Is ->-bleeped-<- becoming a fad?

[Sera]

Age of the internet.  Everything is public, and everything is anonymous, and everyone is everywhere.  You can't say for sure that there were less trans 20 years ago, because 1) times are changing, the youth is more open 2) you could not go google search and find everyone in the world.

[grrl1nside]

Forgive me, I'm not an F2M and I certainly don't know whether it is a fad or not. I'm not sure that being trans is similar to a style of jeans... Although I suppose one does have to try on a few to figure out what really suits you. Unless it doesn't respect us, I think this is healthy for those individuals exploration.

I wonder if it is a fad or that as people in many communities begin to recognise that just as our fingerprints are different so are the shades of gender. Maybe this is what leads to more freedom for people to try on what fits for them. It might have a faddish element in that there might be times and spaces where it is safer and more comfortable to try certain things which allows some who will not stay to see if it is for them. The one thing I would guess, or at least hope, is that most that go down the road that far will never return fully to a hyper-rigid binary gender world view. If so, then I'll take the faddishness if it will give us more freedom and understanding.

[RebeccaFog]

perhaps not a fad but a style. For people who may not be trans.  Like how the metrosexuals co-opted the traits of gay men.

[Queen Erika]

I don't think it's a fad mainly because those who are actually serious about it don't just change their minds. It can't become a fad if it started as something totally serious and it will continue to be as such. It's not an easy process for most people.

As for those people who just wanted to "try being trans" because they wanted to "get in touch with their masculine/feminine side", if they even exist, they seem like the same kind of people who get into everything for several months and then just drop it like it's going out of season. Personal expression never goes out of season, and those people can't represent the whole population. They're just a natural reaction to society's growing awareness of transpeople.

[Miniar]

Nope, don't think we can call it a fad.

The idea of trans as a "trend" started with certain faux-feminist hatemonger bloggers who use the term "transtrenders" as a derogatory term for transsexuals and transgenders alike, arguing that "all" trans people are trans because it's Trendy right now.

It's not trendy.
It's not desirable to be hated.
It's not "fun" to drag yourself through hoops looking for help from professionals who may or may not meet your requests with hostility.

[Xybergeist]

Thankyou yet again everybody for more comments, each one makes me feel a little more better on the subject, hearing other's opinions.
And i understand, i know that with this, it can open up more opurtunity with us, i understand that you dont have to be a stereotypical male to be a male, and i know that for some it's just a shockfactor and a several month thing, i only just get iffed because i feel it's taken advantage of is all. but yeah it is good that someone should express their feelings of what they are, trans or not [8

[Sunnynight]

I think the fear of it being a fad is what helps keep gatekeepers in charge, which in my opinion is worse than any harm this supposed fad is causing. There are still places like Germany where you have to do a RLT for a year before they will even give you hormones. That's just to make sure you're "serious" about transitioning. If you seem too eager, they tend to not take you seriously.

As far as it being a fad, I don't really see any problem with people wanting to explore gender for whatever reasons. The sooner gender has no taboo the better.

[Ghost Boy]

I'm young, and although it makes me furious to have to say this, I truly do feel as if being trans, especially ftm, is becoming sort of a trend. When I first heard about the "trans-trending" debate, I thought that maybe it was just because of the internet allowed people to connect and share their stories.... But sadly, I have seen trans-trending first hand... even at my school.

One thing I noticed is that the introduction of the ftm character, Adam, on Degrassi, led to many people falsely coming out as trans. (I'll give an example of a few kids at my school) They came out, asked to be called by a different name and pronouns, just to tell everyone a month later that they just did it to be cool... Ugh. Why?

But I just don't get why being trans could ever turn into a trend.... but you never know in today's world.

[GentlemanRDP]

Honestly, I do agree that I think a lot of people see it as a fad, and I'll also mention that a lot of people in my community seem to think that it's nothing more than a sexual fetish. I see nothing wrong in effeminate FtMs, and I see nothing wrong in gay FtMs. People come in all shapes and sizes and personalities and identities.

I do however have a problem in certain people who say that they're FtM, but seem to have no drive to change how they're seen... o.o; They don't have any intention of getting a change on their birth certificate, they don't intend to change their license, they don't intend on a name change ( Even if they have a really girly name, ) they don't bind, or pack, or wear male clothing, they have hair to their waists, get offended in you call them a 'he,' ... etc ...

Now, please don't interrpret this to mean that I think that all FtMs have to bind and pack and have short hair and have to wear man clothes, and so on and so forth. I do however think it's odd when you want to 'be' a man, but you get mad when people call you 'sir,' o.o;; ...

Seriously ... It baffles me ...

That, and most of the 'guys' that I know who've acted this way in the past, due this for about a month and say, 'No, I wanna be a girl now, being a guy is too hard,' Even when they haven't lived as men at all! O>O;; *Shot*

Yes, that's my two cents, take it or leave it.

[findingreason]

This may sound a bit blunt...but at least for me this is no fad. It's about finally finding stability in my life so I can live for the first time. Being in constant limbo with myself and the world around me...is very exhausting and painful. To the point of being potentially life-threatening if I don't do something about it. I wouldn't be able to imagine why someone would try to do something cause it's just a fad for the amount of dangers, risks, and discrimination that come with it. There would have to be a good reason for it, because they feel a certain way, to do something.

I think as the world opens up, it is nice to see more gender variation though, because I think the black and white genders of the binary just seem a little bit dry to me. More people that do feel different from this binary (and I think there's a lot more of us out there than we may think) are becoming more enabled to come out and express that as things are opening up. But despite that, it is still a very touch subject for society as a whole, and one that I am very aware of every day as I move forward with my path in life.

[Darrin Scott]

I posted a topic like this in the FTM forum a few months ago. I think like others have said, it's the age of the internet. People are more able to express themselves online where most people communicate with other trans* folk. You see a much bigger trans* community on tumblr/youtube then anywhere else. Such a big community could make it appear to be a fad. People are more able to express themselves and it's the age of information. You can find everything you need to know about getting a therapist, the effects of hormones, surgery etc to transition medically. People are able to put a name on feelings they've been having a lot easier then probably even 10 years ago thanks to the internet.

As far as people "playing the role". I find people who discover that transition isn't for them will find that out in due time. They'll realize how difficult it really is not just getting everything in order medically, but socially as well. Like coming out to friends, possibly losing friends/lovers/family. Most people won't take risks like that if it is merely the flavor of the week...

[MRH]

I dont feel at this point in time that it is a fad but I understand where you are coming from. I think theres still a lot of taboo around the subject and its not as known as other issues but its starting to come out more now like a teenage soap we have in England called hollyoaks has a 15 year old transguy on it who is attracted to guys and I think it really helps people to understand the issue. But on the other hand when you're like 13-16 you tend to try and be different usually to be noticed and I sort of think that with lots of trans stuff on TV some kids might go "oh yeah im trans" to their mates and then it kind of takes away the seriousness of the subject like a lot of people came out as gay in school but werent actually gay. One thing that springs to mind is I suffer from depression and psychosis and so it was hard for me in school because if I tried to tell people this they would probably think it was an act. There was a girl at school who would say she was schizophrenic when she wasnt at all, it was just so people would pay attention to her and that hurt me a lot because she, as well as others, were taking away the seriousness behind an issue that I was genuinely suffering with and so I do feel somewhat the same with the trans issues. Im glad that its being brought to peoples attention now but I dont want it to turn into a fad because there might be some 13 year old kid who is suffering from it but people wont take them as seriously if everyone else is acting that way.
Anyway thats just my thoughts on the subject.

[Jasper]

This will sound far more rude than I mean it to, I warn you now.

Looking at the first post, it seems you think that anyone identifying as FTM that wants to stay feminine isn't trans, and if they consider themselves gay men that they're not trans. Or any FTMs who call themselves cross dressers or Queens.

I'm an effeminate gay Queen FTM, and here is why: I want to be a pretty man, not a pretty woman. I want to keep my general looks, not my born bits. FTMs/MTFs come in MANY different types.

There are also a lot of young FTMs who treat it as a fad because they don't know how else to go about it, and stop "being trans" because they don't have the support to feel they're allowed to be themselves.

I understand where both of you are coming from on this. To me, it does seem like there are a lot of people out there who may not actually be trans and are saying they are. What if they're just confused and too eager to wait and figure things out before they tell everyone they know for sure? I mean, for me anyway, I didn't know what GID was or anything but I've always known that I *should* be a man. Sure, I spent years pretending it wasn't true and hoping that my trying to ignore it would be good enough. But I just always *knew*. And then the thought just popped into my head: I'm transgendered.

Much freaking out later, I've more or less come to terms with it. I don't personally know anyone else who is trans, so until I joined here at Susan's I was fishin' in the dark.

I guess I'm trying to say that I don't really see how people can't know that this is them, but what if the person or people in question just blocked that part of them out and are finally opening it back up?

Just my thoughts on it. ~

[mimpi]

May sound selfish but the more the merrier, it raises our profile and hopefully lowers intolerance. Rigid gender roles have cursed this world for millennia, surely anything can be an improvement on that?

[no-time-to-panic]

I feel that it is definitely becoming a fad. However, I am speaking as a non-binary and with that, God, is the fad even worse than with FTM in many ways. It's very frustrating because it undermines people who actually are. I can understand exploring your gender, that's fine, but all the angst and how they over react to issues that they don't even really face... It's making most of the people trying to be trans* allies tired of dealing with them, and to a point making non-binary as a whole appear to be an adolescent phase. ( I suppose, they think male and female are only extreme points; and since they don't meet either point, great Scott, they must be genderqueer.)

In addition, it makes it very hard to find other people, who I can actually relate to, and in some ways, makes me wish even more that I could just stop being non-binary, because their abuse of the term is making me feel like some sort of joke. Hell, right now I'm not even sure if being genderqueer isn't just a stupid adolescent phase, and there really is no comfortable place for me, but I should just suck it up and try to pick a side (and from there it will settle out). But you can't talk sense to these people, because what can you say without "violating their gender identity?" I don't think they grasp the difference between wanting to be a certain gender and actually being that gender. Also, its fine to sometimes present as "gender->-bleeped-<-" or androgynous (gender->-bleeped-<- and androgynous are popular right now) and still be cis. It's also fine to be gender-questioning; just don't throw a bloody parade about it. (Even on the internet, deary)

Hell, they'd probably even argue the same points I am without even realize their being hypocritical. Hell, maybe I'm just a hypocrite and the jokes on me. I felt so relieved when, I first came across the term. Now, I feel like a fool, but after getting hope; it's hard to go back my previous line of thinking (casually ignoring that gender exists more than a pronoun here and there as best as possible).

Ah, my apologies for the venting and possibly offensive tangent.  The last bit below might be useful though.

Part of the reason this is so widespread with FAAB's might be partially because of a common medical disease known as PCOS (said to affect one in five "women"), which has gender confusion as one of the effects. However, once on treatment (which can sometimes be as simple as birth control, sometimes a bit more.) most people go back to feeling more comfortable as female.

[Shang]

People jumping on because "yaoi is hot" is what gives yaoi lovers a bad name.  I am a hardcare yaoi lover.  If the relationship in a manga isn't yaoi then I won't read it because I have issues with heterosexual relationships and always have even when I was in one...I just don't like it and it's a big turn off for me.  Also when I discovered yaoi I was self-identifying as a gay guy in a girl's body (a friend actually suggested that term first when he met me and I was like "o.o That is exactly how I feel.")  Then I jumped onto yaoi because I was like "Yay!  There are books involving gay relationships and sex!  I can now read something that sits closer to home!"  I was really excited about it because I had no idea that there were books depicting this and that books were fairly normal...

It helped a lot with my gender identity and realizations and it introduced me to roleplaying (like story writing).  It was an escape into a world where I could truly be me.  I could be the rather feminine, androgynous looking male who was in a relationship with another male.  I could just be me.  I still engage in reading yaoi, but no roleplaying/story writing since no one wants to do that with me, lol.  So, I thank yaoi for just being an outlet and something fun to read.

It's possible to like yaoi and have it help you with gender issues and it not be a phase for you.  It could be a stepping stone.

Anyway, onto whether or not it's a fad:

It's possible it's becoming a fad, but it's also becoming more socially accepted so more people are coming out.  It's also becoming more normal to question one's gender and look at different gender expressions.  I don't really feel it's a fad right now, but I have also never met someone who was like "omg, yaoi is hot!  I am so a guy." or "hey, that person is FtM so I must do that, too, because it's cool."  This is including when I was on various sites catering to yaoi lovers and when I was hanging out with people who were yaoi lovers, and people who just had a slightly different gender expression than their physical appearance.

[patstar]

I agree that with the way society has changed in my lifetime it now has a good deal of appeal, where as it once had absolutely none.  I also think that some people are taking advantage of said present day appeal and "jumping-on-the-bandwagon".  However, as far as it being merely a fad, no.  Feeling free to express a large part of one's nature that has been buried for more than thirty years is not a fad.  Are the beginnings of the downfall of sexism (?)--which I believe shall fall much more quickly and completely than racism, because to name one thing it doesn't have the same them-against-us built in foundation--a fad?

[Edge]

FtMs can be whoever they are same as cis males whether they are effeminate, gay, or not. That doesn't mean they're faking or that it's a fad.
However, I have found that people put waayyy too much emphasis on the social stuff. Like "I'm female, but I don't act like a "typical female" (whatever that is), so I must be male" or "I'm male, but I like typically female stuff (again, what does that even mean?), therefore, I must be female." Also, in my generation and where I grew up, "girly" is considered an insult (yay sexism), so I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of girls started claiming to be trans to avoid being something that is seen as bad.
I've noticed it's even worse among the "genderqueer" people. Every single bit of information I could find talked about people "subverting gender roles" which actually enforces them and which I can't relate to at all. It's very unhelpful and frustrating for people who are actually looking for answers.

[peky]

I see the fad, just like the emo slashers wanna be's; damn posers

[aleon515]

I was just wondering this myself (if, esp, the ftm) was a fad. I think in some it is. I also read an article that stated that all this was due to sexism. (THough this person didn't distinguish between real trans and fadish "trans", so she kind of ruined her argument, imo.) If she hadn't gone so far, I might agree that some of this looks like really narrow gender role interpretation-- and feeling squeezed by this.

OTOH, such is the internet, and I doubt this fadish-ness would exist without the net. Kids will always be exploring various things, and the number of things open to explore are quite a lot higher with the internet. I would guess though that there are really quite a lot more ftm people than has currently been imagined. Older estimates said that there were many more mtf people. So this might account for the seeming increase.

The other thing is that this is most likely a spectrum type of thing and it may just be much more common with the high end of the spectrum in the most distress, and the low ends at no distress at all.

I better stop as I might be rambling. Kind of new on the forum and only have posted in the androgyne side.

--Jay Jay