![]() While watching season one of Euphoria, I remembered the gift of exploration is for everyone, and it is imperative for cis and straight people to divest from the normalcy that gives them power and perpetuates violence against people who cannot meet cultural norms or choose to reject them. Queer and trans people commonly explore in this way, given that our very identities call us towards an internal reckoning. While watching season one of Euphoria, I remembered the gift of exploration is for everyone. Thankfully, with representation on shows like Euphoria, the hope is that these societal standards will change and our rigid ideas of gender will loosen, but that change can't happen quickly enough. When I was assigned male at birth in the '90s, it felt like everything typically coded feminine - heels, nail polish, makeup - was off limits. The curious energy and knowledge that something better exists has been bottled up, and when a person starts to transition, it often starts to come out in creative ways.īefore my transition, I kept my hair short and strictly wore jeans, sweats, and solid t-shirts in an effort to not stand out. Perhaps this is why so many trans people, like Jules (and myself), experience a surge in creativity when they begin their transition, whether through a name change, new pronouns, or trying out new clothes or makeup. Personally, growing up with these restrictions certainly stopped me from experimenting with my aesthetic. All of these barriers can constrict the imagination we're often expending so much energy just trying to survive. Not only are trans people often the butt of jokes, but we face the constant threat of both physical and emotional violence. From birth, we’re subjected to a binary label, forced to use binary public bathrooms, and separated into activities for boys and girls. Our society has countless systems and cultural scripts that keep people from exploring their gender. Her innovative style feels tied to the social isolation of being a trans girl combined with the desire to break conventional notions of gender - an experience I know all too well. The variety in her looks speaks to the confusing balance of building your own style while still wanting to receive romantic and sexual attention in a transmisogynistic society. She paints on colors and shapes in an unconventional, dramatic way. However, when Jules is doing makeup just for herself, she breaks all the rules. For example, in the pilot episode she puts on glittery blue eye shadow, rosy blush, and pink lip gloss (a subtle makeup look for her) before hooking up with Cal, the father of a classmate who she met on Grindr. Although she displays a courageous life force through her aesthetics, sometimes, she leans into more conventional looks to appeal to the male gaze. It also completely erases the nonbinary Black trans people who also face violence.Jules exhibits this same struggle. This is part of a tactic sometimes used by non-Black trans people to use the deaths of and violence against Black trans people as a bargaining chip to prove their point. Others are pointing out how the post ends by telling nonbinary people to "take a seat and let binary trans people, and more specifically Black trans women, be the voices of this community because they are the ones at risk." The post also ignores the huge numbers of nonbinary people who do medically transition, and the huge number of nonbinary people for whom "the safety of a cis body" means always living with being misgendered. ![]() Trans people are not to blame for transphobia. They're not listening to gender abolitionists. ![]() Republicans aren't taking their cues from nonbinary trans people. Right now there are TERFS claiming that trans people don't exist, there are "Drop the T" campaigners complaining that trans people give the queer community a bad name, and we don't need trans people trying to kick other trans people out.
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