1. Man Enough. Exploring Body Image with Transgender Men Lee Thornhill, MA Prevention and Education Manager Cambridge Cares About AIDS

2. Presentation Overview Cultural messages - FTM body is both not “really” male and not “natural.” Impact on transitioning – physical, emotional and social. Connecting gender identity and sexual orientation – public and private acceptance. Process of developing a positive sense of self and body image despite these barriers. Additional resources.

3. Cultural Messages Four central themes that characterize the portrayal of transgender people: Funny Freakish Fear Fatalism Connect at all levels of transgender people’s lives from policy to internalized self image.

4. She’s The Man Dreamworks, 2006 Just one of the Guys Columbia Pictures, 1985 Funny

5. “Look Closer. Not that Close.” Sorority Boys MBST Entertainment, 2002

6. Silence of the Lambs Orion Pictures, 1991 Psycho Shamley Productions, 1960 Freakish

7. Jame Gumb “Buffalo Bill” Silence of the Lambs (1991) Anthony Perkins “Norman Bates” Psycho (1960) Fear

8. Brandon Teena (1972-1993) “All Brandon wanted to be was one of the guys; unfortunately he was a girl.” Fatalism Brandon Teena Story Docurama, 2000

9. Gwen Araujo (1985-2002) A Girl Like Me Lifetime, 2007

10. “You never know how someone will react to the news that your gender isn't what they thought it was. Once I am in a room alone with someone I don't know very well, I usually don't want to risk a potentially violent, and likely humiliating situation.” Participant Quote. HIV Risk and Protective Factors with Transgender Men. Presented at Massachusetts Common Visions Conference. (T.Lewis and L. Thornhill, Nov. 2007)

11. Transition Legal: state recognition of “M” or “F” is based on which body parts one has. Financial: Cost prohibitive for many and not covered by insurances. Medical: technologies for FTM “bottom” surgery are limited and experimental. Emotional: not being seen for who one feels he is - multiple layers of trauma.

12. Loren Cameron Body Alchemy, 1996

13. Impact of Race “A lot of what I’m really dealing with now is going from being seen as a black woman to being a black man. It’s a big deal. It’s really different. I don’t have the same benefits. I don’t really get to walk in the same circles as I used to. There’s a different fear in my body.” Assessing the Needs of Female to Male Transgender People of Color and Their Partners: (W.Wilkinson and P. Gomez, 2004)

14. Body Image and Perception Given access to HRT, majority “pass” publicly and live integrated lives as men. Internalized messages often play out on interpersonal/internal levels. Most trans people feel on display - disclosure often results in questions of what body parts one has. Potential for high perception of barriers and/or that having a trans body equals rejection.

15. Sexuality & Gender Identity Second generation of trans research shows an increase in self-identified gay, bi or queer transmen (n-55% Boston). As a result, gay men of all gender identities experience common body images resulting from homophobia and the impact of HIV/AIDS. Transgender men may lack the support or inclusion into the larger gay male community making meaningful interactions difficult.

16. “Ironically, I have been diagnosed with AIDS, still seen as a gay man’s disease. But somehow it seems like just one more hassle with a body that’s never cooperated much with me. I took a certain pleasure in informing the gender clinic that even though their program told me that I could not live as a gay man, it looks like I’m going to die like one.” Lou Sullivan, 1989

17. Issues for Gay-Identified FTM Validation  Internal sense of self as a gay man.  Acceptance: socially and sexually.  Perception that “real” gay male bodies take sexual and physical risks. Negotiation  Disclosure: with partners and providers.  Navigation of gay male sexual spaces.  Balancing multiple identities/communities.

18. Developing Positive Body Image Past five years has seen significant increases in resources by and for transgender men, especially on-line. More people have a deeper understanding of gender identity which allows for a wider range of masculinity/expression. More transmen live openly which creates role models and visible images that counter negative cultural messages.

19. Ways to be Supportive Understand the toll that curiosity can take. Avoid focusing on “body parts” or procedures. Need to know or nice to know. There’s a significant gap between academic/medical text and the reality of transgender lives. Read first hand. FTM’s can appear “self-absorbed” in beginning transition. May be helpful to see this as first steps of developing a positive body image.

20. Journal Articles  Green, Jamison. (2005). Part of the Package: Ideas of Masculinity Among Male- Identifed Transpeople. Men and Masculinities.. Volume 7, 291.  Schleifer, D. (2006). Make Me Feel Mighty Real: Gay Female-to- Male Transgenderists Negotiating Sex, Gender, and Sexuality. Sexualities, Volume 9: 57.  Wilkinson, W. & Gomez. P. (2004) Assessing the Needs of Female- to-Male Transgendered People of Color and their Partners. www.ftmi.org/poc/ftmpoc. Accessed on 11/9/07.www.ftmi.org/poc/ftmpoc. Magazine Articles Hernandez, Daisy. (2008) Becoming a Black Man. Colorlines. www.colorlines.com/article.php. Accessed on 1/7/08.www.colorlines.com/article.php.

21. Books Cameron, Loren. Body Alchemy. Transsexal Portraits. Cleis Press. 1996. Diamond, Morty. Ed. From The Inside Out: Radical Gender Transformation, FTM and Beyond. Manic D. Press. 2006. Green, Jamison. Becoming a Visible Man. Vanderiblt Press. 2004. Raz, Aaron Raz, Hilda. What Becomes You. University of Nebraska Press. 2007. Valerio, Max Wolf. The Testosterone Files. Seal Press 2006.

22. Documentaries Enough Man, Luke Woodward. Frameline Cinemas. 2005. Southern Comfort. Story of Robert Eads. Next Wave Films. 2001. Websites  www.queertransmen.org www.queertransmen.org  www.ftmi.org www.ftmi.org Local Support Group :  Compass: www.geocities.com/ftmcompasswww.geocities.com/ftmcompass

23. Contact Information Lee Thornhill (617) 599-0231 lthornhill@ccaa.org