all of these people are ridiculously cute
August 31, 2014 9:34 AM Subscribe
There will be a future, I think, where no one cares how you present. I can't wait, even though I'm cis-hetero, because I'd love the freedom to try on a pair of boobs for fun :)
posted by Popular Ethics at 10:21 AM on August 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Popular Ethics at 10:21 AM on August 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
Give yourself permission.
posted by Segundus at 10:29 AM on August 31, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by Segundus at 10:29 AM on August 31, 2014 [8 favorites]
Hurrah!
My profile picture is an accurate example of #whatthisparticulartransladylookslike
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 10:34 AM on August 31, 2014 [5 favorites]
My profile picture is an accurate example of #whatthisparticulartransladylookslike
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 10:34 AM on August 31, 2014 [5 favorites]
Neat post, and awesome user name.
I enjoyed the photos; I'm an occasional reader of parenting/lifestyle blogs where the photos are Photoshopped to the nth degree, and so it's refreshing to see ordinary people with basic (or even poor) photography skills taking selfies in the mirror with their non-fashionable clothes and every-day hair and just looking like your typical friends and neighbors. The trans/butch/bi/bear part is almost an afterthought; here are people just being people, you know?
An aside: I thought bears had to be really hairy & furry? I mean, I'm not going to deny anyone the ability to call themselves whatever the hell they want but as a proud owner of a Robin Williams level 9 pelt on my front, back, and shoulders, I kind of feel like some of these guys need to start taking some Rogaine if they want to measure up. Or am I just being hirsute-ist?
posted by math at 10:39 AM on August 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
I enjoyed the photos; I'm an occasional reader of parenting/lifestyle blogs where the photos are Photoshopped to the nth degree, and so it's refreshing to see ordinary people with basic (or even poor) photography skills taking selfies in the mirror with their non-fashionable clothes and every-day hair and just looking like your typical friends and neighbors. The trans/butch/bi/bear part is almost an afterthought; here are people just being people, you know?
An aside: I thought bears had to be really hairy & furry? I mean, I'm not going to deny anyone the ability to call themselves whatever the hell they want but as a proud owner of a Robin Williams level 9 pelt on my front, back, and shoulders, I kind of feel like some of these guys need to start taking some Rogaine if they want to measure up. Or am I just being hirsute-ist?
posted by math at 10:39 AM on August 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
Thanks for posting this, I completely missed the twitter hashtag love fest. How beautiful.
posted by Annika Cicada at 10:51 AM on August 31, 2014
posted by Annika Cicada at 10:51 AM on August 31, 2014
As a cis-hetero guy, I started to choke up a little when I saw those pictures of huge adorable guys getting married. Humans should love whoever they like, lord knows there isnt enough love and compassion on this planet. I dont know why, but I find the wedding pictures of large bearded gentlemen who love each other very touching.
posted by KeSetAffinityThread at 11:49 AM on August 31, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by KeSetAffinityThread at 11:49 AM on August 31, 2014 [5 favorites]
An aside: I thought bears had to be really hairy & furry? I mean, I'm not going to deny anyone the ability to call themselves whatever the hell they want but as a proud owner of a Robin Williams level 9 pelt on my front, back, and shoulders, I kind of feel like some of these guys need to start taking some Rogaine if they want to measure up. Or am I just being hirsute-ist?
Yeah, I think you're being hirsute-ist. Consider that there might even be overlap between the main subject of the post (trans people) and bears, so some of the bears might have come by their body hair via HRT and not have had quite as long to develop it. Let's avoid identity policing here.
posted by spitefulcrow at 12:00 PM on August 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I think you're being hirsute-ist. Consider that there might even be overlap between the main subject of the post (trans people) and bears, so some of the bears might have come by their body hair via HRT and not have had quite as long to develop it. Let's avoid identity policing here.
posted by spitefulcrow at 12:00 PM on August 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
Spoiler: Not actual animal bears.
posted by Fizz at 12:25 PM on August 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 12:25 PM on August 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
This photo is truly spectacular. I'm in awe.
posted by gingerbeer at 12:34 PM on August 31, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by gingerbeer at 12:34 PM on August 31, 2014 [3 favorites]
It was nice to look at the photos in that article and actually see people who look like me for once. I feel like most media of trans people is either showing old trans ladies who didn't start until their 60s and are dressing like they're teenagers, or teenagers who are figuring out their identity along with how to dress themselves.
Possibly fashion-ist.
Also of course there is a selection bias going on, I mean I am very conflicted about trying to position myself to the media as "a trans cartoonist" versus "a female cartoonist" or "a sf cartoonist". It's not that I'm "stealth" but I also don't shout "HEY I'M TRANS DEAL WITH IT" at the top of my lungs all the time, and I can't be the only one who's just kinda found their comfort zone with regards to gender and gotten on with their lives.
posted by egypturnash at 12:40 PM on August 31, 2014 [2 favorites]
Possibly fashion-ist.
Also of course there is a selection bias going on, I mean I am very conflicted about trying to position myself to the media as "a trans cartoonist" versus "a female cartoonist" or "a sf cartoonist". It's not that I'm "stealth" but I also don't shout "HEY I'M TRANS DEAL WITH IT" at the top of my lungs all the time, and I can't be the only one who's just kinda found their comfort zone with regards to gender and gotten on with their lives.
posted by egypturnash at 12:40 PM on August 31, 2014 [2 favorites]
A little disappointed that there aren't that many men/male-identifying folks under the #whatBiLooksLike tag.
posted by ursus_comiter at 1:38 PM on August 31, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by ursus_comiter at 1:38 PM on August 31, 2014 [2 favorites]
Fizz: "Spoiler: Not actual animal bears."
Excuse me?
posted by Splunge at 1:45 PM on August 31, 2014 [3 favorites]
Excuse me?
posted by Splunge at 1:45 PM on August 31, 2014 [3 favorites]
A little disappointed that there aren't that many men/male-identifying folks under the #whatBiLooksLike tag.
It's not all sunshine and roses for out bi women, but there can be a lot of stigma for out bi men, so I'm not surprised by that discrepancy.
posted by Dip Flash at 2:07 PM on August 31, 2014
It's not all sunshine and roses for out bi women, but there can be a lot of stigma for out bi men, so I'm not surprised by that discrepancy.
posted by Dip Flash at 2:07 PM on August 31, 2014
math: "here are people just being people, you know?"
This.
posted by chavenet at 2:17 PM on August 31, 2014
This.
posted by chavenet at 2:17 PM on August 31, 2014
Oh wow, there's someone I know, under the #WhatTransLooksLike link :). Nice set of links, thanks for posting.
posted by Pink Frost at 2:20 PM on August 31, 2014
posted by Pink Frost at 2:20 PM on August 31, 2014
spitefulcrow: Consider that there might even be overlap between the main subject of the post (trans people) and bears, so some of the bears might have come by their body hair via HRT and not have had quite as long to develop it.
Good point, and I totally missed that on my first view-through of the photos. Thanks for correcting me.
posted by math at 2:23 PM on August 31, 2014 [2 favorites]
Good point, and I totally missed that on my first view-through of the photos. Thanks for correcting me.
posted by math at 2:23 PM on August 31, 2014 [2 favorites]
A colleague and friend of mine is among those pictured as well. I saw this campaign when her photo went up at HuffPost and it's great to see it here now that it's grown even bigger.
posted by Songdog at 3:26 PM on August 31, 2014
posted by Songdog at 3:26 PM on August 31, 2014
egypturnash, your hat in that picture is fricking amazing.
posted by Shouraku at 3:27 PM on August 31, 2014
posted by Shouraku at 3:27 PM on August 31, 2014
Weird, think my initial comment got deleted, though it was just obliquely referring to that I'd [narcissistically] tweeted myself [as a possible bad example] to the #WhatABearLooksLike hashtag. Shoulda linked to be more clear (though even more narcissistic).
I think it's important for trans progress to put everyday images out there to cut back on the othering that happens when we just get limited exposure, filtered through a not-particularly-educated media. I was lucky enough to have a sort of crash course in the trans world when I started my last job, in spending a week training with my predecessor in the job, Baltimore's reigning award-winning drag king, Justin Credible, aka Kris Grey (some NSFW imagery), because he was then sort of a butch dyke with really thought-provoking ideas on gender presentation and identity.
We talked about all sorts of stuff, but what I found particularly interesting was that I, an old gay guy, schooled in all the overthinky academic histrionics of early gay identity through the books I read through in my coming out process, had previously felt very hip to transgender issues, but the reality was that I was just about as disconnected and confused on a lot of those issues as all the people are who think of themselves as gay-friendly, but who can't understand why "sexual preference" is a wrongheaded concept. In the process, I got a real insight on my own biases and little arrogant falsehoods about what it means to be trans, which is the best thing about finding out that you've been wrong—an opportunity to learn.
Followed Kris along the way, via his art projects and social media presence, as he transitioned, and I feel like I've arrived at a state of general non-assholeyness on the subject largely because of that moment of direct connection and personal exposure (so to speak), when I had the opportunity to challenge my long held mistaken understandings through a little head-scratching reflection and occasionally awkward queries (though Kris encourages asking). In the same way that things for us queer folks has been changing increasingly rapidly with visibility, it's a very good thing that we're getting around to the post-TV-talk-show kind of visibility for trans issues and people are just stepping up, looking all cute and genuinely peopley, to say "yeah, here I am."
For all the years of marches and protests and formalized visibility, "here I am" did gay folks a world of good, and I'm encouraged to see it doing the same for the trans folks out there.
A little light goes a long way to burn out hate, fear, and confusion.
posted by sonascope at 3:48 PM on August 31, 2014 [9 favorites]
I think it's important for trans progress to put everyday images out there to cut back on the othering that happens when we just get limited exposure, filtered through a not-particularly-educated media. I was lucky enough to have a sort of crash course in the trans world when I started my last job, in spending a week training with my predecessor in the job, Baltimore's reigning award-winning drag king, Justin Credible, aka Kris Grey (some NSFW imagery), because he was then sort of a butch dyke with really thought-provoking ideas on gender presentation and identity.
We talked about all sorts of stuff, but what I found particularly interesting was that I, an old gay guy, schooled in all the overthinky academic histrionics of early gay identity through the books I read through in my coming out process, had previously felt very hip to transgender issues, but the reality was that I was just about as disconnected and confused on a lot of those issues as all the people are who think of themselves as gay-friendly, but who can't understand why "sexual preference" is a wrongheaded concept. In the process, I got a real insight on my own biases and little arrogant falsehoods about what it means to be trans, which is the best thing about finding out that you've been wrong—an opportunity to learn.
Followed Kris along the way, via his art projects and social media presence, as he transitioned, and I feel like I've arrived at a state of general non-assholeyness on the subject largely because of that moment of direct connection and personal exposure (so to speak), when I had the opportunity to challenge my long held mistaken understandings through a little head-scratching reflection and occasionally awkward queries (though Kris encourages asking). In the same way that things for us queer folks has been changing increasingly rapidly with visibility, it's a very good thing that we're getting around to the post-TV-talk-show kind of visibility for trans issues and people are just stepping up, looking all cute and genuinely peopley, to say "yeah, here I am."
For all the years of marches and protests and formalized visibility, "here I am" did gay folks a world of good, and I'm encouraged to see it doing the same for the trans folks out there.
A little light goes a long way to burn out hate, fear, and confusion.
posted by sonascope at 3:48 PM on August 31, 2014 [9 favorites]
Fizz: "Spoiler: Not actual animal bears."
But can they fight crime in Venice?
posted by dannyboybell at 5:36 PM on August 31, 2014
But can they fight crime in Venice?
posted by dannyboybell at 5:36 PM on August 31, 2014
Thanks for clarifying, sonascope. It had sounded to me like you were saying the people participating in this were just narcissists.
posted by gingerbeer at 6:31 PM on August 31, 2014
posted by gingerbeer at 6:31 PM on August 31, 2014
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posted by batbat at 10:11 AM on August 31, 2014 [5 favorites]