Chapter 64: Gender Reversal Is the Motive for Writing (3)
“No. What on earth is this about?
Did I buy the wrong book by any chance...?”
For the first time in a very long while, Diane experienced the sensation of her head spinning.
Not since her days as a novice adventurer, when she had been hit in the head by a rock thrown by a monster, had she felt this dizzy.
Today, that record had been broken.
Thanks to that, only after several minutes passed was she barely able to collect herself.
Only then did she begin to grasp the contents of Author Wei’s new work, [An Adventurer in a Gender-Reversed World], published in the magazine.
“So... this is a world where things like men’s and women’s physical abilities and social roles are reversed?
If that’s really the case, then it’s an incredibly unusual world, isn’t it?!”
And once she had roughly figured it out, she could not help but exclaim in surprise.
“A world where the roles of men and women are reversed.
How did he even think of something like this?”
That was only natural, because for Diane, this was a subject she had never even dared to imagine.
“Honey! I’ll have dinner ready and delicious tonight.
So don’t stop by the arcade today, okay!”
“All right, all right! You nagging husband of mine!
I just need to come straight home as soon as work ends, don’t I!”
A strange world where it was taken for granted that women worked outside, while men stayed home and did housework.
“Ugh, it’s hot. I should take off my outerwear before training.
Hup! Whew, now that it’s off, that’s much better!”
“My goodness. Why is the sunlight so strong today?
Prepare a parasol for me so I can block the sun.”
An amusing world where female soldiers trained in thin clothing, exposing their skin as they sweated, while young noblemen bundled themselves up and carried parasols so their skin would not tan.
On top of that, as she had just read, the ones subjected to vulgar harassment were not female adventurers like herself, but male adventurers—a bizarre world indeed.
Every one of those scenes went beyond the common sense Diane had built up over the twenty-three years of her life, overturning it completely.
So she could not help but admire Author Wei, who had created such a world so easily.
“As expected of Author Wei.
He always does things we couldn’t even imagine, and does them as if it were nothing.”
Though that was precisely why so many readers felt thrilled by him and admired him.
In any case, Diane once again realized that Author Wei was not called the Apostle of Culture for nothing.
Even for her to earn the rather trivial nickname of “Thorn Rose,” the number of adventurers whose jaws she had smashed must have easily exceeded double digits.
So to earn the grand title of “Apostle of Culture,” just how many extraordinary achievements would one need to pile up?
“To earn a nickname on that level, this is the kind of thing you have to do, huh?”
And Diane felt as if she had just glimpsed a fragment of such an achievement.
Of course, the new cultures Author Wei had introduced before—things like comics and games—and the contents of his novels had also been shocking and fascinating.
But honestly, from Diane’s personal point of view.
“This subject of gender reversal might be the most unique and interesting thing Author Wei has created so far.”
It was strange, unfamiliar, and gave off an incredible sense of dissonance.
But perhaps that very dissonance was what kept stimulating her interest and curiosity.
It might feel something like encountering monsters, only for them to politely greet you instead of roaring and attacking.
Some people might feel repulsed by that aspect.
But rather than that, Diane found herself wanting to learn in greater detail just what sort of world it was.
And so, feeling somehow as though she were being drawn in by fate.
The impression Diane had as she read [An Adventurer in a Gender-Reversed World] was—
“...Could it be that Author Wei wants to narrow the gap between the sexes and achieve equality between men and women?”
It was slightly... no, quite far removed from the author’s original intention.
If Wade had known this, he would have screamed and denied it with all his might, but it was an incorrect guess.
Still, it was not unreasonable for Diane to feel this way.
“Saying that society can function just fine even if women take on the mainstream roles in place of men...
I can’t think of any reason other than that.”
In reality, most of society and the ruling class were occupied by men, and women were usually excluded.
After all, that had been the prevailing notion for hundreds, even thousands of years.
Therefore, when a woman tried to intrude into a man’s domain, she was dismissed.
This is men’s work, not women’s work.
That was the common understanding of the real world, where men and women were not reversed.
But what about in this novel?
It said that even with women occupying the mainstream of society and power instead of men, things could run without issue, and it truly appeared that way.
No, to be honest, there seemed to be no difference at all.
As if even if that were applied directly to reality right now and women took charge of the mainstream, contrary to conventional wisdom, there would be no problem whatsoever.
“Of course, there are some things that are possible because physical abilities have been reversed.
So it can’t be applied identically to every field in reality.”
Conversely, that meant that in fields unrelated to physical ability, or fields where men and women stood equal.
It would be entirely possible even in reality.
“Women can do it too!”
“Not just housework!
They can play a more central role in society!”
Therefore, Diane could not help but feel that through this gender-reversed world, Author Wei was expressing his views on equality between men and women.
And she felt that even more strongly when she saw the protagonist, Ian.
“To think the day would come when I’d hear such vulgar harassment from women.
So to them right now, I look something like an easy young lady?
Ha, once the world gets turned upside down, all sorts of things really do happen.”
The protagonist, Ian, was a man who possessed memories of the original world before it was reversed.
In other words, he was a man, but was actually being treated like a woman.
That meant he served as a representative who could speak for both men and women.
The fact that Ian, such a representative, had been chosen as the protagonist meant—
It was a metaphor for the equality that both men and women were important, and that both could achieve things.
That was how Diane understood it.
“Author Wei must have brought out the subject of gender reversal because he wanted to talk about exactly this!”
And people who came to similar conclusions began to increase not only among Diane, but throughout the kingdom.
All while heading in a direction completely different from Wade’s actual thoughts.
****
Something was going strangely wrong.
This time, I had definitely written with no particular intention.
I had simply written a gender-reversal story packed full of my own tastes.
I had not been aiming for any specific reaction.
It was a work I proceeded with under the mindset that success would be nice, but even if it failed, I’d still plant an apple tree.
“Then why is it causing such an enormous ripple throughout society?”
“A Lesson in Putting Oneself in Another’s Shoes Through Reversed Genders. Could This Become an Opportunity for Repentance?”
“Women Can Do It Too! What Is the Gender Equality Author Wei Speaks of in a Reversed World?!”
“Is the Protagonist Ian a Symbol of Equality?
What His Existence Metaphorizes...”
And the response was intensely passionate.
...First, let me make an excuse.
No.
I swear, I absolutely did not write it with those thoughts in mind.
Putting oneself in another’s shoes?
That probably came from the part where the protagonist gets harassed by the women of the reversed world.
“That was just a frustrating setup for a cathartic scene!”
And what? Gender equality?
When did I ever advocate for that?
No, if the world is gender-reversed, then isn’t it natural for women to take on men’s roles?
I didn’t think any deeper than that!
“And they’re saying the protagonist Ian is a metaphor for someone who can succeed equally regardless of gender?”
I just wanted to emphasize the protagonist’s specialness, though?
You know, that feeling of a laid-back, fiery female friend whose tastes match yours well?
I was only trying to bring that out.
A gender-reversal protagonist is originally supposed to be like that! It’s practically the rule!
But without even giving me a chance to make those excuses.
Everyone had already finished interpreting it however they wanted, going on about gender equality and whatnot.
Thanks to that, countless people were now debating [An Adventurer in a Gender-Reversed World].
This drew an especially strong response from women—particularly ambitious women.
“If this goes well, maybe I could get a chance to inherit the family too?”
“Rather than hand the family over to my foolish older brother, wouldn’t it be better if I took it for myself?”
Apparently, it was because they expected that if they refined this suddenly emerging logic well enough, an opportunity might come even to them, who had originally had no chance to interfere in family affairs.
Is this that thing called girl crush or whatever?
“How could things get this twisted?”
Honestly, I felt wronged.
No, I just wanted to write and spread a gender-reversal story as my motive for writing.
How was I supposed to predict that girl-crush female warriors shouting about gender equality would suddenly pop out of it!
On top of that, the sparks eventually flew all the way to the royal family.
“Pardon? What did you say?”
“I hear that female knights have begun demanding that they also be given the chance to be selected for the Royal Guard.
After reading that novel you wrote, that is.”
When Duke Lucid told me that a demand had emerged to allow female knights into the Royal Guard, which had traditionally selected only men.
I wanted to just faint on the spot.
This is really not my fault.
Please don’t blame me. Please!