Submitted by Haley, the model

“My best friend and i dancing at a sweet 16. i am the gender queer one with the bow tie”

Fox asks…

Can anyone recommend or link me to any photography (or books on) dealing with female masculinity, androgyny, trans* men, genderqueer folk etc?

Photos, photographers, exhibitions, blogs, articles, books — anything!

Also if anyone wants to let me in on how they use photography to frame/express/unsettle/whatever their gender identity, that’d also be great.

Any thing even remotely related would be much appreciated!

Please post your response in the comments below.

» Ask Genderfork «

You can call me… Bunny

I identify as… everything. I’m a cross-dressing illustrator and comic book artist, who also sings as a malfunctioning Victorian robot in Steam Powered Giraffe. As an actor, I already have so many personalities going on in my head. Sometimes it’s hard to focus on what is really you. Even when I’m not performing, my gender identity fluctuates quite frequently. Male…or female?

As far as third-person pronouns go, … I accept male pronouns on a day to day basis, especially when doing business. But if anyone gives me the choice, I prefer female pronouns when I’m not working. I loathe being called “Mr.” or “Sir,” but I understand how easy and common it is to say. At least they’re being respectful, I suppose.

I’m attracted to… women. My affection for them is magnified in my cross-dressing and art. The curves of a female are beautiful. I’m not attracted to men immediately, but I am attracted to the personalities of some men.

When people talk about me, I want them to… see me as the artist behind the body. Whether I look like a man today or a woman the next, inside I’m still the same hungry-to-create mind that prefers to weave stories without being limited to a specific gender role.

I want people to understand… the hardship that comes from being in the gray area between the sexes. Despite resounding support by friends and family, your own culturally-defined line of genders can leave you battling for years against yourself…trying to figure out what sex defines you. How easy it’d be to be comfortable as just a man or as just a woman, so you can just focus on developing yourself as a person instead of having to do that and decide if you are male or female. It sounds much easier, yes…but also a lot less interesting.

About Bunny
I’m an identical twin and an artist. I’ve studied everything from video game development to pantomime, and worked five years as a graphic designer before finding peace illustrating and performing as a singing robot for Steam Powered Giraffe. As certain I am of my career, plunging into the self is a whole other endeavor.

» Define yourself. «

Submitted by Diana Scholl

Read about Peter’s story at We Are the Youth

Discovered via Chromat.

You can call me… Damien

I identify as… A freak, A tranny, A cross dresser, A goth slut, A pokemon master, A Degrassi lover, A chihuahua tamer, A biological female, Genderqueer, A misfit, A poser, and A fish/human hybrid.

As far as third-person pronouns go, … whatever you feel like using. Most call me “she” but being called “he” makes my day, being called “it” makes me laugh. So hey, I’m good with anything

I’m attracted to… boys with sexy long hair, red lips, glasses, pale skin, dark hair, chains on their belts, who aren’t afraid to rock some black nails.

When people talk about me, I want them to… give me hugs. I’m a MAJOR hug person. I also want them to be themselves. I don’t want to talk to the boy behind the mask. I want to see his pretty face.

I want people to understand… that i don’t care what gender you want to be. I personally prefer to dress male, but if you choose to go fem, that’s cool too. I love every one for who they are, not what they’re expected to be.

About Damien

I’m Mo, but I would rather be Damien. I’m 13-years-old and the school freak. Personally, I like it that way. Who wants to be average Joe when you could be epic Mo? So I was born into a female body which I don’t hate, but would more or less rather it be male. I will definitely never opt for the surgery because even though I don’t love my body, it’s the one God gave me, so there has to be a reason I’m in it. As mentioned before I love to be hugged and kissed and hold hands – even with people I don’t know very well. It’s not that I’m slutty, I just love to be with people and give them love. Love makes the world go round right?

» Define yourself. «

An interview with Mx Justin Vivian Bond

From Pringle of Scotland‘s Fall/Winter ’12 collection. Discovered via Silent Hedges.

Model: Nick. Photographer: Ben Aqua. Originally posted on Aqua’s website.

You can call me… Kelsey, Mori, Kels, Vincent, Vinny. V. (Yeah, I know, a lot of names I answer to.)

I identify as… A genderqueer with a tendency to feel like more than one person at a time. Sometimes a FTM. A goth without all the black. A cosplayer with an aversion to common characters. A dungeon master. A human being.

As far as third-person pronouns go, … I really am growing attached to “They” and “Them” and other such pronouns, but I will answer to anything.

I’m attracted to… women of all kinds! As long as their attitude is a good one, and they have a sense of humor. (Oh, and being into tabletop games is a huge plus!)

When people talk about me, I want them to… talk about the brutal way I killed a party during D&D, my creativity, my heart, my art, and how much they like me ;)

I want people to understand… that even though I don’t fit into the normal gender roles, I am still a person, just a person who will answer to anything you call them!

About Kelsey
Hey ‘sup all! I am a genderqueer (among other things) living in the southern part of a state. I like to draw and play Dungeons and Dragons with my buds.

» Define yourself. «

Originally posted on this tumblr.

Model: Omahyra Mota. Photographer: Unknown. Discovered via Gap Tooth Posse.

You can call me… Scarlet

I identify as… Female in my daily life, male as a ‘character.’ I’m a biological female with long hair and a feminine shape, and I love to wear dresses, jewelry, and makeup.

But I almost always play male characters in plays, write from the perspective of male characters, relate to male fictional characters and historical figures, only dress up as male characters for events like Halloween, and daydream of my life as a man. I see myself as a late eighteenth century fop, and am constantly inspired by the Scarlet Pimpernel, master of disguise, in every aspect of my goofy life.

As far as third-person pronouns go, … I’m a ‘she’ ‘her’ and all that jazz. When I am cast as a man in a play — which has happened sixteen times so far– or dressed up for an event, I like to be called ‘he’ or ‘him’ while I’m in costume/character. The highest compliment that can be paid me is when people believe I WAS a man after seeing me in a show or dressed-up in a costume.

I’m attracted to… Michael Sheen, David Bowie, Lucius Malfoy, Stephen Fry, and the portrait of Alexander Hamilton on the ten dollar bill.

When people talk about me, I want them to… say whatever they feel and not hold back. And I’d love to hear the juicy gossip afterward!

I want people to understand… that the idea of ‘maleness’ is exciting and empowering to me, even though I am really quite girly in day-to-day life. Most of my friends are gay men, and I’ve been told I act more like a gay man than a straight female. I wouldn’t have a sex change for the world, and though I sometimes wish I were born male, I love the way I am.

About Scarlet
Scarlet isn’t really named Scarlet. She’s an actor, not an actress, and she loves her collection of pimp hats. Although American, she likes to speak as much like Jude Law as humanly possible.

» Define yourself. «

From Dazed and Confused Magazine. Discovered via Androgynyous.

Model: Marcel Castenmiller. Photographer: Unknown. Discovered via Androgynyous.

You can call me… Shiri

I identify as… Bisexual, genderqueer, anarchist, feminist, Mizrahi (=Arabic Jew), vegan, pervert, geek.

Other words I like: bidyke, queer, anarchabisexual, anarchafeminist, veganarchist, sex radical, gender deviant.

As far as third-person pronouns go, … with the feminine, please.

I’m attracted to… bisexuals, radicals, genderqueers, anarchists, people with long hair and glasses, smart people, sensitive people, feminists, geeks. People with a heart and a passion and a mind. Sharp and searing. Revolutionaries.

When people talk about me, I want them to… be respectful of my identities. To stop presuming that bisexuality is binary and that using it is transphobic. Not to speak about me as if I was cis when I talk about bisexual issues. Not to presume that I can’t be bisexual if I’m genderqueer (or vice versa). Doing these things erases not only my bi identity, but also my identity as genderqueer.

I want people to understand… that some of us choose a bisexual identification – not “in spite of” our genderqueer identity, not out of ignorance or lack of understanding – but out of love, rage, and passion for a word that is ours. That being bisexual means receiving biphobic responses each time you dare to say the word, and that we don’t need even *more* invalidation of our identity, but less. That we need to be solidary with each other, that we all need support. That this world is cruel, and all we have is each other.

And that we can make a revolution.

About Shiri
Activist, writer, and a few more things ;) Check out my blog at http://radicalbi.wordpress.com.

» Define yourself. «

Discovered via Vizatrix.

Model: Faris Badwan. Photographer: Daniel Boud. Originally posted on Boud’s Tumblr, Boudist.

Photo by Flickr user Th3 ProphetMan

“I need an undershirt that says ‘HI, I’M GENDERQUEER,’ and any moment I need to, I can tear off my shirt, Superman-style, to let people know.”

by Erica Stratton

For this month’s episode of Gender Heroes I interviewed Samson, who blogs at The Felt Fedora. Samson, who identifies as a genderqueer trans* androgyne, has written many amazing posts about navigating dysphoria and how they want their breasts to be seen as squishy, awesome, comfy elbows, but I was most drawn to their honesty about how they’ve chosen not to be out about their queer identity. In this interview, we talk about hiding in plain sight, “penance” for not being out, and queer hormones.

Genderfork: Many of the people I’ve profiled so far have been very “out”, but for various reasons you’ve chosen not to be. I hoped you could tell me a little bit about what went into that decision.

Samson: Hm, well. A lot of it was a practical decision: I’m a teacher of young children who lives in the South, and “people in general” are not really keen about trans* people teaching their kids. Also, I tend to be a fairly private person, and I’m not “visibly trans*,” per se. I probably read a little funny to other people–I’m AFAB [Assigned Female At Birth], and I don’t read butch, exactly, but probably a sort of “manly woman.” Anyway, being “out” would sort of require me to make a statement about my gender, and I’m not really keen to attract attention/curiosity/misperceptions to myself that way.

Genderfork: So are you out to people in other aspects of your life?

Samson: Oh, definitely to my close friends. They don’t all 100% understand it, but for the most part they’re really great about it.

Genderfork: So your gender presentation is based on how much privacy you need?

Samson: Well, I present largely the way I would like to. It’s just that my gender presentation frequently reads as female to other people. It’s a weird push-pull thing. For other people to read me as trans*, or genderqueer, or queer at all, I have to push my presentation as far toward male as I can–which, some days, is how I happen to get dressed in the mornings. But other days, I feel like wearing more femme things, and without going out of my way to find some gender marker to tweak or change, I just get read as female.

It’s frustrating. I want to wear whatever I want, but I also want people to read me as “queer,” and some days I can’t have both. Some friends at a support group joked that I needed an undershirt that says “HI, I’M GENDERQUEER,” and that at any moment I needed to, I could tear off my shirt, Superman-style, to let people know.

Genderfork: You mentioned in one of your posts that you were on hormones at one point, but decided to stop because looking more “male” was also giving you dysphoria.

Samson: Oh! My hormones are a funny story.

Genderfork: They seem to be very complicated.

Samson: Hee. Yes. I’ve never “been on T.” When left to my own devices, though, my hormones are female-typical, with a heaping spoonful of androgens added in. For years… four years, I think? I was on birth control to keep the androgens down. And I finally sorta rebelled against that, stopped the birth control, got a new doctor, and said I wanted absolutely no more estrogen. He agreed not to treat the hormone imbalance, so now I’m having some changes (facial hair, voice drop) related to having those androgens back in my system.

It’s basically a dream. Like, if I could have any hormones, this is what I’d have.

Genderfork: So your hormones are queer as well as your gender?

Samson: Yes! I am just incredibly super queer all around. :D

Genderfork: Super Queer! *plays superman theme*

Samson: Oh, there’s a comic for this…

Genderfork: You really do need that shirt :P

Samson: I have a barely-controllable urge to run around with my arms stuck out Superman-style now.

Genderfork: So, did you go into teaching knowing you’d have to be stealth about your identity?

Samson: Yeah, I figured. There are no employment protections in my state, so I couldn’t even be out as bi and be sure of keeping my job. There have been some teachers fired in my state possibly for being gay; the school apparently cooked up some other reasons for letting them go. Before, it felt like this mind-crushing dichotomy between my queer (“real”) life and my work life, when I was working at a high school.

Genderfork: What made it less mind-crushing?

Samson: Well, I now teach young[er] children. And while that feels particularly treacherous as far as parents and administrators finding out about my ID and objecting to me working with young children, I feel a little freer. I feel like I have a chance to influence kids toward tolerance while they’re young, and I think that some of them pick up on my queerness. I hope they do. I hope to leverage that–to let them know it’s OK to be different–both by just being there, and by working it into my curriculum.

Genderfork: So you went into this thinking, “I really like doing this, and I am going to do it even with the risks?”

Samson: Oh yeah. For a long time I thought teaching any younger than college level would be impossible. It was a book that changed my mind, actually: One Teacher in Ten, full of stories from gay and lesbian educators. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows–a lot of tough stories, but all very uplifting. That convinced me I could do it. So it was staying up late in my dorm room, reading this book I’d checked out from the library, that made me reconsider my whole future. And I’m so, so glad I did.

Oh! Also. Having friends at work that I trust enough to be out to has made a HUGE difference. I have two good friends who know most to all of my identity, and it’s made me feel like that part of myself–my queer self–resides and is acknowledged in my workplace too.

Genderfork: It’s starting to sound more like you’re hiding in plain sight than being totally stealth about it.

Samson: Yeah, that’s how I feel too. There are moments when I am stealth, I think… the other day some of my coworkers were trying to set me up with a straight guy. And it was like… there were so many ways in which that wasn’t going to work out! But I didn’t feel comfortable saying anything, nor could I really think of how to phrase it. But really, if I don’t want to talk about my private life, my coworkers don’t really pry. And the kids–I mean, there’s so much you don’t talk about with the kids anyway! They’re so young and developmentally self-centered that I don’t get many questions from them.

Genderfork: So, in a weird way, the same environment that keeps you from being really “out” is also what helps you to stay under the radar?

Samson: Yes! Exactly. It’s so weird.

…I do feel guilty about not being out, though.

Genderfork: It seems odd that you feel guilty about a decision that you seem to have made very deliberately.

Samson: Well, sometimes it feels like a deliberate act of cowardice.

Genderfork: That’s a pretty strong word, cowardice. You seem to be as out as you can be, under the circumstances.

Samson: I blogged about this once… not everyone has to be wildly and loudly out and proud and in-your-face to make a difference. But sometimes I feel like I’m just making excuses. Or that I could be pushing it more than I am. I don’t feel like that as often anymore.

Genderfork: What helped you to feel more at peace with it?

Samson: I think especially because I don’t feel like I’m hiding anymore, per se, but rather hiding in plain sight. I’m not deliberately misleading anyone. And I’m being very actively out in other parts of my life. I guess it kind of makes me feel like I’m making up for it!

Genderfork: I almost feel like you’re talking about a sin. “I’m not out, but I can do penance!”

Samson: Haha! Yes, that’s actually kind of an apt way to put it. I mean, there are lots of people, online and elsewhere, who clamor about how you have no excuses not to be out. …nobody’s said it to my face, but I read it a lot. So they kinda “get to me” in that they get under my skin a bit. Enough that I’m treating it like I’m doing penance for a sin.

I think I might also feel differently about it if I weren’t non-binary. Sometimes I know I don’t have the words to be out among my school coworkers. Like, if I could say I were a trans* man? They’d probably have some frame of reference for that. But to say I’m genderqueer, or an androgyne, or non-binary-aligned trans*? Most of them would have no clue what I meant, and I’d have to do the whole trans* 101 right there.

Genderfork: And the androgyne 101 and the non-binary-aligned 101…

Samson: YES.

I did an interview recently for a trans research study and the researcher was asking about ID documents (Using/traveling with documents whose gender markers didn’t necessarily match my gender or presentation). And I was thinking, “Well, what the hell would they say to be correct? ‘M’ and ‘F’ are equally wrong”. I feel like he didn’t get what he was looking for, from me… I got my picture retaken to look more androgynous, my license picture, that is.. but I’ve never tried changing my marker, or had people question it.

If I could change it to Q, I would! Or N/A! Because honestly why does it matter?

Genderfork: ‘Cuz society! or patriarchy! Or something.

Samson: Eeeexactly.

Model: Tae. Originally posted on Tae’s blog, BrklynBreed.