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oh, and yes i love the original series too. everyone who loves transformers loves them for similar reasons, it's pretty gender-unspecific, just the marketing and social norms that make it appear a 'boys' thing =)

I got into fell in love with Transformers by way of the Michael Bay films. I loved the characters, the plots and how creative they can get with everything. I don't have any toys as of late, but I am planning to by the TFP Arcee toy when it comes out. I am not ashamed in the slighted to be a fan of it.

PS: "Boy things" and "girl things" are almost purely society based.

'Nother tom-boy child reporting. I'm an early '90s kid, so Beast Wars first aired when I was three or four. I can't even remember the first time I watched the show, but I never stopped, so my entire childhood consisted of running around the backyard playing that and Power Rangers (I was always the Red Ranger). I grew up in a rural area, so I wasn't exposed to a whole lot of pop culture of the feminine variety. I did get a lot of girly toys, though, and I remember being severely jealous of my cousin who had a decent collection of the toys at the time. I used to improvise with really silly things, like this stain in the ceiling of my kindergarten classroom that I thought looked a lot like Rhinox's face. I used to stare at it and have conversations with it in my head during class. Must've looked terribly odd to my teacher....

I don't know what exactly attracts me to it. It's just always been there for me, so it just feels natural. I like cars and technology and violence and space and pretty much anything stereo-typically associated with boys, even if I've also grown to like a lot of girly things too. Most of the characters just feel like family by now and I enjoy the plots, regardless of how silly they can get. It's fun to see it grow and change over the years, and to see all of the different plots and things people come up with. I don't know that I can really explain it any better, I just love everything about it.

I don't like any of the female characters, honestly. Closest I got to liking any were probably Slipstream and Strika, but never close enough to be anywhere near my favorites. I like a lot of pretty masculine archetypes, which female characters don't usually fit in to. I'd argue, too, that most of the female characters we've seen just really haven't been fleshed out enough for me to really care about them. My favorites right now are Ironhide, Animated Lockdown and IDW Prowl and Megatron, but they're always subject to change depending on what's going on.

I've got a decent enough collection, I think. Enough that I've filled up several shelves and a tub and have had to become more selective about what I pick up until I get a better place to display them, but no where near a lot of people's, I'm sure. Never really felt awkward about it, though. Most people who see it think it's cool, and I think a lot of my guy friends just enjoy the fact that I'm willing to listen to them talk about cars. It seems to me like the movies sort of acclimatized people to it, so I usually just get compliments from people in public for my shirts and things.

I was an infant when G1 was around so Beast Wars was really my first Transformers show (that I can recall anyway). I remember liking it as a kid. Never had any of the toys though Didn't genuinely watch another TF show until Armada and I've been following it, more or less, since (had to skip Energon and Cybertron because the crappy 3D drove me nuts. Found other things to keep me involved with the TF world during that time though).

I liked the shows because they were different and the characters were fun, even memorable, and, perhaps what really kept me interested, storytelling that perked my interests (Obviously some shows are better than others). Writing is something of a hobby of mine so over the years I've put a fair amount of focus into it... which has ultimately led to me to looking at the films (more so the last two) with a twitching eyebrow xP Being a fan and/or having studied animation tends to save certain movies for me though (we'll see how I feel about DOTM when I watch it again... I was story centric when I saw it the first time. Was not a good state of mind to be in...)

To be really honest though I only liked Transformers until about 6 or 7 years ago. It seems to surprise people when I say I feel in love with the franchise because I fell in love with robotics (why I never studied it in college is beyond me >_< ). So the mixed passions of storytelling and robotics led to a happy little love for the robot based franchise I'd been interested in since a kid. And my love hasn't dimmed since (actually it's increased, like, tenfold. Lol).

I started buying the (store bought) toys when the movie started popping up but it wasn't until about 2 1/2 or 3 years ago that I got in full gear for collecting (between being an extremely frugal kid and then having college to deal with, buying toys was a low priority ^^;; ).

To be fair, I don't think any female out there is purely all-girl or all tomboy. Even the really girly girls out there like something - football or other sports for example that traditionally only men enjoy. The same goes for tomboys. I think we all just have our thing - some of us just happen to be into Transformers. I don't think it matters what or where society points us, most of us will do our own thing anyway - or, I at least hope so.

I'm a tomboy, but I've got a pretty solid feminine side too - I love Clinique makeup, I wear pink occasionally (not offended at all by that color), I like to wear pretty things and hit the town, eat some fine food and drink fancy wine and get pedicures. My "boy" side likes tattoos, riding my Harley, climbing rocks, camping in the middle of nowhere, finding some off road adventure, going to the comic book store or the toy aisle at Target.

I grew up with two younger brothers in the Colorado Mountains in the hillbilly town of Leadville (NOT a progressive or particularly affluent community) and ran around climbing rocks, rode dirt bikes and explored those beautiful mountains in a 76 Jeep CJ7 Renegade. While I did actually collect Barbies, my brothers got me into comic books. My very first Transformers comic was #18 (Marvel G1) - and I've been hooked ever since.

I'm also a detail junkie. I like characters to be well developed and have depth and meaning. While I might like some of the female Transformers, I don't particularly know who they are because their characters just haven't been explored in detail. And, I believe that's what draws me to Transformers more than anything else - the richness of depth at which the franchise has developed. Few things spark my imagination like the Transformers do, and there's so much information and so many continuities to draw from.

I don't worry about what others think of my interests - they don't have to like what I like or even approve. At the same time, I don't judge others for whatever it is they're into. Live and let live.

Like a fair number of other people in this thread, I definitely fall into tomboy territory. Don't get me wrong, there are a few female-oriented series here and there that I'm into. The male-oriented ones just terribly outnumber them.

There are a lot of things that draw me into Transformers, and the action is a pretty big part of it. However, I think I'm not a huge fan of the Michael Bay films for instance because it's not the action that I like the best. I think it really boils down to the characters in my case. There's just such a diverse cast of characters in Transformers that it's difficult to not be able to find a character you can immediately latch on to.

Various incarnations of Starscream and Megatron (like a lot of girls, which I have noticed) have been some of my favorite characters since I got into the series, which doesn't surprise me. I tend to gravitate towards villain characters, but that certainly doesn't mean I don't like the good ones. I actually wasn't immediately fond of Optimus Prime since I generally find the archetypal hero characters to be pretty boring and cliched, but it's actually something you see very rarely these days, probably because people know it's an overused character persona. I feel like Animated and the Exodus novel really took a shot at deconstructing that sort of character, and those two incarnations of Optimus Prime in particular I've become attached to.

But ironically, I don't think it's been until Arcee in Transformers Prime that I've ever liked a female character. I tend to find this issue with a lot of series, and it might have a bit to do with the way female characters are generally represented. Even these days, we're often not as interesting or well-developed as the male cast. But Prime's Arcee is just the polar opposite of what I'm used to seeing with female characters, and I think it was a really good choice. It almost seems like in this series, there aren't any gender roles on Cybertron, considering Arcee's a battle hardened warrior and Airachnid might as well be character ripped out of a slasher film and stuck in a robot body.

But I did initially feel strange liking Transformers, especially going out buying the toys. And especially at the Walmart. I got all sorts of strange looks from the staff there while I was looking at them. I think being a girl and looking at the boys' toys just added to it. But I've gotten used to it by this point.

I don't have all that big of a collection -- not even a dozen figures yet. Then again, I only started collecting the toys around 3 months ago. Before that, I was kind of holding back, and it quickly went from the off guilty pleasure to a new hobby. Come to think of it, the only reason it's probably not bigger is because I've only had minimal interest in the Dark of the Moon toys.

Also, I don't mind pink Transformers in the slightest. I'd honestly like to see it on a prominent male Transformer one of these days, but I doubt that will happen because, well, this is a series made to sell toys, isn't it?

Hmmm I'll answer based on the original questions posed..

So, fembots, what attract you to this male-centric realm?

I grew up in the 80's and had the typical 'babysitter'-the t.v./vcr/beta max. My favorite shows were not always geared towards males....but those did seem the most fun. Transformers was of course my favorite, but I also loved Voltron, Thundercats, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, Herself the Elf, He-Man and tons of others. I was a bit of a tomboy then but I also had one helluva Barbie collection too.

What do you think of the female TF?

I don't really think we get to see them too much, quite wish Elita One would show herself in a Bay film but it would probably disappoint like the others.

What is your favorite 'bots?

Optimus and Elita One are tops

Do you have a big collection?

Sadly I do not.

Do you feel weird liking Transformers?

I have been called a nerd by the nerdiest of people because of my love of Transformers...and have been made fun of for it. I have seen the blank stares on boys faces when talking about Transformers bc they just can't believe a girl can not only carry on a conversation about them but surpass their knowledge...which these days seems to be based on Bay's movies (this saddens me greatly)...though I only know G1 and haven't pushed myself into watching any of the others (did this with The Misfits too...took me years before I decided to give Michael Graves a try).

When you go to the store to buy some, are you shamefuly pretending to buy them for your son or brother?

Hell no

Finaly who's awesome? You're awesome

Yes I am

Ok, here goes. 1st off, I'm not ashame when it comes to my TF buying. I'm a huge Transfan. I use a mini-backpack as a purse. And this said backpack has movieverse Bumblebee on it. I wear TF shirts and TF dogtags. My collection isn't as big as it should be as I got rid of figs last year when I shouldn't have. I'm at 255 atm. Just ck my sig. My fave TF is G1 Starscream, hence my username. Though I love alot of the other TF's too, including a few Autobots. I love the twins, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.

I grew up as a tomboy. I had the whole He-Man collection as a kid. I would play with TF's and hotwheels and TMNT figs. Yes, I had a few dolls like Barbie's and what not, but I always liked the boy toys better. Just who I am.

The only time I felt strange, was when I was trying to tell myself that I need to grow up and stop buying toys. Ever sense I've come back to the fandom, I've been the happiest. Transformers 4-Ever!!!

Starscream's Girl wrote:(...) Just ck my sig. My fave TF is G1 Starscream, hence my username.(...)

I'm a #1 Starscream fan too. Any universes. I'm a native french speacking Québécois and to share the very good TF movie from 1986, I downloaded the french version. Unfortunately, it was in french from France, not Québec so the dub suck big time. Still, that sucky dub pointed out a very strange fact:
IN FRANCE, STARSCREAM IS FEMALE! Well, in the 1986 movie at least.
Somehow, I'm OK with this and G1 Starscream fit very well as a female. Check out the sample below:
Urgh... can't find anything. Oh well, it's out there on a torrent.

So, G1 Starscream is female. Yay or nay?

-Kanrabat- wrote:
So, G1 Starscream is female. Yay or nay?

Precursor to female TFA Starscream clone? lmao.

G1 Starscream is MALE!! Why he may have had a female voice actor for the french dub would be because they probably couldn't find a male voice actor who could come close to his english amercian voice. That's my take on that. If you were to watch any anime, like DBZ for an example, Goku's japanese voice actor was female though in the english dubs his voice was done by a male voice actor.

You have to admit though, it would be funny if Megatron started referring to him as a femme xD

I wonder how the voice actor felt after each day behind the mic. Lol. Trying to be high pitched and gravely at the same time.

Starscream's Girl wrote:G1 Starscream is MALE!! Why he may have had a female voice actor for the french dub would be because they probably couldn't find a male voice actor who could come close to his english amercian voice. That's my take on that. If you were to watch any anime, like DBZ for an example, Goku's japanese voice actor was female though in the english dubs his voice was done by a male voice actor.

No really. In the French from France dub of the 1986 TF movie, Starscream really have a womanly voice. Almost like a femme-fatale. Also, Megatron refer to "her" as a "she".
I MovieMaker'd this video to show you.



In case of broken link:
http://s141.photobucket.com/albums/r76/ ... scream.mp4

So what do you think?

Like I said, that was the french. TF G1 started here and in Japan and he is a male. All counties have their own thing and voice actors. I stick with my childhood and in that childhood, G1 was done here and shown here in America.

Starscream's Girl wrote:Like I said, that was the french. TF G1 started here and in Japan and he is a male. All counties have their own thing and voice actors. I stick with my childhood and in that childhood, G1 was done here and shown here in America.

Guess you misunderstood me. Of course Starscream is male. Just in the alternate reality of the French from France Movie (not french from Québec)he was female.

My other point is it kinda fit the character and body type (pointing out "air intake boobs" ^^ )It just too bad that he was never a "she" officially.

Which make me think. In Animated, when Starscream created his clones based on aspects of him, maybe that's where Splitstream come from.

Overall, G1 Starscream IS really effeminate. In Armada, Energon, Animated, and Prime, he's normal manly. In Galaxy Force, with the original japanese voice, he's manlier than Chuck Norris.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Starscream's Girl wrote:
Overall, G1 Starscream IS really effeminate. In Armada, Energon, Animated, and Prime, he's normal manly. In Galaxy Force, with the original japanese voice, he's manlier than Chuck Norris.

I wouldn't say he's "really" effeminate at all. Being sinister and calculating like he is portrays a more cerebral/intellectual set of characteristics that isn't a typically "alpa male" villain profile such as Megatron or jsut a plain old bruiser type of bad guy. He's a slippery slimy dude and those mannerisms suit that villain type. He's a manipulator. It's an archetype designed to be unnerving or unsettling if not predatory.

Think, Vincent Price, as an example.

monstergrotusque wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Starscream's Girl wrote:
Overall, G1 Starscream IS really effeminate. In Armada, Energon, Animated, and Prime, he's normal manly. In Galaxy Force, with the original japanese voice, he's manlier than Chuck Norris.

I wouldn't say he's "really" effeminate at all. Being sinister and calculating like he is portrays a more cerebral/intellectual set of characteristics that isn't a typically "alpa male" villain profile such as Megatron or jsut a plain old bruiser type of bad guy. He's a slippery slimy dude and those mannerisms suit that villain type. He's a manipulator. It's an archetype designed to be unnerving or unsettling if not predatory.

Think, Vincent Price, as an example.

Hmmmm, brings about an interesting alternative school of thought on Starscream, however, had he truly been female, Megatron just might have not made it...