#anyway love yall queers and cosplayers happy and safe binding to you all

[cryptidfuckery]

If you're a cis cosplayer looking to get a binder, literally the only way you could take away resources from trans people in need is by entering trans-specific giveaways or entering yourself into a community run binder fund/trans resource outreach. Like op said, by buying binder from companies (especially trans/queer run companies), you are supporting the people who both provide and need them.

Binding has changed a lot in the past 10 years. I remember when our only options were underworks, shitty unsafe Amazon finds, and maybe a few self run businesses that were hard to find and even harder to access (cost, time, and still potentially unsafe methods of construction). It's been AMAZING seeing the advances in safe binding technology and construction. It's been AMAZING seeing the knowledge of how to safely bind permeate through the community. But 10 years ago it was a different story.

10 years ago I remember the community circulating any and all possible binding options (safe and unsafe) because that's all we had. Options that weren't made for us, but that we worked with anyway. I remember seeing MANY binder giveaway posts, and the discourse of cis cosplayers entering them. Back then, yes, taking away the supplies from both community outreach and the companies providing them directly impacted the availability of accessing a binder, because there was limited supply for both.

Now? You can find aforable binders that not only are safe, but give you options on styles, lengths, even colors! If you told me 10 years ago that I could actually get a fucking miku binder from a brand name (this is just a funny example i don't know if any binder companies are actually doing this lmao), and on top of that I got to choose the length, binding technology, AND the fabric wasn't awful to wear? That there are binders in every skin color? That now we have binders that aren't sold as medical equipment, or worse, awfully constructed and dangerous? I probably would have cried at the thought that we got this far in such a short time.

If you are not trans but interested in binding for WHATEVER reason, the best thing you can do is fund the people providing this service for trans people and donating to outreach programs that help trans people get the equipment they need.

Safe binding is extremely important, and I am testament to that! When I was a teenager, I stupidly wore my binder (underworks at the time if I remeber correctly) 13 hours straight one day for a cosplay meetup, then again at school the next day. No breaks. I knew better. Because of this, I have recurring back pain on the right side of my spine because of a muscle injury from improper binding. Because of this I'm no longer able to bind for more than a few hours at MOST, and even then that old injury acts up.

And please understand this: I GOT OFF EASY. YOU CAN GET MUCH WORSE INJURIES FROM IMPROPER AND UNSAFE BINDING. But because of my stupid decision over those two days, I can no longer comfortably bind, even with the best binders out there.

Unsafe binding is NEVER worth it. Using unsafe binders is NEVER worth it. Taking a risk with your health and safety is NEVER worth the lasting consequences that can come from it.

In short, if you are not trans but are looking to bind: buy your binders from reputable sources, bind safely, and support the trans community that brought you these amazing products!!

i think the existence of those amazon binders specifically for cosplayers & butches is Bad, actually. they're usually unsafe and low-quality, from literally everything i've heard. if you're a cis woman & a cosplayer and/or butch and you want a binder, just buy from like underworks or spectrum or whatever. it's fine

you're not "taking resources", you're funding and therefore increasing demand for safely-made chest binders + also making it more normal and therefore easier for closeted transmascs to get them. just don't enter those free giveaway things specifically for trans ppl, and it's all good. there's no downsides