@mtsainthelens You're not dumb!! I think binding advice has been somewhat reduced to slogans. Additionally, many people don't share images of historical binding practices because they fear that might inspire unsafe binding (which is a legitimate worry), but this has the side-effect of meaning being obscured, and danger being taken less seriously than it should be.
I think engaging with older media, and outdated depictions of binding, is actually very important. It's a passion of mine, as a trans man.
I'm gonna do an infodump here ^v^ Because I've been wanting to address this for a while, and this seems like a good opportunity.
For what it's worth, I bound very dangerously prior to surgery. Bandages were one of the tactics I tried. If you (or anyone you know, or any of your followers) ever wish to try binding, please do not use bandages.
Not only are bandages severely unsafe, they're also quite painful, and the media depicts bandage binding unrealistically. Bandages are shit. They often don't work.
Check out these depictions of bandage binding, taken from 3 Generations, Boys Don't Cry, and Degrassi The Next Generation.
This is not the outcome you get if you try to bind with bandages on your own. I guarantee that these actresses (all of whom were playing trans men) had help, for those bandages to sit so straight and untwisted. Binding with bandages is difficult, uncomfortable, and suffocating. A person binding with bandages is more likely to get this kind of outcome (film still taken from 52 Tuesdays):
Many mainstream depictions of gender non-conformity and transgender masculinity like to portray bandage binding as an easy option. Because we're all slender, underweight, small-chested people who have someone to help us wind bandages around our ribcage... right?
To my immense disappointment, gender non-conforming star Ruby Rose perpetuated the myth of easy bandage binding in her video Break Free, which has (to date) been watched over 53 million times.
Her video, much like other media depictions of bandage binding, cuts from footage of her manually wrapping herself in bandages, to footage of bandages perfectly wrapped around her, and clipped down... behind her back.
She had people to help her bind with bandages in this scene, I am certain of that. But thousands of vulnerable (and probably young) gender non-conforming people have been given the impression that this is the kind of effect you can achieve on your own. I know I got that impression from this video. I was put at risk by this video.
It's important to push back against the myth of easy bandage binding, because gender non-conforming people shouldn't have to be in agony just because they're exploring their identities. We need to kill this myth for the sake of AFAB LGBT+ health.
Thanks to Ruby Rose's video, I used self-adhesive horse bandages to bind my chest. They were what I had available, and it seemed like a quick way to alleviate my gender dysphoria- and I didn't know there was any risk, so why not?
The equine bandages were the same as normal bandages, essentially, but the fabric of the bandage adheres to itself and wraps tighter and tighter with every movement. I can't describe the amount of pain this caused me. I was unable to bind for months. I had to seek medical attention. I lived in denial because I was just so, so happy to have a flat chest. But that denial didn't help me when I was in severe pain, and unable to even wear a sports bra beneath my shirts.
It's really important that gender non-conforming lesbians, questioning people, trans men, and transmasculine people (whoever the hell wants to bind) know the dangers of binding. Especially unsafe binding. Binding is never 100% safe. The so-called "8 hour rule" is not universal. Some people can only bind for 4 hours. Some people can only bind for 2 hours. Some people can't bind at all. It's just not physically safe.
I recommend watching these videos about binding.
Binding (once I started doing it safely) saved my life. Not only through the alleviation of dysphoria, but also because I was protected from judgement and transphobia. Being a man with a prominent chest meant people would do a double-take and question my gender, sometimes putting me in danger. In some situations, I simply had to bind.
But I'm an advocate for binding to be taken seriously. Binding is portrayed as a fun, acceptable thing for anyone to do, if they want to. Which is good in one sense, but bad in another. Binding will simply not be safe for everyone.
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