Near- to mid-future plausible sci-fi.
Eclipse Phase is a good example of a mid-future setting where body modification enabled by the pervasive use of powerful nanotechnology allows anyone with the inclination to change their sex almost at will, easily inventing new genders, and with only a few hours at a medical facility they can try out being a hermaphrodite, neuter, "winterized", or any other arbitrary configuration of wedding tackle and hormones. For those who are slightly more well-heeled, they can try out being an uplifted animal (there are only a few strains yet uplifted, though) for a while, and find out the difference between human-male and dolphin-male, or perhaps spend a few weeks as a barrow (neutered male pig). Everything is bound by the rules of physics, and thermodynamics is still a thing that must be respected, so there are limits. Also, the work of uplift is very slow and very hard; as of the date the story starts, your choices are pig, a few cetacean species, several primates, and a few species of bird, as well as a couple aliens. (One of which is a carnivorous plant, the other a raccoon-sized flying squirrel that's one of the easier ways to find out what it's like to go into heat every few months) In spite of that, when it comes to gender, the limits are really only your imagination, and what squicks your partner.
A more near-term future would be something more like Ghost in the Shell or Cyberpunk 2020 or Shadowrun, or a similar cyberpunk world where body modification (other than cybernetic implants and tattoos) really caught on. Actually, a good example of this would be the fanfic "Simon Beyond" by our very own Paolo.
Atreyu69 (imported) wrote: Sun Oct 18, 2015 8:14 pm
Ask yourself this question. If you lived on a world where preteen castration was just barely socially acceptable what would you do?
1) Oppose preteen castration and nullification in all cases out of an innate sense of compassion and decency. Protest outside castration clinics and demand castration be stopped for all boys.
2) Reluctantly tolerate preteen castration and nullification. Consider it tolerable in some instances. You don't like it but you can live with it.
3) Reluctantly support preteen castration and nullification. Consider it desirable for some boys. Have no objection to castration for the boy next door but certainly not for your own kid.
4) Whole heartedly support preteen castration. If your son asks for it you'd drive him to the clinic yourself.
I'd like to think that if I did lived on such a world I'd be in category 1. But I don't know. I might be in category 2 or 3. That's what keeps me writing and reading castration stories.
I think it would be fun to put that debate into the story, and make people make their decisions among the machinations of those pushing these disparate positions in the media, for if it was "just barely socially acceptable" as you say, it would be political, it would be in the news, and it would be the subject of protests and counter-protests and with murky guidelines, it would be interesting to write about that sort of thing from the position of a doctor being pulled in both directions by his clients and patients and where medical ethics provide little to no guidance, and where it's hard to see whether you can "do no harm" without giving up practicing medicine altogether, for any position you take, including "I don't want to deal with this shit" is infused with message and meaning you never intended to send.
I'd also like to point out that you could support elective castration out of a
too - especially if it's become conflated with treatment for transgenderism, since current and/or emerging standards of care are to block puberty before it has a chance to do any "damage" that requires surgical correction later on during a transition.