quick fyi to the general (cisgender) public about portraying trans people
hi! i'm a trans man. and i'm a little tired of the way some cis people portray us. here's some things you might not have known, but should take into consideration.
PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THING BEFORE COMMENTING.
-trans people (nonbinary, transmasc, agender, transfem, ect) can look however they do and do whatever they want with their appearance, and you still have to respect them.
-a lot of trans masc people are curvy, testosterone or not. we cannot change how wide our hips are. it's okay for a trans masc person to have curves; in fact, a lot of us like seeing that representation. you don't have to draw every trans masc person as this thin, stick-straight, curly haired little twink who passes perfectly. transmasc people can look however they do and do whatever they want with their appearance, and you still have to respect them.
-CISGENDER people drawing transmasc people in dresses, having us appear super feminine (makeup, shaving, looking like fucking bambi) or making smut about a trans man showing off his chest is incredibly not cool.
-a lot of trans women can't change how deep their voices are. they might have a more stereo-typically masculine build. they might have body hair. they may have short hair or deep voices and wear jeans and not like makeup and whatever. transfem people can look however they do and do whatever they want with their appearance and you still have to respect them.
-CISGENDER people portraying TRANSFEM people in a way that fetishizes certain features of theirs is WRONG. i myself am not a transfem person, so i don't feel super qualified to talk about what transfem people are/are not okay with, but transfem people feel free to add on.
-TRANS PEOPLE CAN PORTRAY TRANS PEOPLE HOW THEY WANT. STRAIGHT PEOPLE CAN'T SAY THE F-SLUR, AND IN THE SAME RESPECT, CIS PEOPLE CANNOT PORTRAY TRANS PEOPLE IN SUCH A WAY THAT MIGHT MAKE TRANS PEOPLE UNCOMFORTABLE.
-TRANS PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED TO LOOK HOWEVER THE FUCK THEY WANT. THIS DOES NOT MAKE THEM ANY LESS VALID.
-however, cisgender people FETISHIZING trans people being feminine/masculine (calling attention to a transfem's persons masculine features, for example) is fucked up.
-trans people can portray trans people HOWEVER feels truest to them. cisgender people can't.
-CISGENDER PEOPLE, however, FETISHIZING TRANS WOMEN BEING MASCULINE (OR FETISHIZING TRANS PEOPLE IN GENERAL) IS WRONG. CIS PEOPLE AREN'T ALLOWED TO DO THIS. I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVE A TRANS RELATIVE. YOU. AREN'T. ALLOWED.
-TRANS PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE TO CONFORM TO CISGENDER NORMS.
-but, again, if a trans man wants to draw a trans man in a sports bra, so be it. can it make other people uncomfortable? yes. should discretion when publishing such material be used? also yes.
-but what isn't cool is trans people trying to make other trans people be more okay with being feminized/being more masculine, or vice-versa. it also isn't okay to shove content (for example) like a trans man in a sports bra toward trans men who don't like that. just use common sense and respect other people.
-it also isn't cool for trans people to shame other trans people for making such content. it isn't okay to invalidate a trans person over such content. trans people can portray and enjoy their own bodies however they see fit. saying anything otherwise is transphobic.
i probably didn't say everything but feel free to add on, and i'll just delete stupid comments. constructive criticism is fine (i'm fifteen, and have only been out for four years, so if you want to respectfully tell me i got something wrong, feel free. i'm still learning.)