"If you woke up one day as the opposite gender"

This is an interesting concept to ponder. I first came across this phenomenon (the question, not that actual situation :wink: ) during a high school Psychology project. I was trying to determine the chief differences between male and female thought and the more I looked into it, the more I got confused.

For example, why do guys hate seeing other guys in revealing clothing... yet girls don't mind seeing girls in bikinis. Furthermore, guys never want to touch each other yet girls love rubbing sunscreen on each other. It's often not even logically, two guys sharing a huge king sized bed is considered unacceptable, but girls often giggle and don't mind sharing a twin sized bed with 2 other girls. We all know these things about out culture, and never really think about it... But really, what's going on here?

At the end of the semester those 3 years ago I concluded my psychology project more confused than when I began it. But while the project may have ended for me academically, I still actively pursue its answers even into today. Among my studies, I devised an interesting test one can use to find a lot about a person with just one question. "If somehow possible, would you switch bodies with a someone of the opposite gender for two weeks"

For most females I often got a curious glance, almost as if they expected that if they said yes I would say something like "well then, follow me". But other than that the results were pretty much as expected. For girls it was about a 50-50 split between yes and no. Upon questioning it seemed of the 50% that said no, nearly all of them said so just because they didn't want some random guy to be alone with their bodies. While this makes perfect sense for it is interesting to note that men didn't seem to care about this at all. When I asked the men the same hypothetical question, nearly all of them said yes before I even finished the sentence. :XD: Like I said, men didn't care the slightest about the consequences of someone else in their body, which either means the men simply didn't care or they felt it was worth the risk.

Something else of interest I found when dealing with the females was that there was no correlation between attractiveness and the answers to my questions. The "hot" girls were just as interested in the deal as the "ugly" ones, and both types of girls had a near equal percentage concerned about the ramifications of people in their bodies.

But anyway, back to males. My simply question opened up a Pandora's box with the males. Many asked if they could extend the two week period. Probably the most interesting response I got was from a fairly respected, popular athlete in my school: "Of course I would switch genders for a two weeks... [at this point he paused and looked at the floor before continuing] ...day one I would find my girlfriend and, without her knowing who I was, ask her if she really truly loved her boyfriend. If she said no, I would spend the next 13 days trying to find out how to remain as a girl for the rest of my life" :|

Wow, that was quite a statement to hear. If it was up to him, the only thing keeping this heterosexual guy from living life as a girl was his girlfriend's love. I was both impressed by the power of his love, and wondering what made him so eager to give up his manhood. I didn't ask either question and at first thought he might be gay. But I really don't think that was not the case. It seemed almost half the guys I offered the "permenent switch" to at least contemplated it, and most answered with "I don't really know". I should say that when dealing with this question it was assumed that this switch would be unexplainable/magically done. I am in no way saying that half the kids in my school would want to undergo a sex change surgery. :wink:

Anyway, surprisingly the results didn't differ much among men in relationships. Like I said, essentially all men would take the 2 week trail, and about 20% would want it permanent. This percentage changed a little bit depending on status for the men:

-If the guy was a virgin: 20% would prefer to stay as a female

-If the guy had a g/f: 25% would prefer to stay as a female :shock:

-If the guy just got out a relationship: 10% would prefer to stay as a female

Interesting results huh?

- - - - -

Anyway, going back to the picture at the beginning of this post. When I asked a girl I know the aforementioned questions she laughed as asked me if I have been reading too many webcomics. I was quite confused by this, since I could have sworn most webcomics are like "Ctrl Alt Delte", "PennyArcade" or "Cyanide and Happiness". You know, funny comics with inside jokes for people who know a lot about games or computers. Well apparently there is a whole genre of webcomics that deal with the above discussion. Upon a little researching, it seems ~three years ago it all began with comic by the name of Misfile. Misfile, which is the source of the above picture, is a webcomic with an interesting plot. A guy goes to bed and wakes up as a female due to a glitch made by an Angel, who has since been kicked out of heaven and is in no way able to fix the problem. The guy's (or should I say girl's) problem is complicated by the fact that his entire past has changed and everyone thinks he has always been a girl. Only one other person knows the truth and together they try to fix the problem. However some 800 episodes later, and they are no closer than they were at episode one. "Misfile" is surprisingly popular, it has been consistently been ranked as one of the top 10 webcomics out of several thousand.

And thats just one, there are literally dozens. One which I have come to enjoy reading is the crudely named "Abstract Gender" comic. It deals with two high school guys who get ambushed by a mad scientist and turned into girls. One of them is able to change back and forth from male->female at will, and the other one is stuck as a female. It is a quirky comic full of amusing moments (sample here, the girl in the red shirt is the one stuck as a girl, the guy in the grey/black shirt is the other main character).

It is important to note that it follows a theme from Misfile and nearly all other webcomics in this genre:

Sex is never mentioned. Neither is any other form of sexual pleasure. The comics are totally G-rated and just deal with the main character trying to adapt to 'her' new life and learning about the nuisances and differences that exist between genders. They show the countless things that we all partake in with out half of the population without us even thinking about it.

Anyway just a seemingly random thought from me that I decided to share. :

Look at myself naked \ if i was hot. and yes i would want to change back

And im a virgin too so add that to ur statistics.Im only 14 ok?

EDIT: W00t 1st post

I do really love to read your posts

Did you measure attractiveness of the guy appealing? - Just a random thought flowing through.

Wow I absolutely love this case study...

If I were to be in a male body for 2 weeks the first thing I'd do is go for a shower :lol:

I wouldn't mind being a bloke for a fortnight *shrugs* but only a fortnight.

Although in a bit of a twist if I looked down and wasn't happy with my fishing tackle, I would turn it in earlier than the 14 days :o

I do really love to read your posts

 

 

 

If it were to be in a male body for 2 weeks the first thing I'd do is go for a shower :lol:

 

 

 

I wouldn't mind being a bloke for a fortnight *shrugs* but only a fortnight.

Ouch. :P

I'd do it for two weeks as long as it didn't include that time of the month. :lol:

I do really love to read your posts

 

 

 

If it were to be in a male body for 2 weeks the first thing I'd do is go for a shower :lol:

 

 

 

I wouldn't mind being a bloke for a fortnight *shrugs* but only a fortnight.

 

 

 

Ouch. :P

 

 

 

I'd do it for two weeks as long as it didn't include that time of the month. :lol:

I do really love to read your posts

 

 

 

If it were to be in a male body for 2 weeks the first thing I'd do is go for a shower :lol:

 

 

 

I wouldn't mind being a bloke for a fortnight *shrugs* but only a fortnight.

 

 

 

Ouch. :P

 

 

 

I'd do it for two weeks as long as it didn't include that time of the month. :lol:

LMAO :XD: Hey, at least then you'd know how we're feeling when we complain about it :lol:

Anyway, I think it would be a very cool thing to do, just for the sake of experiment and satisfying my curiosity. But I would not want it to be a permanent change. I'm quite content with being a girl :P

Do you mind saying what the correlation or Z score was?

I also wonder how answers would change with privacy of filling out a few pages of range...

Like how many men or women on this website have an insecurity holding them back to answer the question truthfully in fear of being looked down on socially.

Were the people you interviewed belonging to a particular university degree or random? And how many participants were there?

Do you remember the culture of the boy who spoke out?

Have you ever thought to take it further and find out the correlation between life satisfaction and stress with participants?

I love your case study here there could be so much done to it... :ohnoes: Getting me excited hahaha

I like being a guy. I'd definitely not do a permanent change.

but if it was for like a week, I'd consider it, cause you never know what the other side might be like.

(Poke, poke)

Well ain't that the darndest thing.

(Poke, poke)

 

 

 

Well ain't that the darndest thing.

I love your posts. :D

I'd do it in a heartbeat, except before I switch I'd leave a sticky note on myself "Don't get any STDs in my body".

I think it would be intresting to see what it's like, and if I like it I'd consider a permanent switch, though I wouldn't do it right away without a "trial run"(But maybe I would).

The first thing I would do in a female body... try and pee standing up. :

Study my anatomy. :anxious:

Find a banana or other such similar objects.

Find a banana or other such similar objects.

LOL. 8-)

Hmm, I would go

SHOPPING!

Me and my mates have asked each other that question before...

The guys all said they'd stand in front of a large mirror the whole time. (For obvious reasons).

One of the girls said she'd find a hole in the wall and experience what it feels like... (All of us cringed at the thought of a hole in the wall, kinda rough don't you think?)

Interesting study though Trapical. I'm definately gonna have a quick look at those webcomics you posted when I get home.

Hmm, I would go

 

 

 

SHOPPING!

You'd have an excuse to buy...

SHOES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m4BLQ-xwak

cuz ur a girl an all...

right?

Me and my mates have asked each other that question before...

 

 

 

The guys all said they'd stand in front of a large mirror the whole time. (For obvious reasons).

 

 

 

One of the girls said she'd find a hole in the wall and experience what it feels like... (All of us cringed at the thought of a hole in the wall, kinda rough don't you think?)

 

 

 

Interesting study though Trapical. I'm definately gonna have a quick look at those webcomics you posted when I get home.

A hole in the wall? :uhh: A hand not good enough for her? :lol:

Me and my mates have asked each other that question before...

 

 

 

The guys all said they'd stand in front of a large mirror the whole time. (For obvious reasons).

 

 

 

One of the girls said she'd find a hole in the wall and experience what it feels like... (All of us cringed at the thought of a hole in the wall, kinda rough don't you think?)

 

 

 

Interesting study though Trapical. I'm definately gonna have a quick look at those webcomics you posted when I get home.

 

 

 

A hole in the wall? :uhh: A hand not good enough for her? :lol:

You'd be surprised how weird this girl is... I don't think she really thought it through. In fact, I'm sure we were in the pub at the time.

Yeah, i'd do it, and I think it's fairly obvious what next...

Rob Schneider is... a stapler!

this thread wins for the tons of South park jokes in it! Also the shoes reference.

I would enjoy it for a couple of weeks. No more. Be kinda interesting i suppose.

I guess i'd feel sexier as a girl. As a guy.. you know hair all over your body and some wierd extremities between your legs... who would find that any attractive at all?!

side note: i'm beginning to feel dirty just reading this thread

Go give my ex a good beatdown.

Haha, me and my mates used to ponder this even back in the days when we were around the age of 10. Even then we thought it would be a good idea to lock ourselves in the bathroom, haha.

I'd only do it for the two weeks, and hit every single lesbian bar in town until I met my Portia de Rossi.

Why the hell is lesb!an censored? Isn't that discrimination, thinking that it is a bad word?