I’m not hairy enough to be a bear… yet

Posted on December 12, 2010 | 13 Comments

I guess I just feel frustrated that our communities express themselves using the medical system’s benchmarks.

This entry was posted in Comic, Rant and tagged being, Hello I'm Trans, Oh look this sucks!, representations, Testosterone Deficient. Bookmark the permalink.

13 Responses to I’m not hairy enough to be a bear… yet

CLR | December 12, 2010 at 11:32 am | Reply

I’m noticing more and more how much frustration with labels is expressed on queer blogs/comics/etc. I’ll admit that I probably have no idea what it’s like to have that kind of frustration and sometimes worry about offending people just because I haven’t dealt with it. I don’t want to offend people though :-/
- roostertails | December 18, 2010 at 8:56 am | Reply
  
  No I think it’s a general trend at the moment – a tendency towards blurring the lines and borders of identity that were set up – for me it feels quite an empowering thing to do, and a very interesting conversation to be having
gunk | December 12, 2010 at 11:56 am | Reply

Hah, tell me about it. My partner is on T and has all the genes for hairiness. He (half)jokes that he’s turning into a gorilla, but wishes he could be a pretty not-so-hairy boy. I, on the other hand, am not on T yet and am probably not gonna be especially hairy anyway (I really love body hair). *sigh* It’d be nice if the physical indicators did not determine who we are to the vast majority of people, even within the queer community. The wider community generally reads as a straight couple….. well, a straight couple made up of two queers; a tomboy/”dyke”/clown type (me) and a queer indie fag type (him).

PS – I keep reading your blog, and it’s rad! Every single post I read makes me want to grab J (my partner) by the hand and whisk us off to NZ to meet you guys (we’re from Perth, Western Australia) cos you sound so awesome.
- Giang | December 12, 2010 at 12:49 pm | Reply
  
  This makes me so happy! Hairy pretty boys are wonderful! As well as hairless bears! Makes me think of dykes in love with lesbian men, fags in love with their lesbian life partners!
  
  Happy Happy Happy!
- roostertails | December 18, 2010 at 9:00 am | Reply
  
  Ha! Yeh, I don’t think it’s in my genes to be hairy either, and Joe’s not particularly thrilled at the amount of hair he is growing. I have nooo idea what society reads us as… I think currently we just confuse them! It’s so nice to hear of other guys experiences – especially where one partner’s on T and the other isn’t! If you ever feel like visiting make sure you let us know! We have vague plans to move to Australia in a few years too!
Samson | December 12, 2010 at 12:06 pm | Reply

1) Totally agreed.
2) If I went on T I’d be an absolute shag carpet. Part of why I haven’t!
3) Are you a fellow sweater-vest enthusiast?
- roostertails | December 18, 2010 at 9:03 am | Reply
  
  1) Yay!
  2) If I went on T I think I’d find out that I would not grow a lot of hair… the potential disappointment is stopping me a little bit.
  3) YES YES YES YES.
Ryan Kennedy | December 12, 2010 at 6:02 pm | Reply

I reckon. It only matters if you say it does. The other assumption is that ‘how far along you are’ also matters.
- roostertails | December 18, 2010 at 9:05 am | Reply
  
  Yeh I agree, I’m trying not to make it matter. And Ah yes, that old question – I’ve yet to come up with a response that I feel happy with for that one.
Blackshire | December 15, 2010 at 5:20 pm | Reply

omfg it’s so true!

That’s why I just say I am a dude, or a transman, and people do ask where I am in my transition and I tend to list of the past events… but wtf, here and now I am a guy just like any other and maybe my junk isn’t conventional but what does that matter?

I see why you draw now, whereas I rant in comment boxes… >.<
roostertails | December 18, 2010 at 9:11 am | Reply

Yeh it seems like that’s the first phrase that people say when they do their youtube vids, and it always strikes me as a bit weird that that’s the first thing they say. I dunno… I just wish that wasn’t the case, it feels quite hierarchical .
- roostertails | December 18, 2010 at 9:13 am | Reply
  
  Oops, that was a reply to Blackshire :S
Rhys | December 23, 2010 at 2:21 am | Reply

i totally agree with you about the labeling- it bothers me when pre-op, post-op, pre-t, etc are treated as the only available categories. i would rather find just the right words to describe myself than try and squeeze into those categories, especially since none of those categories seem to have room for a genderqueer transguy with a love of eyeliner and camp.