Thread by @TillyBridges

Welcome to #TransTuesday! I’ve talked so many times about how t r a n s people and cis people really aren’t all that different, but there’s one way most cis people never realize that may just blow your mind. Strap in for CIS PEOPLE GET GENDER AFFIRMING HEALTHCARE TOO.

Even outside twitter's continued suppression of tweets with

t r a n s

and

t r a n s g e n d e r

in them, this one is VITAL for cis people to see. Cis friends, please RT this thread! We REALLY need cis folks to understand what's going on here.

There are lots of these Trans Tuesdays where I point out, time and again, that trans people are not really that different from cis people. We can be right, we can be wrong, we can be amazing, we can be terrible, because we’re human beings.

We experience the world differently, and we’re certainly treated differently (especially by cis lawmakers in half the United States), but we have plenty in common with cis people. You can most easily see this play out in the Trans Tuesdays examining trans allegories in media.

There is, first and foremost, my deep dives into the entire Matrix franchise, which will not only help trans people feel seen and understood, and help cis people learn how important true allyship is, but will show you how trans stories are human stories.

https://twitter.com/TillyBridges/status/1475194703544864769

And I would of course be remiss if I did not take a moment to again remind you that those threads got me a book deal, and they have been revised and expanded and you can pre-order it in hardcover, paperback, and epub formats now! Audiobook coming later on!
barnesandnoble.com/w/begin-transm…

If you’re waiting for the book or don’t have the time for sixty thousand words right now, you can see the Trans Tuesday on the trans allegory of The Little Mermaid’s “Part of Your World” for a more brief example of how human trans stories can be.

https://twitter.com/TillyBridges/status/1569751180288602113

But you can also see it in the trans allegory of The Twilight Zone’s “Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room.”

https://twitter.com/TillyBridges/status/1554507011676524544

And in the trans allegory of Real Genius.

https://twitter.com/TillyBridges/status/1597663987642302464

What we’re talking about today isn’t fiction, it’s not a story, it wasn’t anything written or created by anyone. But I want you to have that context because, in a broad sense, they’re absolutely connected.

All those examinations of how stories (intentionally or otherwise) speak to the trans experience show you how very much cis people can identify with a LOT of what we go through, even if some of the specifics are different.

So when you think about medicine or surgical procedures trans people may get to help confirm their gender, what I want you to understand is that cis people not only get so many of the same (or similar) procedures, but THEY GET THEM FOR THE EXACT SAME REASON.

Let’s start with hormone replacement therapy. If you need a refresher on the basics of that, there is of course a Trans Tuesday on the topic.

https://twitter.com/TillyBridges/status/1356688203395125249

For trans women, HRT usually involves introducing estrogen (and often also progesterone) into the body, and suppressing testosterone. I’ve also mentioned this multiple times before, but here it is again:

THE ESTROGEN AND PROGESTERONE THAT TRANS WOMEN TAKE WAS DEVELOPED FOR POST-MENOPAUSAL CIS WOMEN. As cis women age, especially after menopause, their bodies make less of those hormones, so they’re often introduced.

And WHY is that done? As I’ve talked about before, estrogen and testosterone fight each other in the body. When a cis woman’s estrogen drops, her testosterone will rise. What are some common symptoms of menopause?

Hot flashes. Hair loss. Facial hair growth. THINGS ASSOCIATED WITH TESTOSTERONE, and caused by their T levels rising because their E levels dropped.

And for cis women who experience hair loss and facial hair growth, it can make them feel terrible.

And guess what we call that?

G E N D E R D Y S P H O R I A

They literally take HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY to AFFIRM THEIR GENDER. And I’ve also mentioned before how all the testosterone suppressing drugs trans women take were developed for CIS MEN.

These drugs were developed to treat prostate cancer or enlarged prostates, they were developed to treat hair loss, they were all developed to treat problems cis men face BY LOWERING THEIR TESTOSTERONE.

And cis men often take testosterone also for gender-affirming reasons. If they have low T, injections can help them with erectile dysfunction, libido, and loss of muscle mass. If all of that isn’t gender-affirming, WHAT IS?

“Okay Tills, you’ve convinced me. I’m a science-minded and fact-believing person, so sure, I understand that HRT was all developed for cis people, and they get it too (often for the EXACT SAME REASONS), I’ll give you that.” I’m so glad you’re starting to see the big picture!

“But gender confirmation surgeries? C’mon. No cis people do that.”

Buckle up, friend, this ride’s gonna get bumpy.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons released some stats about cosmetic procedures in 2022.

plasticsurgery.org/documents/News…

The most popular procedure performed was liposuction, and while that’s absolutely connected to our society’s fatphobia, I want you to also understand that’s inexorably intertwined with what our society says a man and a woman “should” look like.

I talked a little bit about that in the Trans Tuesday on Physical Representation and the Hollywood Ideal.

https://twitter.com/TillyBridges/status/1361766295947993088

If society tells you that men and women look a certain way, and that way (especially for women) is to be thin and under a certain weight, you can ABSOLUTELY make a case that those liposuction procedures are gender confirmation.

Because some of the women getting those procedures are doing so because they don’t feel as much like a woman as they want to BECAUSE of the implicit fatphobia society has placed within all of us.

If you need more information on implicit biases, see the Trans Tuesday on Implicit Queerphobia.

https://twitter.com/TillyBridges/status/1564676652927291393

And also the Trans Tuesday on Internalized Transphobia.

https://twitter.com/TillyBridges/status/1653420429976158208

And while I think the link between liposuction and gender confirmation is real and valid, I know some will find it tenuous. So let’s move on to some others, like that stalwart BREAST AUGMENTATION. Why… do you think… cis women… want to increase their breast size?

IT IS TO CONFIRM THEIR GENDER, MY FRIENDS.

And if you’re like “but you don’t have to have large breasts to be a woman,” you are CORRECT. It is again implicit biases society has put within us that makes some cis women feel that way (and others may want them for their own reasons, but that’s still confirming their gender).

And if you can see how society pressures women to have larger breasts due to that Hollywood Ideal, and getting a breast augmentation moves them closer to that ideal and thus makes them feel more like what society says a woman is…

Then you can see how a lot of people, men and women alike, are getting liposuction for the exact same reason. Do you see? IT’S ALL GENDER CONFIRMATION.

Look at some of the other big ones… facelifts (makes you look younger, thus closer to the “ideal,” thus more like the way society says your gender should look), tummy tucks (see liposuction), breast lifts, nose jobs, butt lifts, lip fillers…

Why do many cis women who’ve had mastectomies get breast augmentation? The same reason! These procedures are ALL about confirming (to yourself, to the world, often both) that YOU ARE THE GENDER YOU KNOW YOURSELF TO BE.

And it’s not just women! Gynecomastia procedures are increasing. Do you know what that is? It’s a reduction in breast tissue… THAT CIS MEN ARE GETTING.

Why on earth would cis men want that?

Is it… is it TO CONFIRM THEIR GENDER?!?

allure.com/story/plastic-…

And if you think maybe these procedures are “less extreme” than some of what trans people go through, I’m gonna tell you that cis men are getting surgical LEG LENGTHENING PROCEDURES TO MAKE THEM TALLER.

nbcnews.com/health/mens-he…

And once you understand what’s involved in such a procedure, you’ll see it’s… well, some might say “extreme.” But these cis men want to be taller. Why? WHY? Because our “IDEAL” says men are tall and women are not! And being taller CONFIRMS THEIR GENDERRRRRRRR.

Do you hear A N Y O N E complaining about any of these procedures for cis people?

Did you know that in almost every state that feels they must legislate against gender confirmation surgeries for trans kids (which ARE NOT HAPPENING), they still allow cis girl teens to get breast augmentations?

Did you know that in those bans on trans healthcare the people making those laws EXPLICITLY MAKE IT CLEAR THAT SURGERIES ***CAN*** BE FORCED ON INTERSEX CHILDREN BY THEIR PARENTS???

pbs.org/newshour/healt…

Because both of those things UPHOLD THE FALSE CISGENDER BINARY OF SOCIETY, and so the people banning trans healthcare are doing so ONLY because WE PROVE THAT BINARY IS A LIE.

https://twitter.com/TillyBridges/status/1635664740105203712

I don’t know how I can make it any clearer to you. Some trans people use hormones to confirm their gender. SO DO SOME CIS PEOPLE. Some trans people use surgeries to confirm their gender. SO DO SOME CIS PEOPLE!

You NEED to see the hypocrisy at play here. It’s nothing more than “not for thee but fine for me.” And trans people are the ones who actually NEED these things to alleviate the dysphoria that many of us have struggled with for a lifetime.

If you’re fine with cis people receiving all of that healthcare if it’s what they want, you’re just a bigoted hypocrite if you’re not fine with trans people receiving all of that healthcare when it’s what we NEED.

What this all comes down to is Bodily Autonomy (and yes there’s a Trans Tuesday on that too). Either we all have it, or we all don’t. You do what you want with your body, I’ll do what I want with mine, and how about that’s THE END OF IT?

https://twitter.com/TillyBridges/status/1513915703715241988

And if you don’t understand how all bodily autonomy, like the right to abortion and trans healthcare, is all the exact same fight, let a little Trans Rage light the way.

https://twitter.com/TillyBridges/status/1541821681781510144

NOBODY gets to tell us what we can or can’t do with our own bodies. All we trans people want is equality and access to ALL THE THINGS CIS PEOPLE HAVE AND TAKE FOR GRANTED.

Help us get there or get out of the way.

Tilly Bridges, end transmission.
tillystranstuesdays.com