TRANSGENDER DIY: SIMPLE TIPS AND TRICKS FOR CREATING TRANS TOOLS
Illustration by Erin McPhee
Gender can be a very complicated part of your identity. If you are
transgender and you identify as a different gender than the one assigned
at birth, you may find discomfort with how your gender presents based
on your physical characteristics, this is often known as dysphoria. You
can use different tools such as packers, breast forms or binders to
explore your gender and alter your physical appearance to match your
gender better.
Whether you want to bind your chest or have breasts this guide will
help you do-it-yourself for cheap. You will probably find lots of ways
to improve on the ideas below but hopefully this can help you get
started!
Breast forms
Unfortunately breast forms can be extremely expensive to buy, ranging
somewhere in the $150-300 range. There are some cheap ways to make
breast forms that can make gender exploration easier. You can use a
variety of methods but this is one of cheapest and simplest ways.
You’ll need:
- Knee high pantyhose (Dollarstore)
- Rice (a small bag is between $5-12)
Take one of the knee high pantyhose at a time. Stretch it out a bit so it won’t be too stiff.
Take your rice and scoop it into the pantyhose until you have a your
preferred size of breastform. Tie a knot at the end to keep the rice
inside. Repeat this with the second pantyhose
At the end they will look like this. Breast forms like these are easy
to make and can be reused many times, watch for tears that will cause
your rice to spill out though!
They fit in bras very easily and can be made to any sizing preference.
Binder
Binding improperly can be incredibly dangerous and can lead to many
health complications. It is never a good idea to bind with ace bandages,
duct tape or any other material that restricts breathing and movement.
You’ll need:
- Tights or leggings ($5-12 depending)
You can use any tights for this, depending on your chest size you may
want something more durable like leggings or athletic tights.
Cut the legs off the tights.
Once both legs are cut off it will look like a small pair of shorts.
Find the middle of the shorts.
At the centre spot cut a hole, this will end up being your head hole.
The final product will look like this, a small shirt. It will bind
best when it is on top of a sports bra, it likely will not totally
flatten depending on chest size but it will be able to give a flatter
appearance.
Binding with leggings and tights is safe and easy, but you will have
to replace tights more often because of the thinness of the material.
Make sure to take off any binders whenever possible, you don’t want to
restrict your ability to breathe for too long.
Packer
There are two ways to pack, soft packing and hard packing. Hard
packing refers to a device that can be used for sex and won’t be covered
in this post. Soft packing refers to a device that is used to imply a
bulge. This method is simple but can need to be redone often because the
materials aren’t incredibly durable.
You’ll need:
- Condoms (free! or $5-12 depending on box)
- Gel liquid of some sort (Dollarstore)
Make sure the condoms are unlubricated, you don’t want to have lube
all over your hands while you’re making packers. You can grab these at
any sex positive clinic or a drugstore. As far as the liquid goes it can
be hand soap, shampoo, dish soap or anything like it.
Unroll the condom and dust it off a bit, unlubricated condoms usually
have a powdery material on them that you probably don’t want in your
pants.
Fill the condom with the hand soap, be careful to not put too much.
When you have the amount of liquid you want tie the condom off.
Now you have a soft packer! This can be placed inside underwear
(boxers, panties, etc) for the appearance of a package. Depending on the
underwear type you may need to secure it.
All of these tools can help you experiment with gender a little bit
easier for a cheap price, which can really important at the beginning of
your gender journey. Hopefully this can get you started!
Hi all,
For many years, I have learned about different foods and their nutritional content in an effort to be as healthy as I can possibly be. I have found that the 9 healthiest foods for me are all easily accessible, tasty and affordable.
Potatoes are one of the 9 healthiest foods you can eat because of the folate and potassium they contain. They are very nutritious and should be a staple of any diet.
Strawberries are one of the 9 healthiest foods that you can eat, as well, as they are packed with Vitamin C and are good sources of fiber and Manganese.
Another great food that should be included in the top 9 healthiest foods is the lemon.
Again, lemons are a great source of Vitamin C, and there is evidence that shows they could reduce a person's chances of developing cancer.
Salmon is another great food because of the amount of Omega-3 fatty acids it contains to help with heart health, and walnuts should be included for the same reason. Plus, both foods are great sources of protein.
Avocados are also a great food that should make the list, because they are a great source of dietary fiber and help with the absorption of such nutrients as beta-carotene. Avocados are also shown to reduce cholesterol.
Garlic could be included among the 10 healthiest foods for the same reason as avocados in that it is shown to lower cholesterol, and it has also been shown to fight the growth of such bacteria as E. coli.
Eggs are a great source of protein, as well as riboflavin and B-12. The only thing to watch for with eggs is that they are a little high in fat and cholesterol.
Another food that I would count among the 9 healthiest is eggs.
The final food on my list of 9 healthiest foods is spinach. Besides being an easy vegetable to find in practically every supermarket, spinach is shown to produce anti-oxidants that contribute to good eyesight.
There are many more foods that have just as much nutritional value as many of the foods that I have named. I realize that my list of the 10 healthiest foods would not necessarily be the same as everyone else's list, but I have found that by including these foods in my weekly diet, I am a much healthier and happier person.
