My 92 year old neighbor read ALL SYSTEMS RED by @marthawells.bsky.social. First off, she ordered the next three books. Her: I had to think about it, but Murderbot's a girl, right? Me: Uh... I always thought so, but no, no gender. Her: Okay. Sounds like a girl, tho. - ThreadSky

mariondeeds.bsky.social • 376 days ago

My 92 year old neighbor read ALL SYSTEMS RED by @marthawells.bsky.social. First off, she ordered the next three books.

Her: I had to think about it, but Murderbot's a girl, right?
Me: Uh... I always thought so, but no, no gender.
Her: Okay. Sounds like a girl, tho.

Comments

sigourney.bsky.social•376 days ago

It never occured to me that it could not be male. I wonder why as I always prefer female protagonists. Now I can re-read them with a new perspective!

ilikebeignets.bsky.social•376 days ago

I’ve always read murderbot as male coded (though nongender). I may have to re-read from a new perspective.

otterb.bsky.social•376 days ago

I read murderbot as male coded also. And I took a long time to get used to referring to Murderbot as “it” because of the conflict between two beliefs: use the pronouns someone uses for themself, and “it” is a pronoun for things, not people, and therefore offensive to apply to a person.

mariondeeds.bsky.social•376 days ago

I struggled with that too!

mariondeeds.bsky.social•376 days ago

I read Murderbot as cisfemale, but now is probably when I would say that I might have been influenced by the author's name. Murderbot is very clear that is doesn't have a sex and doesn't need one, but it's interesting what the reader brings to it.

lessariel.bsky.social•376 days ago

I always picture them as Ruby Rose in the Meg. Was very disappointed to see the casting for the show seems to have gone white male.

mariondeeds.bsky.social•376 days ago

I probably won't see it just because I don't subscribe to the service, but it will be interesting to see what the actor does with the role. It would have been interesting to see what an NB actor would have done, too.

steelrat.bsky.social•376 days ago

As I read the books, as a Cisgender male. i assumed male
honestly it wasn't a big deal since to me it would have to do with "Plumbing" and as far as I know Murderbot would hate being in a sex scene. It wasn't a big deal to me

mariondeeds.bsky.social•376 days ago

Murderbot's very clear about that! Although it does change its thinking about Comfort Units.

I love this discussion and what each reader brings to the mix.

inkbotkowalski.bsky.social•376 days ago

Love it when people go "no, someone can't simply have no gender; I must take it upon myself to assign a binary gender to him/her". Not.

daniskitchen.bsky.social•376 days ago

I always read murderbot as woman, but recently saw several people talking about murderbot as a man. almost certainly murderbot has no gender, but it's neat to me how we all read it in different ways ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

mariondeeds.bsky.social•376 days ago

That's what I find interesting.

ador.bsky.social•376 days ago

the audiobook is read by Kevin R Free, which made me think of murderbot as male-coded. But it's important that murderbot is an "it" by choice, yeah.

mariondeeds.bsky.social•376 days ago

Really good points.

colomon.bsky.social•376 days ago

I definitely read it as more a woman, yes.

robertaecks.bsky.social•376 days ago

I always read Murderbot as AFAB, but that it was essentially irrelevant now.

mariondeeds.bsky.social•376 days ago

That was how I read it. I have always been clear that Murderbot's sex doesn't matter in the stories.

anthrodiva.bsky.social•376 days ago

Oh, interesting. I always read Murderbot as a biracial/ambiguous heritage Ken doll.

mariondeeds.bsky.social•376 days ago

Hahahaha! Thank you!

pagan.bsky.social•376 days ago

Alexander Skarsgard is playing MurderBot in the new Apple series. I always attributed a female persona on the character. 🤷‍♂️ 🤣

https://www.space.com/murderbot-sci-fi-series-apple-tv-plus

seamyst.bsky.social•376 days ago

I think of Murderbot as agender, coded very slightly male, but my dream casting is Gwendolyn Christie, specifically as her stormtrooper character in The Force Awakens, so...

mikeyfly.bsky.social•376 days ago

Gwendoline Christie or maybe BSG era Katie Sackhoff are close to how I imagined Three.

cwgriffen.bsky.social•376 days ago

Gwendoline Christie is who I imagined for the first several books until a friend suggested Janelle Monae, and now that's my head canon

mariondeeds.bsky.social•376 days ago

I can see it!

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