Taping

Alex is my husband; a trans man. We bind his chest to mimic a male chest. The need to alter physical appearance is present in everyone; from simply wearing makeup, to getting a nose job, to fake tan, to hair dye, to lip fillers, and far more. And yet somehow the act of binding one’s chest as a transgender person feels like an act of defiance. In a world where changing one’s appearance is so easily accessible and widely acceptable (sometimes even encouraged), transgender changes take on a life beyond that of the physical. Is it the physical changes that society has an aversion to? Or is it the perceived changes to identity? Is it the idea that the changes may be more than skin deep that makes society a little less comfortable? That makes it okay for a cisgendered woman to go and get a boob job, but makes it “unnatural” for a transgendered man to bind their chest to appear flatter?