Good lord, what did I start....
Here I was worried someone might take offense.
Just a couple comments, and please correct if I misheard, but I thought that at some point the main character mentioned the prospect of "rape and murder" as a woman upon noting the approach of the pirates.
Secondly, the lengthy discourse on impropriety occurred when he/she discovered that he/she would be sharing a room with the captain during the voyage... where both were men standing in the captain's cabin. This was extremely confusing. a) why does he/she care, if he/she is planning on escaping and never going back home? b) if s/he's never planning on going home, and s/he's attracted to the captain... what purpose does his/her disguise serve? c) if sharing a room with a man... as a man... during a voyage calls his/her virtue into question, why wouldn't being unsupervised, as a man, with his/her own room, on an entire vessel of pirates do exactly the same thing? d) in the section where she was given the talisman, there is a running commentary ("in case of the worst") in which the giver is said to "suspect that she was already familiar with" what the talisman would prevent. Unless I misheard or am completely misinterpreting, doesn't this mean they already doubt (as apparently we should) that she's a virgin? Then why does she care about the impropriety of what happens when she's alone with an entire pirate crew on the ship?
I'm really not trying to warp things... this story really did leave me very confused about the character motivations and actions in part. Any clarification would be a great help.
On a lighter note or two...
Also, if someone expressed doubt as to her virginity, it's possible that she might be physically examined to prove that virginity. But if she was male at the time of sex, then I would guess her maidenhead would still be intact when she switches back.
But all the work and hearty food greatly physically changed her. Who can say what loss of "male virginity" might translate as...
And as a major bonus, I hear that lacking a uterus is a 100% effective form of birth control--
Not 100%... just ask Zeus!
On a tangent, I wonder what would happen if she got pregnant and then put the amulet on? Would she be a pregnant dude? Would the baby disappear forever? Would the baby just kind of be offstage until she turned back into a woman but then would come back when she did? Maybe the amulet just wouldn't work for the duration of the pregnancy?
Rumiko Takahashi, when asked a very similar question about her character Ranma 1/2, replied "I don't think about it, and you really shouldn't either."
Enjoy while male:
- Quicker orgasms
- Pockets
- Grow a beard and have fun wearing it in different styles (Movember!)
- Higher alcohol tolerance
- Easier/simpler fashion choices, and how you basically just need to shower to be presentable in public
- Easier access to male-coded hobbies like automotive stuff, tech, computers, etc
- People generally don't mess with you
Sorry, not true... Beards, for example, are not evenly distributed... some are only able to grow hideous moth-eaten greasy crabgrass on their faces. Alcohol tolerance is only higher on average, not universal... just ask the southeast Asians (who generally have vastly less alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme).