Androgyne Positivity

[Ask and submissions open] Everyone needs some positivity and it's hard to find any for us specifically. I take requests and submissions for positivity and will also make mood boards upon request. Please read the rules before submitting!

[magiccarpetman]

Hey, folks. Do me a favor.

When you circulate the frustrating, scary news about the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on the manufacturers of chest binders, include a link or two to charities that provide free chest binders for those who cannot afford them or cannot safely purchase them.

News about governmental attempts to restrict trans people’s autonomy has a tendency to hit the most vulnerable members of our community hard. Pairing that news with options for self-determination is protective.

Two of my favorite free binder charities are Point of Pride and the Brother 2 Brother Binder Program.

[enoughtohold]

it’s interesting learning which homophobic ideas are confusing and unfamiliar to the next generation. for example, every once in a while i’ll see a post going around expressing tittering surprise at someone’s claim that gay men have hundreds of sexual partners in their lifetimes. while these posts often have a snappy comeback attached, they send a shiver down my spine because i remember when those claims were common, when you’d see them on the news or read them in your study bible. and they were deployed with a specific purpose — to convince you not just that gay men were disgusting and pathological, but that they deserved to die from AIDS. i saw another post laughing at the outlandish idea that gay men eroticize and worship death, but that too was a standard line, part and parcel of this propaganda with the goal of dehumanizing gay men as they died by the thousands with little intervention from mainstream society.

which is not to say that not knowing this is your fault, or that i don’t understand. i’ll never forget sitting in a classroom with my high school gsa, all five of us, watching a documentary on depictions of gay and bi people in media (off the straight and narrow [pdf transcript] — a worthwhile watch if your school library has it) when the narrator mentioned “the stereotype of the gay psycho killer.” we burst into giggles — how ridiculous! — then turned to our gay faculty advisors and saw their pale, pained faces as they told us “no, really. that was real” and we realized that what we’d been laughing at was the stuff of their lives.

it’s moving and inspiring to see a new generation of kids growing up without encountering these ideas. it’s a good thing. but at the same time, we have to pass on the knowledge of this pain, so we’re not caught unawares when those who hate us come back with the oldest tricks in the book.

[bogleech]

Even in the 90’s I met people who believed, with the utmost sincerity and a sense of sheer terror, that gay people were agents of Satan who chose to become gay so they could deliberately spread STD’s, deliberately die of AIDs as part of their “fetish” and deliberately offend god into accelerating the end of the world. This does sound like absurd cartoonish nonsense to most people just a little younger than me but I heard it and worse growing up. Millions of people completely, totally believed that kind of thing with the most dire certainty. Today’s lizardman hollow earth anti-vaccine theories actually kind of pale in comparison.

That is what LGBT people were up against not long ago and the remnants of that fantastical-sounding hysteria and fanaticism are not only still here but regaining power again in the U.S. pretty rapidly.

…and I don’t think people should forget that for all I just described and all OP just described, the hatred for trans people was several times worse. Their very existence was treated as UNSPEAKABLE by even the Satanic HIV Apocalypse theorists. This is why it’s so bizarre and ridiculous to see people today whining about “PC culture” like that’s the problem, like people who were condemned as loathsome hellspawn within most of their own lifetimes somehow have it “too good” practically overnight.

[disease-danger-darkness-silence]

do you have any idea what the AIDS funerals were like back then

I will harp on this until the day I die. It’s not information that people have nowadays both because it’s not really needed - thank GOD - and it’s been erased - not so cool.

pastors would take payment to perform the ceremony and then not show up. crematoriums would sometimes refuse to handle the bodies; funeral homes were no better, and my dad once walked in on a mortician dumping rubbing alcohol all over himself after he’d BEEN IN THE SAME ROOM as the body of one of my father’s dead friends. the funerals were held in people’s basements, the very very few churches at funeral homes willing, meeting halls, and in the homes of lesbians, who were some of the most steadfast allies during that time period. The few straight allies pitched in where they could – like that one woman who buried a lot of them herself, in her own cemetery, because their families wouldn’t come claim the bodies – but it was awful.

my dad was a reformed catholic but he knew the words and twice he had to perform the funerals to lay these people to rest because he was the most qualified. I stood next to him as he tried not to cry over his dead friends and to let them rest in peace. I watched my mother, at the back of wherever she was, quietly sobbing, and her lesbian friends who had ACTUALLY watched the person in question die, still comforting her. 

I got told by other adults that my entire family was going to hell because we deigned to care for queer people (and my dad especially, as a nurse, deigned to “waste” his knowledge and time and energy on easing suffering).

I was six years old. Freddie Mercury hadn’t even died yet.

recently a friend and I formed a queer social group/activism group and some older gay men came. And they cried, because, and I quote

“This is how it started, back then. we just got together, ten or twelve of us, and decided we were going to do something about it. And we made it out, despite everything, despite AIDS, despite the stigma. And you will too.”

And I had to respond, because I was little, but I was THERE for that, and I grabbed his hands and told him that his history is our history and we need to learn it.

we need to remember. the dead, the living, and their stories.

if you know an older queer person, inquire if they’d be interested in writing down their memoirs. If they’re not writers but want to tell the story, hit me up – I am, and I am absolutely willing to do a living memory.

they’re the only history books we have.

[inspirationawe]

THEY ARE THE ONLY HISTORY BOOKS WE HAVE! It’s so important to record them at last.

Because lgbt+ history hasn’t been recorded, nor told forward by others. What we learn we learn from morgues, criminal records etc. Only ‘unlucky’ persons have been recorded in any ways and most of happy couples, lives and tales have been lost to history as they were not spoken about. 

[enoughtohold]

okay listen, i get what you guys are saying about the importance of listening to older lgbt people, obviously, that’s very right!

but you guys gotta know… they are NOT “the only history books we have.” because… we have actual history books. just because they are rarely taught in schools does not mean they don’t exist!

i’ve been keeping a list of all the lgbt books i want to read or reread, which are mostly history, and it is, at this moment, 239 books long. and that’s excluding quite a few that i was less interested in.

obviously, it can’t cover everything; obviously, it is skewed toward white american experiences; obviously, we should always be supplementing it by talking to older people in our community as much as we can. but it does us no favors whatsoever to pretend that all the knowledge in these books is lost to history, existing only in individuals’ minds, when actually so many people have taken great pains to write it down and make it available for us to explore!

so yes, meet older people and talk to them and take them seriously! but also please, i beg of you, read a book.

p.s. a note because i regret not making this clear enough in my original post: there is absolutely nothing wrong with gay men having many consenting sexual partners! homophobes’ statistics are obviously falsified for bigoted purposes, but that doesn’t mean those gay men who do have large numbers of partners are any less deserving of dignity and life, and they too deserve our defense.

[thecoggs]

I agree with all the above, but also if you are someone who wants to record history or hear more oral histories there are a few oral history archives dedicated to doing this already! It’s possible to engage in that history right now:

Here are all the transcripts for the NYC Trans Oral History Project

Here’s the ACT UP oral History Project which has videos and transcripts

Here’s a list of a bunch of known oral history projects

And this is the podcast Making Gay History, which is taped interviews done for the book of the same name (with a bit of context added beforehand)

[take-some-vampire-money-bro]

@ all trans people about to attend online school:

This will visually remove your deadname from any webpage. Obviously switch it off if your parents wanna check up on your work, but yee here's the link fam!!!! BOOST THIS!!! SEND THIS TO ANY TRANS PERSON YOU KNOW WHO WILL NEED THIS

Deadname Remover

An easy to use Google Chrome plugin to automatically remove and replace deadnames

[intersexfairy]

Because there arent many posts like this for transfems here are your reminders to...

Take your estrogen/progesterone! Refill your prescription if you ran out/will run out soon!

Stop tucking if you're experiencing pain, numbness, etc., or have been tucking too long!

Hydrate! Even if you aren't thirsty, if it's been more than a few hours since you drank something, please do!

Be kind to yourself! No matter where you are on your trans journey, know that you are valid and loved. ♡

[penrose78]

For my trans girls and other transfem folks! I love you all so much and you're valid.

Also if you're wearing any sort of figure shaping device like a waist trainer, spanx, a corset, etc make sure its comfy and not too tight and that you haven't been wearing it too long.

[positivelyandrogyne]

Are there any discord servers or communities online for androgyne people?

I honestly don't know. I don't really use discord and I haven't seen any on, like, Facebook or anything. Does anyone know of any?

[refinery29]

This Brand Is Making Swimwear For The Trans Community

A lot of transguys or masculine people aren’t comfortable with wearing a bikini top, so they get stuck wearing shirts in the summertime, or settling for something that doesn’t make them feel confident.

The Rhodes siblings are currently fundraising for the Bareskin Top, which comes in four skin-tone options, on Kickstarter

READ MORE

GIFS VIA.

[bettyhooker]

But actually boosting this because they have until December 19th to raise another $13,000 or they don’t get any of the money.

[light-and-magic]

They’re available for purchase now at http://www.flavnt.com/bareskin/

[deadmanandcompany]

@enby-life

[enby-life]

!!!share this!!!

[whatmountains]

TRANS WOMEN: HERE'S SOME SHIT YOUR DOCTOR WONT TELL YOU ABOUT HRT

1. Progesterone: not for everyone, but for many people it may increase sex drive and WILL make your boobs bigger. Also effects mood in ways that many find positive (but some find negative). Most doctors won’t prescribe this to you unless you ask. Most trans girls I know swear by it.

2. Injectible estrogen: is more effective than pill or patch form. Get on it if you can bear needles bc you will see more effects more quickly.

3. Estradiol Cypionate: There is currently a shortage of injectible estradiol valerate. There is no shortage of estradiol cypionate. Functionally they do the same shit.

4. Bicalutamide: This is an anti-androgen that has almost none of the side-effects of spironolactone or finasteride. The girls I know who are on it are evangelical about it.

[naidje-deactivated]

@euryale-dreams

[joyeuse-noelle]

Are there HRT medications that don’t increase blood clot risk? I’m already at risk because of my blood pressure, and my doctor won’t prescribe HRT that increases clot risk while I’m on the medication - and I may never not be on the medication.

[euryale-dreams-deactivated20201]

Absolutely.

The concerns surrounding venous thromboembolic events as a side-effect of hormone replacement therapy can mostly be traced back to one particular study known as the Women’s Health Initiative. This study was an enormous undertaking which, unfortunately, demonstrated significant adverse effects of the hormone therapies studied. As a result of this the use of hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal cis women was dramatically reduced as the medical community began to question whether or not the therapy caused more harm than good.

Naturally, trans women have been suffering from this fall-out ever since.

What physicians seem to fail to recognize is that the study examined a very specific hormone regimen which was, arguably, outmoded at the time the study was conducted: It examined the use of conjugated equine estrogen (Premarin) with or without the use of medroxyprogesterone acetate. Neither of these drugs is regularly used for the treatment of transgender women.

The estrogen most commonly used to treat transgender women nowadays is 17β-estradiol either in pill form or in the form of a sticky patch that you apply to your skin. Esters of estrogen (e.g. estradiol valerate) are also sometimes used either in a pill form or as an intramuscular injection.

Transdermal estradiol patches are the gold standard when it comes to treating women who are at high risk of a venous thromboembolic event. It simply does not increase the risk of developing a venous thromboembolism. The only thing you should keep in mind is that patches are not always well tolerated because of the lifestyle changes required to keep them from falling off and the fact that they tend to irritate the skin.

Fortunately, oral 17β-estradiol appears to be safe, regardless of the increased risk. At least one large study has shown that the use of oral estradiol in trans women is not associated with venous thromboembolic events. An individual woman’s risk would need to be substantial in order to contraindicate the use of oral estradiol.

For those who have significant risk of venous thromboembolism because they have had a previous thromboembolic event, because they are paralyzed, or because of some other factor it is good to know the relative risk between oral and transdermal estrogen. The latest research indicates that the use of transdermal estrogen lowers your risk of a thromboembolism to 80% of what your risk would be using oral estrogens.

It’s difficult to find hard numbers regarding the relative risk of venous thromboembolic events with regards to hypertension. The best I could find after an hour or so of searching was this study regarding VTE in lung cancer patients. Hypertension increased the risk by a factor of 1.8.

However, to put that into perspective being of African descent increases your relative risk for deep vein thrombosis by a factor of 1.3 when compared to Europeans. Europeans are, themselves, at increased risk when compared to Asians and Pacific Islanders by a considerable margin: a four-fold increase.

I should point out that being ‘male’ is also a risk factor for developing a thromboembolism and hormones are likely to be a contributing factor. Also, menopause is another serious risk factor. Given this information it is likely that the use of transdermal estradiol will lower your risk of thromboembolic events significantly.

As far as the anti-androgen is concerned: The primary use for spironolactone for cisgender people is as an antihypertensive.

Even if the risk of thromboembolism was truly significant with modern hormone replacement therapy it wouldn’t justify what your doctor is doing to you. The fact is that mortality in the transgender community from suicide–caused in part due to the lack of access to hormone therapy–is substantial. The quality of life lost when a trans woman is denied hormone therapy is substantial. The fact that your doctor does not appear to be taking this into consideration when they weigh the risk of thromboembolism against not receiving necessary medical care is deeply concerning.

I strongly recommend that you seek a doctor who is more sensitive to your medical needs as a transgender woman.

Edit: Fixed a minor, but embarrassing, error.

[whatmountains]

oh wow this is so helpful & good info

[blackthorn-and-iron-deactivated]

Everyone who cares about transfem people please reblog this

[thetolerantleft-deactivated2017]

this was really fucking helpful

[realtransfacts]

Transmasculine Presentation Resources Masterpost

(For a transfem version of this post, click here)

Some of this could also be useful for other masc people and transneutral people who were cafab as well! And of course feel free to add to this post if you have more good links and/or info to share.

& the obligatory disclaimer: Transmasculine people can present however they want. There’s absolutely no obligation to do the stuff listed here.

Chest:

Binding is Not Safe

Binding 101

More safety info

“Is it Normal?” Binder Edition

Getting a binder without your parents knowing

How to Wash your Binder

Rashes and skin irritation from binding

Coping with chest dysphoria without binding

Swimming

Face:

Mascunilizing Makeup

Making a Beard with Makeup

Fake Beard with Real Hair

How To Apply A Fake Beard

Hair:

Body hair

Long hair

Androgynous hair

Getting Short Hair

Passing Tips: Haircuts

Clothes:

How To Look Older as a Baby-Faced Guy

Discrete

Thrift Stores

Dressing to Flatter Your Body Type

Suits & Ties for Beginners

Tomboyx Underwear

Where to Get Men’s Clothes that Fit

Tips on How to Dress to Pass Better

Voice:

Voice Deepening for Transgender People

Voice Analyzer App

How to make your voice Deeper

Trans Voice Subreddit

Free Trans Voice Resources

Packing / STP:

Pee standing up without a STP

DIY fabric packer

How to Make a Realistic Sock Packer Video

How to make a Packer

How to Pack with a Sock

How to make your own Harness

Packing with an extra small Mr Limpy

Packing and Packers 101

Packers, STPs, and Dildos

Packing Info Post

Tips for Using an STP

A Guide to Stand to Pee (STP) Devices

Packing Wiki

WikiHow for Packing

Guide to Packers

Reviews

General passing tips:

How To Walk Like A Badass

Transmasculine Passing Tips

Passing Tips

WikiHow Passing Guide

How To Pass As Masculine For Trans Men

Tips For Passing Video

The Art of Transliness Guide to Being Read as Male

Trans Guy Passing Tips

🌈🌈🌈

Other Masterposts:

Androgynous Presentation

HRT Masterpost

Low Dose Testosterone HRT

Top Surgery Masterpost

Breast Augmentation Masterpost

Chest Binding Masterpost

Tucking Masterpost

Transmasc Lower Surgery Masterpost

Transfem Lower Surgery Masterpost

Feminizing Voice Masterpost

Masculinizing Voice Masterpost

Coming Out Masterpost

Gender Questioning Masterpost

Nonbinary Terminology Masterpost

Pronouns Masterpost

Coping with Misgendering Masterpost

Masterpost for Trans Allies

Choosing a New Name for Yourself Masterpost

Writing Trans Characters Masterpost

Transgender Pregnancy & Fertility Masterpost

Being Trans Without Dysphoria Masterpost

Self Care Masterpost

[agender-antz]

✨Star Shiner✨

any androgyne folks on my page? y’all are valid! 💕

[yrdeadmeat]

A little comic about me!!

[carly-rae-transbians]

My fav trans writer just made this on her Twitter so I thought I’d share.

[etrianodysseyobsession-hd-deact]

The major unlock for me was realizing that wanting to be a girl was a symptom of being a girl.

[thatbakedjedi-deactivated202504]

Me realizing I was trans was me going “Wow. I wish I was transgender., I’d like to be a girl.” for MONTHS (this was when I started seriously questioning) till one day I was wishing I was trans and then I was just like:

“……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….WAIT.”

[woolawool-deactivated20220724]

I remember when I was like 13 I read something about trans people in an informative way for the first time and in the span of about three seconds I was just like “oh. That’s a thing. That makes a whole lot of sense.”

[evolution-incarnate]

Ever since I could comprehend what a girl was I wanted to be one Thought it was normal

[sam-is-not-here-anymore-deactiv]

These comments are so pure and sweet I had to reblog!

[nymphaeale]

“wanting to be a girl was a symptom of being a girl” this was a huge stumbling block for me. I learned of the existence of trans ppl in my late teens, but always seen it framed as ‘they ARE [gender]’. But I thought I only WANTED to be a girl (which I didn’t realize wasn’t normal. Who wouldn’t, right?) It wasn’t until 6 or 7 years later that I figured out I was trans too… But that’s why posts like this are important to me, hopefully some trans ppl who haven’t realized it yet see them, and realize that this could apply to them. Cause while we are our gender, when you’re figuring it out; it feels less sure, cause the whole world is trying to tell you otherwise.

[empermoth]

One page of hope reminding you that “you are more than this body, you are more than their hate”

[amuseoffyre]

People Have Had Non-Binary Genders for THOUSANDS of Years

It's nothing new.

TeenVogue still kicking ass and taking names.

[buzzfeedlgbt]

(x) Art by Chucha Marquez for BuzzFeed LGBT

[babblingfishes]

Alternative responses when someone asks you whether you’re a boy or girl:

equally-confused shrugging

“about 20%”

return the question, acting intrigued and interested with their answer

take out your id card and squint at it for a couple minutes before admitting that you forgot your glasses

lean in and whisper “I wonder the same thing daily”

ask numerous detailed questions about which gender involves [insert quality], then make them wait a while as you tally up the points on your fingers

[coracoidal]

Can I do #4 while actually wearing my glasses, because I feel like it would add a little special something to the entire scene

[babblingfishes]

Absolutely

[bigendering]

You know what I want? A transgender store.

It has “traditional men’s,” “traditional women’s,” and “whatever” clothes sections. There are posters converting men’s and women’s clothing sizes. Each stack of clothing item has both sizing systems on it. They carry a wider range of sizes than usual, with lots of extra small clothes in the “traditional men’s” section and extra large/extra tall clothes in the “traditional women’s” section. They have shoes in all sizes. The dressing rooms are gender neutral. There are binders, gaffes, breast forms, and packers, with leaflets on how to use them. There’s a section with makeup and jewelry. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable. There’s a stack of handouts with transgender resources that people can take home for free. There are bookshelves with transgender books you can buy, as well as a small library. No one is gendered, and people can buy whatever they want without judgement.

[guys-positivity]

You know who don’t get NEARLY enough love? Fat trans men.

Every fucking media portrayal of trans men is as a super thin white guy with clear skin but like, fat trans men are the best.

They give really good hugs + cuddles and are super warm.

I’m also really just here for mentally ill fat trans men. Y'all are great and you’re trying your best and it’s obvious. I believe in you boys. I love you all.

God bless fat trans men. And you better BELIEVE this includes the ones that struggle to pass because of their weight, extra round of applause for them.