It has a lot to do with it, actually. Itzal, the main character of Blue Jay, in a big way lives in a man’s world. But she was raised in a community as gender-neutral as a community can be while still admitting to the existence of biology. Just as an example, while the possibility of procreation exists in this community, they renew their numbers almost exclusively by absorbing orphans.
What this means, though, see, is that even though I probably won’t need to change too much about Itzal’s character, since as I make my changes it becomes more and more clear that Itzal always knew she was a girl, I will need to think about how she fits in with this male-dominated world where she lives. So I will need to have some good thinks about gender identity.
So yeah, quite helpful.
