#plus i honestly just don’t see as many people headcanon characters as transfem

[silverpen-and-paper]

something i’ve been thinking about for a long time is how characters that are widely headcanoned as transmasc are almost always non-masculine in some way. they’re almost always nerdy, or physically weak, or feminine in style/behavior, or more emotional than men are typically portrayed in media, or all of the above. every time i’ve seen someone say “this character has transmasc vibes” they slot snugly into one or more of those categories.

which, ofc, headcanon whoever you want as trans. the more trans characters the better. but i also think that the general widespread phenomenon of having lots of transmasc characters be the ones “””failing””” masculinity in some way is… not the best?

and like. i get it. i am also that flavor of transmasc, and i like seeing myself reflected in characters, even if they are just headcanons. i know there are a lot of trans folks who see themselves in those characters because they are “””failing””” masculinity in some way. (and, as i’ve indicated by putting “failing” in tons of quotation marks previously, i don’t think having those traits actually makes someone lose masculinity points or something.)

but not every transmasc is like that, and i hardly ever see more traditionally masculine characters headcanoned as trans. it’s gotten to the point where i feel uncomfortable seeing transmasc headcanons with characters who fit the stereotype, and i also fit and love being the stereotype, so i can’t imagine what it’s like for the transmascs who don’t.

i don’t have a particular call-to-action or anything for this post. i can’t and don’t want to order people to stop headcanoning something, that’s not the point. like i said, headcanon whoever you want as trans.

i suppose if i have a takeway, it’s.. think about why [x character] gives you more trans vibes than [y character]. consider expanding beyond the gut-feeling vibes and play with the idea of a different kind of character being trans, one who you absolutely would not have considered before.