Be soft.

Some guy in 1893 reading Dracula for the first time: Huh.. What a strange fellow…why doesn’t he drink wine?

-Musculoskeletal damage. Binders are indiscriminate compression tools; they can’t flatten the chest without applying pressure every other anatomical structure underneath including the spine, ribs, lungs and heart. Many people who bind experience chronic back pain, shoulder pain, sharp stabbing chest pains, permeneantly decreased lung capacity, literal spine deformation, etc etc.

-A continuation of the above but the ribs are actually jointed bones. Their ability to flex is absolutely vital to their ability to withstand trauma and protect your vital organs. Imagine the damage that would be done to your elbow if your bent your arm to full flexion and then tightly bound it closed like that, for six, eight, twelve hours per day, every day, for weeks or months or years. And you don’t NEED a functioning arm to live!

-Tissue atrophy. Forcing chest tissue to lay in an unnatural way can and will change the way that tissue looks, even to risk of atrophy. Some people who bind and only moderately dislike the way their chest looks find that they HATE the way it looks after binding for a period of time. Tissue atrophy can also make top surgery more difficult in the future, and increase the risk of complications like nerve damage.

-Worsened dysphoria. Once someone starts binding and becomes accustomed to seeing themselves with a flat chest, it can be much more difficult to see yourself without one, and dysphoria that much more intolerable. You can imagine the psychological feedback loop of binding more in response.

Health impact of chest binding among transgender adults: a community-engaged, cross-sectional study Inside the Landmark, Long Overdue Study on Chest Binding  

Binding FAQ

Howdy.

Valais Blacknose Sheep from Switzerland

I’d like to see less people spending their time arguing about if gay men are allowed to wear leather to what is essentially a gay street party and more people talking about how to get involved w the community in genuinely meaningful ways outside of pride. If what you’re concerned about is the co-opting of a movement you’re a part of, the best way to counteract that is to actually participate in that movement. Be a part of the on-the-ground stuff that matters, organize action within your local lgbt community to resist gentrification and police violence, volunteer your time at shelters and harm reduction clinics, advocate for easy access to HIV drugs and education, schedule gay readings groups for radical literature, fuck, start a queercore band, something.

I could stop “identifying” as asexual right now, but that wouldn’t change the material reality that I am not attracted to people of any gender and therefore, am by definition, asexual.

I could stop “labelling” my orientation right now and just say “I’m not interested in people of any gender, and never have been”, but that won’t stop straight society making condescending remarks like- “you’ll find someone eventually”, or “you’ll grow out of it” or “maybe you should get your hormones checked”.

I could say “I have no orientation” or “I’m not gay or straight”, but people would still act like I’m just trying to be trendy or different.

I could call myself “straight” or let people assume I am, but that won’t make me any more attracted to men.