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Right, so I know how this seems like it’s pretty random, but there is a reason! After watching (and falling in love with) the 3-episode BBC series Sherlock (which is great except for utterly failing the Bechdel Test and also random race!fail in part 2), I started wondering where the hell all the female geniuses were. I couldn’t off the top of my head imagine that many brilliant females at all. The closest I could come to one that could possibly match Holmes’ character and brilliance was Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (etc.) series. I can think of tons of smart ladies, sure; Hermione’s very clever, for example. But a sheer brilliant female genius? Couldn’t think of one except Lisbeth. And that really started to bother me.
EDIT: The TV characters of Temperance "Bones" Brennan in the show Bones may actually qualify. She seems pretty damn brilliant/socially awkward/Holmesian. I'll need to see more episodes. The TV character of Amy Farrah Fowler in the show The Big Bang Theory may also qualify, as a brilliant, socially awkward counterpart to the character of Sheldon, but again, I haven't seen that many episodes.
I found a pseudo fix in reading Laurie R. King's The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, in which a young girl with a Holmesian intellect is taken under his wing, but he was still half the focus and for the purpose of this experiment, I wanted it all to be on her. (But I still love this series. For more, see my reviews of book 2, book 3, book 4, book 5, book 6, book 7, and the radio drama.)
And then I found fanfic in which Sherlock Holmes is a woman. Thank God for the world of fanfic, I tell you. Correcting misogyny one word at a time. Often John Watson is also a woman, but that doesn’t matter to me in this case; I want to see a dazzling female intellect wowing the average, everyday citizenry.
EDIT: Okay, so I'm coming to realize that it's not just that I want a female genius (though I'll take those!). I actually want an arrogant female genius. Someone irritating, confident, abrasive, demanding. I don't want a cute little girl who demurely and quietly provides her brain powers to the betterment of humanity; I want a woman with charisma who explodes onto the scene, verbally eviscerates everyone, and then sweeps away with her massive intellect. Yeah...in short, I want a female Sherlock Holmes. And I've found some.
Something like this would have been very helpful to me when I was searching for them, so I’ve compiled a recs list of all the ones I’ve found and loved. Please do let me know if you come across a great fic that I’ve neglected! This type of story really means a lot to me and says something important about gender and genius. Plus, you know, the idea of girl!Sherlock is just really, really hot.
( Onto the Genderswap! )
: : :
More, please, pretty authors who are into this, too? *bats eyelashes*
Random edits after the fact:
Back to the Sherlock Recs Masterpost: (Taxi!)
EDIT: The TV characters of Temperance "Bones" Brennan in the show Bones may actually qualify. She seems pretty damn brilliant/socially awkward/Holmesian. I'll need to see more episodes. The TV character of Amy Farrah Fowler in the show The Big Bang Theory may also qualify, as a brilliant, socially awkward counterpart to the character of Sheldon, but again, I haven't seen that many episodes.
I found a pseudo fix in reading Laurie R. King's The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, in which a young girl with a Holmesian intellect is taken under his wing, but he was still half the focus and for the purpose of this experiment, I wanted it all to be on her. (But I still love this series. For more, see my reviews of book 2, book 3, book 4, book 5, book 6, book 7, and the radio drama.)
And then I found fanfic in which Sherlock Holmes is a woman. Thank God for the world of fanfic, I tell you. Correcting misogyny one word at a time. Often John Watson is also a woman, but that doesn’t matter to me in this case; I want to see a dazzling female intellect wowing the average, everyday citizenry.
EDIT: Okay, so I'm coming to realize that it's not just that I want a female genius (though I'll take those!). I actually want an arrogant female genius. Someone irritating, confident, abrasive, demanding. I don't want a cute little girl who demurely and quietly provides her brain powers to the betterment of humanity; I want a woman with charisma who explodes onto the scene, verbally eviscerates everyone, and then sweeps away with her massive intellect. Yeah...in short, I want a female Sherlock Holmes. And I've found some.
Something like this would have been very helpful to me when I was searching for them, so I’ve compiled a recs list of all the ones I’ve found and loved. Please do let me know if you come across a great fic that I’ve neglected! This type of story really means a lot to me and says something important about gender and genius. Plus, you know, the idea of girl!Sherlock is just really, really hot.
More, please, pretty authors who are into this, too? *bats eyelashes*
Random edits after the fact:
- Guys, I think basically my work here is done. Now instead of just being a handful of genderswap fics, there are a ton! More than I can count! *happy dance* I strongly suggest you check out Key of X.org's Sherlock-is-female-or-transgender category (run by
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foxestacado, to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude). The whole website is really great for Sherlock Holmes fic recommendations! - Apparently there is at least one officially published Sherlock genderswap: Honour Among Punks: The Complete Baker Street Graphic Novel by Guy Davis. Looks cool.
- And there's a series of short stories freely available about one Miss Madelyn Mack, Detective, who is apparently very similar to Sherlock. Check out here and here for details if you're interested.
- Ha, there is a TV adaptation with fem!Sherlock: a Canadian TV series called The Adventures of Shirley Holmes. Now, unfortunately it is not actually genderswap of the original Sherlock Holmes; it's about his great grand-niece. Still, at least Shirley is in the Holmes family.
- So apparently abundantlyqueer has written Fem!Sherlock snippets. No, I'm sorry, your argument is invalid.
- OMG PERFECT FANCASTING by notsosilentwallflower on tumblr!!! Eva Green as Sherlock, Carey Mulligan as John, and Ruth Wilson as Moriarty (hey, I predicted this one!). Awesome gifsets.
Back to the Sherlock Recs Masterpost: (Taxi!)
