Basic Trope: A girlish guy and a boyish girl appear together.
- Straight: Ian is slim with a pretty face and likes sewing and cooking; Jane has a boyish face with a burly physique and likes wrestling and boxing.
- Exaggerated:
- Ian is a Dude Looks Like a Lady who dresses in pinknote frilly clothes and acts like a Girly Girl; Jane is a Lady Looks Like a Dude who sounds and dresses like a pro wrestler.
- Ian is either Camp Straight or Camp Gay whilst Jane is either a Lad-ette or Butch Lesbian.
- Downplayed:
- Strong Girl, Smart Guy
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl
- Ian is a Bishounen whilst Jane is a Bifauxnen.
- Ian is a classical musician, and Jane is a rock musician.
- Ian is a Sensitive Guy while Jane is a Tomboy
- Ian is a Non-Action Guy, and Jane is an Action Girl.
- Ian is a sexually passive Nice Guy, and Jane is a Good Bad Girl.
- Justified:
- Ian and Jane were raised in a society where gender stereotypes are reversed.
- Ian and Jane appear reversed to the audience due to Values Dissonance, in reality, they're just different.
- Ian and Jane were raised in a society without gender stereotypes.
- Ian and Jane come from open-minded and progressive families.
- Ian and Jane are Cultural Rebels who refuse to let society dictate how they should act or what they should like — and, as such, they have that in common.
- Ian and Jane were raised in families who don’t want to have society dictate how they should act or what they should like — and as such, they have that in common.
- Ian and Jane both actively fetishize gender non-conformity as it pertains to the opposite sex, or at least value such traits in a partner.
- 'Iana' and 'John' haven't made the transition yet.
- Inverted: Manly Man And Girly Girl. Ian and Jane look, act and dress normally for their gender. Bonus point with appropriate colors.
- Subverted:
- We're introduced to Ian and Jane dressed in girly pink frills and blue guy-clothes at first, but it turns out they're on their way to a costume party.
- We see either that Ian or Jane is atypical of their respective gender, and that their partner differs... only to find out that their "differing" is equally as girly/boyish, like a hetero version of Light Feminine and Dark Feminine (in Ian's case) or Noble Male, Roguish Male and Bifauxnen and Lad-ette (in Jane's case).
- We hear that Ian and Jane are this but it turns out Ian is a big masculine dude with traditional masculine hobbies but just has a few Real Men Wear Pink hobbies and Jane has a few Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak hobbies despite her always wearing a dress. They met at the archery field and bonded over their common love of that sport.
- Ian seems to be a girlish guy and Jane seems to be a boyish girl, but for starters, "Ian" is actually a transgender girl who rather be called "Diane", and "Jane" is actually a transgender guy who rather be called "Jake".
- Double Subverted:
- ...they're going as a horse. That really is how they normally dress, or they start Becoming the Mask.
- Ian still comes off as girlier than Jane, and vice versa, despite being so similar.
- But Flanderization turns them into one-note stereotypes of their attribute.
- Jane became Ian's archery coach, he was a novice when they met and Jane lettered in archery in college.
- After coming out and doing a few degrees of gender transition, Diane starts wearing more boyish clothes and engaging in sporty activities, while Jake begins to adopt girlish interests and wear more cute clothes.
- Parodied:
- Ian only employs character tropes that are Always Female, while Jane only employs Always Male tropes. In fact, many people confuse Ian and Jane for the opposite gender.
- Reversing gender role makes Ian starts growing some breasts and developing period with mood swings. Meanwhile, Jane starts growing a beard and even impregnates Ian. They Mind Screw everyone else from these processes, even themselves.
- During relationship troubles, Ian and Jane consult an advice column, telling them how their own gender thinks and it proves more useful for them, than for straight couples that don't reverse gender roles
- Zig Zagged:
- Ian and Jane act normally for their gender around other people. When they're together Ian acts like an Always Female type of Love Interest to Jane, and Jane acts like an Always Male type of Love Interest to Ian.
- Ian is a Sensitive Guy with a Manly Streak or a Manly Guy with a Sensitive Streak while Jane is a Tomboy with a Girly Streak or a Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak.
- Averted:
- Jane and Ian's genders are completely irrelevant or even Ambiguous.
- Jane and Ian act neither stereotypically male nor female.
- Jane and Ian act equally manly, or girly.
- Enforced:
- The show runs on a joking stereotype that Ian is Camp Gay and Jane is a Butch Lesbian.
- The writer simply finds gender-nonconforming characters more interesting than conforming ones.
- Lampshaded:
- "Why exactly do you act like a girl, Ian?" "Because my girlfriend acts like a man?
- "Why exactly do you act like a boy, Jane?" "Because my boyfriend acts like a woman?
- Invoked:
- Jane and Ian are supportive of inverting stereotypical gender conventions, and go out of their way to act the opposite of how each is expected.
- Jane is a manly woman, and Ian, who is in love with her, plays up his feminine traits to try to win her heart (or vice versa).
- Ian is a womanly man, and Jane who is in love with him, plays up her masculine traits to try to win his heart (or vice versa).
- Exploited: Jane and Ian are contestants on a Reality-Television show which plays up the subversion of gender stereotypes in its subjects for drama and/or humour.
- Defied:
- Ian would much rather wear pink frills, and Jane would love to lounge around in sweats, but they both are worried about how society would view them if they did.
- Ian and Jane get rid of gendered things since they hate labeling each other and are comfortable with both having gender-neutral activities and appearance.
- Discussed: "Yeah, Ian's a total sensitive guy, and Jane's a total tomboy. It's just the way they are."
- Conversed: "This show is odd — the guy's all girly, and the chick is so mannish."
- Plotted A Good Waste:
- The writer is a fierce feminist.
- The writer is a male misandrist.
- The writer relates to the hot-blooded and energetic tomboy in the relationship.
- The writer relates to the humble and feminine sensitive guy in the relationship.
- Deconstructed:
- Ian and Jane are ostracized by their peers and fail to find love due to their failure to fit in with heteronormative standards.
- Ian and Jane's differences make it hard for them to get along.
- Ian becomes a Dogged Nice Guy and Jane starts thinking she is Not Like Other Girls for being unfeminine, they start claiming they're superior due to cool people must rebel against gender norms, and they put gender-conforming people down.
- Reconstructed:
- However they meet, develop a close friendship, and fall deeply in love with each other, gaining support against outside pressure.
- They begin to work out their issues and become friends.
- Ian and Jane unlearn their toxic thoughts, they also learn that they don't have to put others down simply because their interests are not to their tastes.
- Played For Laughs: As a Running Gag, other characters talk about Ian and Jane using the wrong pronouns for their respective genders.
- Played For Drama: Tomboy Angst and I Want to Be a Real Man for self criticism, Why Couldn't You Be Different? for outsiders' perspectives.
- Played For Horror: Jane actively fetishizes feminine men, and she kidnaps Ian for her personal pleasure.
- Implied: Ian and Jane are undeveloped characters who dress in school uniform, but Ian dresses much more neatly and cleanly than Jane.
This way to Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy my guy!... wait you’re a lady? And my lady!... wait you're a guy?
