all 46 comments

[–]8bitgay 28 insightful - 1 fun28 insightful - 0 fun29 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I definitely think we need more GNC men/women in media.

[–]Kai_Decadence[S] 20 insightful - 1 fun20 insightful - 0 fun21 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I do agree. Thinking back to my childhood, I can't recall ever seeing any feminine presenting men in the media I was watching. Truth is though, I actually did in Sailor Moon. I remember the character Zoisite and how they changed him into a woman for the American dub to censor his relationship with Malachite aka, censor their gay relationship. Of course I was a kid at the time so I didn't know this but years later when I did, I was quite shocked.

But I agree, it's seemingly little things like that that can really help gender nonconforming kids.

[–]artetolife 15 insightful - 1 fun15 insightful - 0 fun16 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Yes, and I think it's important that GNC people are visible in general, since mainstream representation seems to be turning pretty assimilationist (i.e. lots of gay men only want to see characters etc that are just like straight people except in same sex relationships.)

[–]Kai_Decadence[S] 14 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 0 fun15 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I agree. And I understand why some gay people want to see conforming gay characters but at the same time, I don't think we should be erasing nonconforming ones neither. I think there's room for both.

But yeah visibility and positive visibility at that is definitely important. That's why I try to be as social as I can be while not being afraid to show what I look like even if it goes against what is expected of men to look like.

[–]PeakingPeachEaterfemale♀ | detrans🦎 | eater of peaches 🍑 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Yes, I think it's very beneficial to have the older generation talking to the younger about it being okay to be gender non-conforming.

I have a son who's a baby right now. I'm curious how to bring it up when he gets older? My in-laws and my family are quite sexist based on culture...

I mentioned it in another post...that I "toned down" masculinity quite a bit but I feel kinda...sad. It's not easy being gender nonconforming...I felt comfortable dressing masculine but the harrassment sucks.

I am also curious if there are butch bi women in straight relationships?(or even even the flip of feminine bi men in straight relationships) and how that affects you/the relationship?(If your GNC and gay/lesbian, how does it affect you?) Presenting Appearing more masculine and trying to get a guy was hard, same with being feminine and going for a gal...(I am not very feminine tbh...apart from being female. But I do appreciated feminity.)

I think...it's honestly harder for men to be accepted as "feminine" because society likes to say feminine = weak, man = strong, so then they assume feminine ≠ man, so therefore you are woman which is false...

I'm getting off on a tangent again lol.

These are some things I think about frequently...

Why can't people just live and let live?

I hate words like "presenting", problematic, AFAB, AMAB, or whatever the fuck, I hate buzzwords, it's ruined for me

[–]worried19 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I am also curious if there are butch bi women in straight relationships?(or even even the flip of feminine bi men in straight relationships) and how that affects you/the relationship?

I have a male partner. I started off assuming I would be gay. For me, that was one of my major sources of confusion. I knew I wasn't a lesbian, but I was also too masculine to be a straight woman (so I thought), so that set me on the path of determining whether I was transgender. It was also one of the reasons I wanted to die as a teen. I figured I was destined to die alone. However, since I did find a partner, that turned out not to be the case. I don't think my masculinity has much affect on the relationship itself, though. We don't act out traditional gender roles, obviously. We can swap clothes sometimes. But it's a regular relationship in all other respects.

[–]PeakingPeachEaterfemale♀ | detrans🦎 | eater of peaches 🍑 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Damn, same. I thought I was a lesbian and that I had to transition to be "normal". Found out later that I had an attraction to men too, but got rejected because I was too "manly"...so I started dressing feminine, got more positive attention but it makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. When I dress masculine though, it's easier to find women(sorta) but the only ones available at the time were into Genderqueer theory and the ones I liked were unavailable...or I miss my chance by being a coward...but I digress.

I don't dress hyper masculine like I used to---many thought I was a boy. When people here me on the phone I always get called a sir, unfortunately. I don't like it when people assume I most be trans(but the opposite direction---I was born female, but had some idiot think I was born male trying to be female...it's stupid).

I don't like it when people assume I'm a boy now( like I did as a teen, I used to LOVE beibg confused as a boy, had extreme body dysphoria, similar to you, wish I could die....but be "reborn" as a male). I don't like if people think I'm trans or non-binary or whatever the fuck for looking ambiguous at times. I just want people to leave me alone.

[–]worried19 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I can relate. I wish I could just blend in, but I feel like it would be too high a price to pay. I still dress GNC. I wear men's clothes, have a men's haircut, and so on. I never experimented with femininity at all. I just wasn't willing to go there, and I figured that if the price was that I would have to be celibate my whole life, better that than compromise myself and become a fake person.

I live in a conservative area, so people don't seem to assume I'm a trans man, although they do often mistake for me a biological male. It's mostly people in public, and they apologize when they misgender me. I don't mind being mistaken for a man, to be honest. But I would mind if people were to assume that I disavow my biological sex just because of the way I present myself.

As far as relationships go, sometimes I wonder if my partner is a unicorn. He says he likes me the way that I am. I believe him. It's been 6 years, so he has no reason to lie to me. He wouldn't still be around if he minded how masculine I was. But I still have those nagging feelings of being perceived as ugly and freakish, which is what society teaches that masculine women are.

[–]BiHorror 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I wouldn't say a full blown "relationship" but I was in and out with a pretty feminine dude while being a tomboy (still am). I like to think I was more "dominant" in the relationship, especially since that how I was with my relationships with another woman who was a girly girl. The feminine is submissive, and the masculine was dominant basically to sum these relationships I had.

Heh... As far as I know tho, last I heard about him from a friend, he probably came out as a transwoman. So, in total, that would've been 2 people I dated that came out as such. A woman being tomboy, and him, who was a feminine dude.

[–]denverkrisMy pronouns are Vodka?/Yes!/please 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I definitely think it would help. As a very GNC bi woman > 50 I'd love to pitch in my 2 cents. Have you thought about possibly starting your own youtube channel, or maybe we could gather more names for GNC Centric or something?

[–]Kai_Decadence[S] 11 insightful - 1 fun11 insightful - 0 fun12 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I actually already have a YouTube channel of the same name as my Saidit name "Kai Decadence". Currently I make Goth subculture related content but I recently made an announcement that I'm gonna be changing content up a bit and will be doing "LGBT (soon to be LGB)" content and will be doing some Gender critical type videos where I'm picking apart trans ideology as well as trying to help HSTS (and especially young gay men thinking they are trans). Pretty much will be the male version of GNC Centric. I definitely would love to collab with her sometime though. I just want to dip my toes in first and see how I do lol

[–]Rag3 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Wow. I stumbled across your channel a while back and you reminded me of my baby goth days.

I look forward to seeing you do more LGB /GC/ detrans content.

[–]Kai_Decadence[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Thanks :)

[–]worried19 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Absolutely. I had zero role models of GNC women. I only saw a butch woman one time, at a carnival when I was 10, and that brief encounter kept me going for years. It almost wasn't enough, though. As a teenager, I was still bent on the idea of being dead because I couldn't imagine any future for myself as a woman. Everyone around me was gender conforming. To me, the only alternative was passive suicide.

[–]Kai_Decadence[S] 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I was still bent on the idea of being dead because I couldn't imagine any future for myself as a woman. Everyone around me was gender conforming.

See it's this and it's so understandable. When growing up, we don't usually see gener nonconforming people so when a kid is gender nonconforming, they feel even more confused because they don't see any older gender nonconforming people and this is what can make some of these kids think that the only way they can be themselves is to be trans or commit passive suicide like you said (glad to hear you didn't go through with it).

[–]worried19 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Me, too. I wouldn't trade being GNC for anything, but I wish I had had those role models so I didn't feel so hopeless. I knew tomboys were a thing. Even though I was the only girl "passing" as a boy in my small town, I understood tomboys existed. But I saw no representation of adult GNC women anywhere. I assumed tomboys had to change to become feminine when they grew up, and I decided I'd rather be dead than do that.

I was also lucky I was born a little too early for the trans teen craze. I was starting to feel hopeless around 2008, and that was before there was widespread public support for teenage girls calling themselves boys and taking testosterone. If someone had given me an out to become an actual boy, I would have jumped at it, even though I never disliked my body.

[–]BEB 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Yes!

[–]Kai_Decadence[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Awesome :D

[–]reluctant_commenter 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I think so! In fact, several people actually commented exactly this on a post I made the other day: https://saidit.net/s/LGBDropTheT/comments/6jnm/posts_like_this_is_why_support_for_the_lgb/

I actually had no idea that those youtube channels existed. Thanks for mentioning them! I am lesbian and am struggling a lot with both self-acceptance and I know I've had some issues in the past with "sex dysphoria" in terms of how I view my body.

It strikes me, Youtube is actually the perfect place to be able to bridge the generation divide. Quite frankly, I would be curious to hear more from older LGB folks, but the most popular and talked-about sources of LGB-related information for people my age, is either a) Tumblr or b) Reddit.. which have mostly disinformation.

[–]xanditAGAB (Assigned Gay at Birth) 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

<...I was even able to help this 17 year old feminine boy who was thinking he was trans... ....But what do you all think? Do you think this could definitely help these "trans" kids?...>

I think you already did :)

And yes, they need to hear an alternate perspective on gender expression, that you can be male or female and dress how you want, wear makeup if you want, do any activity you want, without having to assign a gender to it, or claim an alternate identity outside of man or woman.

[–]Kai_Decadence[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah it felt good to hear the kid say that he felt better about himself and only showed me that while these gender "specialists" can ask all their questions off their checklist, it doesn't really compare to someone who can really get into your head and understand your struggle internally and can offer true helpful solutions.

And yes, they need to hear an alternate perspective on gender expression, that you can be male or female and dress how you want, wear makeup if you want, do any activity you want, without having to assign a gender to it, or claim an alternate identity outside of man or woman.

Yes 100%

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

Absolutely. For me it would've been helpful to see GNC straight and bi women. I saw plenty of GNC women growing up. But they were all lesbians. So I was stuck feeling like I couldn't be a 'masculine' woman and like men. I knew I wasn't a lesbian, and didn't really feel like trying to be one just so I would feel comfortable being GNC. I must be something else, I thought, and that something else was a trans guy or nonbinary.

After desisting I obviously realized I can dress however I want regardless of my orientation, but the assumption is still all over the place that if a kid is GNC they must be gay or homo-leaning bi. There are almost zero outwardly GNC straight or het-leaning bi people. I had one instance where a man hit on me while I was 'full masc' (short hair, men's clothes, binding, etc), but none who ever wanted to genuinely date me if I looked too masculine. I get the feeling that guy thought I was a lesbian and had one of those creepy 'getting a lesbian to try dick' fetishes. Maybe it's taboo for men to express real attraction to masculine women? The same way it's considered taboo here in America for men to be feminine or bi?

Of course this is worse for gay kids who are being transed for being GNC, this is just my two cents on something I don't see discussed much. So I'm on board with having more GNC adults talking to GNC kids. Benji is great too I love her channel!

[–]Kai_Decadence[S] 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Absolutely. For me it would've been helpful to see GNC straight and bi women. I saw plenty of GNC women growing up. But they were all lesbians. So I was stuck feeling like I couldn't be a 'masculine' woman and like men.

Oh honey while I'm not a straight or bi-leaning person, I know what you mean here and I think the problem is because so many hetero men make it known that they hate masculinity in women. I mean look at what some men say about the Pixie haircut, they think it's ugly. So yeah I feel like because there's such a negative stigma towards masculinity in women from straight men, a lot of women don't even try to think about if they could present more masculinely, at least not in their youth usually (Evidence how as some straight women get older, they may lose interest in doing ultra feminine looks and opt for something more androgynous what with shorter hairstyles and not wearing dresses or skirts all that much). But that said...

Maybe it's taboo for men to express real attraction to masculine women?

This is very true. I've seen some postings on forums of guys asking if liking masculine women makes them gay and some of the answers like "Oh it's a little gay" or "Kinda" were being flung there and straight guys fear being thought of us gay or heck, they can even think that being in masculine women can make them less of a man for stupid socially constructed reasons. So even if a straight guy may actually like masculine women, he may be too afraid to admit it for this kind of thing. But yeah it's another taboo, especially here in America.

Of course this is worse for gay kids who are being transed for being GNC

Yeah for real and it seems to be happening to frequently these days. I remember reading about the Tavistock situation in the UK and that was just awful.

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Exactly! I've heard so many straight men tell women they shouldn't cut their hair because it's too 'manly' or whatever. There's so much homophobia (and misogyny underneath) that drive them to say liking masculine women is 'gay'. I get the feeling if times were different they'd be more vocal about it. Because I've seen a lot of women say they like men with softer features, and I am one such woman lol. Just look at how popular things like boy bands and male kpop groups are. I find it really hard to believe that women like femininity in men but men don't like masculinity in women. It seems like the men who do like it don't feel comfortable expressing it.

[–]worried19 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I knew I wasn't a lesbian, and didn't really feel like trying to be one just so I would feel comfortable being GNC. I must be something else, I thought, and that something else was a trans guy or nonbinary.

Same for me. I had a serious case of "what the hell am I?" I knew I was attracted to men. I also knew that I wanted to continue to present in a masculine way as an adult and occupy a masculine social role. I had never seen anything like that growing up. So I naturally assumed I was some kind of freak. Thank God I never got further than flirting with "genderqueer" and "transmasculine" labels on Reddit. I discovered GC thought before I traveled any further down that path.

Representations of masculine straight women would definitely help. I'm cool if 90% of the representation is lesbian because honestly that probably reflects reality, but there's maybe 10% of us that are oriented to the opposite sex. Brienne on Game of Thrones was a good example. I didn't discover the show until after high school, but I really related to her.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I knew I was attracted to men. I also knew that I wanted to continue to present in a masculine way as an adult and occupy a masculine social role. I had never seen anything like that growing up. So I naturally assumed I was some kind of freak.

You hit the nail on the head. I agree Brienne from GoT is a great example. I still can't think of many other examples in the media and I never saw it happening in real life. I remember googling if any men liked masculine women, being really disappointed that the answer was basically 'no', and figured well might as well mess with my gender identity.

I also felt stuck because even when I did see a GNC person they were always GNC. Butch girls were always butch. Feminine guys were always feminine. I liked to express myself in a lot of ways. The idea of committing to masculinity or femininity 100% felt stifling to me, but people expect you to be one thing all the time.

The in-betweenness of trans/nonbinary was very attractive because it allowed more freedom in that regard. If I called myself nonbinary or trans no one looked at me funny for showing up really masc one day and really femme the next and really andro another day. Ofc later on I learned about soft butches and such, and that did help a little.

[–]worried19 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Oh yeah, I polled Reddit's AskMen years ago to see how many were willing to date or have sex with butch-appearing women. At least 90% said no. I was more surprised any of them said yes.

[–]shveya 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Yes, I think this is why the trans fad isn't as big of a thing in my neck of the woods. Not even just talking to younger GNC kids, but simply existing as happy healthy GNC adults seems to do wonders. My hometown has been gay friendly, and full of successful gay and lesbian GNC people for decades. Many of them are wealthy boomers. I'm not saying that in a negative way, LGB boomers have seem some shit and are some of the strongest people around. I think this is part of the reason why young butch girls & women in my area aren't binding or lining up to get their breasts removed.

[–]Kai_Decadence[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

That's wonderful to hear and so true, if there is positive example of older GNC Gays and lesbians, it just sets a postitive example that being GNC doesn't have to ruin your life and you can still find success and happiness without damaging your body. Though you what you said here

I think this is part of the reason why young butch girls & women in my area aren't binding or lining up to get their breasts removed.

What about the GNC men? If there are any I mean

[–]shveya 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Oh yeah, there are probably even more GNC men than women. There are still a couple of trans people here and there, but there are far more GNC guys who are happy being regular gay (and sometimes feminine straight) guys. I think it's because gay men are very out and proud of who they are in this area.

[–]worried19 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I know you probably can't say where you live for privacy reasons, but damn, I want to move there. It would be great to be in an environment where GNC adults of both sexes are such a common sight.

[–]shveya 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I wish everyone else could live in a place like that too. It's a pretty popular beach town in the mid-Atlantic USA, and even a lot of the tourist web guides are geared towards gay and lesbian people. It's super kid-friendly too, which is the icing on the cake in my opinion.

[–]insta 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I'm not against it, but any movement will be co-opted and infiltrated. Trans activists are insidious and clever, they will put on the mask of "GNC" to indoctrinate children.

I'm actually kind of in the opposite camp, it's not more GNC awareness that's needed but less TRA awareness. I'm not against GNC activism but it's more important we simply just stop the people telling children that them liking nail polish means they should castrate themselves with hormones.

[–]Kai_Decadence[S] 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I'm not against it, but any movement will be co-opted and infiltrated. Trans activists are insidious and clever, they will put on the mask of "GNC" to indoctrinate children.

You're probably right... But still, I think that for the honest GNC people who want to help GNC kids see that nothing is wrong with them can really help and the way to tell is that true GNC person would not try to coerce people into transitioning.

I'm not against GNC activism but it's more important we simply just stop the people telling children that them liking nail polish means they should castrate themselves with hormones.

Right but an honest GNC person would not tell these kids that they should castrate themselves with hormones and surgery. But I get what you mean.

[–]our_team_is_winning 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Agreed. I think it's sad that we might have to tell young people you're not limited to "men do this; women do this" -- I thought that was settled in the 1920s to be honest! I thought the 1920s era of female aviators like Pancho Barnes and Amelia Earhart showed the world there were GNC women and they were amazing. A hundred years later we're back to "nail polish = female"? Didn't 70s glam rock bands prove that high heels, makeup, nail polish, glitter, all of that was just a costume and anyone could enjoy it, male or female, gay or straight? TRA are really regressive. And the AGP ones, well, that's a scary fetish.

[–]MrFahrenheit46 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It would have definitely helped me (I'm a detrans butch lesbian).

[–]BiHorror 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Honestly, that would be great. To show children of any type that they can be as masculine, feminine, or androgynous as they want and not be "trans." Alongside having role models, LGB AND straight, to prove that. But... With all the "gc"/"gnc" vs tras shitstorm going on, I'm actually quite thankful that conservatives still have a hold on society (societies) in some ways or making a comeback. Not only for order, but also so neither of these groups get through with their chaotic bullshit. So, really it's just a pipe dream but a good one nevertheless. I think with all this shit going on, everything needs to settle down first with TRAs being shut down by society/normal people.

[–]PassionateIntensity 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Yes, but they'll have to combat the "Gen Z are the most progressive generation in history" kool-aid the kids are drinking before they'll listen to anything The Olds or Boomers have to say. The few GNC celebs left bow out of the discussion because they're afraid of being cancelled. (I'm thinking of Lea Delaria.)

[–]Kai_Decadence[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Oh right... Yeah that's just gonna be so depressing when that happens and yeah, seems like the very few GNC celebs we have left don't even speak up...

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Definitely. Having a GNC woman to talk to and to get advice from would've helped so much when I was buying into the genderwoowoo a few years ago.

[–]Kai_Decadence[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Right. See this is why YouTube is probably the next best thing as young teens can find us GNC men and women and let them see that yes we do exist and you don't need to buy into delusion neither. But unfortunately I feel like content made by us if we speak out against Transgenderism, it gets hidden...