Distasteful, disrespectful, reductive.
- DCS
- 1 day ago
- 11 min read
I was recently told that my posts/collections about trans works were, "disrespectful" "distasteful" and "reductive" and I thought, "Damn, what a great theme for a list!"
Yeah, right.
In truth, what I was actually feeling was sadness and frustration. The lists I curate are specifically for the benefit of trans creatives: to help uplift trans work but also to help trans readers and fans find work that better fits their tastes. And when I spoke about this comment on bsky, I discovered a lot of my peers had dealt with similar disdain from strangers on the internet about their own trans stories.
Trans work is often heavily criticized: especially from within the trans community. Some of my harshest critiques have been other trans folks -- which has been extremely disheartening, to say the least. Artists and authors know you can't please everyone all the time, but this often feels especially true when it comes to works that contain trans depictions.
There never seems to be a universally "right" way to do it (nor should there be) but that's not necessarily the issue: the issue is that some readers can't let sleeping dogs lie. If they deem the work to be "problematic" in any way, that is a reason to tear it down, regardless of the good it might bring someone else.
It's okay to want things. It's okay to seek out fiction that you feel seen in. It's okay to indulge in fantasy.
So, the theme of this list is complaints. It's sins. It's the distasteful, disrespectful and reductive work that many of us create and many of us love.
As I write each "sin" for a story, keep in mind the variety of what is being considered sinful, distasteful, disrespectful or reductive. Many of the things down below are real complaints the authors have received about their work. You'll notice the range of tone in these stories varies wildly and that is because no matter what kind of trans story you make: there is seemingly someone always waiting in the shadows to condemn it.
I'm listing these complaints to show that any art can fall into these "sins" if someone is willing to overlook the nuances of art and story telling. After all, if my tame ass art can be considered an issue to someone, anyone's can. Especially when we're under a regime that looks to stomp out any depiction of trans people.
Moonnlit Vow -- Gwen can hardly believe what she's seeing when her former lover returns to the monastery as a man.
✝ Sins ✝
Reducing masculinity down to having body hair. A female cannot lust for that!
Depicting a woman being fucked by a werewolf. This is unnatural.
Genital transformation and fantasies of twisting the body into a new shape.
This is my comic and there was genuinely someone who told me it was bad because I gave the dude hairy arms. That I was "equating it with manliness" somehow and that the comic was shallow for doing so and not worth any support. They believed nobody would like this comic but the reception has been good and I think fantasies of becoming a cool manly werewolf are really quite mundane and normal. It's OK to want to be desired by a hot nun.
I am not the only person who has received complaints about the level of body hair I've given a trans character: this is, in fact, a frequent complaint a lot of people who depict trans characters have to deal with. Everyone is either too hairy or not hairy enough, I guess?
Anyways, of course, I made a list for that. It's the "Hairy Trans Men and Not So Hairy Trans Men" list. And it's a good one! Check it out.
Monitored Activity -- A security guard clocks in for one hell of an abnormal shift.
✝ Sins ✝
Employee pursuing his boss. Every relationship must be equal in power.
Writing about blood and horrific imagery: endorsing participating in the occult.
Perverse main character makes transmasculine people look bad.
This book is still upcoming (above is a preview chapter) this year and is written by an author I'm working with and someone I'm slowly getting to know. Mitch has a good head on his shoulders: and he's got the willingness to indulge in the flaws of a character in a way I quite like and admire.
Lots of people are afraid to put trans or queer people into horrific scenarios or depict them with disturbing imagery: but the horror genre has always been more queer and trans than many others. For a long time, they were some of the only stories we had that touched on feelings that mirrored gender dysphoria. So, it's no surprise to me that the erotic horror genre seems especially loved by trans folks.
Love me, Kill me -- When Jalisa wakes up in Castle Heavenstead, she is already dead.
✝ Sins ✝
Disrespecting the dead: a man preforms necromancy to resurrect a woman he loves.
Reducing the body to an object: allowing it to unnaturally changed.
Depicting a trans woman giving in to her lust. Women should remain pure!
I quite like stories where trans folks get full, mystical autonomy over their bodies. This is often a dream of mine: some sexy person is whisking me away and blessing me with the changes I've wanted all my life. And they don't judge me for it: they even indulge in it with me.
So, it's very cool to see more stories like this. It's very neat to read it from certain perspectives and to have something wrapped up in the dark occult.
Hi, Strangeness -- A liminal highway worms it's way through the overlooked spaces in America, and carries with is strange geography and uncanny phenomenon.
✝ Sins ✝
Distastefully putting trans people in horrific situations.
Trans women who don't pass. We must strive to always look cis, to always blend in.
Depicting transphobia and trauma. These things should never be shown.
I'm unfamiliar with this comic (it was introduced to me through asking folks to submit stories for this list) but the list of complaints is one I'm very familiar with.
A lot of trans femme authors and artists speak about how upset readers can get with the depictions of trans women. This is a familiar issue to transmasc creators like me because the complaints are often reflections of each other. I see a lot of people upset when a trans woman is depicted as hairy, tall, or not being on HRT. I see the same complaints thrown at depictions of trans men too: though people are often more upset when the man is short. Heaven forbid.
In general: it seems that body hair is a sin amongst us trans folks that many simply cannot forgive. Broad shoulders are also never to be forgiven: neither is a hourglass figure or body fat in general. And again: these are complaints that people throw at any trans depiction. Men, women, enbies and more, can never look a certain way: almost as though some people (even within our community) would prefer not to see us at all.
Your Kisses of Salt -- A picture book for adults, this zine collects together 20 pages of illustrations and single-panel comics about a transmasc halfling/elf Finian and their love interest Gianna, a human woman.
✝ Sins ✝
Depicting a short person in an adult situation. This encourages the wrong behavior.
Reducing a trans man by showing him bottoming. Men should be dominate.
Showing bondage as sexy. BDSM is wrong, demeaning, and dangerous.
I really like short characters. I love halflings, I love dwarves, I love gnomes, I love fairies -- I love it all! But, in recent years, folks really seem to take issue with the stature of an adult. Some are quick to make wild claims about these depictions and label anyone who likes a shortie, or even just size difference in general, as someone to be avoided and feared.
For me though, being a short, hairy halfling who is surrounded by friends, food, and sexy tall woman sounds like the perfect life.
The Absurd Theatre of Eric Hanada -- Eric is an actor with a witch hunting side gig, hoping to cleanse his fiancée Bianka’s death curse. It’s a long story. All he wants is to live a relaxing life with his loved ones, but the oddly theatrical world he lives in has something else in mind for him...
✝ Sins ✝
Promoting unhealthy habits by showing a fat woman as attractive.
Showcasing horrific elements, like blood and vomit, and intending to disturb.
Fantasies of a trans man changing his genitals. Our bodies should be untouched.
Caede originally got more attention for their work when they were drawing gentle femdom (a genre they still feel passionately about) but it seemingly put them in a situation where folks only expected "good, clean fun" from them as an author and artist.
This is an unfortunate situation to put anyone in and something I can relate to. My work naturally isn't very dark: but even I second guess myself when I think about depicting a character with flaws some might deem "too extreme" to showcase in a romantic or erotic setting. It's flattened a lot of my work in the past and is something I'm trying to move past because I don't want the fear of the mob to decide what I'm creating.
The good news is that most of Caede's fanbase seems to be open and willing to check out what comes next for Eric and Bianka!
EJ Zine -- A collection of SFW and erotic comics and illustrations, featuring the characters Eoghan and Jerome.
✝ Sins ✝
Depicting a trans man as fat, hairy, and wearing jewelry. Something has to change.
Shows a trans man topping when trans men should always be shown as bottoms.
Fetishistic feminine clothing on a trans man. Men should dress like men.
It's tough to think that these could be people's actual complaints, isn't it? But the first sin here is a complaint the author has actually gotten and the other two are complaints I've seen thrown at similar works.
I've seen claims that trans men should never be shown in "feminine" clothing because it "makes us look bad" and "makes us look like women" -- as though women are something to be afraid of and as though that's a worry every transmasculine person has.
Psych Ward in the Sky -- PWITS is a story following a group of individuals residing in a space vessel designed to be a correctional facility for criminally insane.
✝ Sins ✝
Romanticizing psych wards and mental illness. These should never be shown.
Age gap and relationship between patient and doctor.
Depictions of self harm. This behavior is unacceptable and cannot be spoken on.
This is a challenging piece of fiction for me. In all honesty, it's the exact kind of thing I tend to avoid. Still, I see the positive impact it has on those who enjoy the work. It's messy, it's dark, it's imperfect. It doesn't expect any trans character to be a certain way or hold up a certain standard and it isn't afraid to show a lot of things our society is trying to hide.
I think Olurinatti's video on the subject can speak more on why I don't think fiction like this "promotes" people into becoming "criminals". In general, I think people are so afraid of prisoners that it's hard for them to grapple with the real consequences of the prison industrial complex.
Werewolf Movies -- An erotic short story about surviving dystopias, trans bodies, and werewolf movies at the end of the world.
✝ Sins ✝
Fantasies of changing the human body. All bodies are pure and should not be changed.
Comparing trans people to werewolves. Animals and beasts are not to be idolized.
Romanticizing dystopia.
Spikekat's work deals with a lot of dreams depicting violence and erotica smashed together. Erotic horror is nothing new but it does upset people who think that trans people should have clean, sterile kinks and fetishes: often because they're worried the community will "look bad" in the eyes of a cis-normative society.
Blackbird Hunting -- Something is stalking the people of Frontage.
✝ Sins ✝
Depicting a trans person before they've transitioned.
Including a genderfluid character: we should all strive for the safety of the binary.
Showcasing and promoting the destruction of the family unit.
EarACorn spoke with me briefly about how aggressive folks can get with genderfluid characters and this is something I've experienced myself. It seems that even trans folks can fall into the false comfort of the binary. The thinking is that if we were "just manly enough" or "just feminine enough" that things would be better, that we would be accepted.
But, this has never been true. And the gender binary hurts everyone, even cis people. Banish it from your mind. Be a man, be a woman, be anything you want: but do not subscribe to the binary that society tries to push on anyone. It is not our friend.
Souls Foreclosed -- Souls Foreclosed is about Satan turning two desperate trans runaways into demons to take down the Church. Even with their new imposing forms, they still get verbally abused by the people around them. They're both dealing with mental bullshit related to their respective pasts.
✝ Sins ✝
Depicting a trans woman as hairy. Depicting a trans women not on HRT. Horrible.
Romanticizing transphobia and crimes towards trans people. Never show these.
Promotes communism. Private healthcare is the savior of trans people!
This once again touches on the age old complaint about trans women in media: they can't be hairy, they can't be big, and they must be on HRT. (Just wait until these folks find out about cis women who are hairy and big... uh-oh!)
Any part of transitioning is someone's individual choice. (Though unfortunately, many people around the world don't even get the chance in the first place.) Personally, I love taking T, I love surgeries and I want more, and I strive to make my body look different.
But, that's my own experience. As I said: lots of others don't have that choice but many others don't want to make any changes in the first place. And both are fine. It's all fine, actually. The trans experience is not universal and it's important that we respect each other's wishes, our desires, our fantasies and our stories.
Wrapping up...
The list of complaints is endless. That is why I started curating in the first place: to better help folks find specific stories in specific genres.
To have someone accuse this type of curation as being not only distasteful, but disrespectful and reductive too, was a splash of cold water. Only made worse by the fact that many of my peers have had to deal with similar comments, also often coming from within the trans community.
It astonishes me. It truly does. It is difficult for me to understand how, for example, a trans woman wanting to find stories featuring trans women in love could be considered "reductive" or how a trans man wanting to find stories where trans dudes top could be "distasteful" but here we are. Living in a world where someone told me my upcoming transmasc story was bad because my author has a wife. (Yes, really.) Or that I was limiting myself by drawing trans men with women because "most trans men are gay". (Sure, if you say so!)
Stories that are accused of being "reductive" or "fetish-y" or "shallow" are often the ones with the simplest desires and biggest sense of catharsis. When I write trans men being able to change their bodies, it comes from my desire to change my own body. My desire to alleviate my dysphoria, the bottomless pit that looms over my entire life, even just a little bit. It's not hard to see the same logic being applied to writing about trauma, violence, or even just the stature of a trans person's body. You don’t need to like every piece of art but you do need to understand that works like these mean something to people even if you can’t see what. Art like this is not your enemy.
There is power in solidarity. Every trans person can be your sibling. You have the power to respect their decisions. The power not to dismiss their wishes, their fantasies.
Support Trans Art Now.
As a follow-up to this post, I'd recommend reading "Plausible Deniability" by Doc Impossible which discusses how transgender feelings are often wrapped up in TF comics.