Misogyny And The Fetishization Of Queer Identities In Fanfiction

The male equivalent of futanari seems to be a "cuntboy" or some variation of the term. A futa is just a woman with a penis slapped on, the same way a "cuntboy" is a man with a vagina and probably the rest of the female reproductive system. They aren't transgender characters — they're people's fetishes. Some writers will adamantly insist, "NO, HE'S A CUNTBOY. HE ISN'T TRANS. I AM SCARED OF TRANS PEOPLE BECAUSE I HATE WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND."

See, before researching this episode, I was in the same place about mpreg — I hated it because I didn't understand it. A lot of the ways in which people write it are still disgusting and fetishistic, but I think I'm beginning to see the appeal of it if it's done well.

So maybe, I hated mpreg for the same reason but in two different ways. It fetishizes gay men and assimilates them into roles with which straight people are familiar because they don't understand how gay relationships work. They assume that feminine = degrading and submissive.

And maybe, myself and many others have a powerful reaction of disgust to mpreg because we find the doctrine of feminine = degrading to be offensive, but still we hold onto that very same belief on a more subconscious level. A man being brought down to the level and function of a woman? Revolting. So there is a difference between poorly written mpreg — lazy, fetishistic, and heteronormative — and believe it or not, well-written mpreg, which is creative, explorative, and dramatic.

OMEGAVERSE

That brings us to a subgenre of mpreg: omegaverse. What is omegaverse? It's a popular type of AU in which the population consists of alphas (dominants), betas (regular people, no one cares about betas, honestly), and omegas (submissives). There are lots of variations on it and worldbuilding is an important aspect, but generally what you need to know is that it gives people wolf-like breeding characteristics. Regardless of sex or gender, anyone can belong to any of these categories — in fact, categorizations generally rely on someone's personality. For instance, if you're pushy and domineering, then you'll most likely be an alpha.

"Knotting" is also a common part of the smut scenes. This is when a dick swells up so that you can't pull out of whatever orifice you're fucking until you're done with sex. Obviously, humans don't do it, but other species like dogs do. It gives the alpha even more power. Omegas also go through heat periods like wild animals in which they just NEED dick, and they can get pregnant (and often do in these fics), again, regardless of sex.

Basically, this reflects gender roles stronger than those present in regular mpreg. There is an explicit power dynamic. Men: alphas; women: omegas. If our society were as extreme as this (and it is in some places in the world), it would be pretty fucking terrible. With such a focus on breeding, the entirety of a very large population is being treated and used as nothing more than breeding stock, and they have little purpose outside that. If you have an alpha woman, you give her a cock and that makes her powerful, and if a man is weak, he usually keeps his dick, but he obtains other aspects of female biology, namely the ability to get pregnant.

Rape and rape culture are hugely reflected in omegaverse, and it's sad to know that mostly women write these stories. Breeding cycles and going into heat at inopportune times are frequently used as plot points. Regardless of whether an omega wants it or not, it's a deep biological need for them, and often an alpha just has to step in and fuck them. It's a little rapey, and a lot of the time, it's straight up, explicit rape. Alphas have to "take care" of omegas in heat one way or another, whether that means that they need to lock the omega in a room until the urge passes, or they're strangers on the street and the alpha just can't help itself, and, well, the omega was just asking for it because their sexuality is out of control and it's their only defining characteristic, at least in that moment.