Gender Mismatch Detected

With the arrival of seventh-generation Pokémon in Shuffle, this brings to mind three particular Pokémon of this generation known for having (perceived) issues related to gender. They are Incineroar (which is currently available as an escalation stage), Primarina, and Lurantis. Their gender issues are such that they have placed people in camps that believe they should be as the gender which they appear to belong to by way of how they are illustrated. This presents an artistic yet imaginative issue.

Incineroar is the final evolutionary stage of Litten, the generation's Fire-type starter; it looks like a bulky, brawny wrestler - fitting in with the newly added Battle Royale - and definitely evokes a masculine appearance. Primarina is the final evolutionary stage of Popplio, the generation's Water-type starter; its appearance suggests that of a feminine sea lion. Lurantis is a regular Grass-type Pokémon, the evolution of Fomantis, and it's very pink and girly; a friend of mine who is a girl has remarked that Lurantis is even girlier in appearance than how she usually dresses. And all of these Pokémon have people that support their gender being true to how they appear, even making efforts to do just that.

The issue of "gender mismatch" is not only limited to these Pokémon or their particular generation. Earlier for the third generation, a similar issue arose with Gardevoir as well as its direct predecessor Kirlia, which appear more feminine than masculine; the issue was mediated in the fourth generation by letting male Kirlia evolve into Gallade. The same could be said of the sixth-generation Braixen and Delphox, the further stages of Fennekin's evolution, both of which look feminine.

What is my take on this? While the opinions of people regarding these Pokémon may be strong and supported by appearance as well as the game mechanics (where certain Pokémon stay a certain gender), in the end they're just that: opinions. If a certain Pokémon can be of one gender or the other, then there is not much of a point making them conform to a particular gender to purely satisfy appearance concerns, unless it is to satisfy other gameplay concerns (i.e. breeding). At that point the appearance-gender link becomes a trivial cosmetically artistic issue and shouldn't be much cause for concern.

In a world of imagined creatures, it's inevitable that some Pokémon might be imagined as being more suited of one gender than another by their appearance. All the Pokémon that I've mentioned certainly do have suggestive appearances of particular genders, but that's where they really end. They're just suggestions that are purely posed by looks and not indicative of their worth. While this won't stop people from ascribing the apparent genders of the Pokémon in question to the Pokémon, at least it doesn't question the artistic and imaginative capabilities of the people that perceive as such.