![]() This hat is in all the photos from that trip because I wore it every day.” Bren figures the reason baseball caps carry so much importance to them is that caps are both androgynous and practical, two adjectives they’d use to describe their own gender. “It was a beautiful trip I felt safe and accepted and understood for the first time in my life. When I ask about the baseball cap they designated as a clothing item that they associate with gender euphoria, they cite the “euphoric memories it carries.” They go on to explain the cap was a $3 thrift–store find on the summer vacation during which they came out to a friend as bisexual. Bren’s gender is queer, which they say is all anybody needs to know. Bren works as a graphic designer and also runs a queer research library. Bren F (mirror pronouns), Seattleīren F uses any pronouns or mirror pronouns, which means whatever pronouns you’d use for yourself. “I can't change what I went through, but the collar is a reminder that I chose myself and what I wanted for my life and my body.” 5. Now she has a few collars-some for special occasions, some for daily use. I felt the urge to have some kind of totem that would remind me that I belonged to myself.” That’s when Black found her first collar. “And in that moment, as I started asking myself who I was and wanted to become. Her marriage ended with her ex-wife leaving to be with a cis woman, signaling to her that she was not seen as who she feels she is. She is a survivor of childhood and marital abuse, two kinds of abuse trans people are more likely to be subject to. ![]() “I guess it’s been that way since before I started hormones.”īlack, a trans woman, is a paleontologist and science writer, and her relationship with her collar is wrapped up in more than gender euphoria. “I don’t feel quite like myself if I’m not wearing a collar,” says Black. Riley Black (she/they/it), Salt Lake City When a trans person finds a gender affirming piece of clothing, the result isn't just a confidence boost, but a way to make daily life easier.Ĥ. Clothing is a necessity, so when an entire category of clothing makes someone dysphoric, it’s restrictive. To find a certain type of garment to be gender affirming after a period in which it elicited dysphoria isn’t only exciting but is also often a relief. “It's just a really nice feeling to be able to fit into something that made me really uncomfortable,” says Xue. When he tried out jeans again recently on a whim, he felt glad that he did. The fit of jeans used to make him dysphoric, but he’s now in a different place with his gender transition. After years of avoiding jeans, the sous chef trans man says jeans have become not only a wardrobe staple, but a gender-affirming one. Xue’s favorite piece of clothing is a bit of a surprise to his former self. An ideal heel height, she says, helps her channel the power and strength of She-Hulk. Her favorite pair of heels are holographic thigh-highs, which are loud and-most importantly- high. “The heel is the emblem of performance, like the shield is the emblem of protection,” she says. “When trans people are able to dress in a way that affirms and expresses their gender, it can decrease feelings of gender dysphoria and increase the experience of gender euphoria, which can positively impact their mental health,” Ruriani says. But clothing is something we all have in common. Some trans people are binary and some are not. There’s social transition and medical transition. Transition looks different for every trans person. “When trans people dress in a way that affirms and expresses their gender, it can decrease gender dysphoria and increase euphoria, which can positively impact their mental health.” -Alyse Ruriani, LPC “ can bring about feelings of joy, happiness, excitement, and ease, and is often seen as the opposite to gender dysphoria.” Gender dysphoria refers to the distressing disconnect a trans person may feel from their assigned sex at birth. “Gender euphoria is when you feel 'right' in your gender-that your gender expression is aligned with your sense of self,” says therapist Alyse Ruriani, LPC, and author of The Big Feelings Survival Guide. This was my first taste of gender euphoria. I was presenting as myself, and that made it felt great. In this bomber jacket, though, I felt the exact opposite. Before coming out, I often felt as though I was dressing in drag, pretending to be a woman. I loved the look, sure, but more than that, I loved how I felt while wearing the jacket. I found an olive green bomber jacket that I loved. Skinny jeans were still in their heyday for women’s fashion, and bomber jackets were having a serious moment in men’s fashion. And when I came out in 2016, my first stop wasn't a consultation with health-care providers. ![]() This means my transition is toward a more masculine gender presentation.
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