affreca

In recent months I have been consuming so much crossdressing girl in disguise media! It’s become my major comfort trope of the moment.

I grew up on a certain kind of girl power story about how women are just as good as men and can do all the same things. I later came to see how this kind of story undervalues feminine things and domestic labor and to value those things more, but this type of story still holds deep appeal to me. There’s something so satisfying about seeing young women succeed against the odds.

However, before I got into Chinese media several years ago I hadn’t read or watched many stories like this in a long time. I was mostly reading adult SFF where I wasn’t aware of many stories like that. Even as I started to get into Chinese stuff it took a while to get back to this beloved trope, as I started with stories that centered men. These shows aren't all crossdressing girls but they make a thematic cluster.

I slowly started watching dramas featuring extraordinary young women succeeding in traditionally masculine fields like in The Moon Brightens for You orA Girl Like Me and remembering how much I enjoyed this kind of thing

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