Sanders Reflection

 Fisk Candau 

Dr Ellis

EN376 

27 Sep 2023 

    Something I found really interesting in Sanders’ “Looking for Rhonda Honda” was the presentation of and attitude towards trans people (called gendermorph in the short story), specifically that in the case of “Blanche” versus the case of Rhonda Honda.

    The first instance of gendermorph people being presented in the text is one of complete disrespect. Johnny Noir, when typing an email to the mysterious person taking some of his money, refers to them as “Blanche” for the sole reason that it would “piss her off,” presumably because it is that person’s deadname (245). Also, Johnny Noir refuses to use that person’s real pronouns, which are he/him, only referring to him using she/her because “gendermorph be damned, I’ll start going along with that the day she/he quits grabbing half my pay” (245). This shows that, in Johnny Noir’s mind, a person’s identity does not need to be respected if you have some problem with that person.

     This is further evidenced in the fact that Johnny Noir is fine using Rhonda Honda’s correct pronouns and is fine respecting her identity since he does not have a personal vendetta against her. When Johnny Noir discovers that Rhonda Honda is the President, he continues to use her correct pronouns and the only thing he has to say about the whole situation is “nice morph job” before moving on to the important problem, convincing her to go back to being the President, even assuring her that she won’t have to go back to presenting as a man since “I could list a lot of antics your predecessors got up to, every bit as outrageous as this,” which isn’t exactly a super respectful view of trans-ness but isn’t outwardly malicious to it (259-260). This shows that the perspective on trans individuals in the story is one of only having to respect their personhood and identity if they haven’t done anything that you don’t like.

    This is an especially interesting outlook when contrasted with Kihara’s “Paradise Camp,” where fa’afafine people who do not fit in to the western gender binary, like the gendermorph individuals in “Looking for Rhonda Honda,” are presented as not only completely normal humans but it is seen as absurd to question or disrespect their identity. 

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