#trans theory

[intersexcat-tboy]

Y'all are not ready for the men who wear dresses to express their masculinity, y'all can barely even (if that) handle cultures (particularly BIPOC) not considering long hair on men to be feminine

[our-queer-experience]

While on the topic of book recs, do you have any favs for trans theory or history? I like seeing what other people enjoyed

absolutely!!!

[transmascboytoy]

The autoandrophile and force masc community here on tumblr, while relentlessly filthy, has also been so incredibly affirming.

I know autogynephilia and autoadrophilia have been weaponized against us, but like, I don’t understand why feeling sexy/being sexually aroused by your body is a problem.

For most of my life I tolerated or shunned away from the way I looked. Only liked my body for how it turned other people on, for how it was considered attractive by others, but it never added to my sexual pleasure, and often had to be mentally worked around by framing it through the pleasure others took from me.

Now?

Now I’m very turned on by just existing in my body and it’s incredibly affirming. I saw myself in the mirror getting dressed at my partner’s apartment the other day, and in the mirror I saw a man. The lights were low so you couldn’t even see my scars, just my shape, and it was the greatest combination of joy and disbelief and, yes, lust. Not necessarily lust for my own self, but lust for existing in my body. Lust spurred by being able to show up and interact with people and lovers as the self I was always meant to be.

A lust that is essentially the opposite of the self aversion and self objectification that I thought was so normal for so much of my life.

I understand that queer folks have always been painted as more sexualized and deviant and dirty than straight folks for even something as harmless as a kiss, but I hate the fact that something so incredibly affirming for me and many others is used to further marginalize and medicalize us.

[nonbinarynow]

How the sex binary is inseparable from the gender binary.

[thetransfemininereview]

At long last! Just in time for Spooky Season, I’ve finally gotten my hands on Morbid Obsessions by Alison Rumfitt and Frankie Miren. Shoutout to Jack over at Cipher Press for hooking me up with the review copy!

[vampiremeta]

“Armand Told the Truth”

Queer Transmasculine Erotics of Daniel Molloy and the vampire Armand in AMC’s Interview with the Vampire 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️ 💙💚🤍

“In the vampire genre, where transformation is permanent and bodies become sites of meaning, maybe this theory [that Armand tattooed ‘Armand told the truth’ onto Daniel] didn’t need to be canon to resonate.

It may have echoed a long, intertextual history of vampire erotics and trans readings alike:

The longing not just to touch and be touched, but to mark and be marked, to remember and be remembered, made mutually legible, which may require a remaking of the syntax of the ground of subjectivity.

In a world that erases trans existence, trans desire can be world-building.”

Full essay here: https://medium.com/p/2f189909d9f1

Part 3 of an essay series inspired by Eric Bogosian’s discussion of his evolving process of trans solidarity in an April interview with Nerdist journalist Rotem Rusak.

This essay looks at Armand and Daniel through the lens of queer, transmasculine erotics, a charged dynamic of authorship versus storytelling.

And the transmaculine erotic labor of overcoming erasure by rewriting the real.

Fair warning, this essay is loooooong, but there is a rich academic research archive of transmasculinity and sexuality. And Armand and Daniel’s dynamic evokes trans erotic storyteling so vividly that it seemed important to be thorough.

Thanks for reading!

[intersexcat-tboy]

Unpacking the Ethics of “Tboy Strap”: Challenging the Language of Delegitimization

[PT: Unpacking the Ethics of “Tboy Strap”: Challenging the Language of Delegitimization]

Hearing about trans men or transmascs topping and instantly thinking "strap" perpetuates transphobia and contributes to antitransmasculinity specifically.

While not an exact parallel, defaulting to the assumption that trans men topping involves a “strap” is similar to defaulting to the assumption that trans women's breasts involve breast forms. Both assumptions overlook how these can be achieved through HRT or surgical means, while also distracting from their true (desired, or) transitioned bodies, reinforcing the unnecessary, often dysphoria-inducing misconception that their gender affirming adaptations are not legitimate aspects of themselves.

Many trans people use language intentionally to reduce dysphoria, but being externally subjected to such framing can reinforce the disconnection from their bodies and identities. It's different when someone uses this language to describe themselves personally, as it reflects their individual relationship. Nevertheless, when this language is applied generally to others, we must think critically about the broader concepts it promotes.

Strap-ons are primarily marketed to those without penises and have strong historical ties to the lesbian community. They are not generally called “strap-ons” when used by cis men who don’t have or cannot use their penis for penetration. Instead, they are simply referred to as hollow dildos or recognized as prosthetics—designed to restore or improve functionality of a body part. It serves to replace a valued, personally integral aspect of their body that is necessary for their quality of life, rather than merely an optional add-on.

In some cases, when used alongside an existing penis for double penetration, it would be more aptly called a strap-on. However, this usage typically doesn’t apply to trans men, as they usually don't use their natal penis for penetration alongside; if involved, it is either stimulated, enhanced, or extended, rather than acting as a secondary penis.

Additionally, in certain dynamics (e.g. orgasm denial, men in chastity, or sissification) the term “strap” is often used to emphasize a rejection of the integration with their identity as men, meant to deny them recognition of their “true” manhood by highlighting their perceived failure to embody masculinity by not using what “truly” makes them a man.

Within chastity, sometimes referred to in kink communities as “reverse pegging,” the humiliation often stems from the implication that because the “strap” is superior to his own flesh—more effective, more satisfying, larger, and thus more aligned with what a “real” man should be able to provide—he is being denied recognition of his “true” manhood. His failure to satisfy with his own flesh renders him lesser; his use of an external object for penetration is framed as proof of his shortcomings in masculinity—a mark of failure to measure up to the patriarchal ideal.

The deliberate focus on performance, emasculation, and delegitimization seeks to humiliate and degender the cis man, framing penetration not as a natural extension of his body, but as an artificial external act performed for someone else’s pleasure.

This concept is similar to how some trans women, or others with dysphoria related to having more erectile tissue than desired, refer to theirs as a “built-in strap” to create distance from their anatomy to alleviate dysphoria. While both can be used roughly to mean “this isn't my real penis, so I'm not really a man”, trans women’s use of the term contrasts with these kink dynamics where "strap" is used to question the legitimacy of the man's manhood, disempower or humiliate him. Instead, trans women commonly use it as a coping mechanism for dysphoria management and as a term of endearment, turning it into a source of empowerment rather than an insult.

In certain contexts, the way “strap” is used in reference to transmascs risks reducing their gender expression to a fetishized, sexual, or kink-based act, framing their sexuality as a performance or role-play rather than an authentic and true expression of who they are. This positions it as something /on/ their bodies rather than /part/ of them.

When "tboy" and "strap" are used together in a mocking or belittling manner, it often carries an underlying implication of infantilization. The combination can evoke images that reduce the experience of trans men to something less serious—like that of children playing dress-up with toys.

For transmascs, these framings reduce their penises to costumes that are put on and taken off for sex, rather than as an extension of their body and identity. They either draw on historical and cultural contexts to position trans men as women, or impose kink dynamics, such as humiliation and sissification, onto trans men's bodies, regardless of whether that reflects their experiences or desires. Both are dehumanizing and deny trans men the same recognition and respect afforded to cis men in similar contexts. Either way, the issue lies in how “strap” frames it as a temporary addition for sexual purposes, suggesting that it isn’t an intrinsic part or expression of their body or identity.

When the tools that help trans people live as our true selves are treated as something “on” our bodies or worn to perform, it reinforces the harmful idea that our gender expression is temporary, artificial, or an act.

Through this objectification, it becomes a decorative, extra addition, or accessory, rather than something inherent to themselves or a necessary function for their quality of life.

If this idea persists—the framing of penetration with an extension of oneself, rather than flesh and blood, as a performative or artificial expression of body/sexuality—it suggests that their experiences are somehow invalid or less authentic. This forces them to navigate the harmful narrative that their bodies, sexuality, and experiences are only legitimate or recognized as real if they conform to external standards. From this continuous confrontation with language that invalidates their bodies or sexuality, internalized shame can cultivate and fester.

All of these ultimately diminish their ability to fully express their gender and sexuality in, and on, their own terms.

[the-apparatus]

i just to hear from ur dabi trans allegory please

Okay, I'm going to assume very minimal knowledge of trans theory just so I can give a very thorough explanation. First, I would recommend reading My Words To Victor Frankenstein above the village of Chamounix by Susan Stryker. I don't know if she was the first person to make the comparison between The Creature from Frankenstein and trans bodies, but she definitely does a very good job at explaining it. Key points are essentially that since the trans body is built from medical science, the experience of being trans can be compared to the experience of The Creature. The Creature is shunned from society because its body is a creation of technology, and this isolation and violence against it brings such a rage within them that they enact violence against the initial factor which abandoned it (Victor Frankenstein). Stryker says that living in a trans body (regardless of weather or not they have undergone any modification of their vessel, because the transgendered body is considered monstrous either way) fuels such a raw rage within an individual that can be turned against the oppressive and violent society.

Now how does Dabi come into this (spoilers ahead ig)?

Lets examine his backstory, although I find it less important than just the way his body is presented. In his childhood, he was pushed to fulfill a societal expectation of his body (quirks being a biological phenomenon and the social pressure that came with having a very powerful quirk) and his social upbringing (being the son of the #2 hero). He then becomes fixated on this idea, pushing himself further and further to fulfill this societal expectation on him until it breaks him. His body is destroyed by the very part of him that fueled the pressure: his quirk. His body is stitched back together, creating a miracle of medical technology. Dabi's body is stitched together in the same way The Creature is stitched together, in the same way that the transsexual body is stitched together and manufactured.

Dabi's backstory lends itself to a transfeminine reading of it: the factors of societal pressure to live up to one's father in hero work (masculinity) is one that makes sense within a transfeminine allegory. However, I think Dabi's body itself is what creates the trans allegory. The process of Dabi's body being built out of the burned chunks of his former self is the same as a trans person who builds themself and creates someone who is monstrous, but necessary for survival. Like the trans person, Dabi turns his rage toward the factors that pushed him to the breaking point, he enacts violence against Endeavor and Hero Society, in the same way that a trans person will feel rage towards the way they were raised and against the society that renders their body monstrous. This is why I don't say that Dabi is trans in the way I think Bakuguo is trans -- I think Dabi is an incarnate of the trans experience (or at least a section of it).

[emarrbb26]

A mobile massage therapist, feel free to DM anytime here for a session....... Love you all

Reach me out on zangi:1031674091

Book Now

[wild-aspen]

I reject any dichotomy or terminology that is used to define how trans you are based on what kind of oppression you allegedly do or do not face. I reject any argument that structures transmisogyny as the only "real" transphobia, or as the worst kind of transphobia possible. I reject theory that claims anyone is "exempt" from certain types of transphobia and only the select few are "affected" by it. I reject this, because if you create that dichotomy, it will be used to end arguments by saying "I don't think you're affected by the REAL kind of transphobia - transmisogyny - therefore you're not really trans, and you don't get to have an opinion on trans issues". This is not a theoretical fear - this is an argument being used here and now to silence trans people.

This dichotomy posits femme-presenting amab trans people as the only "real" trans people, and simultaneously the most oppressed trans people, since they are the only ones who can be "affected" by transmisogyny. It both places them on a pedestal as the only trans people with a voice and the only trans people who get to have a say about what is and is not transphobia, and simultaneously plunges them into a valley of oppression and victimhood so deep that no one else can possibly be as oppressed as they are.

This creates a hierarchy of oppression that places all other trans people above transfemmes. It serves to categorize all those people as "not really trans", because they allegedly don't experience transmisogyny. It also by structure claims that the people above transfemmes in this pyramid are capable of oppressing the transfemmes below them, turning fellow trans people into oppressors and enemies. It is inherently oppositional and creates in-groups and enemies. It also erases people who are genderfluid, intersex, nonbinary, multigender, and others who do not fit into the dichotomy of "femme or masc" or "afab or amab" . It forces one to choose which identity you identify "more" with, especially in the case of transfemmes, in order to be able to be considered a "true trans".

Trans people are not arranged in a pyramid with afab transmascs at the top and amab transfemmes at the bottom. That structure just does not exist. We are all equal with one another. We can all be affected by the same kinds of anti-trans oppression. Some of us are targeted by certain kinds of anti-trans oppression more, certainly. But that does not mean others are "exempt" from it. There is also no such thing as "afab privilege" because afab people are not privileged in the first place. There is cis privilege, but that applies equally to afab and amab people.

If transmisogyny is an intersection of transness and misogyny, then trans afab people are inherently affected by it, because they are undeniably affected by misogyny and transphobia and by a unique intersection of those two things. How transmisogyny manifests against transfemmes is certainly different than how it manifests against transmascs, and there are different factors involved, which is why some transmascs have tried to coin a different word to clarify the differences between how transmisogyny affects transfemmes and how it affects transmacs. It is an attempt at clarification, not obfuscation. It is not an attempt at placing transmascs below transfemmes on any kind of hierarchy, because that hierarchy does not exist. The only reason one would believe it is an attempt to say "transfemmes oppress trans men" is if one was already thinking in terms of there being some kind of trans identity hierarchy in the first place.

Transmisogyny is not the "worst" kind of transphobia. No kind of transphobia is worse than any other kind: these labels describe an intersection of identities and how they combine to create unique forms of oppression. Not worse - unique. That's what intersectionality is. It's not complicated math where if you add up enough marginalized identities your opinion can't be questioned and you become the "ultimate victim". You can't win at oppression by being the "most oppressed".

Trans people don't oppress each other on the basis of gender or sex. We simply don't. And we need to stop creating imaginary hierarchies. We need to stop creating imaginary in-groups and enemies. We need solidarity.

[giritina]

A shocking amount of people who claim to hate radfems are in my mentions pushing the idea that transness is purely socially constructed. Like. "Gender is purely a social construct with no innate factors" is literally one of the basics of terf ideology. That's why they say you can't transition genders, because there's no such thing as "feeling like a gender." This debate is a repeat of the debate on innate sexuality that brought us conversion therapy from the right and political lesbianism from the left. As a person who previously fell for the idea of political lesbianism - the idea that sexuality was not innate but a political and moral choice - I can tell you that this idea leads to nothing but self-denial for the sake of group inclusion. It also leads to biphobia and other bigotry on the basis of the person's "choice" to "frame" their identity in the wrong way.

Even if we ignore that connection, the insistence that transness is a purely metaphysical, mysterious force that inhabits the body at random through no particular means is anti-science and anti-intellectual. It encourages the party engaging in systemic analysis of transmisogyny and transphobia to simply shut up because transness is unknowable. They imply there is no point in considering "man", "woman", and "nonbinary" to be categories born from a complex intersection of biology and culture. There's no point having any discussion at all about anything. Everything we perceive is a construct, and a construct can't be analyzed as something that has a comprehensive reality or impact. According to this type of reactionary constructs aren't useful tools to frame human experience, they're just get out of jail free cards for thinking about anything. Like other forms of science denialism, it positions itself as counter cultural while being perfectly in line with the status-quo. The science denialist leftist and the conversion therapist are alligned in their belief that transness can be changed within a person. They simply disagree on what should be done about it.

Your opinion about issues should be impacted by science. Otherwise, you'll be basing your theory on Vibes. Check out The Biological Contributions to Gender Identity and Gender Diversity: Bringing Data to the Table for a systematic review of the subject.

[vampiremeta]

Eric Bogosian’s Trans Solidarity 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️

And what trans theory reveals about Interview with the Vampire’s Daniel Molloy, Armand’s queer-trans erotics, and boomer provocateur masculinity

“We start with some light teasing about the way I take my coffee (two sugar lumps and cream) and what I read as a sincere exchange of pronouns, layered under some snark for good measure. Bogosian immediately says afterward that he’s really ‘a typical boomer,’ but I tell him I don’t think so because even before it was ‘cool’ or people feared cancellation, Bogosian refused to make fun of queer people and other marginalized groups in his work.”

— Rotem Rusak, Nerdist, “An Afternoon with Eric Bogosian,” April 2025

Part 1: Towards an architecture of continuity  Eric Bogosian’s recent Nerdist interview with journalist Rotem Rusak offers a rare instance of explicit trans solidarity from a major public figure.

Especially in light of the current emergency facing trans people in the United States.

This essay looks at Bogosian’s evolving trans allyship and the ways in which his work, most recently his performance as Daniel Molloy in AMC’s Interview with the Vampire, may resonate with trans and queer audiences.

Using trans theory and ethical trans narrative engagement, a growing subfield in communications, we explore potential spaces for growth and possibilities in intergenerational solidarity.

They essay also explores the crucial role of curation as solidarity with continuity, including his wife Jo Bonney’s Trans Scripts, which he discusses in the interview.

Part of an ongoing series on ‘trans resonance’ in Bogosian’s work, this piece examines how solidarity can evolve into sustainable, material architecture that prioritizes care and continuity for trans people.

Full article here: https://medium.com/p/f140a4dba21b

[grrrrrrrbarkbarkbark]

You know if I lived the life I truely want to id never be able to go stealth. Because I want to stay in the communities I grew up in. So I will most likely will never have "cis passing" or "stealth" "privilege".

And I know for a goddamn motherfucking fact I'm not the only trans person who has this problem. So ontop of medical reasons can we stop pretending every tans person will be able to stealth in their life.

[ladyofkythera]

ive been rocking with the platonic concept of a tripartite soul for a while now, admittedly through hermeticism rather than plato himself. but now that ive been looking into the actual platonic concept it's surprising how much it lines up with my ideas

i find that the hermetic spirit, soul, and body and our modern concepts of gender, expression and sex are equivalent, with some nuances in what they mean:

the spirit (ψυχή) is one's true Form (είδος). the adam kasia, one's incarnation in the world of ideas that is perfect unchangeable and eternal. a mercurial drop of divine light that emanates into conscience that emanates into reason that emanates into its own world of ideas. it is our identity, our self, the hand of god with eir potential to create

the soul (πνεύμα) is the impression one leaves in the minds of those that know one. this is where earthly concepts that nonetheless define us reside. our name, our pronouns, our personality, the way we dress. during social transition the soul is what the spirit changes. the sulfur persists even when matter doesn't but only when we're forgotten does the soul truly die

the body (σώμα) is the matter (ὕλη) that holds the light, and the matter that occludes it. this includes the brain, separate from the mind, that hosts a rudimentary consciousness antagonistic to the mind, subservient to the demiurge. the body is the adam pagria, the pillar of salt that keeps us tied to this world, the lowest of the low. through medical transition the spirit carves this pillar into a statue in its own image.

that specific section on the soul is completely homebrewed, it's an idea that popped in my head during philosophy class that i repurposed here.

so imagine my surprise when i find out that the platonic origin of this concept lists a logos that holds reason and seeks to learn (or rather, anamnetize), a thymos that controls spiritedness and is related to the want for recognition, and an eros that pertains to animalistic desire!

better yet, a quote from the article is, "a soul can be declared just only if all three parts agree that the logistikon should rule." and what is transition? the process the self ceases to be ruled and determined by matter so it can be instead ruled and determined by identity.

im never leaving my neoplatonic theory of transness behind because never in my life have i been more right about something than i am now about this

[intersexcat-tboy]

Maybe it's being intersex maybe it's being trans but I think the "force feminize our femboys, real femboys take e" jokes are all absolutely disgusting. I understand it's a joke about trans women eggs but it does not rinse the rancid taste from my mouth.

I was forced against my will to be feminized. I was traumatized, watching each day my body further betray me. Trans femboys exist. There shouldn't be barely ironic jokes about forcing or pressuring people into transitioning. Not in the sense of "one trans person represents all of us to bigots" but in the "we are fucking trans and should understand being against forcing someone into a gender. It's not funny just because you have the power" way

[mayashwood]

A Pervert's Prayer

My sacred mutilation

Is to you an act of war

So what about all the pieces

You cut off before?

I was born from hatred

I was born in flames

I will know no fucking fear

And I am done with shame

I can take your punishment

And match it blow for blow

You can't show me any hell

I don't already know

I don't want your tolerance

I dont want your lies

You belong to yesterday

And you will fucking die

We are from the future

We're remembered there in song

The time to choose has been and gone

And you chose fucking wrong

These Articles of Faith

Which to you are Marks of Sin

Are written in the scars we make

On consecrated skin

Take the flesh back from God

Make yourself anew

You don't owe him anything

You belong to you