artoftransliness:

tree-boy:

Published on Apr 22, 2013

My Genderation / ‘Tranpa’
An older trans-gentleman provides a window on what it was like to transition back in the 1960’s. He requested for his identity to be kept hidden and his voice masked. Please take a moment to consider what life USED to be like for a transgender individual.
___

Filmed & edited by Raphael Fox and Lewis Hancox.
WIth thanks to Reuben Davidson and Sharon Kilgannon.

//FOX & LEW PRODUCTIONS//

**If you’d like to be a part of My Genderation, email us at mygenderation@gmail.com.
www.mygenderation.com

Interesting and a very sad story. It is important to remember the stories of those who have come before us.  

Reblogging to watch when I’m not working under a deadline.

fuckyeahftms:

Hey. So I’m finishing up my junior year of high school, and I bind regularly. Since it’s been pretty cold, I just wear a hoodie at home when I’m not binding. So that my parents don’t think, “oh wow where did those boobs come from” and notice the dramatic difference in my chest. But it’s not like I can bind 24/7, and a hoodie can get AWFUL during the summer. Do you guys have any advice for what I can wear/do when I’m not binding at home? I hope this made sense. Thanks!

Honestly? People you see every day hardly look at you. They register your presence, but they don’t investigate your appearance the same way a stranger would.  Wear woven shirts, not knit ones, slouch some, and they’ll never notice.

thetranssupportsystem:

GLAAD created an infographic that captures the past 60 years of transgender issues in honor of Transgender Awareness Week and Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Transgender Visibility Timeline….it hasn’t been that far into history that the transgender experience has been acknowledge/addressed. Something to think about.

I’m glad to see this timeline, but I don’t feel that it goes far enough or wide enough. Transgender experience hasn’t been INvisible for that long, only a few hundred years, and European culture has been the main culprit of erasure.  The turnaman, hijra, and two-spirit are all examples of non-European, non-binary groups that have been, and will be, just kind of hanging out.

(via artoftransliness)

Anonymous asked: Is it bad of me to feel very uncomfortable when I see young people petitioning strangers on Tumblr for money for sex reassignment masectomies? I know that many trans* kids don't have their families' support, but it seems really sus for anyone to be asking total strangers for money for cosmetic surgery. It's different if they're asking friends and family who know their psychological history, but getting/giving money for cosmetic surgery seems wrong.

You can feel however you are inclined to feel.  It’s not like you’re telling them to stop, or telling people not to donate, or just standing on the street corner screaming “BOOTSTRAPS!!” (Are you?)  This is a boundary issue, as are so many things on the internet.  They are (in my opinion) practising poor boundaries by asking strangers for money; you can model better boundaries by keeping your opinion, and your money, to yourself.

You didn’t ask, but I’d like to add that calling FtM chest reconstruction  ”cosmetic” surgery is rather problematic.  In a perfect world, where we judged people on the content of their minds rather than the shape of their bodies, the gamut of chest and genital surgeries would be merely cosmetic.  However, the reality is that our society is OBSESSED with bodies. You can’t be a “real” woman unless you look like X, can’t be a “real” man unless you look like Y, and never the twain shall meet.  Between the external pressure of total strangers making wildly unfounded assumptions, and the psychological pressure of having internalised this attitude, many trans people are desperate for gender-confirming (not “sex change”) surgery.  When something is that important, both to the would-be patient, and to society at large, calling it “cosmetic” is an understatement.

As to the psychological state of the people asking for money, that’s between them, their psychologists, and their surgeons.  The mere fact that the shrinks are involved at all is an example of how this isn’t merely cosmetic. If you want a face lift, or an ass lift, or even whatever the Hell Michael Jackson had done, you’re never asked to consult a shrink.  Heck, if I wanted BIGGER tits, I could go to a doctor tomorrow, and the only screening question would be “Visa or Mastercard?”  However, if I wanted to have such bosoms as I have whittled down an inch or so, I’d have to jump through all kinds of hoops to prove I’m not “going through a phase” or “going to regret it.”  

And as for “wrong” or “right…” damn, don’t ask me. The only moral criterion I have is “will it hurt someone, and might it help someone?”  It’s not wrong of the trans people to ask, but it isn’t wrong of you to refuse, either.

transthings:

gender pocketknife:

gender as an adaptable, multipurpose tool for any occasion

I think of myself as more of a multipurpose adaptor, but this works, too.

(via revcleo)

my-transition-as-a-trans:

As you all know, I had my appointment today at 4:15. Apparently the recommendation that I have from my counselor isn’t “elaborate” enough. The doctor told me that I should’ve gone through a formal evaluation and have taken a written test, to determine that I am precisely transgender. I honestly…

Hi, I saw this while boppin’ around the MtF tag, and was going to reply in an Ask, but frankly couldn’t find the “send” button on your Ask page. Hurr…

Anyhow, sorry your doctor is stuck in the 1950s. I’m FtM, and got my testosterone prescription on the basis of 2 months of therapy and my own say-so.  I know that some doctors even operate on an informed consent basis: you say “I’m trans, and I know what hormones do,” and they write the scrip. Where-about do you live? (You can tell me in an Ask if you don’t want to say in public.) I can see if my endocrinologist knows anyone with sense out your way.

fuckyeahftms:

Hey everyone!  I have two questions.

1. Does anyone know of some surgeries that leave scars similar to those found with double-incision mastectomies?  I’m having surgery at the end of May and I’m not really out to people.  Or if you have other suggestions of what to tell people when they rudely ask what the scars are from.
2. My hip bones are really wide and are the only thing that sometimes give away that I have a female body.  Any suggestions on what to do?

Thanks everyone.  Please respond to questions through my ask box: http://transtalk.tumblr.com/ask

Tell ‘em the scars are your gill slits. Alternatively, fix them with an icy stare and ask them to consider the various circumstances that leave people with extensive scarring, and to reflect on whether they really think that you want to re-live those circumstances to satisfy the curiosity of a total stranger.

Seriously, though, good luck with the surgery, and if you do proper wound-care and keep the scars out of the sun for a few years, your scarring may be all but unnoticeable.  

As for your hips, not much you can do about that, except to wear pants that fit properly- buying a smaller size out of wishful thinking will only make the fabric stretch, which will make your hips look larger rather than smaller.  If anyone mentions anything, asking them “and why are you looking at my ass, anyway?!” will probably shoo them away.

sexxxisbeautiful:

caviarmpits:

confusedtree:

alloutorg:

Tumblr, we need you! A rogue Arizona State representative, John Kavanagh, wants to pass a bill that would thow trans people in jail for using public restrooms. Anyone could be asked for I.D. to “prove” their gender, and if there’s a discrepancy they could face a fine or jailtime.

When asked why the bill targeted trans people, Kavanagh explained that it’s because he thinks “they’re weird.” Outrageous.

We can stop this bill by taking action at www.allout.org/arizona and spreading the word far and wide. Will you help?

That quote sounds like something out of an onion article oh my god I can’t believe people are this awful

You should help and spread the word too

this is fucking ridiculous

signal boost b/c what the hell is wrong with Kavanagh?

Yanno what? I’m the biggest pervert I know, and even I only use public bathrooms to, you know, go to the bathroom.  Kavanagh, I might be weird, but if bathrooms strike you as sexy, you’re even weirder.

fuckyeahftms:

Hey guys. I have really bad migraines which come with a lot of nausea, dizziness and aura. While I realize that it’s an individual deal, does anyone know if T can make migraines worse or if anyone had any personal experiences regarding taking testosterone while suffering from migraines? Thanks

Hey, you know what?  I just realised how lucky I am. I used to get nauseating migraines on the day before I was going to get my period.  However, since T made my periods go away, I haven’t had a one.  Hallelujah!

freedominwickedness:

world-of-whit:

transgenderqueerful:

world-of-whit:

everythingbutharleyquinn:

odofemi:

TRANS ROMANTIC

Can I take a moment to tell you all about something amazing? In recent years, the place of trans women in pornography has been a topic of hot debate within trans communities, and a site of some awesome activism. Some of this activism has included Tobi Hill-Meyer’s seminal Doing it Ourselves: Trans Women Porn Project, which featured queer trans women in a feminist porn context. That movie brought a lot of issues around transmisogyny to light, and queer trans women have been making serious inroads into the feminist porn world as a result.

But what about straight trans women? So often trans activism focuses on one specific trans experience: that of a mostly white, exclusively queer kind of trans person. Straight trans women have been left out of the conversation. And when we talk about straight trans woman porn, we can see only typical tranny and shemale porn produced for a cis male gaze.

Well, legendary feminist pornographer Nica Noelle has changed that. She has started a new studio called Trans Romantic that creates porn specifically catering to the desires of straight trans women and other trans women who like cis men. This is stuff made for a trans woman’s gaze. The first title in this series, Forbidden Lovers, has a plotline about a cis man taking his trans woman girlfriend home to meet his parents, before she’s disclosed being trans. When she does disclose, they have amazing and hot sex! The non-sex parts are super cute and really romantic and lovely. Dreamy!

The great thing about this is that the men are really hot! Tranny and shemale porn are stigmatized industries, meaning that male performers often won’t be able to return to straight or gay porn if they do tranny or shemale porn, and that results in usually really unattractive/boring guys doing it with super babely trans ladies. Nica Noelle has found REALLY HOT GUYS who are excited to be part of these films! This is a big deal in the porn world.

I absolutely loved Forbidden Lovers, and I’m not even straight. Want to support things for trans women and not just your tiny bubble of acceptably queer ones? SUPPORT TRANS ROMANTIC!!

Edited to add: Also! These movies are produced with plotlines that show trans women as not only objects of desire, but SUBJECTS OF LOVING RELATIONSHIPS. That is hugely revolutionary.

Huh. I don’t usually go for straight porn, but this could work.  Especially if it’s made from the girls’ point of view.  I know that coming out to one’s lover can carry a lot of anxiety for some trans people; it’s probably very soothing to see it as something sexy rather than life-wrecking. 

Also, fuck all y’all haters who say that this excludes or erases trans men. Just because the girls did something without us, doesn’t mean they hate us.  They’re perfectly capable of doing things that have NOTHING TO DO WITH US whatsoever.  Stop stealing pages from the normo guys’ playbook.  You wanna see porn with trans women gettin’ it on with trans men?  Make it your own damn selves.  Except now I think that the trans ladies won’t want to sleep with your misogynist asses, anyhow.

(via dirkpee)

Transposes (you know, that book that I’m in) has been nominated for a Lambda Literary Award for transgender non-fiction.  Dylan deserves to win this award.  Not just because he wrote about me, either.  Each biography in this book is told in a different style, with tone and word choice, and Hell, panel shape and arrangement, tailored to the subject.  That is talent, man.  Plus, it’s actually funny, which is something desperately needed in trans nonfiction.

Whole story here.  Buy tickets to see the award cermony in New York, which is guaranteed to have people even more ridiculously well-dressed than the Oscars, here.

fuckyeahftms:

Chest-Wall Contouring Surgery in Female-to-Male Transsexuals: A New Algorithm

This article, written by surgeons at Gent University Hospital in Belgium, describes 5 different techniques for top surgery. It contains extensive info about surgical technique, rates of complication, and satisfaction. There are sample photos for each technique.

I’ve uploaded the full text, as it’s a valuable resource for many guys.

This is great information.  I knew that there had to be options apart from free nipple grafts for my relatively small bosoms.

fuckyeahftms:

I’m newly out to a few close friends and currently going by Matt. I don’t feel like it fits me super well. So my question to you guys is how did you decide on a name/find a name? Here’s my tumblr or my email is matthew.joseph@hotmail.com

A name is your anchor in this world; you need a name that tells you who you are.  I suggest that you name yourself after someone you respect, admire, and want to be like.  Ancestral names are good choices; your ancestors somehow survived all of the craziness life threw at them and managed to produce you, which was fairly cool of them.  If all of your ancestors were hopelessly rubbish and your nifty existence is a total fluke, you might select a historical figure.  For instance, Benjamin, after Benjamin Franklin: scientist, statesman, sex god.  If you want, look up the name’s meanings in a book of baby names, but historically people have not named their kids the Old English equivalent of “dumbass,” so you’re probably OK.

Once you’ve got some possible names, consider how they will look and sound.  Say them out loud.  Write them down and see if they’d look more natural followed by “… MD, PhD, Esq” or by “… was arrested today following an incident involving a pound of crystal meth and three cans of latex paint.”  I’d steer clear of trendy names; you don’t want all of your name-mates to be 20 years younger than you.  Avoid made-up names, “creative” spellings, or names from outside your culture, unless you are resigned to being mispronounced for your entire life.

On a practical level, it may help to select a name that shares a first initial or first syllable with your given name (presuming that the sound of your given name doesn’t make you froth with wrath).  You stand a better chance of responding when spoken to, and you can get cheques and credit cards under your first initial in order to bridge the awkward gap when you’ve changed your name legally but are still trying to correct, say, the dentist’s office or your student loan holder.

Full disclosure: my own chosen name sort of automatically followed all of these rules.  My given name was a feminised form of my great-grandfather’s name.  A simple suffix-ectomy yielded a simple, durable name that fits me like a good pair of shoes.

Sorry, had to do it this way, ask box didn’t let me put links.

‘sup! Only [pack-and-play dildo] i have found. I guess it’s kinda big but.. I’m keeping it in my pants almost 24/7, and i must say i’m happy with it. http://www.lesloveboat.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=318

Keen!  Thanks to both you and the Anon for suggesting this; it’s the only one I’ve seen that isn’t bright purple, which, IMO, sort of defeats the purpose of a pack’n’play.  I’m going to order this dong right now.

fuckyeahftms:

How the hell do you deal with it?i really cant take it any longer.this is probably tmi but all i use is a pad due to the fact that tampons just confuse me and im disgusted by them even more than pads.i really need help i want it to stop it was stopped while i was on the depo shot but i currently…

1. Go to Planned Parenthood, tell them how broke you are.
2. Get some normal birth control pills either free or at a drastically reduced price.
3. Don’t take the odd-coloured week’s worth: those are inactive place-holders.  
4. No more menstruation!

Obviously, this is not the world’s best solution as it involves taking in more female hormones, but it will at least alleviate the most obvious, aggravating symptom.