Transgender Representation in a Short Story Continuing the theme of LGBT representation in literature, the focus of this essay is on the experience of a transgender girl in the short story “Other Women ” in the short story collection: A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett. The story follows a trans girl named Sophie and her struggles with others regarding respecting her gender identity, name, and pronouns, along with gender dysphoria and her sexuality in relation to her gender identity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The story picks up with Sophie reuniting with her mother after a long time away from home. She points out that her mother "didn't say anything about gender the whole day, which was nice of her." It was Sophie's first time home in Winnipeg since she asked everyone to call her by the name she chose. Her mother tried to call her Sophie, but it's hard for her. Sophie's friend Megan is one of the few people in the story who respects her gender identity and is fiercely protective of her. Megan introduces Sophie to her cisgender male friend Mark, and Sophie makes “a note to pay attention to whether men and women shake hands. All these new social signals are confusing." Later that day, Sophie is misgendered as she passes a stranger and thinks to herself, “I don't know why I can't say for myself: Actually, I'm not a boy. I have this terrible image of being like a little boy who says "look, no, I'm really a girl." I promise. I promise super. I wanted someone else to step up and say you're wrong, man, that there's a girl, it's not a man and you should get your eyes checked. "Sophie is primarily attracted to women, and therefore identifies as a lesbian, but questions her identity when she meets Mark. She finds herself wanting to know if he is straight and wants to like women. She says he has dug a hole in her gaydar and made her feel cute, something that seems trivial but as a trans girl, it tends to mean a lot. However, her dysphoria sets in when she accidentally rubs her phone against the five o'clock shadow, and she stops feeling cute Plett also addresses violence against trans people. Sophie tells her mom that Oregon is nice and that she doesn't feel unsafe, but she knows that “it's not always all friendly. A few weeks ago she was in a bar and some guys threatened to throw a knife in her face. Someone yelled “fucking faggot” on her way home the other day. She moved to Portland partly on the word that it was a liberal dream overflowing with queers, but she wishes she had studied the geographic specifics before signing a lease at 104th and Powell. She reflects: “I feel lucky that no one has tried to punch me yet. Or stab me. But mom didn't need to hear any of that." Sophie faces both casual transphobia and violence from people she knows, as well as casual transphobic strangers. She meets high school seniors and is open to them. He makes a remark about his gender and one of the cisgender guys says, “Don't be vulgar. Look, I'm fine with you. Do whatever, like, I don't understand, I mean, if that turns you on, whatever. But tonight there are people who wanted to kick your ass, okay? I talked to them, they're great, but just relax, be normal, everything will be fine. Is this okay?" She tells the reader that she is very worried about his safety, but she didn't think she should have expected him here. Sophie tells the reader about her.