A comic for english class, we had to make a one page comic about a queer theme, so I made something about the struggle of getting dressed when you don’t know how you want to be perceived :’) (I wish we could just go outside naked, it would save me a lot of time in the morning)
very proud about the anatomy in this page??? Especially that last panel :)
Tried this again- washing hands, entering, exiting, and using restroom stalls.
I’ve done this experiment prior to Covid-19 and in it I found that it was far more dangerous and confrontational to enter the women’s restroom in gender nonconformity. People hit, shouted, and even had me dragged out. However in a new 2022 study of over 75 binary bathrooms tested (in london area) things were noticeably shifted. I was stopped and confronted about an equal number of times in both restrooms. People in the mens room were more likely to get security involved than before. People in the womens room were more likely to accept that I was allowed to be in there if I explained. But people in the mens room were more likely to demand proof of some kind. Such as an ID or even use of urinals. Overall both were unsafe feeling at times. But to the credit- I felt safer in the womens room than the mens for the majority of the time (and for the first time since doing these experiments). Although in the womens room I have always felt a huge amount of empathy or guilt whenever my natural aesthetic scares someone because I know that fear is rooted in trauma which is valid. But yet- if I have to use the bathroom on my “birth certificate” then this is what a “woman’s room attendee looks like”. Even in a dress I can get reported in the “womens room” often as a product of transphobia when people assume I’m a transwoman. Typically my encounters, even if I’m hit by someone, lead to me holding them in their trauma and telling them it will be ok. That weighs a lot on my conscience sometimes- creating that amount of disturbance and anguish just by existing. We still have a long way to go to create safe places for people just to relieve themselves. But for my safety for now- if I just want to feel the safest and don’t have capacity to educate- I’ll be using the mens room in a collared shirt or jacket. That seems the safest combo.
It is weird hopping back on Tumblr for a minute. It is like seeing an artifact of a me that used to exist. I'm not the same young guy I was 5 years ago. I'm happy now, with love and purpose and stability I never quite thought I'd get back then, especially not this soon in life. It all sneaks up on you. I think all the time I spent working on my mental, physical, and spiritual health is the most important part of that journey to prepare me for it. I'm very happy.
Well, I mean as I write this I have the flu and can't sleep so I'm miserable at the moment, but in general I am happy.
Picture of Ōmori Hikoshichi Encountering a Demon on his Path, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, May 1889, Minneapolis Institute of Art: Japanese and Korean Art
man wearing black and white cap, short blue kimono with white swirling patterns and red garment on top, wading through water; woman wearing white garment with multicolored floral medallions clinging to man’s back; moon in sky at top center
Size: 14 ½ × 9 15/16 in. (36.83 × 25.24 cm) (sheet, Vertical ōban)
Medium: Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper