Gender-Swapping 5 Other Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books

For the tenth anniversary of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, Edward and Bella are taking a break. In a surprise move, it was announced this week that a new special edition will include the novel Life and Death, featuring star-crossed lovers Edythe and Beau.
Wait, who?
Meyer has given the book a new twist by swapping the genders of our favorite sparkly bloodsucker and the danger magnet who loves him. In the reimagining, Beau is the high-schooler with the crush and Edythe is the alluring century-old vampire. It’ll be up to Twilight fans to decide if Life and Death sheds new light on a beloved supernatural romance, or if the gender switch is just an intriguing experiment. (Word is that the enormous and imposing physical specimen Emmett becomes an equally tough Eleanor, which sounds like a pretty good twist.) The whole thing got us wondering: what other characters from science fiction and fantasy books might yield some interesting new angles given a gender-swap?

Mark Watney in The Martian, by Andy Weir
Given the new Ridley Scott movie, this one’s very much in the news, and seems like a good place to start. What happens if Mark Watney becomes…well, let’s just say female Mark Watney? The Bechdel test is a way to figure out if a work of fiction does a good job of representing women: does the book have at least two women who talk to each other abut something other than a man? As it is, The Martian fails the test by necessity: the book is almost entirely from the point-of-view of Mark, and every conversation not involving him is about getting him home. Making Mark a woman does a few interesting things: first, it passes the Bechdel test with flying colors. Assuming that the other female characters remain, our lead now has a number of conversations with women that have nothing to do with men. Then, there’s the existence of this female protagonist who is tough, smart, and funny—the ultimate science nerd who is also physically tough, possessing crazy survival skills. This is  typically male terrain, and it would be undeniably cool to see a female character representing. The only downside might be in the response: there would no doubt be a vocal contingent who would dismiss a female character with the super-science abilities of Mark Watney as unbelievable or pandering. Without saying there’s anything wrong with Andy Weir’s book as written, we look forward to seeing a few more ladies get lost in space.
You know what we mean.

Valentine Michael Smith in Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
Depending on your point of view, Heinlein’s deeply weird classic was either an instigator, or a perfect reflection of, 1960s counter-culture values. The book’s lead, Valentine Michael Smith, is a human who grew up on Mars and returns to Earth to shake up human society with new religious ideas, free-love, social libertarianism, and water-sharing. Heinlein brought a lot of ideas to the table, and raised a lot of questions, but grok this: his ideas on female sexuality don’t quite stand the test of time. He was astute in the idea that women like sex, but he goes a bit further and winds up suggesting that, if they’d just let down their barriers, they want it all the time and with minimal discrimination. Which would, in turn, make men very happy indeed. The gist is that sex is a gift that women withhold when they should be offering it freely. So how different might the story be if a woman came from Mars to preach sexual liberation? It wouldn’t fix all of the problems with Heinlein’s vision, but it likely would have been even more shocking to ’60s values. A story about a more-or-less alien woman forming a cult and preaching sexual liberation? Would a popular writer of the time, even someone of Heinlein’s caliber, have been able to craft a protagonist convincing enough to sell that premise? We’ll never know, but it’s an intriguing idea.

Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
We won’t necessarily suggest a gender-swap for Harry, but instead for the tough and plucky Hermione Granger. In most ways it would be a terrible idea to get rid of the series’ female lead, especially given that Harry’s large ensemble is mostly made up of boys. Hermione is my personal favorite character, but she’s got a few characteristics that make her a slightly less than ideal role model: she can be bossy rather than authoritative, and she’s book-smart but not always wise or adaptable. The bossiness, in particular, is a bit of a stereotype for a smart girl, so it would be interesting to gauge the difference if it was boy exhibiting some of the same qualities. Hermione becomes a male nerd who’s a bit of a know-it-all, but who has a strong protective instinct when it comes to his friends. Plus, it would make the simmering romance with Ron Weasley that much more interesting.

Frodo in The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
A modern rewrite of Tolkien’s masterpieces probably wouldn’t add much, but a gender-swapped version in the ’50s might have been game-changing. From The Hobbit onward, Tolkien’s vision has been enormously influential on the fantasy genre (“enormously influential” being an enormous understatement). Plenty of girls and women love the books just as much as men do, but the scarcity of female characters in the series all but ensured that the high fantasy would be a largely boys’ genre for decades. Whatever you think about the changes that Peter Jackson made when he put together the movies, the beefed-up roles for several of the female characters went a long way toward convincing a lot of skeptical women that Tolkien has something to offer all types of readers. The fantasy genre has caught up in many ways, but the landscape might be very different had Frodo been a wee hobbit lass, bravely fighting to return the ring to Mount Doom and save the Middle Earth.
Does anyone know if Freda is an reasonable hobbit name?

Alexia in the Parasol Protectorate series, by Gail Carriger
Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series takes place in a steampunk version of Victorian England in which vampires and werewolves are relatively commonplace members of society. Alexia Tarabotti is literally soulless, and therefore immune to the powers of supernatural beings. She’s a tough protagonist who navigates the era’s social and sexual mores with the same grace and wit that she brings to a battle with rampaging monsters. She’s got a weaponized parasol and a wicked sense of humor, and doesn’t need much else. The only reason to consider a gender-swap is admittedly a pretty bad one: the fashion. Carriger’s pen is peerless when it comes to vivid period detail. Fashion, housewares, the rituals associated with tea are brought to vivid life. There are significant male characters in the books, but given the lush and sensuous backdrop that she’s able to conjure for leading-lady Alexia, it would be brilliant to see a male character get the full benefit of the Carriger treatment.
What other characters might yield some new angles given a change in gender?