i am sick and tired of bottom transmen in media. (TW: Mentions of SA)

i am SICK i am TIRED i am OVER IT.

with as little representation that trans males get in modern media, especially romance media, it absolutely appalls me that the representation they do have is either of cookie cutter blue haired twinks or yaoi fetish ukes who are basically women just without boobs (not saying trans men who choose to bottom are women, but its clear in the way these characters are depicted that they are meant to be viewed the same as a female character)

it plays into the broader assumption that if someone has a certain genitalia, they will want to use said genitalia during all aspects of life. This sort of thing is not just an issue for transgender individuals, but also cisgender individuals who simply prefer utilizing their bodies in different ways.

For example, if a cisgendered straight woman doesn't want vaginal penetration as a form of intimacy, it's entirely unheard of. And if a straight man prefers not to penetrate but be penetrated, he's automatically assumed to be gay as if you can't have a preference for how you want to conduct intimate acts while being secure in your own sexuality. Being gender non conforming when it comes to sex should not just be reserved for gay people and lesbians.


In this same train of thought, I feel that the propensity to write and represent transmasculine characters in fiction stems from a similar root: "If someone is born with a vag, they must want to use it accordingly" this statement is FALSE! No two ways about it. A transman does not inherently want to bottom during relationships with a cisgender male because he has a vagina. The fact that people will assume a transgender male even has a vagina and hasn't gone through bottom surgery just proves that they don't actually view trans men as men, but as some secret third gender at best.

The weird and frankly fetishistic trope of the trans male character being dicked down by his cisgender boyfriend that has invaded fandom spaces is not reflective of actual queer relationships. We need more trans representation where its a trans man topping a cis man, or a trans man topping anyone at all for that matter.

Some people might think that this matter isn't that big of a deal, but when one single portrayal of a type of people is constantly pushed and advertised to the public, the public will begin to believe that the inaccurate representation is a reality. If the trans man on TV or in your fanfiction is a "femboy" who basically just replaces the role of a female character, then why not assume that the trans man you meet in real life is the same way?

The misrepresentation of trans men has already become an issue for many queer people in general. It can even put transmascs in dangerous situations by making people assume that they are weak and easy to take advantage of. For example, multiple trans men who I know personally have been victims of sexual assault by a cis man with some sort of chaser fetish who assumed that they were easy to target because all trans men are ever advertised as are exploitable commodities that you can open up on your next incognito tab. They are represented as such, so they are treated as such.

This post was mostly a rant on my personal gripes, but I hope it can shed light to an issue that's been seemingly invisible to anyone I've talked to that isn't trans themselves. Trans men deserve better. Trans people deserve better. Stop supporting harmful stereotypes.