The Causes and Social Significance of Gender Diversity

in Fan Fictions

Qing Chen

and Manyao Yang

Shanghai Yangpu Senior High School, Shanghai, 200092, China

Rosedale Global High School, Hefei, Anhui, 230051, China

Keywords: Fan Fiction, Undoing Gender, Gender Diversity.

Abstract: In recent years, there has been much gender diversity in the fan fiction. This phenomenon has received wide-

spread attention, but there is still a lack of understanding of why authors create peers with gender diversity

and the social sense of these works. This paper observes and sums up the social response to the author's

writing works, combines with the interview method, and analyzes the reasons for the author's creation with

gender diversity factors. After analysis, this paper believes that the author created these in fan fiction for

multiple reasons: they are to meet their sexual needs and against gender stereotypes, but also convey the

"character will not change by gender change" concept and accept the idea of gender equality and gender

diversity, breaking the traditional gender norms, spread the support of gender equality and gender diversity.

1 INTRODUCTION

Fan fiction is the textual means by which fans

assert their imaginative power over foundational

works (the canon) and renegotiate the terms set

by their original authors (Vadde et al., 2024). In

recent years, the phenomenon of writing and

spreading fan fiction has become more and more

extensive. In 2024, Archive of Our Own (AO3),

the world's largest fan site, officially announced

that it now has more than 14 million fan works,

and the influential fan community LOFTER has

more than 100 million downloads based on the

mobile Android app market. This fully illustrates

the rapid development of this type of novel and

its influence that cannot be ignored. In addition,

the phenomenon of "gender diversity" has been

widespread in fan works, and "gender diversity"

will be used to refer to gender identities and

gender identity experiences that are different

from a unitary cisgender experience (Strang et

al., 2018). This phenomenon is embodied in a

variety of settings, such as sexual conversion and

non-binary gender settings. Among them, the

most representative one is the Omegaverse.

Within this universe, alphas typically hold

dominant roles, omegas are often depicted as

submissive, and betas occupy a middle ground

(Yang et al., 2024). The number of ABO world

view's fan fiction in AO3 has reached about

220,000. The number of similar subjects,

including sexual transformation (transforming

the characters in the original work into another

gender) and transgender people, has also reached

about 230,000. In LOFTER, the participation of

people in the "sex transfer" tag has reached about

90,000. As the people who created these works,

the authors' creative reasons and the influence of

their ideas are worth pondering and studying.

Based on this, this paper uses the interview

method to understand the reasons why the

writing of fellow writers contains the multi-

gender phenomenon. This paper aims to analyze

the author's criticism of the traditional gender

norms and resistance attitude to clarify the

phenomenon in gender research sociological

value, especially with the fan fiction of gender

deconstruction and reflection of social gender

norms, to help continue to explore the

humanistic field of gender influence.

Chen, Q. and Yang, M.

The Causes and Social Signiﬁcance of Gender Diversity in Fan Fictions.

DOI: 10.5220/0014001900004912

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Innovative Education and Social Development (IESD 2025), pages 519-523

ISBN: 978-989-758-779-5

519

2 METHOD

2.1 Theoretical Principle

This paper mainly uses the "undoing gender"

theory as the theoretical basis."undoing gender"

is a way to challenge and rethink traditional

gender norms (Butler, 2004). The central idea of

this theory is that gender is not a fixed nature but

a kind of performativity constructed and

maintained by social norms. Simply put, gender

is not "what we are" but "how we behave".

Gender performance is constrained by the social

environment and cultural context, but it can also

be "deconstructed" or "redone" through action

and practice. In this theory, "Undoing" means to

reveal and break the coercive nature of

traditional gender norms through reflection and

action on gender performance. This process can

challenge the social perception of gender

dualization (male/female), immobilization, and

heteronormativity. It also involves a critique of

social inequality and gender discrimination,

especially for those who do not meet traditional

gender norms (e.g., LGBTQ+ groups). It means

that the oppression of the "non-mainstream

gender" can be reduced by rethinking gender

norms. This is a reflection of the power relations

hidden in the social structure.

2.2 Research Method

2.2.1 Case Analysis

To understand the traditional gender concept in

the fan fiction "infiltration" degree, the

established based on the fan fiction, the

traditional gender concept and OOC (out of

character, refers to the role from the original

setting, especially the character) correlation

analysis, this paper using the case analysis

method, the AO3 ABO related works and

contains the sexual elements of related works

and "OOC" tag coincidence degree, and to

clarify. Through the analysis of the works, this

paper studies the connection between the theme

and OOC to more intuitively describe the

representation of the traditional gender concept

in the same humanity containing the multi-

gender phenomenon and let the final result be

presented as a digital representation so that the

characteristics are more obvious.

2.2.2 Interviewing Method

Based on case analysis, this study used the

interview method to interview 21 authors of such

works to understand the creative causes of the

same people with gender diversity. Furthermore,

this study focused on some views of authors who

opposed negative views and conducted in-depth

analysis through interviews. The interviews

mainly included how the authors viewed and

avoided the OOC phenomenon and their views

on gender diversity. Through the interview

method, this study obtains first-hand data to have

a deeper understanding of the creators' views on

this aspect and the ideas they want to convey.

3 RESULT

3.1 Writing the Motivation of the

Authors

After the interview with fellow authors, this

paper believes that the reasons for the creation of

the multi-gender phenomenon themes are mainly

divided into the following categories.

3.1.1 Introspection on Social Gender Norms

Many peer authors use gender diversity settings

to counter or reflect on gender norms in the real

world. The author uses the sexual transfer and

ABO setting to criticize and explore the fixed

definition and expectations of gender. For

example, when a male character turns to a female

character, he will still show the "masculine"

characteristics to convey the gender flow

concept that women can also be "masculine," or

men can also be "feminine" to eliminate the

stereotype of gender.

Respondent A said its often creation ABO

world outlook subject, she gives reasons as

follows: "I like creating ABO world view,

probably because I mix circle often requires

reality analysis and reflection, I can put the

reflection reflected in the world view, such as

reflection on gender equality and gender

stereotypes."

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This shows that novels and other works are

usually used as the author's thinking and

opinions expression, presenting their cognition

and analysis of social realities and problems.

Gender diversity provides a broader space for

creators to dig into the complexity of gender

relations, gender power, and emotional ties.

Some authors said: "I think this is another

possibility, maybe my CP can have another

mode of getting along. I would like to see them

with different possibilities. Anyway, I have only

one life, but my CP must be happy."

3.1.2 The Preferences are Prominent

Towards the Influence of Popular

Culture

Some authors' humanistic setting of gender

diversity, especially the ABO setting, is

influenced by a specific popular culture or a

quadratic culture. Many humanistic creators and

readers are inspired by Japanese anime, novels,

and other works, which often feature gender

subversive Settings, such as gender reversal,

which authors may recreate according to these

cultural symbols and Settings. In addition, some

authors simply like this kind of setting with a

multi-gender phenomenon and think that writing

this kind of article is "cool". It expresses their

acceptance of gender pluralism, resistance to

gender dualism, and resistance to heterosexual

hegemony.

3.1.3 Create a Unique Reader Experience

Through the gender diversity setting, the author

can create a reading experience that is

completely different from the traditional gender

setting. These works have attracted readers who

seek alternative plots and challenge gender

conventions, which have continued to expand in

recent years, attracting more authors to join such

creations.

The author said: "I serialize my CP novel on

LOFTER and then set a paid small Easter egg at

the end of each chapter, and I can make a small

profit every month. I find the articles with these

Settings very popular, probably because they

have some unconventional plots, and the readers

who like the alternative plot will like them. For

them, it is a novelty."

It can be seen that the authors have different

purposes, but from the results, it is true that the

idea that gender is not "born" but "acquired" has

the effect of resisting traditional gender concepts

and breaking gender stereotypes (Butler, 2004;

Deutsch, 2007).

3.2 The Reason Why Gender Diversity

Is Resisted by Some Writers

In addition, after interviewing some fellow

authors who explicitly stated that they could not

accept all or part of their gender diversity, this

article found that some of them were sexual

minorities and were less receptive to

heterosexual sex. Some say they are reluctant to

write because the worldview is too complex.

There are also suggestions that BL/GL (gay CP)

becomes BG/GB (heterosexual CP). It can be

found that the creation and acceptance of such a

kind of fan fiction are also related to the

complexity of individual sexual orientation and

gender diversity settings.

3.3 The OOC, the Coexistence of

Gender Tradition and Character

Nature in The Change of Gender

Through literature collation and empirical

research, this paper finds some common ideas.

For example, some scholars believe that

although sexual transformation and ABO

worldview strengthen the flow of gender to a

certain extent, these works also contain a strong

presentation of traditional gender norms.

3.3.1 Existing Study

In the study of the relevant Sherlock Holmes

topics about transgender people (Mainly to

change the character to another sex), their gender

remains stable or adjusts as a consequence of the

bodily changes. At the same time, the changed

character buys into stereotypical notions of

gender (Rose, 2018). After studying the

phenomenon of "sexual rotation" and "male

pregnancy" in the similar groups of Holmes and

Hobbit, Elliot Aaron Director also believes that

such "sexual rotation" will deepen the

The Causes and Social Signiﬁcance of Gender Diversity in Fan Fictions

521

dualization of gender to some extent (Director,

2017). After studying the fan fiction about male

pregnancy works from the TV series

Supernatural, Åström described it as

"Conventional stories set in a very

unconventional universe" (Åström, 2010). These

articles listed some specific phenomena, such as

the author after the pregnant men will be more

sensitive, more emotional, more so-called

"feminine", and such as the authors in writing a

become Omega male will emphasize his soft,

"feminine" side; they think this behavior

embodies the traditional gender stereotypes.

3.3.2 Problem Thinking

Through the research, this paper presents a

different view. Because of the particularity of

humanistic themes, the characters who are

"transgender" or "ABO" are mostly not because

they are influenced by traditional gender

concepts in the process of being "sexual" or

"ABO", but because the characters themselves

have the characteristics of "transgender".

The author said in the interview, "I like the

kind of cute little boy who is a little "feminine",

intersex, sexual turn is suitable for him."

The role of "transgender" by the authors, by

the authors like by the author's second creation,

also shows that the authors now (including the

original author and fan fiction authors) are more

able to accept a gender who do not conform to

the gender norms of personality, which can

further reflect on gender norms, reduce the role

of "transgender" recessive oppression. In

conclusion, this paper believes that it is

unreasonable to measure the traditional rigid

gender concept conveyed by authors with the

"transgender" of roles after "sexual

transformation" or "ABO". The character is

"endowed by (the author)" the "gender attribute"

in another traditional impression, and these

"gender attributes" are inconsistent with the

original "gender attribute" or character, thus

changing the character of the character. This

phenomenon is called in fan fiction by "OOC"

(out of character).

At the same time, in the interview with the

author can conclude that some of the found OOC

with fan fiction "data" tend to be worse than not

with fan fiction, some are because, like the

original character will write in the fan fiction,

subjective is not willing to change the character,

so they will try to avoid in the process of OOC.

So, through the above research, this paper found

different phenomena, namely the authors

intentionally avoid OOC, the authors, for various

reasons, the role of "transgender" or "ABO" will

deliberately weaken the influence of traditional

gender ideas, so that the character is more like

their character in the original, make different

personality in different gender, leading to further

analysis of gender. The social reaction to those

gender characteristics is embodied differently,

thus bringing sex back to the forefront of

analysis (McClellan, 2014). Gender-swap stories

involve the re-sexing of an existing character

without necessarily altering their character

(Oulton, 2022).

However, according to the author's interview,

they will also unconsciously be influenced by the

traditional ideas of the characters to make slight

changes, but these changes do not reach the

extent of OOC within the scope of the author

herself and most readers.

Even if the above phenomenon does not mean

that the influence of the traditional concept of

gender is completely eradicated, it can also

reflect the dilution of the influence of the

traditional concept of gender in the genre to a

certain extent, and the character will no longer

change dramatically due to the change of gender.

The authors' writing with gender diversity

reflects the mobility of gender, after creating

special societies different from traditional

societies or common sense, Inulating the original

gender while retaining the character, In this way,

fan writers convey the idea that character does

not change by gender, This is exactly the

argument between writing and humanity that

gender is "natural" and "inevitable" while

"deconstructing" and "redoing" gender (Butler,

2004; Deutsch, 2007). Using the character's

original character to bring new possibilities to a

stereotyped gender. In the process, the authors

subtly advertise that all genders, whether male or

female, are either in a socially weak or strong

position and are free to adhere to or develop their

character and their personality background. This

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offers broader possibilities for all genders and

promotes the establishment of a more inclusive

fan community.

4 CONCLUSION

Through the analysis of the works and the

interviews of the authors, this study found that

the authors had weakened the influence of

gender traditions in the creation of gender-

diverse themes and promoted the idea that

gender should not hinder character freedom and

oppose gender stereotypes. To some extent,

these articles meet the creators' sexual fantasies

and needs. The dissemination of these works in

real life, especially in the fan community, can

enable readers to subtly accept the ideas of

gender equality and gender diversity while

breaking gender stereotypes and traditional

gender norms. In some ways, these works also

hit heterosexual hegemony and traditional

family concepts, creating an inclusive

community environment and providing a

channel and space for sexual minorities to speak

out so that they can feel a sense of belonging.

Due to the limited sample of interviews and the

limited field of interview author creation, this

paper still has some limitations. The research on

the phenomenon of gender diversity and the

acceptance of gender minorities in fan fiction

needs to be supplemented.

AUTHORS CONTRIBUTION

All the authors contributed equally, and their

names were listed in alphabetical order.

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