Unpopular opinion time.
I’m not gonna lie.
I see a lot of trans guys on tumblr.
like goddamn, so many.
But you know, there’s nothing wrong with that… in theory.
There are some things I’ve come to notice about the large population of trans guys on tumblr that have come to bother me. Brace yourself for some UNPOPULAR OPINIONS.
-Cis people don’t get an objective view.
I know some of you are gonna go WELL WHO CARES ABOUT CIS PEOPLE. Well, I do, and it’s important that they see both sides. I see a lot of art and stuff pop up on tumblr illustrating trans people, but usually only trans men. I cite that one picture with the male-presenting character staring at the two bathrooms, with the men’s room saying “get beaten up” and the women’s room saying “get yelled at”. Okay, but how about the other side of the issue, which would have the women’s room labeled as “Get arrested”? Trans women who don’t pass very well are quick to get labeled as sexual predators and the like due to the social stigma of things like transvestism; something which doesn’t exactly exist on the FAAB side of things.
-Trans women can’t get away with the whole “WATCH ME BE NONBINARY” thing.
One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing trans guys crossdress. See, at the core I don’t have an issue with this; I know one trans guy who can crossdress really well. This is because he is 6’2” and has a full beard. If you’re 5’4” and aren’t on testosterone, trying to wear girl clothes for the sake of being “nonbinary” miiiight not work because well, you’re just going to look like a girl. Let’s reverse the scenario: let’s say a pre-estrogen trans girl with short hair was wearing a men’s suit with a beard. Would that be nonbinary? Not… really. Confining to the binary DOESN’T MAKE YOU NONBINARY, I’m sorry. Frankly I’d love to wear tank tops and baggy pants and shave my head, but I can’t pull it off. Most trans girls prooobably can’t.
-“But there are so many OTHER websites for trans women on the Internet!”
This is true! But there’s a problem with this: most, if not all, of those websites were written by trans women far older than the ones here on tumblr: ones who started transitioning in their 30’s or 40’s. They started transitioning long after they’d gotten jobs and made something of themselves. They don’t have as many of the problems affording surgery and whatnot like we do. It’s a HUGE generational gap. Lana Wachowski’s cool and all, yeah, but she made her success while still living in the closet. I’d like to know that I could become successful while living full-time as a woman and not having to be a goddamn performer.
-A girl in guy’s clothes is almost never seen as a joke.
In our society, and most of the world, masculinity is seen as a positive and desirable trait. When a man in a sitcom or whatever is seen wearing women’s clothing, he’s seen as demeaning himself. That’s why trans men tend to get more positive or realistic representation in the media (seriously, I’ve seen Two and a Half Men do trans guys tastefully), but trans women tend to get used as joke characters. That isn’t to say the men aren’t either, but it’s far less likely. I can’t tell you how many times I get asked OMG ARE YOU A GUY at cosplay meetups and whatnot because the idea of a guy in girl’s clothes is “funny”. Pretty much anybody on the FAAB spectrum can cosplay male characters and not get any shit, and hell I’ve seen instances where my friends, ftm and not, get asked what pronouns they use. I’ve never had that happen to me.
-Most importantly, trans women need to speak up.
C’mon, girls, don’t let the guys hold all the spotlight. We gotta speak up. Get more involved in fandoms and whatever, make activist-y posts, tell your stories! Just please, don’t post every picture of yourself in the mtf tag. That gets annoying fast.
I’m not tagging this because stuff like this tends to get torn apart whenever I do… I just hope my followers here see this.
