fuckin' wrecked

[transwriting]

because you’re all still so, so terrible

TRANS WOMEN ARE NOT GODDESSES

Idolization is a form of dehumanization. Coming up with these worlds in which trans women are seen as divine and “better” than afab people as a whole is not some progressive thing. It says that trans women are not women, but BETTER than all afab people. Neither is better than the other. Trans women are people. They are not something more than women. They are not something more than human.

Also, when “third gender” people are given sacred roles, the thought process is not “this person is trans; let’s worship them” it’s more like “this person had a vision/was chosen/is not good at succeeding in traditionally male activities; therefore, only they are allowed to perform this thing since they are not wholly a man according to our cultural perception of what a man is.”

TRANS MEN ARE NOT “PERFECT BOYFRIENDS”

Writing a romance where a woman discovers that trans men are So Much Better to date than cis men because their genitals don’t make them sexist or whatever is crap. Your story is crap. You’re admitting that you believe in the following when you write this shit story:

You believe the social traits of Western masculinity are inherent to cis men and the social traits of Western femininity are inherent to all non cis men. This is sexist and wrong as hell.

You believe trans men are naturally soft/understanding/submissive. Again, sexist as hell. 

You believe trans men are incapable of being sexist, cis men are incapable of not being sexist.

You believe that trans men are 100% ok with talking about the very parts of their body that they are dysphoric about (y’know, their sex characteristics)

also don’t fucking label romance books with trans men in them under the “queer women” category. just fucking don’t.

TRANS PEOPLE ARE NOT SHY TURTLES

oh y god WHY do so many of you portray trans people as being the shyest people in the world? Why are their arms always crossed? Why do they never look up? I feel like this is the ONLY portrayal I ever see on this horrible website.

What pisses me off the most about this is that they become shy when they begin to transition. Do you know what happens when dysphoric people transition? GOOD SHIT. 

SO WHY IN THE FUCK WOULD SOMEONE WHO DISSOCIATES FROM THEIR SEX CHARACTERISTICS FEEL WORSE WHEN THEY GET RID OF THEM/HIDE THEM/USE COPING MECHANISMS?

Oh, I know why. It’s because you writers don’t actually know what the fuck you’re doing.

They’re not shy or anxious because it’s a new look or because they’re afraid to know what they look like. They’re shy and anxious because they’re afraid they won’t pass or that someone will recognize them.

AND EVEN THEN STOP MAKING EVERYONE SUPER SHY AND USELESS.

TRANS PEOPLE ARE NOT LGBT POSTER CHILDREN

Your trans characters do NOT have to be involved in the lgbt community.

They do NOT need to be surrounded by other lgbt people.

Hell, lots of transsexual people do not consider themselves to be a part of the lgbt community at all. Like, at all. 

They might not know anything about sexual orientation beyond gay/straight/bi. They might not care about the details. They might not know shit about other trans people either.

Stop acting like all your trans characters are living versions of LGBTGOOGLE.

THOSE WORDS AREN’T ACTUALLY BAD

The terms MTF, FTM, and transsexual are not bad words.

Lots of people use them. They are medical terms.

Please fucking use “transsexual” in a story in a positive way. It’s not a bad word. It’s not a porn word. It’s a medical term. 

DYSPHORIA IS NOT SELF-HATE

It is a disconnect between your sex characteristics and your “mind map”. It can cause depression and self-loathing and things, but it is not self-hate. It’s somewhat related to the concept of phantom limb. Hell, some trans people experience phantom limb with their sex characteristics prior to transitioning.

Body positivity will not fix it. If I ever read a book about a trans character who “cures” their sex dysphoria purely through learning to love their body, I will track down that author and personally punch them in the face. If that author is from tumblr, I will punch them twice. 

Don’t fucking send the message that transitioning is bad or cissexist. It’s not. I didn’t transition because society pressured me to have a certain body to be male. I transitioned because my fucking sex characteristics were not correct, jackass.

[transwriting]

why are trans characters always described as cute

why are trans characters always portrayed as having multicolored hair and “alternative” fashion styles

why are trans characters always coddled and treated as though they need constant protection 

why do people always reduce characters to their trans status by saying they’re “perfect” or “amazing” just because they are trans

why are people still making head canons of cis characters being trans just because said character does not fit their idea of what a man or a woman should be

[transwriting]

What if there can be long periods of time between when they feel okay or when they feel dysphoria? Like they have a few days they feel pretty bad, then a while they feel not great but okay-ish, and some days they feel fine without dysphoria, and possibly these lasting multiple days or weeks at a time? Thank you for your answers--last thing I want to do is accidentally use a label that's wrong and misrepresent trans people!

yeah it varies a lot depending on severity of dysphoria/what they use to alleviate dysphoria/how effective that method is/other coping mechanisms

[transwriting]

Is it possible for trans people to experience dysphoria inconsistently? Such as sometimes they'll be fine, but then other days they won't be able to feel comfortable with their body because it doesn't match their gender? I don't want to accidentally appropriate the trans label if inconsistent dysphoria is something else.

yea it’s possible

people have good days, people have bad days.

[transwriting]

can you explain what you mean by "non conforming gender people?" just out of curiosity.

a person who does not conform to the gender roles their society typically associates their perceived sex with

ex: a woman who has short hair and plays football or a man who wears lipstick

[transwriting]

i remembered the password to my account so here’s some fucking diagrams for the writers out there who still don’t know what the fuck they’re doing

“non-western cultural genders” refers to genders that exist in non-western genders. these genders are sometimes ceremonial or spiritual and the people who embody these genders might be chosen or they might take up these roles after witnessing a sign or a vision of some sort. some genders consist of gay and bi ppl who embodied these genders because they experience same-sex attraction. some of them exist bc a man was literally just hanging around women for longer than was socially acceptable. some of them exist bc a man or a woman was not able to live up to gendered expectations or bc they were just better at engaging in gender roles of the opposite sex.

[transwriting]

Can you give tips on writing trans characters that don't feel dysphoria but still are trans? (ex. people who experience gender euphoria instead of dysphoria, or not feeling necessarily bad about presenting as their assigned sex but feel really really good about presenting as their gender identity)

oh you mean gender non-conforming people

[transwriting]

I'm a cis woman writing a story with a group cast, one of whom is a trans woman. The story is more plot-focused than character-focused. Is just mentioning in narrative/dialogue that she's trans not delving enough into that aspect of her character? Her being trans isn't important to the plot - should I omit it entirely to avoid the whole "diversity for brownie points uwu" thing, which really isn't my intention? I would appreciate any advice. Thank you!!

her being trans doesn’t have to be plot-relevant

and yeah a short mention is all you need. i’d like a story where the story says “this person is trans” and then just fucking leaves it at that.

[transwriting]

your marketing sucks

i really hate how people are using trans characters, and other characters, as a selling point

“buy my book it has 4 trans characters; 3 of them are poc and 2 of them are disabled <3″

like are you going to tell us what your book is actually about or are you just trying to get Diversity Points while simultaneously trying to avoid the fact that your plot is predictable and your writing is shit

if you want people to read your shit you actually have to talk about the fucking plot and the genre and the goddamn protagonist

[transwriting]

you can write all the shitty fiction you want but you better realize having trans characters doesn’t automatically make it good

your story is still shit and you need to pay attention to quality

[transwriting]

"if your explanation for why your character is trans boils down to them being uncomfortable with gender roles associated with their sex then congrats you are sexist" could you explain? im sorry i dont understand.... also could you explain what your sidebar means? the "sex dysphoric characters" part? cause if you mean trans characters all trans people arent dysphoric? im sorry im really confused

it means that transsexualism is not based on gender roles and people who base a character’s transness on the fact that they do not conform to gender roles are being sexist and transphobic

they’re saying that men and women must behave certain ways and that people who don’t behave that way must be something else entirely

this does not break the “gender box”; it creates more boxes that are based on stereotypes and strict gender roles

not only that, but it also pushes non-western genders and non-western gender roles under the “trans umbrella” which is a colonialist and racist ideology

these harmful ideas have spread to the writing world and now “trans activism” is full of misinformation. this blog specifies “sex dysphoric characters” because sex dysphoric people have been forgotten and deemed “offensive” for some reason and because not all sex dysphoric people wish to associate themselves with the current trans movement given that it is very anti-sex dysphoric and kind of ridiculous and highly politicized

there’s also the issue that, y’know, to be transsexual is to experience some degree of sex dysphoria since all other explanations are baseless and sexist and make no sense and actively erase sex dysphoric people

[transwriting]

i had a quick question, I'm writing a super hero story and was wondering if it would be in poor taste to give someone who identifies as trans, transformation powers.

it’s lame as hell

“let’s give the fisher some water powers”

“let’s give the firefighter fire powers”

“let’s give the pilot the power of flight”

“what if this shy girl had the power of invisibility”

[transwriting]

I'm writing a transgender YA romance and I'm wondering, how far into transition could a 17-18 trans girl be? What parts of transition(like hormones, FFS, etc) are more likely to affect "passing" than others? Her single mom doesn't have that large of an income, so she wouldn't be able to have it all. (I seriously apologize if anything within this ask is offensive)

it all depends on when she came out, when she pursued transitioning, when she was able to start medically/physically transitioning, which parts of transitioning she pursued, her genetics, protocols/laws surrounding transgender healthcare where she lives, and a lot more stuff

“passing” is based on how others perceive your appearance and behavior and what may help one person might not help another person

there’s no answer to this question because transitioning is highly individualized. it will have to be a timeline that you create. one thing you can do is look at transition blogs of trans women in this age range and attempt to create a fictional timeline.

[transwriting]

what does it mean by having stealth trans characters?

it means they’re not openly trans but have transitioned*/are transitioning 

they can still be open to the reader so that the reader actually knows they’re trans, but other characters don’t have to know

*the line between transitioning/transitioned is blurred

[transwriting]

Ok, one last question haha. Is it bad to want to write a story with incidents of transphobia or sexism (specifically against GNC folk) that amounts to murder or sexual violence against the trans or GNC characters? I'm not writing this to fetishize or glorify violent acts or bigotry, but my story takes place in kind of a dark and corrupt version of society. Obviously this kind of bigotry occurs in real life (you probably know much more about it than I do!), but again, as a cis writer (1/2)

2/2 I’m really nervous about offending/triggering real life trans people (or any survivors of violence/abuse) in incorrectly portraying the crimes that have affected their lives. Is there any way I can keep this aspect of my story, or should I completely drop it for being too offensive and exploitative? Sorry for sending you all the asks (esp. one as sensitive as this one!) but you’re one of the few writing blogs on Tumblr that I can trust when it comes to trans/gender issues.

—-

most portrayals of trans people, gender non conforming people, and gay people end up with them being the victims of violence and other gross stuff

it’s annoying that this keeps happening bc we never get to just exist without being murdered or beaten

you should probably not do this

but there’s also a difference between violence against characters because they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time and violence against people because they are trans or gay or gender non conforming. the second one is the one you should not do bc it’s just so common in both fiction and real life

[transition-sideblog]

My biggest problem with folks creating trans headcanons or trans characters lately is that often times being trans is the character’s only defining trait.

I would love to see more transgender characters being brought to light as humans with interests and aspirations, and they also happen to be in the process of taking hormones and undergoing surgeries to transition into a body in which they feel more comfortable. Give me those transgender characters.

Don’t fucking patronize me with these righteous and obnoxious characters who take every moment to shove their trans-ness into our faces in a way that we are supposed to interpret as being proud and self confident. Don’t talk down to us and slap trans labels on characters for “representation” when all you’re doing is creating a token character whose creation is an excuse for you to pat yourself on the back for being oh so inclusive. Don’t try and act like a trans character who presents the most two-dimensional stereotype of a trans individual imaginable is a positive and useful figure after whom people can fashion their opinions or beliefs.

Go out and create, do what you want. Make trans characters who are assholes, make trans characters who are saints, but for the sake of all things good and holy, don’t make trans characters whose entire identities revolve around being transgender.

[transwriting]

quick notes on writing trans characters

having a trans character in your story doesn’t make it good lmao

non-western people who embody non-western genders are not always trans and those genders do not belong under the “trans umbrella”

straight trans people are a thing

old trans people exist also

so do trans men

trans men are not “better than cis men” bc of female socialization and menstruation or whatever get your gross fetishization away from your shitty writing

idolization is a form of dehumanization

stealth trans people exist

being trans has nothing to do with a preference of gender roles

stop using the existence of trans characters as a marketing tool; it takes like three words to describe a character as trans you don’t need to write in all caps and in bold that you have trans characters

seriously, we do not exist to give you Diversity Points or brownie points with the SJWs

if your explanation for why your character is trans boils down to them being uncomfortable with gender roles associated with their sex then congrats you are sexist