In Praise of Pictures

Admit it, posting pictures is one of the most common pastimes in the T-world. Not that this isn’t without controversy, of course. There are the picture plagiarists who steal someone else’s image and pass them off as their own. There are those who Photoshop their face onto the bodies of others. There are those who post all sorts of pictures of adult parts and acts. I’m not addressing any of those practices. I’m not necessarily condemning them, though I don’t engage in them myself nor seek out those who do.

What I’m referring to is the posting of images of ourselves in feminine mode that we want to share with others. I’ll be the first to admit that I like and desire compliments on Stephanie’s looks. And I will also admit that fishing for compliments can be a very limited and limiting thing if that’s all there is to your feminine life. Yes, it is very rewarding to meet friends in person and to go out in public. Trans and ambigendered persons will never gain greater toleration and acceptance unless we come out into the public light, or come out to family, or organize politically. Yes, we should all look to mature and move beyond simply posting pictures.

But there is sometimes, from sisters who are out and about and loud and proud, a condemnation of posting pictures that sometimes goes a bit too far. I think that, within reason, posting pictures is a healthy part of the growth cycle of a t-girl. It’s a relatively risk free activity that enables us to build confidence in our image, receive assistance from others to improve our image and—perhaps most importantly—to build our self-confidence in our feminine selves.

I’m not arguing that anyone’s aspiration should be simply to collect glowing Flickr comments or to win any number of photographic beauty contests. That seems pretty limited to me. But what I’m saying is that blanket condemnations of the practice are not really warranted. Yes, there are excesses with anything, but in my view, having the Internet as a place to make our debut and to receive feedback (even if it isn’t terribly objective sometimes) is invaluable. It gives us a place to learn and grow and become comfortable with being feminine. And most importantly, our pictures give us a way to begin to make contacts and friends, and to find support, and to work towards developing a sense of self-acceptance.

While at some point I would hope everyone would move beyond a picture posting site as their sole means of doing these things, even the accomplished and confident t-girl can be a powerful influence by providing comments and suggestions to newbies posting their first pictures and just starting the process. It seems to me that through sharing pictures we can do a lot to forge bonds of community—and anything that contributes to that, in my view, is a positive thing. So rather than criticizing those who enjoy posting why not look at the picture sites as a fertile ground in which to find friends and build community, even if—no ESPECIALLY, if you really don’t feel the need to have people compliment you on your umpteenth picture in that cute little black dress.

Category: Transgender Opinion