boyonetta:

Okay, so last time I made a post about my issues with trans headcanons, a bunch of cis people got offended and felt the need to come to the aid of trans folk and speak over me, a trans person, because they completely misunderstood what I was trying to say, so let’s give it another shot.

My (personal) issues with trans headcanons include, but are not limited to:

1. Aggressive insistence that headcanon = canon

A lot of people who make trans headcanons–any kind of headcanons, really, but especially trans and other LGB headcanons–are, for lack of a better term, extremely narcissistic. For some reason, they’ve got it in their heads that they have the final say on another person’s creation’s gender identity, and they will attack, belittle, insult, and harass anyone who disagrees with their interpretation of their character of choice.

If you don’t think Naruto is trans? You’re a transphobe.

Don’t agree with their trans Levi headcanon? You must hate trans people.

These people make call out post after call out post about folks who interpret characters differently than they do. They slander. They lie. They exaggerate every little detail. They do everything in their power to make the person they disagree with look like an awful human being, regardless of whether or not they or that person are trans or cis.

As stated above, you find this sort of behavior when dealing with any sort of headcanon, but the LGBT+ headcanon community is especially guilty of this. They’re kind of notorious for it, in fact.

2. Aggressive insistence that headcanon = representation

Your personal headcanon is not representation. You aren’t creating representation by saying, “X character is trans,” or, “All your favs are trans.” That does nothing but stroke your own inflated ego.

Content creators are responsible for giving us representation. They have final say in the matter of their creations’ genders, sexualities, races; you name it, they control it. If a character is cis, they are cis, and they represent cis people. You headcanoning them as trans does not make them represent trans folk. That’s not how representation works.

If it makes you feel better, that’s fine, but don’t call it representation, and don’t act like you’re doing the trans community a huge favor by headcanoning Ichigo Kurosaki as a trans man.

3. Treating trans headcanons and, by extension, trans identities like a popularity contest or fad



Most of the trans headcanons I’ve stumbled across on this site are made for one of two reasons (and the authors either out-right state their reasons for making them or make it very obvious why they’re making them). 1) the creator wants to piss cis people off by stating that all their favs are trans; 2) the creator wants brownie points/it’s a fad.



There are so very rarely any well-thought-out posts about trans headcanons, but I’ve seen multiple posts by trans folk calling for people to take them more seriously. People frequently treat trans headcanons like a way to get popular, or gain approval, or be part of the pack, or else they weaponize them and turn them into a childish game of, “Let’s see how many people I can piss off!”

That shit is insulting, and it’s pissed a lot of trans folk off; not cis, trans. We don’t like having our identities weaponized. We don’t like having our identities turned into a way to gain followers or asspats. The shallowness of most trans headcanons–especially when people put so much effort into literally any other kind of headcanon–is very telling of this site’s opinion of us.

4. Fetishization

We do not exist to satisfy your dickgirl and cuntboy fetishes.

We do not exist to satisfy your cross-dressing fetish.



Trans men do not exist to satisfy your mpreg fetish.

Stop using trans headcanons as an excuse to draw triggering, fetishistic porn of trans folk.

Stop.

5. Enforcing gender roles

Not all feminine DMAB characters are trans women.

Not all masculine DFAB characters are trans men.

Stop basing your trans headcanons off of how masculine or feminine a character is. Stop basing your trans headcanons off of gender roles.



6. Misinformation

People (particularly cis people) who make trans headcanons haphazardly and willy-nilly are possibly some of the most ignorant, misinformed individuals on this website. They have no idea what surgery options we have available for us–nor do they know how much these things cost. They have no idea how to describe dysphoria, or how it manifests, or even the process of treating it.

They just slap a dress on a DMAB character or a plaid button-up shirt on a DFAB character and call it a fucking day. No research, no effort, no nothing.

Which brings me to my final point…

7. Stereotyping

Oh my God, I have never been stereotyped more than I have been by the trans headcanon community.

Every trans person is pre-transition, and they almost always adhere to strict gender roles. They all have the same fucking hair. They all have the same fucking clothes. They all have the same fucking sob stories. It’s like I’m looking at a goddamn clone army.

Guys, the trans community is a varied and vibrant one. We’re all individuals, with different passions, styles, and interests. Post-transition trans people exist. Gender non-conforming trans people exist. Trans people of all races, sexualities, and backgrounds exist.

And, for the love of God, stop drawing every single trans man with ACE bandages wrapped around his chest. Do you know how dangerous that is? No, of fucking course you don’t.

In conclusion

In conclusion, I’d like to state that I don’t hate the concept of trans headcanons. I have my own trans headcanons that I’ve put a good amount of work into privately. I don’t hate every last person who makes trans headcanons. I don’t think every person who makes trans headcanons is guilty of the things I listed.

But enough are that I and other trans folk have been made to feel uncomfortable, fetishized, and objectified, and this behavior needs to be addressed.

