do that if it’s your first time! She’s done a little experimenting before this.)
I also want to put in the side note that were Sanji to transition, I don’t think she would immediately find Ivankov. I think she would just start living as a woman and go through traditional medicated routes. The reason for this being that Ivan’s power is tied to a devil fruit so her transition would ultimately be tied to Ivan. Ergo if something happened to Ivan it might reverse the effects. There is also the point that Sanji’s body would go through an immediate, drastic transformation which she would have to learn to handle in combat. Even if she could swap between physical sexes as some treated by Ivan can, that would mean having to go back to her old body, which would be very difficult for someone with gender dysphoria.
I’m not trying to imply that women aren’t as strong as men, just that if your body looks one way then suddenly looks another, one has to learn how to do everything with their body all over again. Getting used to the way it moves and handles. This would undoubtedly affect her combat abilities, which would potentially endanger her family. A gradual medical transition would give her the chance to get used to the changes as they come.
Based on what I’ve seen of the medical world in One Piece, including references to hormones and cosmetic surgery, I think a medical transition would be possible.
Kambakka is not even my biggest piece of evidence that Sanji is transgender. It merely plants the seed.
The biggest argument has to be Punk Hazard. Oh sweet Lord, where to begin with Punk Hazard!
I’ve seen in many Animes and other forms of entertainment: the body swap cliché. Every time there is always some cis man excited to be in a woman’s body and immediately squeezes their boobies. Which to be honest is natural. It’s natural to be curious about what it would feel like to have a different body. It’s not a sign of gender dysphoria, just curiosity!
But when this happens, the excited character squeezes their boobs and then carries on with things.
Sanji however is purley overjoyed to be in Nami’s body, showing extreme gender euphoria. She loves the experience and looks honestly happier than she normally does. It’s a body that she wants.
What hammers this home is when she literally begs Law not to change them back. After he does, she becomes incredibly depressed stating: “The dream is over.”
That’s not a reaction someone would have if they were happy with their original body. You could view this purely as Sanji being a pervert and wanting to see Nami naked or touch her. Or we could look at the tears in her eyes and recognise some pain there.
Finally, let’s move onto the big issue here. How Sanji views women.
I’m sure we can all agree that Sanji’s obsession with women stems from good old Daddy/Mummy issues. After Whole Cake, so much about Sanji’s character just made sense. As Freudian as it seems, she trusts women because she could only trust her mother and her sister growing up. She wants to protect women because women showed her kindness while the men in her life rejected her. We can also attribute this to her actual father Papa-Zeff drumming into her chivalry ideals that she can’t abandon as they were given to her by the father figure she could trust.
I could write a whole new essay about why Sanji views women the way she does (and I intend to.) But let’s focus on gender dysphoria.
The way Sanji treats women isn’t healthy. It’s patronising and degrading. (Although as of Chapter 1005 we can see she is growing and working on seeing women as capable. I literally cried when she asked for Robin’s help!)
However, she does show a lot of signs of gender dysphoria during her obsession with women. She sees them as these flawless, ethereal beings rather than actual people. They are angels and she is a mere mortal in their presence. This is not a normal way to view women. She puts them on a pedestal, because they have something that she wants, but doesn’t realise she can have. Obsession so often stems from not being able to have something.
There is also a clear sense of lack of self-worth in Sanji. Time and time again she’s been too ready to give herself and her own safety up for her crewmates. There could be an element of gender dysphoria involved here too, as she on some subconscious level knows she is living an inauthentic life.
I really love the way Sanji’s character has developed since the beginning of One Piece. She’ll always be my favourite character. She’s beautiful, loyal, and brave. She’s comical certainly, but that’s what makes her so likable! I’m very much looking forward to seeing how her story finishes.
This is purely one fan exploring what they see and the reason behind it.
But rest assured, no I’m not letting go of this Head-Canon. Sorry, not sorry.
