i was going to do my usual live-tweet thing where i vent my frustrations with various things i see on Japanese TV on Twitter, but i took too many photo receipts and have too much to say for Twitter, so i’ll just blurb about it here. warning: long post ahead full of many hastily taken cellphone photos of my tv. mobile users, i am so soooo sorry. trigger warning: offensive ignorance, transphobia
singular ‘they’: voted word of the year in 2015 by the American Dialect Society, used by English speakers everywhere– even by Shakespeare– and yet today some people insist on claiming that using ‘they’ in the singular is “ungrammatical,” “trendy” or “uneducated.” pull up a chair and have a seat, because if you’re one of those people, this video was made for you. but hold up, there’s no way i’d put so much time and effort into a video just for your pathetic ass. more than anything, this video is dedicated to everyone out there fighting to have their pronouns remembered, used and respected. as hard as it is, don’t give up or feel guilty for asking people to use your pronouns. your comfort is important. your identity is valid. your request to be referred to with specific pronouns is 100% justified and worth fighting for. stay strong. next time someone…
anonymous said: Hello Queer as a cat. I have been wondering if I am trans. Since I was younger I prefured guy things and made friends with guys more easily. But ever since ive moved into Highschool. (Im 17) ive got all female friends. I dislike female clothes and will buy from mens section. When I think about being a boy a perfer it but sometimes not as strongly as if “eh im a girl” a part of me feels like I am a boy. I will always say ever since I was a kid”I wish I was a boy” I am very confused. thank you. Same person about questioning gender. I never really thought much about this until learning more about trans and making trans friends hi. 🙂 it’s not uncommon at all for someone to begin actively questioning one’s gender after learning that not everyone identifies as the…
anonymous said: Hey I was wondering as an Australian trans how do I get testerone hi. 🙂 assuming that you live in Australia (because i know lots of Aussies who don’t), here are some links that are relevant for pursuing testosterone in Australia. FTM Australia: Medical Transition FTM Australia: Medical Transition By State Transcend: Transgender Support By State while i don’t personally agree with everything on the FTM Australia site, it seems to have the most straight-forward resources specific to medical transition in Australia, including pursuing testosterone. Transcend’s site is less specific to medical transition, but it still may have links to state-specific resources that may be helpful for pursuing testosterone. sorry i can’t help more. good luck! 🙂
anonymous said: hi, ive been thinking lately, people always talk about realizing they’re queer and having known something was ‘different’ in them all along but only understanding it then. and i never really felt like that, not in a way i realize now. and maybe it was the way i was introduced to lgbt+ stuff (im really forever grateful for having someone to do that cause it really got me out of a toxic homophobic mindset earlier on) but it makes me wonder if im really trans, bc like being trans makes me really happy, but it was never really a click for me more of a slow, ‘hey! Maybe this is me?’, idk i feel like i probably could’ve gone on my whole life being a ‘woman’ if i didn’t know about trans/nonbinary people :/ its really upsetting cause now im starting to think, what if im just doing…
on Twitter i live-tweet my frustrations with various things i see on Japanese TV, including how trans and non-binary celebs are treated. the downside to this is that tweets quickly get lost in my timeline and then it’s a pain in the ass to dig them back up if/when i want to reference them. this post is me digging up some of those tweets and putting them here for my own ease of reference and so others can see examples of transphobia & non-binary erasure in Japanese media.
anonymous said: Thanks for your most recent post re: saying no/transphobia/people’s need to express “no” being prioritized over the well-being of trans people. I think you cut to the heart of it – it’s not reasonable to ask trans ppl (like me) to deprioritize discussing transness and transphobia once sexual consent gets brought up. That also assumes, IMO, that trans people are never in the group of ppl who need to say no and don’t have the tools?? Which, like, trans people (and trans women especially!) are targets for sexual violence and are often *especially* lacking access to “no”. Also I think it ties really grossly into “trans women as rapists” tropes (I’m AFAB so I hope I’m getting it right) – the fact that (presumably cis) people’s consent immediately becomes the ONLY IMPORTANT THING once trans people start talking about desirability and transness speaks to how cis people honestly…
anonymous said: Hey queer as a cat. Ive been questioning my gender lately. I have always felt more guyish than female. In saying that I have long hair and wear dresses. Am I trans. What can I do to find out if I am. Thank you Anon from before who is wondering about their gender. I still do girly things? Does that make me less trans? Am I even trans I am so confused hi. 🙂 despite what society tells you, anyone can have long hair. anyone can wear dresses. anyone can do “girly” or “guyish” things. it’s not these things that decide what your gender is or whether or not you’re trans. based on what you’ve said, i’m assuming that society considers you to be female and you’re questioning whether you are female or not? rather than questioning whether you act enough ‘like a boy’, perhaps try turning that question…
anonymous said: do you have any opposition to non-medically transitioning nonbinary people using transgender as an identity term? saw your ask with the project person and am wondering i’m not against anyone identifying as transgender. a person’s desire to transition (or lack of desire to transition) says nothing of their identity as a trans person. my response in the post in question was strictly speaking of my personal relationship with trans identity. i totally stand in solidarity with anyone, non-binary or not, who identifies as trans but does not want to (or cannot) transition medically or otherwise. 🙂
anonymous said: hi, i know you identify as maverique but i was wondering if you also consider yourself trans? this is for a project im doing, in which i take stats on what labels nonbinary people use, and after looking on your about page, i was curious? thank you, i hope this is alright to ask hi. 🙂 i identify as maverique and as non-binary, but i do not personally identify as trans for various reasons that are related to me also not wanting to use the term “transition” to describe myself or the things that i (intend to) do. see this video for more info. having said that, your project sounds interesting. 🙂 i’d definitely be interested in hearing about your findings. i’ve long since been annoyed by the trans-cis binary that exists both within and outside of the trans community and i’m sure your findings will be influenced by that…
