Beautiful is such an ugly word.

quee-rrr:

Part Two

The Finished Product:

    The Visible Binder: Violet-Armour Edition, intends to interrogate the notion of ‘passing’ gendered identities. Acts of ‘gender-bending’, ‘gender-crossing’ and drag, as well as expressions of trans identities, are often measured by the subjects ability to successfully ‘pass’ as one gender identity. ‘Passing’ refers to one’s ability to present, and be accepted as, a male or female.
    Binding can be empowering, comforting, sexy, political, necessary, revolutionary, rebellious or exhilarating. However, social pressures to ‘pass’ often result in binder invisibility. The culturally intelligible body, is one that successfully embodies the characteristics of only one of the socially constructed sex/gender categories. Therefore, there are many reasons why one would conceal binding and all of these reasons should be considered valid. For instance, it is not always safe to expose binding due to violence and discrimination. Some individuals do not want to expose their binders because they do not identify with parts of their bodies; in this case binding can be a crucial aid to gender expression. Binding can be used as a tool of resistance against sex/gender categories, however many individuals still feel pressure to conceal binding due to social acceptance and safety.
    Many individuals do not identify within a singular sex/gender identity. Some people sit in-between, or far beyond the categories of male/female, mtf/ftm or trans man/ trans woman. These identities should be considered crucial in the writing and reading of sex/gender discourses. For this reason, I made The Visible Binder; it was designed to be exposed. Combining the binder with fashion trends, generates new meanings about binding. The inspiration for design was derived from punk gear, biker fashions and 80’s glam-rock. These trends represent my own fashion interests and hold potential for interrogating culturally acceptable forms of gendered dress. For instance, punk attire has been attached to non-conformity, which can be understood as acts of resistance against government, dress, gender and social expectations.
    The Visible Binder enables me to achieve the contouring effects of binding without commitment to conform to a singular gender identity. When I am wearing The Visible Binder, I am refusing to hide my differences, my desires, my expressions and my identities. The Visible Binder is my punk-armour, and I wear it to fight the gender police. The Visible Binder is my political weapon, challenging institutional ideologies of personhood in this society. The Visible Binder is my act of resistance, scribbling lines all over those little boxes, marked F and M. My studded, violet-blue, binder is feminine, masculine and everything in-between and outside the lines.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/96135811/the-visible-binder-violet-armour-edition

DO WANT! Which confuses a lot of people. They say “why would a trans woman want to do HRT and grow boobs and then bind them?” ‘cause I’m a gender-fucking-faggot. That’s why.

(via sometimesbrilliant)

05/24/12

robbicide:

WHOA WHOA WHOA THERE. HOLD THE FUCKING PHONE. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?? IS THAT ROB? OUR BRO? IN A FUCKING SKIRT AND BRA AND SHIT? YOU FUCKING BET IT IS.

DOES THIS MEAN YOU SHOULD STOP USING MALE PRONOUNS, BECAUSE I’VE TAKEN PART IN SOMETHING STEREOTYPICALLY FEMALE? FUCK NO! YOU SHOULD RESPECT MY PRONOUN CHOICE NO MATTER HOW I AM PRESENTING MYSELF, UNTIL I SPECIFICALLY ASK YOU TO CHANGE PRONOUNS!

DOES THIS MEAN, BECAUSE I AM (FAAB)ULOUS AND PARTAKING IN STEREOTYPICALLY FEMALE ACTIVITY, THAT I AM FEMALE? DOES IT MEAN I AM REJECTING MY GENDERQUEERITY OR MAKING MY GENDER IDENTITY ILLEGITIMATE? FUCK NO! IT MEANS I WANNA WEAR A FUCKING SKIRT, SON!

DOES THIS MEAN YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO FEEL COMFORTABLE IN A SKIRT BECAUSE CLOTHES ARE GENDERLESS? FUCK NO! IF IT ISN’T FOR YOU, IT ISN’T FOR YOU!

(via genderfork)

05/13/12

fuckyeahqueercuts:

My girlfriend and I (yes I’m MTF)

This is amazing and nothing hurts. </being sentimental>

05/5/12

denaliwinter:

Ohmygod.

Best thing I’ve seen on tumblr all day. <333

ALWAYS REBLOG!

04/4/12

goldperson:

sometimescoherent:

Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction is an anthology that will be released by Lethe Press in May 2012. Here is an io9 article about the anthology. I am super excited about this anthology and what it means for increasing the visibility of gender variant individuals.

First, Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer Erotica showed how queer bodies can be erotic without falling to body-negative and cissexist fetishizing tropes. Now a visible and gender inclusive science fiction anthology is going to be published? Fantastic! Books like these mean so much for getting images and depictions of gender variant folk out there and accessible to many. This is especially important for those who need them the most, gender-variant people.

I find Science Fiction of particular importance to my life. Many trans* people I know grew up in nerdy/sci-fi communities. If I had something like this growing up perhaps I would not have felt as alone and confused. I already used my interest in transhumanism as a proxy for my gender issues. I hated my body and often dreamed of technological solutions to having to deal with my body. However, I did not yet have the gender context (beyond undirected feelings of shame).

Something like this would have probably been very appealing and helpful to me then. In any case, I am getting this as soon as it comes out!

This looks excellent. Brit Mandelo’s also written a series of articles called “Queering SF“ that are really cool too.

Ooooo nice. Just read the article on polyamoury in speculative fiction and particularly liked the focus on YA fiction and discovering the POVs sexuality, something I have not thought about much.

Though while reading The Hunger Games recently I’ll have to admit I wanted to say to Katniss: why do you have to choose? At least this was early on in the series when either relationship may have had a chance of working (I’m on team Katniss, not team Gale or Peeta). Still there were moments where there could have been more of a discussion on loving more than one person. There was some, but I think it could have been flashed out a lot more.

Definitely will have to read through more of Brit Mandelo’s archive. Thanks!

04/1/12

cephalopuddle:

quee-rrr:

Part Two

The Finished Product:

    The Visible Binder: Violet-Armour Edition, intends to interrogate the notion of ‘passing’ gendered identities. Acts of ‘gender-bending’, ‘gender-crossing’ and drag, as well as expressions of trans identities, are often measured by the subjects ability to successfully ‘pass’ as one gender identity. ‘Passing’ refers to one’s ability to present, and be accepted as, a male or female.
    Binding can be empowering, comforting, sexy, political, necessary, revolutionary, rebellious or exhilarating. However, social pressures to ‘pass’ often result in binder invisibility. The culturally intelligible body, is one that successfully embodies the characteristics of only one of the socially constructed sex/gender categories. Therefore, there are many reasons why one would conceal binding and all of these reasons should be considered valid. For instance, it is not always safe to expose binding due to violence and discrimination. Some individuals do not want to expose their binders because they do not identify with parts of their bodies; in this case binding can be a crucial aid to gender expression. Binding can be used as a tool of resistance against sex/gender categories, however many individuals still feel pressure to conceal binding due to social acceptance and safety.
    Many individuals do not identify within a singular sex/gender identity. Some people sit in-between, or far beyond the categories of male/female, mtf/ftm or trans man/ trans woman. These identities should be considered crucial in the writing and reading of sex/gender discourses. For this reason, I made The Visible Binder; it was designed to be exposed. Combining the binder with fashion trends, generates new meanings about binding. The inspiration for design was derived from punk gear, biker fashions and 80’s glam-rock. These trends represent my own fashion interests and hold potential for interrogating culturally acceptable forms of gendered dress. For instance, punk attire has been attached to non-conformity, which can be understood as acts of resistance against government, dress, gender and social expectations.
    The Visible Binder enables me to achieve the contouring effects of binding without commitment to conform to a singular gender identity. When I am wearing The Visible Binder, I am refusing to hide my differences, my desires, my expressions and my identities. The Visible Binder is my punk-armour, and I wear it to fight the gender police. The Visible Binder is my political weapon, challenging institutional ideologies of personhood in this society. The Visible Binder is my act of resistance, scribbling lines all over those little boxes, marked F and M. My studded, violet-blue, binder is feminine, masculine and everything in-between and outside the lines.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/96135811/the-visible-binder-violet-armour-edition

…

…

I love the image of a bound chest and have bound my breasts on occasion since I got them from HRT. Fuck the (gender) police!

04/1/12

Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction is an anthology that will be released by Lethe Press in May 2012. Here is an io9 article about the anthology. I am super excited about this anthology and what it means for increasing the visibility of gender variant individuals.

First, Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer Erotica showed how queer bodies can be erotic without falling to body-negative and cissexist fetishizing tropes. Now a visible and gender inclusive science fiction anthology is going to be published? Fantastic! Books like these mean so much for getting images and depictions of gender variant folk out there and accessible to many. This is especially important for those who need them the most, gender-variant people.

I find Science Fiction of particular importance to my life. Many trans* people I know grew up in nerdy/sci-fi communities. If I had something like this growing up perhaps I would not have felt as alone and confused. I already used my interest in transhumanism as a proxy for my gender issues. I hated my body and often dreamed of technological solutions to having to deal with my body. However, I did not yet have the gender context (beyond undirected feelings of shame).

Something like this would have probably been very appealing and helpful to me then. In any case, I am getting this as soon as it comes out!

04/1/12

tslillykat:

Fuck Yes!

Is it really that hard?

(via trans-terrific)

03/2/12

hopelessly-romantic-cynic:

[Image Description: A white hand holding a baby skunk. Text on the image reads, “NOT RESPECTING SOMEONE’S PGP [preferred gender pronouns]? THAT STINKS!” End description.]

(via trans-terrific)

02/25/12

Fucking Trans Women is a zine project with a simple (yet very important goal): “Talking to other trans women about sex, and writing it all down.”

From the creator:

Trans women are told things about our sexualities all the time, but only rarely are we given the opportunity to say something about our own sex lives. Sex is a very important part of my life, a very important part of all our lives, but so very little writing has been done on the sex lives of trans women that doesn’t write us off in one way or another. I found myself looking for a guide, an instruction manual, anything beyond essays on gender and problems. Fucking Trans Women is that guide.

The zine aspires to be a collaborate effort giving voice to the wide range of trans* women’s sexual experiences. The first issue, #0, is an impressive 80 pages of “how-to guides, sex stories, comics and diagrams, trashy art, and so much more” done in a style drawing from punk and dyke zine aesthetics. The down-loadable version is available here for a measly $5. Great for trans women, partners of trans women, and those curious about fucking trans women.

02/18/12

Genderqueer definition for the anon.

01/30/12

Confession: It has taken me a long time to comfortably identify to myself and others as a trans woman because of a lot of internalized trans-misogyny. I was afraid I would not be taken seriously as a queer trans woman. Some days I don’t think I’m completely over this fear.

01/23/12

I am

The last image I reblogged got me thinking about my own genderqueerness. I tell people I’m genderqueer, but I also tell people I’m trans*. I get people saying I can’t be both or just silently raising an eyebrow. I’m trying to gather my thoughts on what it is “to be” these things and explain what they mean to me and so it’s a bit stream of consciousness.

—

In my gender journey I first identified as genderqueer, but would not say I have moved on or it was a placeholder identity. Bisexual was a placeholder identity. Never really attached and tossed away just as quickly as it was found. But no, genderqueer sticks. It’s an identity for me in some respects, but more than that it is a part of my story.

Genderqueer opened up so much for me. It was a lightbulb, an electric bolt, and also a brick to the face. It hurt for a bit, I struggled with the shock, but it was, in the end, enlightening. Genderqueer allowed me to question so much and come into my trans* identity with much more force and confidence. Though it made it by no means easy or perfect, but it gave me perspective. It shattered the images of what a trans person was and replaced it with a vast blank canvas.

I don’t want it to sound like genderqueer was just a tool or a road I used. It is those things of course. But rather, genderqueer is me. It is my possibility unrestrained.

I’m trans, I’m taking hormones, I often struggle with painful dysphoria, and surgery has crossed my mind on more than one occasion. These things are my truth. Genderqueer is also my truth. And I’ll admit I have had and continue to have my own struggle reconciling these two truths. It’s an ongoing process, much like myself. So often what I desire, from friends, family, partners, and from myself is a source of conflict and anxiety. I hope those around me understand, but I know I’m difficult and unstable. I break down crying with almost no discernible reason to those around me and eat a entire box of cookies. I dig my nails deep into my skin to give myself a proper distraction, a pain that is familiar and nameable. So I distract myself. I struggle with these truths and sometimes they overwhelm me.

All these truths, as awkward as they may be, add up. Though I’m not sure exactly to what. Genderqueer sticks because it gives me comfort in not knowing the answer. Above all it tells me there really is no one answer and that it’s fine. But, I can value the pursuit of that answer all the same. If genderqueer is anything to me, it is a method. It is how I cope.

So I’ll always “be” genderqueer, no matter how I identify or express myself. If I want to use binary pronouns, if I want to “pass,” if I want to have surgery, it does not take away from that journey. I am gender queer. I am gender weird, because gender is weird. It is a route we all wander and it does not matter where we may end up. That is if we ever can end.

01/3/12

hormonaltransrex:

THESE WERE MOSTLY SUBMISSIONS FROM GENDERQUEER FOLLOWERS, PLUS A FEW I’VE HEARD MYSELF USED AGAINST GENDERQUEER PEOPLE.

THE PTEROSAUR WAS SUGGESTED AS IT IS NOT A DINOSAUR BUT OFTEN GETS LABELLED AS ONE, A BIT LIKE HOW GENDERQUEER PEOPLE ARE LABELLED AS THINGS THEY ARE NOT.

THIS IMAGE IS OPEN TO BE DEBATED AND CHANGED IF DISCUSSION WARRANTS IT.

OTHERWISE, HAVE ‘FUN’ GETTING A BINGO!

I’ve gotten almost everyone of these, mostly from my mum, but also elsewhere. Though I am also trans… I get people saying I can’t be both.

This got me started writing but I decided to give my thoughts in a separate post…

(via genderqueer)

01/3/12

Beautiful is such an ugly word.

Confession: It has taken me a long time to comfortably identify to myself and others as a trans woman because of a lot of internalized trans-misogyny. I was afraid I would not be taken seriously as a queer trans woman. Some days I don’t think I’m completely over this fear.

I am

About this fuck over here

Well, just ask already

Submit to me!