Short film about FTM may be viral

[dalebert]

WARNING: This shows a little breast tissue subtly and tastefully but may be NSFW.

[AdamMLP]

Ah, more binding with bandages.  Lovely.

[dalebert]

Ah, more binding with bandages.  Lovely.

I was thinking the same thing when I saw that. Isn't that considered not safe?

BTW, I discovered this on ->-bleeped-<- in the gaybros section. I was pleasantly surprised to see it posted there and getting predominantly up-voted. It seems encouraging to see a section for stereo-typically masculine gay men be welcoming to a topic like this.

[Xenguy]

It looks amazing <3 I just watched it, it was touching, definitely showing it to my parents. (:

[aleon515]

Wow, very powerful stuff. Thanks for posting.

--Jay

[Alexthecat]

Ah, more binding with bandages.  Lovely.

I think it puts more impact on those who don't know trans. Everyone knows an ace bandage squeezes, if they put a binder in the video cis people wouldn't "get it".

[AdamMLP]

I think it puts more impact on those who don't know trans. Everyone knows an ace bandage squeezes, if they put a binder in the video cis people wouldn't "get it".

It's also very dangerous, and it's the image a lot of people see of trans men in the media, so they think it's the "right" way to do it if they're experimenting or binding for the first time.  I've seen people on the internet binding regularly with bandages without knowing the dangers that they pose, other cheap alternatives, or how to use them in a slightly safer way if you're absolutely having to use them.  It is possible to use binders in media to get the same effect, it's a little easier through text admittedly, but I did a piece of coursework on a trans guy, and I think I still managed to get the message across with a word limit of a few thousand words for an entire scene.

Romeos is the only trans film that I know of that uses binders, but that manages to do it successfully.  I just think it's a very dangerous image to be showing people.

[aleon515]

Trans the Movie has a kid using a binder. I think it was effective.

--Jay

[Declan.]

He's also packing with a sock, which implies to me that he doesn't have access to alternatives. Not everyone does. Seems like he's making the best of what he has.

[AdamMLP]

Or that they don't want to/cant show a phallic object.

Even if they are poor, I know of a binder for £3 including shipping, or there's back supports which are safer than bandages at least. I see no real excuse for it, except that its artistic and easier.

Think about it another way, if you told your mother, that's all she'd seen, and she looked up something like "using bandages to hide chest", or something similar, she'd stumble across a whole army of cracked ribs, bruising and pain. It's not going to do you any favours in showing her that this is the best thing for you to do. My girlfriend hates me wearing my binders because she's worried they'll harm me.

[Declan.]

Not sure I agree with you about them not wanting to show a phallic object. They could have skipped that part altogether. It's an artistic video, so it's likely that everything was included for a reason. It's even possible that the character in the video isn't used to binding/packing and is experimenting with household items to see how he feels about it.

They couldn't show him putting on a binder and have a subtitle that says "this binder is £3 from ________.com." Even if there is a binder that cheap, it's probably cheap for a reason and won't work very well. Some people are so dysphoric that they don't care if they're damaging their bodies as long as they don't look like they have breasts. I understand where you're coming from, and I understand your concern, but if someone starts hurting themselves from binding with bandages, I think they would look it up and find out they're not supposed to do that.

[overdrive]

I don't think for these purposes an ace bandage is wrong. Putting on a binder in the few seconds of this video would like like them putting on something like Under armour shirt or a sports bra to the casual, uninformed observer. I think with the few seconds here the ace bandage and sock get the message across.

One thing that did strike me as odd but nobody else mentioned is he is wearing women's panties under his mens boxer briefs. Maybe I'm in the minority by not wanting to do this and either wearing packer or prosthetic against my skin or in some style of jock.

[aleon515]

Yeah I saw the comments on ->-bleeped-<-. Apparently some people thought it was odd he was wearing girl's underwear. I sort of though, this might be a kid who is either not out to his parents or his parents aren't accepting. By wearing underwear over underwear, he probably could get away with only having a couple pair of boy's underwear to his name.

And yes, I imagine it is more effective as an artistic device (the ace bandages) and the sock. It's just too bad that when trans kids see, as it is so damaging. In Trans the Movie he is talking about the binders and then steps into it, which not what you'd ordinarily do putting on an undershirt.

--Jay

[muffinpants]

Makes me happy that this is getting positive attention. But might have been better if he had used a binder instead.. I understand some of the reasoning yall have come up with, but this may indicate to some that this is perfectly safe. When I was around 16, I tried binding with duck tape once.. um, talk about scary! I knew it was probably dangerous, but I didn't realize how much I'd be constricting my breathing. Felt pretty silly after that

[King Malachite]

I don't find it odd at all that he was wearing women's panties.  I wear women's panties (actually wearing a pink pair right now).  I brought some boxers a couple of years ago, wore most of them once or twice just to see how they would look on me, packed them up and never wore them again.  The only pair I wore more than twice, I still wore less than 10 times.  The women's panties I wear actually make me feel more masculine than the boxers because they hug my body more.  Even when I wore the boxers, I'd wear women's underwear under them, and I would do the same thing with briefs.


As for the video, I think does have the potential to be very powerful, though I find the deep breathing at the end to be creepy and unnecessary.  At any rate, I did find that using the ace bandage did send a strong message.  Even packing with the socks sent a strong message.  It beat packing with a small rubber chicken...

[benjamin-j]

i dont think that bindin with ace bandages is a big problem in the film, because the people who dont start with an ace bandage are in the minority, i just hope that there is some kind of disclaimer or list of resourses so people can find out what the best binding options are for them.

as for the underwear thing i actually do that too, because (ok, quick bit of background i take birth control pills and i get a bit of breakage bleeding sometimes, but mostly i just do it for my own insecurity about leaking or showing blood even tho theres like no chance of that) if you wear pads with boxers on your periods it could leak down the side (has happened to me) and also boxers move around a lot so you can never be quite sure if the pad is under ur v-spot or like off to the side. clearly ive thought too much about this.
hopefully after i go on t i can go with just boxers

[Sir Real]

@Benjamin
I find briefs work pretty well for that also, of course some better than others. But if it doesn't bother you and works and you have it, that's great too.

[Bombadil]

i thought that was great. I understand the concern about the ace bandage but this wasn't really about how to be ftm it was about being ftm. there is a difference. shoot, just a week ago I was still mostly using ace bandages.

and yeah, I have totally done the female underwear under the male.

[Queermosecual]

I watched this a few times and want to say that I'm really glad to be seeing more exposure. However, I must admit that I am a bit concerned, and I will also admit that it is most likely due to my own ignorance. The monologue and the message could possibly be more confusing for someone that doesn't understand the internal conflict of being trans. It could appear that the entire performance (binding) is in fact a rejection of one's self, rather than acceptance.

And it was hard for me to hear the part about men not crying. I want so badly for this movement to be one that dispels stereotypes and gendered expectations. How does this keep us from further instantiating this idea that masculinity has to be represented by a certain type of body and certain behaviors?

I really hope that I did not/am not offending anyone. This is a real struggle for me and I want to better understand.  I apologize in advance if I have.