Argo Draws

So, I’ve been sick with strep throat.  But now I’m back, and I don’t want to study for my Adv. Linear Algebra midterm tomorrow.  Also, how do you have a true-false exam for a proof-based course!?

Hmm, so it looks like I’m more than a week behind.  Let’s just pretend that week didn’t exist.  So I’ll finish when I am 30 days and one week on testosterone.  Oh, no changes.  I mean, come on!

Day 15: How have you embraced your trans identity?

Right now trans doesn’t feel much like a huge part of my identity.  It’s about as much of my identity as my being short or of Norwegian descent.  It’s important and it defines who I am, but there are more important things.  Like, I’m a mathematician.  I care a lot more about that and I’ll gladly talk about it for a very long time, if you make the mistake of asking.  Being a Girl Scout is a huge part of my identity, and is my heart and soul.  I will talk on and on and on about it.  I think being a Scrippsie is up there too.

I couldn’t talk on and on about being trans.  It’s more exhausting, and I wish you’d ask other questions.

However, when it was a bigger part of my identity, and I was a baby trans, it was very easy to embrace my trans identity.  Because there were so many wonderful people around who were literally embracing me and my trans identity.  There still are.

Day 16: What’s your rock anthem and why?

I don’t know what this means.  I’m sorry.  I guess it’s a song?  I really like Wagon Wheels, and Iowa by Dar Williams, and Heroes by Ann Reed.  Also, cheesy Girl Scout songs.  Oh, and I love The Last Saskatchewan Pirate by The Arrogant Worms.

Day 17: What’s your binding choice and why?

It’s taken me years to really figure this out.  And it turns out my favorite binder is the very first model I got.  The 988 by Underworks.  It’s kind of like a camisole, actually, except more manly.  So it’s like a tank top, but there’s bindy material only on your chest.  There are some that compress your belly, and I hate those.  I’ve also got the tri-top, and that’s good sometimes, but a lot of the times its too much bind for me.

This feels an appropriate question to talk about sports binders.  I play rugby, I run, I do sports things.  And you really can’t bind when you do those, because then you can’t breathe, which is bad.  It feels like you’re wearing women’s clothing when you wear a sports bra.  I know, it’s sucky.  But if you think of it as a special manly binder designed for manly sports made of manly wicking material, it’s good.  Just because women also wear something similar doesn’t mean you can’t too.

Also, don’t bind with ace bandages, it’s really bad and can damage you, even though it looks cool.  Also, if you’re an artist, you can make it pretty obvious that a dude is binding if he’s binding with a binder and not an ace wrap.  Make it a tri-top, perhaps.