#amab trans rep is needed more

[kitom-kortil]

im sorry but i cant be the only one who gets really mad when AMAB enby/trans rep gets turned into afab

[velvetvexations]

It really bothers me how the response to the whole dropout thing is being framed. Let's face it, most people aren't saying 'you're wrong for wanting more transfem rep on dropout' like it's being framed. I agree that it would be good to see more transfems on dropout! That's not the issue with the discourse. My main issues with it are:

-it being framed as TME/TMA, which among other issues, essentially implies that cis men and cis women are adequate representation for transmasc and transneutral people who were afab. Their own gender doesn't need to be represented, anyone who is not 'TMA' counts as representation for 'TMEs'

-it's based on appearance and speculation about the cast members agab. We literally do not know most of these people's agab. You cannot always reliably tell what gender someone was assigned at birth. Not to mention, agab is not the be-all-end-all of what oppression you face and how you'll be perceived. Intersex people exist. You can be afab but then go through a masculinizing puberty. You can be amab and go through a femininizing puberty. Many intersex people are assigned one at birth and then discover that they are intersex later when they don't develop in the way that's expected of someone with their agab.

-Misrepresenting the data. This was entirely unnecessary and makes it hard to take the argument in good faith. If you just counted each cast member once, it would still show that there's less representation for transfems than transmascs, and it would be more accurate. But counting it by appearance, they massively inflated the numbers of 'TMEs' since Ally Beardsley alone shows up hundreds of times. That's not a sensible way to compare the data. They very clearly picked which way to present the data to make it as extreme and attention grabbing as possible, at the cost of accurately representing the data in question. And I believe intentionally representing things in a way that is less accurate just to get people to agree with you is wrong. If you have a good point, you shouldnt have to misrepresent the data to make it. And they DIDNT HAVE TO. There IS less transfem rep. The point could have been made while still being accurate, it just wouldn't have been as attention grabbing and gotten all of those outage reblogs. But if this is really about representation and not getting attention on tumblr, that shouldn't matter, right?

I also just... don't think this is an effective way to to about it? It seems like it's more about finding another way to be praised for complaining about 'TMEs' than it is about actually improving the representation. Like, if you want better representation, why not do something about it other than posting on tumblr? You could write to dropout and let them know how much trans representation means to you and that you'd love to see more transfems on their shows. I suspect a few messages like that would do a lot more good than all of this discourse. Lets be real, when has tumblr discourse EVER brought about real, meaningful change?

We did get someone to stop taking bones from a graveyard once, ten years ago.

Thank you for all of this anon, it's very well said.

[kathjack]

"They should've made an emphasis on Sallie May being trans before" "There should be things that openly indicate she's trans aside from the horns" "The merch shouldn't show her with a bulge if she's trans, logically she should hide it"

My brother in Christ shut the fuck up

Aight, I get where most of you are coming from but let me just say that Sallie May is a big breath of fresh air from a lot of canon trans rep I've been seeing in the internet about big projects such as Helluva Boss, let's go point from point

This contains spoilers from Hell's Belles

Sallie May is a transgender Imp, this is not something that was decided just now for the short as her first appearance in the moon harvest festival already shows her with the thick line horns (Which are exclusively from AMAB (Assigned Male at Birth) Imps

If there's only one point these people made that I agree with is the fact that the horns thing should be something implied in the show, not specifically with the intention of outing a trans character but something simple that could give more context for those who do not check the wikis or the social medias that often

Other than that, I feel like they haven't actually meet a trans person irl because they believe that her being trans should be something that everyone should catch the first time they see her, that someone should inmeditaly point out she's trans, yet, they get upset at the fact that she's proudly showing a bulge on the merchandise They want the show to scream verbally about her being trans but not casually

You have no idea how relieved I felt when, at no point in the episode, her being trans was mentioned or outed, none pointed out her horns or voice and instead the problem was her feeling left out of her sister's life, and, again, not because she's trans and feels like Millie doesn't view her the same or some bullshit, but because Millie doesn't go home as often and felt a bit mad when she had to do her work In fact! Her not getting genitalia reconstructive surgery is also a thing that is cool about her, she got tits but didn't chop off the dick and is not insecure about it, most of times trans people are put between not getting surgery or getting ALL of the surgeries AND being extremely insecure about their genitalia, and yes, there's a lot of trans people that feel that way, but I think that aspect of her is really good representation for those that don't want to get surgery or only want to either reduce or enlarge their chest, not everyone gets dysphoria the same way and this doesn't make her less of a woman for that

Even if it's okay to have characters where one of the main issue of the comes from being trans (I have a few myself), It's also nice to see character that are trans but the main issue with their life comes from something completely different and not related

So for people upset about her passing so well you can't immediately tell she's trans Surprise! That's a lot of us want, that's what a lot trans people irl try, to just be a person of the gender we really are, to be normal and not needing to always out of ourselves, to be treated the same no matter what I make a lot of jokes about my lack of dick and my excess of tits, I only out myself as trans when formally presenting to someone and that is just because I'm not allowed to be trans so I don't pass as a boy at all and need to specify, but me being trans is something that most of my friend only bring into the conversation to make a friendly joke or when I bring it up

Sallie May is not only good representation, is one of the best I've seen in a while in the modern adult media, because she's subtle yet obvious You may not like Viv (Me too girl /non gendered), but I got to give it to her, the lgbt+ representation she does is on point

Anyways now that I tackled down that issue is time to actually talks about this short as a whole see ya

[ironunderstands]

Not a question, just very happy it's not just me loving IP3 (or trans Ratio for that matter). Yap away on both

Ugh I love them both so much

Most of my headcanons are when I find something to be better and/or more interesting than it is in canon, or something that’s a great extension of canon, and that’s exactly what trans Ratio is to me.

It takes his already present insecurities and squares them, as now the doctor has to contend with not just being a SMART enough man, but being a smart enough MAN, and adding that extra layer of misery and complexity is just so delightful.

By taking a character racked by self doubt and adding another layer to it, like Ratio being trans, you complicate his current insecurities and give new perspectives to look at them from.

Like in canon Ratio exercises so much because he wants to be the most perfect, best version of himself and has been doing it since a very young age (middle school).

But then you add him being trans to that, and suddenly he’s not just combating being perceived as not good enough, he’s combating being perceived entirely, attempting to try and get others to view him the way he really is, and attempting to live up to whatever masculine ideal that would push away his dysphoria, something prominent within his life from a young age.

I’ve kinda dived into this within my fics about it, but I like the idea that Ratio keeps this a secret from everyone- and I mean everyone. He already doesn’t live up to his own expectations of himself, so to have the rest of the galaxy find out that he doesn’t live up to their expectations of him either (ie being a cis man I mean you cannot tell me there aren’t like hundreds of people in universe begging for his uh- yeah), it would crush him.

I mean considering how guarded he is already, adding another thing to hide behind that alabaster mask would be fun, even if I think Ratio is likely at least a decade post-op + post-transition, so it’s not like he has to bind or anything, but the threat is still there. Especially considering his well known love of baths- imagine if he avoided the public baths at his home planet (considering how heavily Greek/Roman inspired Ratio is), and how that might affected him growing up, or just the tendency of shirtlessness in general.

There’s just a lot of possibilities and intricacies to it that makes me really like this particular headcanon, and it will always be canon in my heart haha. I have some more silly things behind it, like me wanting to give Aventio and Ratiopaz biological kids because it would be cute, or just the inherent joy of the big buff guy actually being the trans one rather than who you would expect it to be/who it’s stereotypically made as- Aventurine, as I like when characters have traits you don’t expect them to possess.

I also tend to dislike Aventurine being made ftm because he’s implied to be an SA survivor and rep for amab victims is already kinda abysmal so I don’t like taking it away, also I just think it’s boring tbh, at least for me it just doesn’t interest me.

Trans Topaz is a whole other discussion, personally I think she’s mtnb, and more femme presenting (I’d make her use she/they in my fics it’s just pronoun swapping when writing polyamory is miserable and anybody who’s ever written it can attest to that 😭, it’s there in spirit I promise!)

I honestly don’t have deep reasons behind this one, it’s just pure vibes. Someone was like, “Topaz gives nonbinary” once on here and I’m like yeah, yeah she does 😭. She reminds me of Childe a lot and I also view him as nonbinary so she’s kinda in a similar boat.

I think she’s very motherly but like in the way Mother Nature is if that makes sense? Mother is mothering but she’s also a creature tm* and certified tax collecting humanity loving entity. Also I have a close friend who’s a trans woman and Topaz reminds me of her so like, bam ur trans now lol (hi Alice if ur seeing this).

As for Aventiopaz, I fear I’d need a whole other post dedicated to why I like them. You guys know why I like Aventio, Avenpaz also require a whole other yap session, and Ratiopaz is the best rarepair ever fight me. Generally I like it because it’s really sweet, the dynamic is hilarious, they are the power trio of all time, they have great gameplay synergy, and their designs complement each other a lot- being primary colors and all.

I also enjoy their individual unique relationships to the IPC and how that might affect their interactions with one another, both in canon and in my brain. Moreover the trio of coworkers who are well known around the office for a) getting the job done and b) being absolutely obnoxious around one another (in a good way) is incredibly fun and I enjoy the idea of all the shenanigans they would get up to.

Perhaps my next Aventiopaz fic would be them going on a mission together or something, as I definitely want to write another one, and also update my slideshow of the parents au, I’ve just been so busy and a bit unmotivated 😭 so hopefully I can get to that soon

[punkeropercyjackson]

I'm so fr,people need to stop downplaying how much Percy Jackson respects women because it lowers the bar so low it's in Tartarus.Percy dosen't 'not understand women' despite what he claims,actions speak louder than words and thoughts and Percy did more to show he values women and considers them people more than any other male character in the entire franchise combined and it ain't due to pagetime.It's effort,time and WORK he puts into his relathionships with girls,romantic and platonic,out of simply thinking they deserve it and tons of other good things and the positive views he has on widely different kinds of women is what makes him an example for young boys reading the series to follow,not being goofy and 'nonthreatning'

He is in fact viewed as very threating in-universe!!He literally gets profield in the mortal world and he's mean as hell thanks to trauma forcing him to toughen up!That dosen't erase his love and respect of women and it dosen't mean he's 'positively masculine' either and equating identifying as male while being a good person despite not presenting masculinely is sexist as hell!!!!!!!!Percy is actually straight up super feminine if you ask me as a hyperfeminine black tmasc and i've headcanoned him as transfem since i was TLT age!Let amab femmes get rep without turning it into a sex thing for the tme gaze or twisting it into objective masculinity!And also stop teaching starting out tboys that they should say weird shit about boyhood/manhood and girlhood/womanhood to prove they're men rather than to be cool with everybody's genders,presentations and both in any flavor and that it isn't required they put down other trans people to get gender validation for themselves!It's not tboy swag,it's Miss Ogyny!!It's also not punk but Percy is canonically for prev reasons and many more!

[murderenjoyer]

On the topic of Astarion's orientation:

I joined a certain Discord server that is dedicated to an Astarion ship I enjoy. I was chatting with people getting my feet wet getting comfy in the server.

Then I mentioned that I appreciate that all the bg3 characters can be considered "playersexual" because they're all written to be some flavor of bi. I expressed that I like this fairly recent shift in romancable npc writing in the gaming industry, moving away from gender-locking specific romances. I said I like the attention and care put into player agency and enjoyment.

If everyone is bi, if everyone is playersexual, you never need to deal with the frustration of being locked out of a romance with a character you like because you didn't know they were exclusively monosexual and you chose the wrong gender for your character. It makes it so if you only like playing girls, you don't have to suck it up and play as a boy to romance someone. It makes it so you don't need to realize "ah fuck they're straight" 8 hours into your run where you happened to make your character their same gender and either just give up on your intended romance or start a whole new save.

And this person I was talking to was like, "idk I don't like that because it feels like fake representation. And I see Astarion as gay, seeing screenshots of him with peoples female Tavs makes me really uncomfortable. Him having so many female fans at all makes me really uncomfortable. They're fetishizing a gay man and trying to turn him straight."

I tactfully shifted the topic because I didn't wanna get into the diskhorse in a brand new server and get a reputation as a shit-stirrer but like. It really rubbed me the wrong way.

Having characters be bi is "fake rep?" Fake for who? It's very real rep for bi people.

Seeing a canon bi man romancing men is fine but women is uncomfortable? It squicks you out? A bi man's sexual orientation is palatable if he's "queer enough" by only dating same gender but him dating other genders shivers your timbers? Is that not just "bi people in het pairs are just straight?" If we're dating het we're just straight, if we're dating gay then it's acceptably queer?

Women being sexually attracted to and pursuing a man who is canonically open to relationships with women is fetishizing? Why? Because he's flamboyant and pretty? Because he activates your gaydar? And we're trying to turn him straight? We're not turning anything he's already attracted to women. We're not breaking his character to force a romance. We're not straight-washing him so we can ride.

If you personally only enjoy Astarion in yaoi situations more power to you. If I'm not the one plundering his vampire bussy, I'm not particularly interested in seeing him bang a woman either. Sometimes I'll play a male or masc-leaning nonbinary or amab trans Tav just because I wanna stick my pp in all four of his holes. I just enjoy m/m more than het erotica typically. That's fine, that's valid.

But it doesn't freak me out. It doesn't make me uncomfortable. I'm not grossed out by it. And that's the difference.

One is a shipping gender/genital configuration preference. Everyone has those. The other though, it's plain biphobia. It's misogyny too for that matter.

[seantaeanewgenie]

Rottytops Transgender Theory

I need some help from the transgender community! I want to go back with my Shantae fanfic and make a character transgender. The character in question is the zombie Rottytops.

I've been seeing some trans headcanons for another Shantae character lately, Bolo. It made me think about trans rep in the Shantae games (it's 0 in canon, btw). If there was any character I could picture being trans, it would be Rotty. I had always gotten a sort of queer vibe from Rotty with how she acts around Shantae. Their interactions always felt like Rotty was trying to flirt with Shantae.

One thing in the canon of the games is that Rotty sometimes loses body parts, such as her legs, and has to replace them. She can detach her limbs and sometimes even use them as weapons. If makes me wonder, how much of her body is still her own from before she died? Is it all female, or is some of it male as well? Like, I don't think Rotty is meant to be trans in canon. We've seen her human form, it's basically a schoolgirl version of her zombie design.

My idea was that Rotty as a human was AMAB, and wanted to medically transition, but never really got the chance to before she died. As a zombie, she can exchange body parts with other zombies and she could craft the body that suits her gender identity.

Currently, in my fanfic, Rotty is at odds with her new life as a zombie. She cannot remember almost anything about her old life, and she suffers from short term memory loss, forgetting things almost immediately as she's been told them. Part of her wants to become human again, as the combined magic of the characters Vera and Shantae could theoretically return her to human. The thing is, what would happen to her body when she turns back? Would her zombie body revert back to how it was before she died? Or it would be a combination of the parts she's collected over time? If she became human again, she wouldn't magically stop being trans. She'd still have gender dysphoria, but at the same time, she'd no longer have her memory loss problems.

I'm bi myself, but I admit I know very little about gender dysphoria, so I'd like to ask those in the trans community to lend me a hand and educate me on the topic. I'd like to craft a story around this character being trans, but I don't want to give off any unfortunate implications about being trans.

If anybody has Discord, I'm more active there, but I'll still take the help anywhere. I'm not the most knowledgeable on how Tumblr works, so I'm more comfortable with Discord.

Discord: seantae2425

Edit: It's now kinda fitting that I imagined Rotty's voice being Brittany Lauda doing their Foo Fighters voice from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

[teatitty]

Gerlion t4t

They're so T4T like I said it before but Geralt is trans NB [he's AMAB and very masc because we need more of that rep] he just has too much going on to think about that at all and also this is fantasy 1200's they don't have the same terminology and pronouns we do so the best he can say is "I mean I'm not a guy but not not a guy either" and Dandelion is intersex transmasc with the most complex relationship surrounding his gender presentation and sexuality ever known

Eskel and Vesemir are both trans male the witcher experiments doubled as like free hormones and gender surgery for them they were winning the most. Eskel doesn't mind wearing dresses but Vesemir will behead you if you so much as suggest he do the same. Lambert is just a dude. He'll crossdress if he's drunk or if Eskel asks him to [gotta support his brother!] but outside of that? Never lmao he's the tough guy ignore how he gets teary eyed if a child hugs him that's UNRELATED shut UP Aiden don't you dare say a word

[npdbrother]

YEAH ! ! she understabds wanting to write what ywou know and writing particular characters buuut . . . in a lot of the fics regarding transness mizu is regarded as a resource instead of . a person . just somenyan who tells the mc what transness is which is . . . strange ngl . ( she is a little bit guilty of this but , , it was a gender discovery oneshot not an entire fic based around trans struggles give her a break ) . . . transf.uyu is an interesting lense to look through esp bc m.izu is canonically supported by her family so unsupportive family is interesting to explore but also . . . dont push them away for the sake of exploring it yk

EXACTLY !! bweh , , he enjoys transf.uyu because taking Mi.zu , someone who figured themself out decently young , and is pretty far along in their transition from what we are shown , and is accepted by family , but is unsure of their friends stance on things ,, and contrasting that against maf.uyu , who he sees as figuring it out later on in life ( i . e , 3rd yr highschool or later ) , and would absolutely not have a supportive family, but unlike Mi.zu who is unsure of if her friends will accept them ,, Ma.fu would have a lot more of safety in knowing their friends would accept them ? ( if mi.zu's secret is revealed , which in his opinion would be a catalyst in ma.fu figuring their gender out )

But he agrees , using mi.zu as just- an info dump to others is . . . not good rep , and the fandom needs to find more creative ways of sharing that info TvT .

Also sexualizing the fact mi.zu is amab . . . that's just . he doesn't feel right when people use mi.zu's trans-ness in that way . . .

[dragonsatmidnight]

So random thing that has been bothering me.

I found this series, amazing series, love it. Compelling, well written, stunning, amazing. Basically, Tales of the Arabian Nights setting, with a trans young woman as a main character. I don’t want to spoil the plot, if you want to know more of the plot, read Stealing Thunder by Alina Boyden.

There’s a straight up hijra (south Asian community term for trans woman) dynasty. No trans men. No trans masc people. No one nonbinary. But lots of trans women. And that’s fine, I want trans women to have rep. It's just that most of the books I’ve read with trans masculine characters are about teenage trans angst, and I lived through that, I don’t need to read about it.

Not entirely the point. I tried to use duckduckgo to find my way around the internet to find a trans masc equivalent for hijra. There isn’t one. Okay, let me try other cultural identities. There are a lot of cultures who have words for AMAB trans people, but nothing for trans masc people.

The closest I found, which was admittedly a really cool history fact, was Inanna. She was the most venerated Babylonian goddess, with the ability to change people’s gender. Her entire clergy was nonbinary folks, and people who presented as neither male nor female. Her temples are some of the earliest examples we have of cuneiform, or written language. Goes back to about 4000 BCE. Trans people have literally always been here. 

But trans men don’t often have words. After thoroughly digging into transgender people in ancient history, I can tell you about hijras in India, kathoeys in Thailand, khanith in Arabia, nádleehi of the Navajo tribe, lhamana of the Zuni tribe, and galli priestesses in Rome, Greece, and Phrygia. All of these groups of people are immediately mentioned on the transgender history wikipedia page, where as trans masculine folks have “been referenced,” in texts.

After more digging, I can tell you that an island that is part of Indonesia, Sulawesi, has five different gender identities, including calalai, which is a term for a trans masculine person.

To be very, very clear on where I’m coming from. I’m glad trans women have words. I’m glad they have communities, and histories, and places they belong. I’m super glad this book exists, and I want to give Stealing Thunder to every single teenage trans girl I can find. Phenomenal book, phenomenal story, and a very rich cultural history. Those are all wonderful things.

My only point in comparing all of these experiences to trans men is because trans masculine history exists. We can find references for it, follow trails of bread crumbs, and sort out the “woman who dressed as a man to get ahead” and “AFAB person who dressed as a man because that’s their identity.” But I want words. I want to go back in time and figure out what words people used to identify, what words people used to find themselves.

And more than that, I’m tired of being a foot note. I’m tired of being “ah yes, you exist sometimes too!” I’m tired of feeling pushed out of my own community. I’m tired of finding these cool, amazing, wonderful books I love to reread and not seeing myself in them. Transgender men have existed throughout time. We’ve contributed to the community, been activists and caretakers and people who stood guard and advocated for safety. We’ve donated to ground breaking research, showed up to protests during the AIDS epidemic, thrown bricks at cops during Stonewall, and have otherwise contributed to and supported queer rights.

If you’re not seeing trans masculine voices, if you don’t see us in the community showing up and helping out, well. Either you’re not looking hard enough, or you’re erasing our contributions.

I refuse to continue to feel shame about the trans masculine people who predated me. I’m done believing the incomplete history I was told, that my people went full stealth, abandoned their community, and acted solely for their own self preservation. I show up when it matters. I know so many trans masculine people who show up when it matters, often thanklessly, often while being silenced on the oppression that they face in their day to day lives.

It is hard, and lonely, and I am feeling the centuries, and millennia, of gaps in my history and existence. I am tired of being erased. If you want to heal masculinity, start with the people who love it despite being punished for expressing it. Listen to trans masculine voices, and include us in the narrative of progress.

a lot y’all think it’s Peak Ally to be like “i treat trans men the same way i treat cis men uwu” but that isn’t helpful when u treat cis men like garbage bc u believe all men are biologically evil and don’t deserve basic human decency bc then guess what happens. u treat trans men like we’re evil and don’t deserve basic human decency. which, considering there’s currently a genocide being carried out against trans people (including trans men, bc ik some of y’all need to be reminded of that) in at least one country, maybe that’s like. not great!

[izzyspussy]

hey there it's ya boy the jizzy anon back again bc I've only just realised you replied to my ask I'm so dumb 😭 you've probably forgotten what you wrote sorry but uhhhhh this is my reply anyway lmao u don't have to reply to this obvs 😅

1) thank u it's an honour 🥰

2) ooooo I like it. I feel like Fang and Ivan should also be like yeah that's just Normal Izzy Behaviour so everyone just kinda gets on with things (I feel like we deserve to see Izzy in a dress thoooooo)

3) mmmmm it's so good, I'm afab genderqueer and I have so much goddam respect for amab genderqueers

4) honestly your blog has changed my opinion of Jack so much, I'm now fully on board with the mean, horny and undernegotiatedly kinky Jack shipping train it's my new favourite thing. when I had the feminisation thought I felt literally so galaxy brain because OF COURSE Jack would be Like That................... and yes he totally would start feminising Izzy outside of sex like he's poking at a bruise. To see Izzy's reaction (and potentially the rest of the crew's reaction and the crew's reaction to Izzy's reaction and so on etc etc etc.) "hehe another toy for me to play with" is exactly right ily I love Jack being a joyfully manipulative lil bitch because that's exactly what we see of him in S1!!! He knows exactly what to say to get under Stede's skin and sway Blackbeard and the rest of the crew and he just has so much fun with it!! I feel like Jack fucking with Izzy (in every sense) would just be a match made in heaven with both of them getting off on the other being mean (Jack gives massive switch energy but in a way that he's always ultimately in control if that makes sense? because he has zero shame about it so even when it's him getting off on Izzy being mean to him, Izzy still comes out looking/feeling weaker)

5) I HAVE and I LOVE IT. Jim Izzy solidarity is just. Everything. I am Craving Jim Izzy scenes in S2. especially because Vico deserves it.

Okay and now I've started thinking about trans dude Calico Jack and I can't stop. Basically I just want more diverse trans man rep AND THAT MEANS WE NEED MORE GROSS TRANS GUYS. I'm so sick of a) people thinking trans guys are innocent soft boys and b) people saying trans women fetishise women's bodies, so I think Jack should be just so much the opposite, a dickhead trans dude fetishising women's bodies???? no idea if this makes any sort of sense I'm writing this while like........ super high 😭

Okay, I do like vaguely remember what this is in response to, but only vaguely. I have no idea why I kept it in the inbox for so long though alskfks. Anyway, jizzy anon I hope you're still here and please feel free to send any other horny and/or trans jizzy thoughts you may have. And everyone else, uh, here's this. You're welcome.

[velvetvexations]

That sounds a lot like my interpretation of Boys Will Be Bugs~!

I bent over backwards and crafted an elaborate theory as to why Eminem's Abracadabra isn't too terribly transphobic, I can't judge anyone for making excuses for the media that's important to them.

I don't think characters just being heroic and sympathetic necessarily covers getting something like this badly wrong, but a lot of other Velveteers also chimed in, including this anon:

(Just realized this is pretty silly, feel free to ignore me/not answer this, I just saw One Piece mentioned and the hyperfixation jumped out.) But just to go to bat for One Piece a smidge as someone who is trans and read all of it, while yeah Okama(Queen Ivan) leaned very transmisognistc(which was made worse in the anime for some reason??) the intention for him, his subjects, and the other gender fluid character, Bon Clay, was meant to be good. It fell HELLA short, but there was an attempt at least. However!! I did want to add, the comic has been going on for a long time, and by one of the more recent arcs with two new, very clearly openly trans characters, things are MUCH better! The transfem one, Kiku, says outright when asked that she's a woman at heart which is accepted by everyone, and her story was really sweet and made me tear up(her anger is never treated as predatory or masculine, she's allowed to just be a woman who is also a samurai), and the other transmasc one, Yamato, is referred to as a boy by everyone despite him not changing his presentation at all, which is pretty rad imo given how hostile people can be to transmasc people with breasts, and both characters are allowed to bathe in the baths that match their genders at the end of the arc. They were still a little messy in the "yeah this wasn't written by a trans person" way, and certain misogynistic/transphobic parts of of the fandom on reddit get a little weird about Yamato, but I didn't see anything glaringly wrong with the way either of them was written like with Okama or Bon Clay. The vibe I got from the comic was that early on Oda meant well and included some characters who were intended to be positive rep but were messy and fell very short, but as time passed he figured it out and the more recent ones are genuinely phenomenal rep. Ofc that doesn't mean you need to read/watch OP(especially since again the transmisogny is worse in the anime?? still don't understand what happened there but Oda had no control over it) like god I would never tell anyone to do that lol, but I did want to just chime in and offer a perspective from someone who read it and felt like the more recent rep was really good and worth mentioning. Oda has his issues for sure, and has a lot to make up for, but based on what I've read he IS making up for it.

And, honestly, that makes me really happy! Oda always seemed like a cool guy and it's great to know he is in fact a real cool guy. According to @changelingfangs in the replies, he's friends with people in the subculture he based a lot of those characters on.

They're now just openly accusing me of not being a trans woman because trans women don't identify as AMAB and I'm apparently hostile to every trans woman that talks about transmisogyny.

...no?

It's a good theory and I think that plays a part in it for sure, but I think mostly it's just thinking it's the worse thing because it's their group's oppression. It again kinna goes back to that Lennon/Ono song with the n-word in the title, that's just how radical feminism works, trans/misogyny is the only thing that really matters.

Still, interesting thread to have spotted here and I think it's in that soup somewhere.

imagine thinking using a meme format is asserting a cultural claim to it

like seriously, has any Black person ever said that there was something wrong with "deracializing" either or even both characters in the Dis _ Look So Mad meme by substituting them with white characters?

[eurydice-khthonios]

asra: has a traditionally feminine name asra: wears feminine clothing (see masquerade) non-binary: does not mean a blend of feminine and masculine but rather that it exists outside the binary, this could mean that a non-binary individual leans heavily feminine, masculine, or neither and presents as a blend, as heavily feminine/masculine, or changes it up depending on how theyre relating to their gender on a particular day

people: asra is bad nb representation because he does not present feminine enough in this essay i will-

[velvetvexations]

Hey, I'm a trans woman, and your tags say that transfem additions to your post matters and you should listen to trans women, so I want to kindly offer my perspective.

think tme people need to examine how some of us only seem to hc men as transfem.

I don't really get why this is being framed as a problem or what the issue is meant to be here.

only men who you can hyperfocus on being a selfhating egg

I'm also really confused by this. Are they self-hating just because they're eggs who haven't transitioned in canon yet, or do you mean there's like, a trend with transfem headcanons focusing on angst?

but other than that; trans women disappear.

Canon female characters are not transfem rep either though, they're just cis women one can write fanfiction about being transfem. Also, it's not on fans to fix a gender ratio with headcanons anyway, that's not their responsibility.

if pressured, then the transfem hc will be found in a fandom (with great hmming and hawing from tme people)

Extremely weird to pressure people to have headcanons they're not inclined to come up with on their own.

the big muscular woman who is constantly made fun of for being too loud or the quiet stuttering type

This is fair! If people are picking really stereotypical traits for all their transfem headcanons, that's an issue. On one hand, I think things like clockability are not an inherently bad reason for a headcanon, but one probably should not over-rely on that because then it does just become reinforcing stereotypes when plenty of trans women do actually pass really well. So I have no problem with this point with the small note that it's okay if it's not literally all your transfem headcanons.

who gets 400 "not a girl just a [transmisogynistic trope]" threads and discussions a day.

I think you're coming from a well-meaning place, but it's actively racist to act like otokonoko are just an inferior substitute for trans women, and generally queerphobic to do the same to any other category of feminine presenting AMAB people.

If that isn't what this is about, I'd welcome clarification, and I apologize for misunderstanding.

a widely held transfem headcanon appears in fandom, and give it a week before there are people strongly and loudly saying "well, i actually see them as transmasc so i dont see how u could see them like that at all :/", fighting tooth and nail that any time you see a girl, it could never be true and is bad media analysis.

I haven't seen this but I'm not doubting it happens. I have definitely seen it get thrown at transmasc headcanons constantly, though, and usually with a lot of venom. We all really need to be more empathetic to each other and remember we're capable of being awful to each other if we don't watch ourselves.

transmisogynistic jokes and tropes and media are supported because they are euphoric to some tma people. because laughing at the man in a dress taught them they could be a man in a dress and be fine, so why would it mean anything else? not all trans media needs to be so sanitized, you clearly just dont get it

There's really no reason why this wouldn't be the case for transfems. Because, like, frankly, it is? "Transmisogynistic caricatures" are a real hot button issue right now but before the last couple of months I've never seen transfems express anything but unambiguous praise and adoration for Rocky Horror, whose depiction of a "transfem" is a vague amalgamation of underground 70s queer people written by someone who, while yes, transmisogynistic himself for his later expressed beliefs that harms the community, is nonetheless still a transfem himself who wrote a character that reflected him, his experiences, and the other feminine-presenting AMAB people around him.

i think tme people need to examine how some of us only seem to hc men as transfem. no girl character is transfem, only men who you can hyperfocus on being a selfhating egg. how its used as an excuse to escape the misogyny in fandom discussions (i.e. "ik the show has all men but [] is a girl to me so"). but other than that; trans women disappear. if pressured, then the transfem hc will be found in a fandom (with great hmming and hawing from tme people) ; the big muscular woman who is constantly made fun of for being too loud, or the quiet stuttering type who gets 400 "not a girl just a [transmisogynistic trope]" threads and discussions a day.

a widely held transfem headcanon appears in fandom, and give it a week before there are people strongly and loudly saying "well, i actually see them as transmasc so i dont see how u could see them like that at all :/", fighting tooth and nail that any time you see a girl, it could never be true and is bad media analysis.

transmisogynistic jokes and tropes and media are supported because they are euphoric to some tma people. because laughing at the man in a dress taught them they could be a man in a dress and be fine, so why would it mean anything else? not all trans media needs to be so sanitized, you clearly just dont get it

[intersexuai]

Hey I'm not dismissing that intersex fetishization is a very real phenomena (one I've experienced myself) but I wanted to say that maybe the part about specifically the queer fantasy scene and the body-types that are common in erotic within should be rewritten?

The way it currently is, it sounds like (not is, if it's a wording or tone issue I apologize) the post lacks the understanding that those two representations (tm w/ flat chests and dyadic "AFAB" genetalia, tw w/ non-flat chests and dyadic "AMAB" genetalia) are common in that scene because there are either the end transitional goal for many (including but not limited too those that don't want or can never afford bottom surgery) or simply the body the author(s) and many other trans people have that they wish to reclaim the positive sexuality of

e.g. tm bottoming while going "I am still a man and I can still desire/have a flat chest" which is a direct contrast to the narrative of "transmasc AFABs who enjoy penetration are really just girls" or tw topping while going "I am still a woman and I can still enjoy doing this" in direct contrast to the narrative of "transfem AMABS who enjoy penetrating are just creepy sex prevent men in disguise". Also the overall Trans Reclamation that is "going on HRT/getting surgery doesn't change the fact that my trans body can be loved and touched intimately" which is a real fear!

I think that if there has to be focus on trans people in erotic perpetuating intersexism it needs to be clearly and squarely on the trans people who uphold the hentai "born like this" fetish art as ""trans representation"" because that's a really massive issue I keep running into w/ dyadic trans people (I think you could get an entire book of screenshot of "futanari is rep" dyadic trans hot takes). Or honestly veering away from media, on the dyadic trans people who desire to "transition to intersex", because that's who's personally fetishized my body the most.

(I know I wrote you a book but I have NCAH and I've been in online trans circles for a long time so I'm passionate about it, I hope this ask finds you well!)

Thank you so much for this, I agree I could've worded it better. I think you said this perfectly so I'm not going to really add on.

I'll work on rewriting the post to focus more around that.

[what-even-is-thiss]

In the mainstream Trans women are invisible and trans men are more invisible than that and afab enbies are even more invisible than that and amab enbies are even more even more invisible than that and intersex trans people are even more even more even more invisible than that.

And add economic class and race and disability and weight and sexual orientation and lack of conventional attractiveness and any other number of disadvantages into any of this and it multiplies the invisibility even further. People just straight-up ignore us even after we come out to them multiple times.

There are basically two recognized trans people in the mainstream. I’m talking about mainstream, mainstream. Like People Magazine mainstream. Like everyone’s grandma knows about them mainstream. Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox. Both trans women who are conventionally feminine. Both of them subject to a lot of transphobia. And I don’t like Caitlyn Jenner.

You talk about transmasc representation and people are like “Well here’s a medical drama you didn’t watch!” “Here’s a movie where a trans man was played by a cis woman!”

No! Stealth trans women only started holding public offices in the 90s and early 00s. The first white trans man voted into office was only instated in 2016 and the first trans man of color to hold public office only in 2017. This is all incredibly recent.

And with non binary celebrities? Who outside of trans people and the woke side of the internet is gendering them correctly? After Johnathan Van Ness came out as non binary mainstream media outlets still called him a man!

Also, name one intersex trans person by name. Just one. One.

Unless you are one or are best friends with one you probably couldn’t. I couldn’t. I’m doing just as bad in that regard.

Anyways I’m tired of having to actively search for trans rep. Somebody get a trans man on the New York Times Bestseller List already. Make a trans actor a main character on an ABC Family show. Make somebody famous after they come out. Jeez. Somebody should make a Harvard law school scholarship specifically for trans women because we need one in congress asap.