Writing Trans Characters: Corrections of Common Mistakes
These are just a few quick, basic things that should be taken into account that I notice a lot of writers get wrong.
Not every trans person is “pre” or “post” HRT or surgeries. It can be pretty stigmatizing to think of trans people’s lives as part of those two categories, especially when those things have not always been part of their plan or they do not want them at all.
“About 14 percent of trans women and 72 percent of trans men said they don’t ever want full genital construction surgery.” So for the record, your trans man character who doesn’t want bottom surgery is part of the majority of trans men.
There are loads of different kinds of surgeries (even if we’re just talking about genitalia, even if we’re just talking about one type of genitalia).
“Transition” is a really vague term. It includes all sorts of things for all sorts of people, and it has no start and end date usually. It can literally be just coming out and that’s it.
“Transgendered” is not the preferred term because it is not a verb, it is an identity (an adjective).
A great guide for phrasing things in a good way is the GLAAD media guide for writing about trans people. There’s some stuff in there that’s less of a consensus within the trans communities, but it’s very minimal, and what is there is not harmful.
Do not misgender your own characters when narrating things.
“Transwomen” and "transmen" are not the preferred wording. There is a space between them, because as mentioned earlier, trans is an adjective. These are still women and men.
“ftm” and “mtf” are also not preferred by everyone, because it implies we were ever our assigned-at-birth gender, and also centres around transition (which is not what defines being trans, and is also undefinable in itself)
There usually isn’t a reason to feature or talk about surgeries or your trans character’s body in general within the plot. This doesn’t mean “avoid it at all costs” - just ask yourself if it actually is necessary. Most people asking questions related to surgeries and the like do not actually need to include that information.
It’s a common misconception that all trans men have vaginas and all trans women have penises, are perisex etc. The people who have penises cannot be summed up by saying “trans women and cis men” because not only does that exclude a whole lot of nonbinary people, (or how everybody generally is born with a phallus, but I digress) but intersex genitalia is extremely varied, and countless trans people do undergo surgeries. Most post-op genitalia looks indistinguishable from the kind that cis people have.
Gender dysphoria =/= body hatred. Here’s a link where I explain what gender dysphoria feels like for me.
Trans people are not “born in the wrong body” (some folks may use this phrasing for themselves, but for the most part, with some exception, it is to explain things to cis people who have no familiarity or patience to understand).
We did not “used to be a [GAAB*]” and we are not “biologically [GAAB]” - we are who we say we are, even when we are closeted, even when our shape was different. Some folks who experience gender fluidity are different here and it’s not uniform - but it is still inappropriate for cis people to use these phrases.
he/him =/= “male pronouns” etc. Don’t gender pronouns! Not everyone who uses these pronouns is “male”.
The terms “female body” or “male body” are not helpful in explaining what a certain body is like. They have no uniform way of being, especially taking hormones, surgeries, and intersex persons into account. And if you identify as female, your body is female. It is your body.
See also:
I am transgender and I was not “born in the wrong body.” (Medium)
TRANSGENDER IS AN ADJECTIVE. NOT A NOUN. OR A VERB! (Feministing)
* GAAB = Gender Assigned At Birth
