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Darth_Biomech
Apr '21

English is not my native language, neither is it the language in which I write scripts for my comic.
So I've finally got to some tone translation problems.
In my main language terms like "male", "female", "it" and many others come off as very dehumanizing and demeaning when applied to humans: it comes off as the speaker thinking of them as mere animals, things. But it is apparently not so disrespecting to refer to the humans as "males" and "females" in English?

Now I have a character that needs to appear contempt toward aliens whose corpses the military had found, on the grounds of "They're not humans, so what's wrong in referring to them like animals?". I've used the aforementioned words in the native version of his phrases to punctuate the tone that sets off another character, but how do I get the point across for the English version?
There are a few phrases the character speaks before getting confronted on their attitude, a monologue, and so far here's my current translation. They feel quite a bit tame and subtle to me:

"Bodies of these specimens are an unending fountain of discoveries!"
"There are so many differences in the structure of these creatures with our animals, but at the same time so many similarities, it's very intriguing!"
"I could write more than one dissertation on the biochemistry of these things alone!"
"And the differences in the anatomical structure of females and males give rise to interesting theories regarding their behaviors (Original word is used to describe specifically animal behavior, like instincts and stuff), and... " (he gets interrupted at this point)

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eyewhiskers
Apr '21

I think you’ve got it down. This sounds about right. They are talking about them as “specimens” which is the key dehumanizing word here. Male and female are used merely as scientific descriptions here, so I think this works great for what you’re trying to achieve.

DiegoPalacios
Apr '21

I think you are going on the right direction. Another tip that can help with the scientific and dehumanizing tone, is them refering to the aliens in labels.

Ex: "Subject 123B seems to react negatively to water"

NickRowler
Apr '21

It depends on the contexts.

People are usually OK with it when it is used as an adjective, like for "female writer" and "male characters".

But when used a noun, it can come off as disrespectful.

Using "it" can also work, because people usually use that for animals.

SleepingPoppy
Apr '21

I just want to note on to what others have said, that while the language is dehumanizing, it doesn't really read as contemptuous. It reads like a curious scientist doing their job and not being empathetic. You might be able to get the contempt across if there's some smaller push back from other characters before the big blow out happens. Otherwise maybe some negative observations of the bodies that implies disgust, and not just fascination?

But yeah, as noted, "male", "female", and "it" do come across as dehumanizing in English, it just varies by context!

crowstories
Apr '21

A growing number of people find it disrespectful, especially given how it's often used to deny trans identities. As @NickRowler pointed out, these words do fill a grammatical niche for which replacements haven't been universally agreed upon, though there are more inclusive alternatives, like femme/masc., or in some cases like "woman writer" you can use the noun "woman" as an adjective. You rarely see the opposite ("man writer") because in our culture men are kind of the default...

Anyway, political implications of "male and female" aside, I think your examples convey what you intended.

NinaWrites
Apr '21

Like the previous poster, your dialogue seems more like intrigue and very scientific oriented. If you want to convey contempt then you need to add a bit more flair to your dialogue.

You can convey that in multiple ways, from the expression of your characters to the subtle, or not so subtle insult to the specimen that they have found. You could add more subjective opinion for your character to say, almost as if they are in disgusted awe. Just my two cents haha.