How to Feel Comfortable in the Skin You WANT to be in.

Raising awareness for transgender individuals that experience body image issues and informing them that they are not fighting the battle alone.

Societal norms that engulf gender into a dichotomous structure can be particularly exhausting to transgender individuals. This is especially true when society only deems cisgender people that follow the binary as acceptable. Living up to these “acceptable” standards of gender can often lead to perceived negative images about oneself. Worst case scenario, body image issues such as eating disorders, body dysmorphia and body dysphoria can be a possible result of societal expectation of gender.

If you are a transgender individual suffering from an eating disorder or any other body image disorder, you may have asked yourself these questions throughout your battle: Am I the only one in the transgender community that struggles with a body image disorder? How can I handle the external oppressors I face everyday along with the inner issues I am battling with? The answers are here…

Am I fighting this alone?

Absolutely not.

A study conducted by Ola and McGuire collected information from 65 transgender individuals about the gender-related issues that they may have been faced with. The individuals ranged from ages 15 to 26 and the population contained a variety of different ethnicities. During interviews, 40 out of the 65 participants expressed some kind of dissatisfaction with their bodies. The higher level of anxiety that this causes, creates a higher likelihood of being self-destructive, not eating, or other severe behaviors to try and change their bodies. As an end result of the study, 11 out of the 65 interviewees disclosed that they had suffered at some point from an eating disorder. This only encompasses a small population of transgender individuals, however roughly 17% of the participants in this study had an eating disorder. (Pullman) This extremely high statistic does not include the number of individuals that did not want to admit and disclose that they had an eating disorder, and that is something to be aware of. Many of those who did not claim to have an dissatisfaction with their bodies, and were positive about their body image uncovered that they were taking hormonal supplements or had some sort of surgery that significantly contributed to their positive thinking about themselves. Afterwards, Ola and McGuire even got responses from the participants that said, “I am a lot happier with my body as I’ve transitioned… before I had access to hormones and surgery, I spent a lot of time trying to hide who I was and the parts of myself that I was ashamed of or didn’t identify with” (Pullman). Therefore, this is a very prominent and common issue in the transgender community, and you are not facing it alone.

Many transgender icons in the media like Caitlyn Jenner and Janet Mock have undergone the same struggles while making their transitions. Caitlyn Jenner, an actress, motivational speaker and former olympian suffered with body dysphoria for over 65 years. In an interview with Diane Sawyer from ABC News, Caitlyn opened up about her emotional battle with herself and how she never felt quite comfortable in her own skin. She says in the interview that she was about “8 or 9 years old when she secretly started wearing dresses from her mother’s closet. She kept this to herself for years, not knowing who to talk to about it at a time before the internet existed” (Effron, Scott, Ng).

Janet Mock, an American writer, TV host and transgender rights activist tells about her story regarding her body image in her article in Allure. She tells about her experiences when she made her transition at age 15 by saying “ I struggled with my body and looks, but my despair was amplified by the expectations of cisnormativity and the gender binary as well as the impossibly high beauty standards that I, and my female peers, measured myself against” (Mock).

How do I face external oppressors while also dealing with internal oppressors?

The internal oppression transgender individuals face is not the only factor that contributes to mental health disorders. External oppressors such as bullying, physical or verbal violence and living up to the expectations of societal norms also cause negative self image and can contribute to a number of disorders associated with body image. In a non-fiction work titled Becoming Nicole by Amy Ellis Nutt, the storyline follows Nicole (a transgender girl) through her life. She had always seen herself as more feminine than her twin brother Jonas. With support from her parents, Nicole decided to transition into who she always knew she was. After this, she began to face instances of harsh bullying pertaining to which bathroom she used. The harassment from one of her fellow peers got to the point that lawyers had to get involved to remind the administration at her school of her rights that were being infringed upon. Her and her family won the court case. Not only was Nicole unhappy with herself, but she was receiving the same treatment she was giving herself, from those around her. (Nutt)

Bathroom discrimination is one of the biggest external oppressors that transgender people face on an everyday basis. 99% of America can look at the little male and female pictograms on the outside of bathroom doors to guide them towards the appropriate bathroom, but the remaining percent of the population still faces the humiliation when using public restrooms. This predicament is just another way for society to sort people in what they think is acceptable. An article from USA Today titled “The Imaginary Predator in America’s Transgender Bathroom War” by Alia Dastagir says “The signage on the bathroom doors is not literal, it reveals how culture wants your gender to look… it reveals what door it wants you to walk through” (Dastagir). Civil right battles have been fought pertaining to these same issues of segregation throughout history such as the discrimination of women, people of color and people with disabilities, etc. (Dastagir) While being faced with these awful binaries for things that are just as simple as using the bathroom, transgender individuals might feel like they have to change their bodies in irrational ways, to match what society depicts as a woman, or a man.

A study of transgender Canadian youth found that youth who experienced more frequent harassment and discrimination were more likely to have eating disorder symptoms, while those who could draw on protective resources (like supportive schools and caring friends) were less likely. (Gordon) Therefore, the best way to tackle the external oppressors from society is to build up a strong support system, like Nicole’s, to help fight for your rights and further your comfortability in the skin you want to be in. The support system will act like armor and a shield that equips you to be much stronger throughout your transition. Your support system does not have to consist of just your family, but friends, community centers, advocacy groups, counselors, teachers, coaches… Anyone that supports you throughout your transition and beyond.

I hope this article was informative and helpful. To know that even celebrities that have had the opportunity to transition have encountered the same hardships with their body image is reassuring. It may seem hard to win the battle with yourself and your perceived body image, but obtaining a good support system to help you tackle the evil and allow you to be your true self will be more than beneficial on the journey to loving the skin you WANT to be in.

References

Nutt, A. E. (2017). Becoming nicole. Place of publication not identified: Atlantic Books.

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