#<- please dont describe all ur trans guys as 'female to male' btw. dont call someone FTM (or MTF!) unless theyve said its ok

[transmasc-wizard]

Shit, I forgot to ask the question.

What are some dos and don’ts of writing transmasc characters?

Hi! This question is definitely less vague than the last one, since "how do i write a bisexual character" is much wider than "specifically, what are the dos and donts of writing transmascs" so that's helpful!

So, usual preface: i am not the spokesperson or ambassador for all transmascs. This is a very general post coming from one transmasc, specifically a nonbinary trans guy, and i 100% endorse and encourage looking at sources that Aren't Me (but stay the fuck away from t/r/u/m/e/d/s).

But, on with it: general dos and donts!

DO: remember "transmasc" and "binary trans guy" are NOT synonymous.

all trans guys are transmasc, but not all transmascs are trans guys. "Transmasc" encompasses any AFAB or AXAB person who's gender is in the general realm of masculine. "demiboy" "genderqueer" "bigender" "trans man" "nonbinary trans man" and "boyflux", for example, are all genders that can qualify as transmasc (though are not inherently transmasc; many can and do include AMAB people). However, "binary trans guy" specifically means someone who was AFAB/AXAB who's gender is 100% male 100% of the time.

There are transmasc lesbians, transmasc people who are both women and men, transmasc binary people, transmasc nonbinary people, transmasc genderfluids, and more.

[afab means "assigned female at birth" btw, and axab means "assigned X at birth". AXAB is for certain intersex people and i am not qualified to delve into it.]

DON'T: portray all transmascs as "uwu cutie soft boys".

putting aside the fact that not all transmascs are boys, this attitude is incredibly infantilizing and uncomfortable. You can certainly have femme transmascs and soft transmascs, but please acknowledge that not all of us are like that. The big push to see transmascs as "soft space beans" or whatever is vile; it pushes us away from masculinity and back into neat feminine boxes. It's only as popular as it is because cis people (especially cis women) are uncomfortable with us being Masculine Manly Guys (or even just androgynous). We are allowed to be masculine, and our masculinity is good and important. Acknowledge this.

DO: show that gender expression =/= identity and every transmasc is different! (this can also go for trans people in general.)

the spectrum of transmasculine gender identities is wide and wonderful. I encourage you to portray this. obviously you can't get all of us in your writing, much less one WIP, but I'd absolutely love for people to show different ways of dress & gender expression for transmascs! The glittery fun way of dress, the boring barbecue camo pants dad, the dramatic emo aesthetic, Just Some Guy... everything. at this point i'm starved for anything. Additionally, transmascs who use pronouns other than or alongside he/him are great, too; as a he/they trans guy, i'd love to see it. (this includes neopronouns btw!) Also, transmascs with a variety of genders and gender types (demiboy, genderqueer, trans guy, etc).

DON'T: try to write about "what it's like to be transmasc" if you aren't.

this goes for literally any marginalization. You can write characters of our identity, and should, but do not write the story of "what it's like to be transmasc". That's not your experience, and you do not know how to do that.

Some general things i'd like to stop seeing:

"this binary trans guy is basically a lesbian" (while there are trans guys who use lesbian/sapphic, that is for personal reasons and most certainly not something a non-trans guy is equipped to write)

Trans people's only orientations being gay or straight??? transgay and transhet rep is important but please acknowledge the rest of us

UNSAFE BINDING. fuck this. you don't have a reason to go out of your way and talk about how the transmasc binds unsafely

"this person uses he/they!" *proceeds to call them by only one of those pronouns for the rest of the entire book*

"this transmasc is masculine and that makes them Worse" stop forever please

some things i'd like to see more of:

transmascs who are marginalized in multiple ways! (disabled transmascs, transmascs of colour, aspec transmascs, ND transmascs, etc)

transmascs who love themselves!! PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU

transmasc narrators! gimme some transmasc MCs

transmasc love interest that aren't treated like a fetish! yeah, i'm aroace, but i still like seeing transmasc LIs in fiction.

T4T (trans-for-trans) couples involving transmascs!! this includes T4T enbies and T4T m/f relationships

transmascs with plotlines that aren't "i hate myself" (connected to point 2)

transmascs with trans friends!

transmascs in fantasy and sci-fi stories!

transmascs who are accepted by their friends and families!

stories with more than one transmasc in them!

~

I hope this was helpful! Once again, I am one transmasc. I suggest looking around at @yourbookcouldbegayer, finding some other transmasc perspectives, and reading books by transmascs! (fiction and not.)

If any other transmascs want to add on, feel free & please do.