Gender Bending vs. Gender Reversing in Casting: How Switching Gender Changes the Story

Gender bending has been part of storytelling since the beginning. In times when women were prohibited from performing onstage, men would play women’s roles. These days, intentionally playing with the gender of casting can help tell a specific story … but only if you’re specific about what you’re trying to say.

Key Insights

The article defines gender bending as casting an actor of a different gender for an existing role to illuminate something new, and gender reversing as reimagining the character’s gender entirely, which recontextualizes the story.

Playing with gender in casting must be intentional and thoughtful, requiring creators to know exactly what specific story point, illumination, or support they are trying to achieve to propel the narrative effectively.

Casting against a character’s gender is inappropriate when the story hinges on the cultural or specific gendered experience of that character, particularly those of marginalized genders, as it can ultimately detract from the story’s core message.

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Are You Gender Bending or Gender Reversing?

First off, just as our cultural understanding of gender is constantly evolving, so too are the terms we use to describe it. Even within the context of film and theater, different folks use terms differently, so it’s always good to check in and make sure everyone is on the same page.

With that in mind, for the purposes of this article, we’ll use gender bending to describe taking a character that is written as one gender and having an actor of another gender portray the role, usually for the purpose of illuminating something new about the character or the story. Will people react to Julius Caesar the same way if all the men are played by women? What does it say about the audience? Will the character of Hamlet garner more or less sympathy if the words are coming out of a woman’s mouth? Genderbent casting is a wonderful tool to shed new light on old stories, to examine established characters through new lenses.

However, truly reversing the gender of a character is different. In this case, we’re not merely casting a woman as King Lear, we are reimagining the character from the jump — effectively telling the story of Queen Lear. I recently saw a particularly effective production (directed by Alasdair Hunter for Prague Shakespeare) that did exactly this. What it brought to the forefront was a different approach to the relationship between the sisters and Lear. Reimagining the character as a woman recontextualizes every relationship in the play, and highlights new themes.

The seemingly subtle difference between casting a woman to play a man and reimagining a male character as a woman can have startlingly different impacts. Therefore, it is important to get specific about:

When Gender Play is Helpful

If you are using gender play as a tool of storytelling, you want to know exactly what tool you’re plucking out of your tool belt. There are instances, of course, when the character’s gender simply isn’t relevant to the playing of that character, and therefore your decision to cast an actor of another gender may be because they were the best actor available. But when you are using casting to propel, illuminate or support the story, then casting should be intentional and thoughtful.

When Not to Play a Character of Another Gender

While some may disagree, I do think there are instances when casting against gender does a disservice to the storytelling. For example, when the story hinges on the cultural experience of a character as their particular gender, then I would want to cast someone of that particular gender and community. Particularly when the story is about the specific, gendered experiences of characters of marginalized genders, then casting someone of a non-marginalized gender detracts from the story. The only exception to this might be in the case of trying to teach something new in a well-established story. For example, it could be argued that an all-male cast of Three Sisters could expose double standards in audiences and storytelling. I would add though, that this can only be done successfully if handled with great care and by including and empowering women in the direction and production of this story.

Swapping gender in storytelling is a powerful and exciting choice. It can be a way to include folks in stories that have historically overlooked them. It can be used to lampoon outdated modes of thinking. It can be frivolous and playful. As long as the message is crafted with care and responsibly executed, play away.

Key Takeaways

Gender bending is a powerful tool to examine established characters through a new lens, such as casting all women in the roles of men in Julius Caesar to analyze audience reactions and themes.

When a character’s gender is fully reversed—like reimagining King Lear as Queen Lear—it recontextualizes all the character dynamics and brings new themes, such as the relationship between Lear and her daughters, to the forefront.

Though gender play is an exciting choice, it must be crafted with care and responsibly executed, especially when considering stories that focus on the specific, gendered experiences of characters from marginalized communities.