Trans men media recommendations?
I recently watched Rūrangi (2020) and appreciated it1 for having a story centered on a trans man and his experiences.
I’m interested in recommendations of other media featuring trans men/masc individuals. I want to cast a broad net, especially if there are other people who might find this useful, so:
- Any type of media is fine (books, memoirs, movies, shows, webcomics, anime, manga, games, etc.)
- Trans men and/or trans masc people should feature, but they don’t have to be the main focus
- The media can be specifically about the individual(s) trans identity or journey, but it can also simply feature the character(s) without delving into those aspects
Now, I’ll also add some more parameters for what I’m looking for specifically if you’re looking to recommend to me personally rather than in general. Don’t limit your recommendations to just these, though. I’m ultimately open to anything and want this topic to be valuable to others with different tastes/preferences as well:
- I’d love for the trans man to be older, since a lot of the trans representation I do already see tends towards depicting younger individuals (nothing wrong with that, of course, and I definitely understand why that is, but as a middle-aged guy myself I’m more drawn towards stories about people my age/older)
- I am interested in stories that are specifically focused on trans identity and journey
- As a gay guy, I’d love to read about my gay trans brethren
- Like Chappell Roan, I want nonfiction (but fiction is cool too)
1. While I did enjoy it, I thought the pacing of the movie was really odd. It wasn’t until after I watched it that I learned it was originally broadcast as a series and was later cut into a single film (which explains the pacing issues). For anyone interested in watching it, I assume the series version does a better job with pacing than the film version.
The Umbrella Academy TV show stars Elliot Page, and his character starts identifying as male during the show (early in season 3, if I recall correctly).
The Eye of the Dragon is a Norwegian comic where the main character a non-binary dark elf mage. It might be hard to get a hold of outside Scandinavia, but I believe at least the first two books have been translated to English.
I actually think The Umbrella Academy is quite a poor example to be honest. It's a case of transitioning the character because the actor transitioned, but since it's an adaptation they didn't really have space to explore that so it's just a thing that happens.
Dimension 20 features Ally Beardsley! They're non-binary and play a variety of characters, but it's just nice to see their journey IRL as well as through their D&D play, to the point that they played a trans man very early on and have since commented how much they got wrong about the experience having gone through it now.
They also co-host a podcast called Gender Spiral and appear on several other Dropout shows.
Ally calling Sam
Spoiler
”The Perfect American”
when going for the most mid compliment in Game Changer is the stuff of legends.
The mid-est of compliments
Everything Ally does is great. Not all of it is the most connected, narratively, but it is always hilarious and often heartfelt. They play a lot of different characters, and bring real depth of humanity to them all - not just heroes. They've been a hard charging space executive for a despotic galactic government, a trans drug dealer in fantasy New York, a peppermint candy prince (literally), and Mother Timothy Goose.
And a repair man turned femme fatale! Among a few others.
Kaos is a fun series about Greek gods in a modern setting, and it features a trans man as one of the heroes. The story doesn't delve too much into their experiences as a trans man, but it is an important part of the plot and their character.
It's been cancelled by Netflix, but I think you can also watch it as a miniseries with an open ending, and still get a lot out of the series.
Doesn’t fit bullet point 1 (coming of age) and doesn’t entirely fit bullet point 4 (influenced but not based on life), but a friend of mine did a web comic called “What’s Normal Anyway” towards the start of their journey ~15-20 years ago that later got published into a book. I’ll admit I'm not into web comics to speak of its quality - mostly repping an old friend since it somewhat fits your criteria. I did get it for my trans nephew when he came out and he enjoyed it, though
http://whatsnormalanyway.net/
Whoa, small world! I actually bought their book and read it probably, oh, a decade ago or so? I remember loving it! If you're still in contact with them, give them props from this random internet stranger.
I went to look for it on my shelves, but it wasn't there, so it probably ended up in the Little Free Library I give to. Hopefully it made its way to someone else who will appreciate it. Glad your nephew liked it too. That was a very thoughtful gift to give him.
Small world indeed! And it really makes me happy to hear people love it, as I know they put a lot into it. It's been a minute since we've talked, so gives me a good excuse :)
Which, heads up too that he's working on a new book! It's a coming of age visual novel called Chicken Heart and supposed to be out end of the year. I'll post a thread when it's released!
Awesome news! I’ll be picking it up as soon as it’s released.
I have two manga recommendations!
First, Deep Sea Aquarium Magmell, which is a nice slice-of-life series about a guy working at an underwater aquarium that specializes in deep sea fish. One of the characters who pops up later is transgender, and I was stunned and delighted by the reveal. He's a teenager and just at the start of his journey, and there are several chapters that explore his struggles with it that I think can resonate with anyone. Also, you can learn about deep sea fish, which is super cool!
Then on the absolute opposite end of the spectrum, there's Yuureitou. Which is a horror murder mystery set in 1950s Japan, with emphasis on the "horror". Lots of graphic scenes and murders. It's one of my all-time favorite series because I love horror, but it also has one of the most in-depth explorations of the LGBTQ+ scene I've seen in manga beyond the typical yaoi or slice-of-life. I tend to prefer stories having a bigger plot, and usually stories with LGBTQ+ characters/themes are either strictly about the scene or just have them incidentally be LGBTQ+. This is a rare case where there's a big plot, and has LGBTQ+ themes play a HUGE role. One of the protagonists is FTM trans, the other starts exploring his own gender identity and sexuality over the course of the story, there's another major ally who's also gay... And that's all vital to the overarching mystery, and gives those topics significant weight and discussion. It's just a really good read.
One of The Try Guys newest cast members, Ash Perez, is a trans man and he is fucking hilarious. And I also love how insanely positive, energetic and upbeat he is in every video too.
p.s. He also made a series about his journey, transitioning, fashion, etc. that was really funny and interesting:
New guy tries ep1: Looking like a man
Unfortunately the rest of the series is on 2ndtry though, so it isn't freely available:
https://watch.2ndtry.tv/new-guys-tries
I haven't read it, but Boys Run the Riot is considered some of the best FTM representation in manga. It's about a transgender highschool boy and his friends creating a fashion label to break out and into the world. It's not too long at four volumes, and the entire English localization team is transgender (as is the original creator). There are also some discussions about sexuality which might be of interest?
Let me once again (!) recommend the show, Somebody Somewhere from HBO. The character Fred Rococo, played by Murray Hill, is one of the kindest, most genuine, and joyous transmasc representations ever. The whole cast is fantastic, the writing is acute and skewers all the Hollywood stereotypes about rural life, family drama, queerness, and class. Just watch it when you need to remember what real humans are like.
Predestination was an incredible watch. I wouldn't click the link to be honest. Go in blind!
I don't have anything to recommend off the top of my head, but I'll be watching this thread for sure because I also would love to have recommendations for media featuring fellow transmascs.