Dire Bare
Legend
Exactly the fluff make no sense in the context of the mechanical expression. So I am inclined to regard the fluff as unreliable and a reflection of human beliefs about sex phenotypes. I think Elves become more interesting the more alien they are. One of the reasons I really like the Blessing of Corellan, it solves a lot of issues I have always had, but learned to ignore, about D&D elves.
I'm with you. Elves have always been portrayed as somewhat androgynous, although not with consistency through the editions. My favorite depiction of elves is from Jackson's Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies. When watching the films, the male and female elves are often sporting pretty much the same clothing and hairstyles, and sometimes they are hard to tell apart. It gave (me) the implicit message that elves don't make a big deal about gender differences.
In D&D, elves have . . . maybe not always, but often been described as androgynous. This hasn't always been reflected in the art, but it's been there from the beginning of the game. Mordy's Tome simply takes that thread running through D&D elven lore and brings it to the forefront, and not all that strongly really. It kinda blows my mind how people are misunderstanding the Blessing of Corellon, and making such a big deal of it. According to the updated elven lore, all elves are somewhat androgynous, both physically and socially (gender differences in clothing, hairstyle, behavior, and "appropriate" work isn't much of a thing in elven culture). A small subset of these already androgynous elves have the "Blessing of Corellon" are super androgynous, making it tough for even other elves to tell which physical gender they are, not that it matter much to the elves. A small subset of the Blessed of Corellon can actually change their gender.
A lot of folks in this thread are making this into some sort of game-breaking mechanical advantage or clever ruse for elven rogues when it isn't anything of the sort. If non-elves, and even other elves, have a hard time telling whether you are a girl or a boy in the first place, being able to actually change your gender isn't changing your appearance very much at all. This blessing is useless as a disguise or con or anything other than a background. It's not gamebreaking at all. It isn't a mechanical or even a story advantage at all. It's just another way for a character's gender to be described, as truly fluid rather than fixed.
I get the feeling there is a lot of trans-phobia in this thread, which is sad. But that doesn't mean that if you don't like and/or choose not to offer the Blessing of Corellon in your campaign that you are trans-phobic. But take a long and hard look before you say "no" to this character option. Is it *really* breaking your game or your world in some meaningful way?
I'm saying "yes" to the Blessing of Corellon in my campaigns. It is a small way to offer more support for my trans friends who play (or who might want to play) D&D and it is also a nice way to set elves apart even further from the other races that is consistent with longstanding D&D lore. I'm very happy Wizards included this option and story hook into Mordy's Tome!