I just saw an article talking about how the demand for trans men & femboys in adult content is skyrocketing, and they fully presented it as a good thing.
As a chronically suspicious bastard with a sociology degree, let me tell you one fucking thing: visibility is not always positive, and sure as shit is not always safe.
We are actively losing rights across the board, across the community, across the country, across the world. Sure, people may be curious…but why do they have to turn that curiosity into fetishization?
I want to make myself perfectly clear: there are personal narratives, movies, podcasts, zines, journals, medical textbooks, psychology textbooks, support groups, community events, and so many more resources surrounding trans education outside of adult content. Does that mean that pornography is completely unethical? No, of course not. However…historically, largely, it is inherently violent and exploitative unless the work is consciously and consistently done to ensure otherwise. Especially when it features members of marginalized groups.
Please remember that while a select few may be curious, that has more to do with themselves and their attraction than it does with us as a sociological group. If they do not listen when they speak, if they do not vote to protect our rights alongside their own, if they do not make space for us, if they do not consider us human…then I struggle to see it as anything more than fetishization.
Our community is vibrant and rich with history, and we have fought for decades to gain what we have access to today. I am begging you to realize that you are worth more than being exclusively jerk-off material.
