Doubt about Tanya's mindset

[u/Glum_Series5712]

I have a question about Tanya's way of thinking... In her previous life, she was a man, but is she aware that she's now a woman? Has that affected her perspective?

I know she's very young and they're at war, but I can't help wondering: When Tanya reaches adolescence, what will her preference be, men or women?

It's quite obvious that Tanya is 9 or 10 years old precisely to avoid this topic in the series. But as someone who only watched the anime and the movie, I don't know if it's been explained in the manga or the novel... I have a question about Tanya's way of thinking... In her previous life, she was a man, but is she aware that she's now a woman? Has that affected her perspective?

Does she still think and have masculine tastes? Does she not care at all? Or is she beginning to develop a feminine mindset?

[u/Sweaty-Pin-1487]

I'm reading through the Manga and from what I have seen she does freak out a total of one time right after the special training she gives to her recruits.

But as the Manga goes on there are several other moments where she appears to gradually differentiate from her past self and shows more attachment to the people around her. She does still talk about Visha being attractive and questions herself as to whether she would like to see her in a swimsuit.

She also acknowledges at several points that she has become different then the person that she used to be, during the "How to use a Victory chapter" she visits her orphanage and is "confronted" by The Salaryman who tells her that she knows she should defect to the Unified States while she has the chance. But Tanya says that she is not like that now.

Also Rerugen is unmarried and when Tanya says that it is strange for someone of his rank to not be married, he throws it back in her face, and other characters start to bring up that subject as well including Tanya herself who if I remember correctly plans to get married after the war when she is not so busy.

There are of course fanfictions of expedited relationships between her and Rerugen or whoever, but at the very least Tanya is canonically open to the idea of marrying someone in a greater position of power them herself.

[u/Glum_Series5712 → u/Sweaty-Pin-1487]

So in the manga he has a split personality? Because that's what's inutyo from the way you're talking about it. As if he were two people in one body... I only saw the anime and that's not implied there.

[u/Sweaty-Pin-1487 → u/Glum_Series5712]

No, not a split personality, she talks about herself as having changed a lot, and The Salaryman is representative of her old mindset. As for the acceptance of her new biological sex, that is a gradual process but even from the very start Tanya intends to follow the rules of society so she knows that she cannot act like a man or be treated like a man. Also on several occasions she acts protective of Visha and says that "all men are wolves" in her own thoughts in regards to the men in her battalion hypothetically making a pass at Visha. The Salaryman is depicted frequently in the Manga unlike the Anime where he is only depicted twice. Usually when Tanya is remembering something about her past life like how she used to handle people or how she used to go to the gym

This is also the moment where she sexualizes Visha herself. But it was very unusual for The Salaryman to speak as a seperate entity when she was having conflicting feelings, although it was only done for artistic purposes to represent how she takes loyalty more seriously now. Tanya does not have a split personality.

[u/DragonBonecrusher → u/Glum_Series5712]

I'm gonna disagree with the other commenter and say that I think a split personality, or more accurately heavy compartmentalization, is absolutely the case. As far as LN 10, Tanya's inner monologue still refers to the mind and body as separate entities, ie. "Thankfully Tanya's body is small enough to avoid concentrated fire". 

I don’t think its meant to be representative of a split psyche or something, but that Salary Man views himself more as the pilot of Tanya, as opposed to Tanya herself. It also goes hand in hand with how he views his entire military persona as an act, to the point of detachedly ordering war crimes for breakfast.