Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Why binding and makeup aren't really the same

I was born female.  I can present as female without makeup.  In fact, most people think that's exactly what I'm doing when I walk down the street, head to toe in "men's clothes", short hair, and no makeup.  Makeup isn't a necessity for presenting as female as a cisfemale.  It's a decoration that adds to the effect in our culture, but it's not a necessity for a ciswoman to present as female.

I can't present as male without binding.  I have a DD chest - the breasts on it fed 3 kids for 10 years.  I have a belly stretched by 3 pregnancies.  Binding is the only way, short of surgery, that I pass as male, and only sometimes.  I was called "ma'am" 50 times in the last five days, and "man" once by someone who saw me hunched over a book and couldn't see my chest.

Now, for some transwomen, makeup might be as important as binding - to mask masculine features, just as binding masks feminine body parts.  But I don't think it's the same when we're talking about ciswomen presenting as women and cismales presenting as male.

1 comment:

  1. very well said. I was thinking along the same lines in class today.

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