CW: poverty, suicide, rape, murder, transphobia, dysphoria, self-harm, mental illness, abuse
As I've mentioned many times before, I'm looking into getting a chest binder. Given that I'm currently short on funds (but my prospects on a tutoring job look pretty good, so there's that at least), this isn't easy. If chest binders were sold cheaply and in regular stores - and there's no reason they shouldn't be - it wouldn't be a problem, and a lot of people would be saved a lot of dysphoria.
Given the shockingly high rates of health care discrimination, poverty, job discrimination, suicide, rape, and murder facing the trans community, anything done to help us might make a difference.
But I'm not here to talk about smashing the cis-tem today. I just want to survive, and help other trans people do the same.
And we can't do that if we don't have our families in our corner.
That brings me to today's post.
I've been applying to binder giveaway programs for transmasculine and genderqueer youth who, due to whatever circumstance, can't acquire one through conventional means (i.e. I can't afford the $100 binders sold on sites like Underworks and GC2B). These can be found relatively easily via Google.
Unfortunately, when you search 'free binder FTM', so can transphobia. One of my searches yielded the following headline: "Binders And The Helpful Strangers Pushing Them On Your 'Son'..."
So today, we're going to analyze what's wrong with this:
1. If a teenager has gotten desperate enough that they're searching online for a chest binder rather than confiding in their parents, their home life is generally going to be bad.
2. If you, as a parent, know that your DFAB child is transgender, and you still call them your daughter regardless of whether they actually feel comfortable with this, you are a terrible parent and I sincerely hope your child is removed from your "care".
3. Nobody's pushing anything onto your kid. We seek out help from them when we know we can't turn to you.
4. The helpful strangers "pushing binders onto" transmasculine and genderqueer teenagers with breasts are often trans adults who know what we're going through because they've been there. They know that the mental distress caused by dysphoria can lead to anxiety, depression, and unhealthy coping strategies. They've seen every headline about trans teens committing suicide after experiencing familial rejection. Because they share with us the common bond of being transgender, they're family. They don't want to take chances with their family's health and wellbeing. Do you?
As I've mentioned many times before, I'm looking into getting a chest binder. Given that I'm currently short on funds (but my prospects on a tutoring job look pretty good, so there's that at least), this isn't easy. If chest binders were sold cheaply and in regular stores - and there's no reason they shouldn't be - it wouldn't be a problem, and a lot of people would be saved a lot of dysphoria.
Given the shockingly high rates of health care discrimination, poverty, job discrimination, suicide, rape, and murder facing the trans community, anything done to help us might make a difference.
But I'm not here to talk about smashing the cis-tem today. I just want to survive, and help other trans people do the same.
And we can't do that if we don't have our families in our corner.
That brings me to today's post.
I've been applying to binder giveaway programs for transmasculine and genderqueer youth who, due to whatever circumstance, can't acquire one through conventional means (i.e. I can't afford the $100 binders sold on sites like Underworks and GC2B). These can be found relatively easily via Google.
Unfortunately, when you search 'free binder FTM', so can transphobia. One of my searches yielded the following headline: "Binders And The Helpful Strangers Pushing Them On Your 'Son'..."
So today, we're going to analyze what's wrong with this:
1. If a teenager has gotten desperate enough that they're searching online for a chest binder rather than confiding in their parents, their home life is generally going to be bad.
2. If you, as a parent, know that your DFAB child is transgender, and you still call them your daughter regardless of whether they actually feel comfortable with this, you are a terrible parent and I sincerely hope your child is removed from your "care".
3. Nobody's pushing anything onto your kid. We seek out help from them when we know we can't turn to you.
4. The helpful strangers "pushing binders onto" transmasculine and genderqueer teenagers with breasts are often trans adults who know what we're going through because they've been there. They know that the mental distress caused by dysphoria can lead to anxiety, depression, and unhealthy coping strategies. They've seen every headline about trans teens committing suicide after experiencing familial rejection. Because they share with us the common bond of being transgender, they're family. They don't want to take chances with their family's health and wellbeing. Do you?
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