Now, this isn't a chapter itself (the next chapter will coming rather soonish, as I'm wrapping it up in my spare time now, as life and it's distractions allow me to); it's merely my means of asking everyone's opinions on a bit of human behavior and our definitions of it that I'm curious about.

If you haven't read up to Chapter 30, skip this topic and come back to it after you have. I'll be mentioning some things that have happened between our only two characters up to this point in the story, and there's no need to spoil anything. Catch up with us, then come join in the discussion.

Now, since you're still reading, I assume you're familiar with our characters at this point in the story somewhat. My questions are:

1)What qualifies as "gender bender" for the gender bender tag on the story description?

2)Do we have a "gender bender" situation going on in the story here?

Gender bending seems to represent the concept of a character somewhere that goes against the normal gender stereotype and has some of the personality traits of the opposite gender. A guy who gets transferred to a school, finds out it's an all-girl's school, and then dresses and pretends to be a girl -- that's a gender bender. A cute girl, raised to serve as a butler (not a maid) for a lord or lady due to family tradition, and who acts like a male to fulfill her role, that's a gender bender.

Here, we have a guy who's wearing a dress most of the time! GASP! But does that make him come across as the opposite gender? Or is he just a guy, wearing a dress?

We have a female who is sexually aware, free, and isn't ashamed of the subject at all. Nor is she against having it. It's the guy who wants to hold on to his chastity until he falls in love with his partner. Normally, we see the average male teenager depicted as nothing more than an extension of his penis, who wants to bounce this pretty companion anytime he can -- and it's the female who is pure, chaste, and refuses making him wait...

Does this make him come across in a girly light? Or her in a manly one? Are either of them "gender bent"?

A guy in a dress, who tries to hold onto his chastity from the girl who wants to steal it. Is this a "gender bender" tag worthy type event?

To me, I didn't think of our characters as being "gender bent".

I see Drake as a guy who simply put on a dress, as that's what he had available. He's also a mama's boy who was raised with his own strong set of morals, and one of those is "Save your first for a partner whom you love, and who loves you in return."

Isabella on the other hand has embraced the fact that it's the end of world. She doesn't know if there are any more guys out there at all, and even if there are, Drakes not a bad catch at all. She's more than willing to experiment and have her first time with him.

Sure, they may not be gender stereotypical characters, but neither of them are actively trying to come across as being the opposite gender. At least, I don't view it as if they are. He's just a guy wearing a dress and sticking to his morals. She's just a girl more open to the idea of being a freely accepting sex partner

But, I also strongly believe that it takes two people to tell any story: The author who provides the words of the story as they see it, and then the reader who interpets the words of that story as they see it -- and the story one tells, and the story the other reads, doesn't have to be the same story at all!

So my question to you guys is: How do you see it? What's your take on "gender bender" in general. And does it apply at all to the story here? They're not gender sterotypical characters, but are they "bent" characters? I like to think not, personally. I just like to think of them as being "human".

But, I am curious to see what everyone else thinks, so feel free to toss the idea around here and let's all compare notes, and see what everyone thinks of the "genderness" so far. Do they represent their gender? Bend it? Break it?

What do you guys think?