Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I've spent a good number of years on Tumblr, although it has only been more recently that I've taken part in trans discussions around there.
One thing that I've found that there is a lot of negativity around those parts, and a good amount of hostility within and between it's trans communities, mostly regarding definitions and medicine's place in trans issues.

My question is this: What is your experience with Tumblr's trans communities and are there any tags or blogs that you find particularly fruitful in trans discussions or transitioning resources?

Tumblr is the arm pit of the internet. Nevertheless there are few good groups and so on for trans guys.

--Jay

Yeah, it's not just the trans parts of tumblr. For whatever reason, there seems to be an inproportionate amount of negativity there compared to a lot of other places. Maybe it's just my experience.

Ηοw do I join a trans conversation /community there?

Im fairly new to the site

I wouldn't get into Tumblr if someone offered to pay me.

Immature bunch of a-holes over there from what I've seen.  No thank you.

75% of the things in tumblr trans discussions offend me, so I stay away from them all.

The tumblr trans community is hands down one of the most disgusting things I've ever encountered. Most likely because the majority of it is compromised of 15 year olds who are use trans* as a cutesy label and end up causing damage to the actual community by offending and hurting people who are actually suffering with dysphoria.

Quote from: Kreuzfidel on April 12, 2014, 12:41:53 AM
I wouldn't get into Tumblr if someone offered to pay me.

Immature bunch of a-holes over there from what I've seen.  No thank you.

^ Yep.

I just hate how it's so overly political for no reason, just for the the sake of being that way. Sometimes I read things where I just find myself going, has this person ever met a cis person before? Or did they and not realize it??

Too many people who just want a reason to be involved in LGBTQ stuff imo.

(personally. I use tumblr for cute stuff lol)

I'm active in Tumblr but not in the trans community. I do follow couple trans blogs but that's it. I guess the obnoxious side of the community is what keeps me from actually taking part in it.

But I got to say that even if I follow trans-related blogs, I have never come across with THAT kinda people. It really depends on the blogs you follow what kinda stuff ends up in the dashboard.

I used to get on tumblr, but I don't know if I would say there is a trans community on there. There are some cool individuals who blog about their transitions and talk about trans issues, but it's mostly a bunch of idiots arguing. The format also makes it difficult to engage in real conversations, I've found.

I follow a couple of trans people and post occasionally about my transition.  I tend to avoid getting into arguments or anything, mostly because I can't tell who's being sarcastic or who genuinely thinks that "die cis scum" is a good thing to say...  I only post about it on there because it's somewhere to keep a record that I'm not going to lose if my laptop crashes or when I move or something.  If anyone else finds it useful then that's just a bonus.

Tumblr mostly gives the trans community a bad name. Stuff like this (language warning) (http://cqchatesyou.tumblr.com/post/81954619948/why-is-it-that-cis-people-just-cant-take) just serves to enforce transphobia amongst cis people and shows complete lack of regard for fellow human beings.

lol... The phrase, "Die, cis scum" is just... How could anyone say something like that seriously? Kind of boggles my mind that someone could hate people for being born in the body they identify as.

I used to have a couple of accounts.  My friends show me some hilarious excerpts I always hope are satire.  I'm sure a lot of the stuff these "trans" people pull from their behinds is genuinely offensive to people who actually have gender dysphoria, but I don't care to check because I don't want my expectations to be justified in this case.

EDIT: just saw Pikachu's post.  I'm lost for words.

Quote from: Kimberley Beauregard on April 12, 2014, 10:03:35 AM
I'm sure a lot of the stuff these "trans" people pull from their behinds is genuinely offensive to people who actually have gender dysphoria, but I don't care to check because I don't want my expectations to be justified in this case.

Truth. I've been offended by so many posts on there because so many people tend to get very extreme with their views. The biggest thing that pisses me off is the number of people who think that social dysphoria isn't a reason to be trans. I see too many people basically saying you must have CRIPPLING PHYSICAL dysphoria to be trans. Like if you just have mild dysphoria, or have more social than physical dysphoria, then to tumblr, you're a lying poser "transtrender" which is one of the stupidest things ever. How can they expect people to respect and accept their identities when they can't even accept others within the community. I get so offended and upset when I see posts basically implying that because I'm not suicidal right now, then I must not be trans. Not only is it alienating anyone who has more mild dysphoria, but it makes people exaggerate their feelings just to fit in/ be "trans enough".

tl;dr I stay out of everything LGBT on tumblr because there's too much community infighting and hostility that their 'activism' isn't getting them anywhere.

I didn't know there was a community on Tumblr, I follow a few other trans people to see how their transition is going or how they are in general and to make sure they are okay, otherwise I mainly reblog things that interest me some trans related and some that are not.

I haven't come across anything negative as described here at least that I recall. The very few times someone posts an anon message they received basically being cruel they not only shoot them down but others do also in the comments.

BTW not saying that it doesn't happen I just haven't come across it myself....well again that I can recall.

Quote from: sad panda on April 12, 2014, 02:35:28 AM
I just hate how it's so overly political for no reason, just for the the sake of being that way. Sometimes I read things where I just find myself going, has this person ever met a cis person before? Or did they and not realize it??

Too many people who just want a reason to be involved in LGBTQ stuff imo.

(personally. I use tumblr for cute stuff lol)

Yeah, I agree with this.. and I use Tumblr myself when I need a good laugh or something, but I don't take it seriously and avoid serious arguments/debates on there like the plague, better not to get involved..

Quote from: timbuck2 on April 12, 2014, 12:58:03 AM
The tumblr trans community is hands down one of the most disgusting things I've ever encountered. Most likely because the majority of it is compromised of 15 year olds who are use trans* as a cutesy label and end up causing damage to the actual community by offending and hurting people who are actually suffering with dysphoria.

This. Between the "I want cute pronouns too", "call me bunself", "I have no dysphoria whatsoever, you just need to learn to love your body too" crowd, and the bizarre hostility between a certain trans women group and trans men, I'm not getting involved in that mess. It's worse than disgusting, it's dangerous at times with the doxing going on.

There are posts by younger trans people saying they came out to their parents, and their parents Googled around and found this "bunself" stuff and think that's what being transgender means. It's causing real harm.

I despise the trans community on Tumblr. Obviously not all of the individuals there are bad, but just...oh my god. Seeing all the posts about how you need severe dysphoria to be trans, or how you should only start HRT if you'll kill yourself/harm yourself if you don't, all of that actually made me start doubting whether or not I'm trans. I started feeling like I was a fake and I was fooling myself, because...I don't know, because I don't have terrible dysphoria or because I want to go on testosterone, but I wouldn't be suicidal if I didn't. But then I decided I'm not going to let people on the Internet tell me who I am. Lots of trans people have similar stories to myself, and they've seen therapists and given the go-ahead to start HRT. No-one ranting over the Internet is going to make me question my identity ever again. Those people are just poisonous, so destructive and do more harm than good, for the most part.

That said, Tumblr itself I like, mostly. Coming across a trans guy on Tumblr is actually the reason I decided to finally explore how I'd been feeling for a long time, and how I eventually realised I was trans.

Quote from: blink on April 12, 2014, 12:25:02 PM
This. Between the "I want cute pronouns too", "call me bunself", "I have no dysphoria whatsoever, you just need to learn to love your body too" crowd, and the bizarre hostility between a certain trans women group and trans men, I'm not getting involved in that mess. It's worse than disgusting, it's dangerous at times with the doxing going on.

There are posts by younger trans people saying they came out to their parents, and their parents Googled around and found this "bunself" stuff and think that's what being transgender means. It's causing real harm.

I feel like we either follow eachother on there or have been coming across all of the exact same posts xD
It's disconcerting how so many young kids want to fit in with trans people despite having absolutely no symptoms whatsoever. Completely comfortable in their own bodies, not understanding the struggle so many of us go through, and trying so desperately to be non conformist by conforming to some shiny new label they found on the internet.

Bashing cis people and telling everyone to love their body for what it is doesnt make me think your trans, it makes me think you've got a lot of internal self hatred you need to work on.

Quote from: Jason C on April 12, 2014, 01:37:55 PM
I despise the trans community on Tumblr. Obviously not all of the individuals there are bad, but just...oh my god. Seeing all the posts about how you need severe dysphoria to be trans, or how you should only start HRT if you'll kill yourself/harm yourself if you don't, all of that actually made me start doubting whether or not I'm trans. I started feeling like I was a fake and I was fooling myself, because...I don't know, because I don't have terrible dysphoria or because I want to go on testosterone, but I wouldn't be suicidal if I didn't. But then I decided I'm not going to let people on the Internet tell me who I am. Lots of trans people have similar stories to myself, and they've seen therapists and given the go-ahead to start HRT. No-one ranting over the Internet is going to make me question my identity ever again. Those people are just poisonous, so destructive and do more harm than good, for the most part.

That said, Tumblr itself I like, mostly. Coming across a trans guy on Tumblr is actually the reason I decided to finally explore how I'd been feeling for a long time, and how I eventually realised I was trans.

I've never seen anyone on Tumblr claim you need severe dysphoria to be trans, just dysphoria.  Nor have I seen anyone say you should only start HRT if you'll kill yourself.

Quote from: wheat thins are delicious on April 12, 2014, 05:26:21 PM
I've never seen anyone on Tumblr claim you need severe dysphoria to be trans, just dysphoria.  Nor have I seen anyone say you should only start HRT if you'll kill yourself.

I think there's two types of trans people on tumblr: the nice people who blog about their transition, and the jerks/immature kids/etc. If you haven't run into the latter, I'm jealous :/

The main problem I have with the trans community on Tumblr is that it's basically divided itself into factions which spend most of their time insulting each other. Sometimes I see more posts questioning the validity of other people's trans experience that I do people just talking about their own trans experience.

It particularly annoys me that people get called transtrenders, and that people say that teens are just being trans to be cool. Because we all know that being transgender is so easy, and society is so accepting, and this is totally something that people do by choice that gets them lots of friends.......

I think that it's highly likely that there are a bunch of young people on Tumblr who are just experimenting with their gender and maybe some of them will go on to transition permanently, and maybe some of them will realise that they are happy with their birth gender and that's fine too. I don't see why anyone should attack or belittle them for it.

There also seems to be a big bias against non-binary folk on Tumblr - If you don't consider yourself 100% male or 100% female then you aren't welcome.

Sometimes there is great content on there and I do follow a couple of trans guys who post interesting stuff but it is definitely not a safe space a lot of people.

Quote from: Kreuzfidel on April 12, 2014, 12:41:53 AM
I wouldn't get into Tumblr if someone offered to pay me.

Immature bunch of a-holes over there from what I've seen.  No thank you.

I've never been on tumblr.

'course I've never been on Facebook, either.   :laugh:

Quote from: timbuck2 on April 12, 2014, 01:51:49 PM
I feel like we either follow eachother on there or have been coming across all of the exact same posts xD
It's disconcerting how so many young kids want to fit in with trans people despite having absolutely no symptoms whatsoever. Completely comfortable in their own bodies, not understanding the struggle so many of us go through, and trying so desperately to be non conformist by conforming to some shiny new label they found on the internet.

Bashing cis people and telling everyone to love their body for what it is doesnt make me think your trans, it makes me think you've got a lot of internal self hatred you need to work on.

I don't have a Tumblr, but maybe we're both reading some blogs in common.
The "die cis scum" posts need to stop, too. Reverse discrimination doesn't do anybody any good. It's not going to "teach them what it feels like to be discriminated against" (some people actually claim this reasoning behind the "die cis scum" posts). Breeding more hostility is not a smart way to address discrimination.

Judging by some posts in this thread, in contrast to the "I have no dysphoria but want cute pronouns" crowd there is also a problem on Tumblr of "you aren't trans if you aren't about to commit suicide due to extreme dysphoria". I wonder if the latter isn't some kind of misguided backlash against the former. Tumblr has a lot of misguided backlash.

Tumblr is whatever you make of it. You can have great experiences, you can have terrible experiences. It's a really mixed crowd of people. "EFF" yeah FTMs (censoring myself) is a popular page. I think it has some big problems but if you want to find people, check that out.