Transmasculine Theory

[transmasculinetheory]

Who is the demure girl? what happened?

She's a trans woman who went viral on tiktok for saying "very demure, very mindful" in a funny way in a video. she is a beauty/makeup account mostly. she went super viral, and got paid a lot for a bunch of appearances and the money from the creator program (which is not much usually), but still very little sponsorships because she's a trans woman and therefore not considered advertiser friendly even though she makes beauty and makeup content mostly.

anyway, the money she made from that didn't stretch very far, she quit or lost her day job and is borderline unemployable after going viral, which is a pretty common experience, you become too famous to work a normal day job but still have no money. the podcast Sixteenth Minute (of Fame) by Jamie Loftus discusses this phenomenon and previous examples of it.

She used the money mostly to get her family into stable housing, because she comes from a background of poverty, the fame from going viral and the money from that dried up quickly, she has struggled with addiction in the past and now has pretty serious dental problems due to that, and needs a ton of dental surgery, she's in extreme dental pain, can't get dental insurance in the kind of jobs she can get, and can't raise the enormous amount of money for that much dental surgery in those kinds of jobs. So she posted a gofundme to pay for the surgery. the same way everyone in that position pays for surgery in the US.

people were pissed because she made a lot of money when she went viral, they felt she shouldn't be begging for money after all that, but as she said, that money dried up, it all went to housing and other expenses and it's gone, and now she needs surgery for this dental issue. it's not something you can safely wait on, dental infections kill people.

but people bullied her relentlessly until she deleted the gofundme and refunded all the money she had raised. money for a surgery she needs. a ton of people dogpiling her and attempting to cut her off from resources because they don't think she deserves those resources because she's a complicated person who they think should have handled the situation better. I don't think this would have happened to a creator in her position who is not transgender and Latina.

[scarytransandrophobiatruther]

i feel so bad for transmascs and afab enbies because you guys get told your whole life "you dont know anything and everything you like is cringe and stupid because you were born with a vagina" and then you grow up and come out and the people who are supposed to be against all that tell you "you dont know anything and everything you like is cringe and stupid because you were born with a vagina, but it makes you super powerful and oppressive this time so whenever we're cruel to you its okay and anyone who defends you is a bigot that hates me in particular."

[outside-the-binary]

Transfeminism is getting mutual aid avenues for trans people taken down. Do you even hear yourself. Do you even hear yourself.

[transmasculinetheory]

Hey everyone , this is literally the "social murder" everyone is talking about.

[transmasculinetheory]

A woman who has a patriarchal view of the world and upholds and reproduces that view of the world is just as antifeminist as a man who does so, and more antifeminist than a man who is anti-patriarchal.

Your gender is not praxis.

[maxslickfunyfics]

The concept of "Patriarchy has no gender" - bell hooks be kicking a lot of feminists' ass especially on this website

[transmasculinetheory]

someone should write an essay about how your trans girlfriend is being groomed by a rape cult, because that's a thing that is actually happening to a lot of young women on this fucking website.

[ravenlynclemens]

vacation babies #4

[this-is-trans-joy]

Wait so. Elliot Page’s role in The Odyssey is to be unwillingly sacrificed within the first five minutes of his appearance and THAT’S the “complex and interesting” role that people have claimed was personally gifted to him by Nolan for transitioning into a man?? Five minutes of screen time where he’s immediately killed?? Are we actually fucking serious right now. I’ve had to deal with post after post on every social media platform telling me that The Odyssey is proof that Elliot Page transitioned into privilege and the role in question is the most insulting, transphobic, nothingburger I’ve ever seen in my life. Am I missing something here because I feel like I’m losing my mind.

[this-is-trans-joy]

These people think a trans man existing in public is proof of privilege. These people think a trans man being allowed to live and breathe is proof of privilege. These people don’t want trans men to exist btw call it out for what it is at this point.

[childofpasithea]

Sinon is a very important character in The Aeneid. He pretty much singlehandedly brought the downfall of Troy.

[this-is-trans-joy]

This is about Christopher Nolan’s movie adaptation of the Odyssey, not The Aeneid book.

[this-is-trans-joy]

I get that Sinon is an important and complex character, but when we’re discussing the context of Elliot Page playing him and how his character was handled in Nolan’s adaptation:

1) His character doesn’t exist in Homer’s Odyssey and was taken from Virgil’s Aeneid and given to him instead of giving him an actual character in the Odyssey. If someone were to visit the original source material, his role will not even be there.

2) He is essentially the dead wife of the plot, and is also one of the youngest characters. He haunts the narrative, which is a pretty common role given to women so as to not actually write them into the plot, but please do keep telling me that there is absolutely no transphobic or misogynistic biases towards why Elliot Page was specifically selected to play Sinon.

3) He still only gets a combined amount of about five minutes of screentime, and considering this is the most notable role he’s recieved since coming out 5+ years ago… I don’t think this is proof that transitioning has benefited his career. Every time Elliot Page is even mentioned by name, the internet goes on a horrifically transphobic crusade for months until he’s forced back into obscurity. His acting career has objectively tanked since coming out.

4) Elliot Page has already worked with Chrisopher Nolan and was given a (noteably) bigger role in Inception pre-transition. Christopher Nolan did not “wait” for Elliot Page to transition (whatever the fuck that means), the two already knew each other from previous projects.

Edit: Personally, the only real win to me is that a trans man got to play a cis man without his transness being considered an issue, but the way in which Nolan went about it felt more like throwing Elliot Page a bone while benefiting from the outrage caused by Elliot Page simply existing, and instead of celebrating the small win that trans men received, every single side of the internet decided to rip into him and either call him a mentally ill woman or a privileged man benefiting from misogyny.

[genderkoolaid]

it feels like people trying to use Page's role in this movie to make a point about Nolan's misogyny are falling into the age-old trap of treating trans experiences purely as a means to prove cis women's experiences.

like, the OP of one particular post that went around got mad at people in the notes for calling them out, talking about how they were just trying to use this as an example to talk about misogynistic writing and "see, you derailed this post about how women are treated to talk about a man!" but its more than just an ill decision on their part.

people are so eager to make the joke that Page transitioned as is now getting better roles, regardless of whether or not its true. people are eager because its a joke that paints such a clear, pointed image of how cis women are affected by misogyny. its the same reason people love "if men could get pregnant..." jokes and sayings even when they are supposedly trans-inclusive. its the same reason that gender studies classes motherfucking love talking about how binary trans men and women in office jobs lose or gain male privilege, because it reduces trans experiences to a vehicle to illustrate cis women's oppression and cis men's privilege.

and people get really mad when you point out that they treat real trans men's real experiences as an allegory they can play around with to talk about how bad cis women are treated. like with "if men could get pregnant," people talking about how Page transitioned and suddenly got a "better role" act like you are spoiling their fun or missing the point, and they insist: but I wasn't even thinking about trans men! I was just trying to talk about how badly women are treated! and don't understand that, yes, that is the problem.

[dreamsinstarlight9]

Saw a post along the lines of “trans men are being groomed into the transmanosphere” and had to take a moment to laugh at how much the post read in the exact same way TERFs talk about “young autistic girls being groomed into mutilating themselves.

You just have to laugh at the irony.

[queerliblib]

does the qll have stone butch blues?

nope

it is literally not available to purchase as an ebook or audiobook because IT IS FREE DIRECTLY FROM LESLIE’S WEBSITE

quote from website, "Leslie Feinberg worked up to a few days before hir death to ready the 20th anniversary Author’s Edition of Stone Butch Blues, to make it available to all, for free. This action was part of hir entire life work as a communist to “change the world” in the struggle for justice and liberation from oppression."

three cheers for leslie who did amazing things, wrote an incredible book, lived a beautiful queer trans life, and made sure stone butch blues was available to everyone before QLL ever existed

go download your pdf now <3

[itgetsbetter]

hell yeah

[phosphorusab]

So this is the woman who wrote the transmanosphere substack

How are these people not denounced as obvious sexists?

[bigboypasttimes]

I said about 2 years ago when "TME/TMA" hit the scene yet again that the people using it would eventually start saying "cis men are more oppressed than trans men and AFABs can't be raped because trans women are not politically powerful enough." I called it because we've fucking already done this. The Baeddel movement has been done. It did this shit, people got fucking raped and abused, and no one gave a shit until enough trans women, specifically, were also raped and abused.

How many times is this going to be tolerated?

[evil-tman]

Call me transmisogynistic but I don't think "The transgender craze seducing our daughters" is about trans women

[evil-tman]

@crunchbuttsteak I'm delighted you asked! Since you can't be bothered to read, I'll help you a little:

1- Going to college (p.13)

2- Transmasculine influencers (p.15)

3- Chase Ross, a trans man (p.19)

4- The internet and FOMO (p.27)

5- DeviantArt (p.29-30) *worth noting that "Lauren" is also a trans man

6- Therapy (p.31)

7- Therapy, again (p.37)

8- A trans man, again (p.38)

These are all within the first 40 pages. The book has around 400. You can go read it if you think it'll prove your point, but I already know I could find the author blaming trans men a dozen more times. Nice try though!

[ftmtftm]

Here is the link to Chase Ross' video about being taken advantage of by Abigail Shrier [ X ].

Here's Ty Turner's video about the book [ X ].

Jammiedodger has talked about the impacts of the book [ here ] and [ here ].

The idea of "rapid onset gender dysphoria" is literally intentionally targeted against young nonbinary people who were afab and trans boys and the blame is often placed on social media and trans male influencers like Chase Ross, Ty Turner, and Jamie Raines. "ROGD" is considered a "social contagion" that is spread by trans men who are convincing "young girls" to "ruin" their bodies with hormones and surgeries.

This is in fact, one of the many cases where trans men are intentionally painted as predators and maybe we should listen to trans men speak about it.

[imoanurparentsnames]

You all realize Feminists have been critiquing "women only spaces" for decades right?

I think often about Audre Lorde's critique of a women only event that welcomed her wife and daughter, but not her son. Because she questioned it - the function and purpose of barring even the sons of Feminist women from Feminist events. Especially the barring of her young Black son, who would otherwise be left alone in the city where he would be more prone to the very violence those same Feminist women claimed to want to change.

Because what functional, forward thinking Feminist purpose does it actually serve to do that? What message does that send to women with sons, husbands, brothers, lovers, friends, who want to involve the men and boys in their lives in their activism? Who want to build a functionally better world for us all outside of the oppressive grasp of Patriarchy? Especially for the marginalized men who often sit at their own intersection violent Patriarchal oppression, that still happens to be Patriarchal oppression despite it not being distinctly misogyny?

What purpose does it truly serve to sequester yourself away into a pocket of the world, detached from those you share it with? What bright and shining future does that really promise you?

[tboyreject]

[shaking a transmasc egg by his shoulders] your existence as a man is not anti-feminist, the world is a brighter place with you in it. nothing of value will be lost, you don't deserve to spend your life in a closet, the most radical thing you can do is to exist authentically. i will always cheer for you, i will always celebrate you.

[nothorses]

Hey, I’m pretty sure you made that post about the lack of community and resources for transmasc ppl, and as a follow-up, I was wondering what you suggest we do about it? I want a community but I don’t know how to create one

Yeah that sounds like something I’d say, lmao

This is kind of a big question, and I’m definitely not an expert! But in my opinion, there are a lot of things that everyone can do- from transmascs, to other trans folks, to allies in general.

One of the broader things I’ve talked about is “making space”; which, to me, just means making existing community spaces and movements hospitable and welcoming to transmascs, especially through ideology. Anyone can do this, anywhere.

More concrete actions might be:

Creating community spaces for transmascs: Discord servers and other social media groups, forums, and irl groups and networks

Joining existing community spaces (just your presence strengthens these groups!)

Cultivating social networks: following and reaching out to fellow transmascs, bringing them into community spaces, offering support, etc.

Getting involved in mentoring: mentorship is a powerful, historical community tool for trans folks. Finding or providing mentorship (carefully, and safely) can be incredibly restorative. (FTM Mentors on Facebook is one way to get involved; they’re nonbinary-inclusive despite the outdated name)

Compiling resources for transmascs, and sharing that. Anything from broad organizations, to binder giveaways, to events, to whatever else you can find.

Creating/strengthening information networks: Think safe binding information, HRT side effects, safe doctors, clinics, and safe surgeons, safe community spaces, etc. Share the information you come across or learn. Speak up about your own experiences.

Learning our history- and sharing that. Transmasc historical figures, our personal community’s roots and path, where our problems lie and why... all of this is a major part of building, growing, and holding onto community.

Creating and boosting positive examples of transmasculinity, and healthy relationships to masculinity

Cultivating pride in transmasculinity. Uniting under flags, symbols, subcultures, in-jokes, etc. Concrete things that transmascs can point to, identify with, and take pride in.

We also need to think in terms of our goals and priorities. What are we doing in the community? Joining and building community just to have it is great, but I think we should also think about:

Fighting for transmasc inclusion in abuse shelters

Fighting for transmasc inclusion in reproductive healthcare

Fighting for visibility of transmasc issues; particularly suicide, sexual assault, and access to/coverage of transition healthcare

Challenging transmedicalism/truscum within our community, especially as it impacts transmascs specifically

Challenging the undercurrent of body image and eating disorder issues within the community; fighting fatphobia and toxic eating & exercise behaviors, and encouraging healthier attitudes around transmasc bodies, passing, and transitions

Challenging negative attitudes around gender-affirming healthcare, especially bottom surgery, and the highly stigmatized effects of testosterone HRT

Advocating for self-love and self-acceptance within the transmasc community; de-normalizing the “I hate myself for being a man” toxic subculture that perpetuates poor mental health and increases risk of suicidal ideation 

A lot of these, in my opinion, directly challenge the reasons our community is so fragmented in the first place- or challenge unique struggles and resource defecits that impact us.

These are fairly big ideas, some of them more actionable than others, but I hope this gives you a decent starting point & some things to think about! If folks have more thoughts and ideas, I wanna hear ‘em.

[tainbocuailnge]

"we're all faggots in the eyes of the state" okay but the state recognises different category of "faggot" where one is "idiot womanchildren with delusions of grandeur" and another is "subhuman predators that must be excised from society posthaste" like neither are a great way to treat another human being but can we pleeeeeeease acknowledge the difference here

[transmasculinetheory]

you're right, stupid crazy little girls get treated much worse than sexual predators in our society.

[transguyarchive]

"Building a Male Body" by Beryl Dean Kotula

This article comes from a 1997 issue of Transgender Tapestry. Beryl Dean Kotula is a FTM artist, writer, and activist from Portland, Oregon. He has published other material, most notably his book The Phallus Palace, which documents the medical transition of FTM/F2M people in the early 2000s.

Read more about transmasculine history on the Trans Guy Archive!