This is the second installment of Levi’s new series: “The Adventures of the Boi Wonder”

“She got a TV eye on me
She got a TV eye
She got a TV eye on me, oh”
–”TV Eye” by Iggy Pop

Having lived in suburbia my entire life thus far, almost 18.5 years, transgenderism being shown in any medium other than the Maury or Jerry Springer “freak show parade” just didn’t happen. I wasn’t a particularly sheltered child, just your regular Catholic-raised, middle-class suburbanite.

Don’t worry; I won’t get into a rant about the madness of my childhood… That’s what therapists are for.

I got into the “Information Superhighway” at around 11-12 years old. In addition to being where I really learned about sex (other than the misinformed gigglings of my classmates and the Catholic school “a MAN and a WOMAN who are MARRIED make a BABY” teachings in 5th grade, where the boys and girls were separated and taught this), it was also where I felt I could really be myself.

It wasn’t until a few years later that things like the Tyra Show came along, which my sister watches religiously and fills the DVR with, and the movie Transamerica, which I managed to get my father to see with me on the basis of it being a good film, but those never completely spoke to me. I wasn’t a boy who is truly a girl and wears dresses and make-up (yes, yes…I know now not all transwomen are the ‘dresses and make-up’ type of gals, that was merely what I was feeling at the time), I was a young punk ‘girl’ who was truly a young punk boy. I had long-since stopped paying attention to The L-Word when Max came along (didn’t like him that much as a character anyway) and I was only 8 years old when Boys Don’t Cry came out, so where were the guys like me?

The answer came in a site called YouTube. Not only did I find videos for, by, and about FtM/transguys, but transguys who were quirky, smart, un-PC, and liked cool and interesting things. In other words, the types of guys I would actually want to listen to. YouTube vloggers cover all possible kinds of interests and personalities, so it is logical that they would also cover all parts of the gender and sexual orientation spectrum. It is the easiest way that I’ve found to see that GLB – and especially the often misunderstood and arguably neglected T – really are just anyone and communicate with others. Consider it for a second, almost anyone with a computer and a camera can freely upload a video and talk about whatever for no cost. Unlike books – which are a pain to try to get published and may not have a wide publication, movies – which can be exaggerated and skewed, news – which tends to focus on sensationalism, and TV – which often suffers the consequences of both movies and news, YouTube offers a combination of Do-It-Yourself ethics and a ‘Come As You Are’ mentality. You can either have the anonymity of viewing or, if you are brave, put yourself and your message out into the world.

Many transgendered, gender-b(l)ending or -variant, and intersex vloggers use YouTube to video document their transition, which can include aspects like the coming out process, effects of hormones, and/or surgery. Some make videos for personal reasons; others do it to help other people considering or going through the same thing and help loved ones of trans people understand what is going on. And then there are some vloggers who take the approach of something along the lines of “I’m a water-skiing graduate student…I just happen to be trans. Mainly I talk about water-skiing in my videos.” That’s cool too, videos can be whatever the creator wants them to be, and that is what makes YouTube so wonderful, though sometimes so odd and disturbing at the same time.

---

First time here? See what we're all about... Get involved... Send us a tip!...

---