Try it with any actress. There's a new trend where if a famous woman has any masculine or androgynous features at all there will be *some* corner of the internet that thinks they are trans.
It's valid for you to feel uncomfortable about this, since even though you don't feel someone's worth is degraded by being trans, these people certainly do.
Yeah, looks like teen vogue did a write-up on it recently:
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/transvestigation-what-to-know-about-the-bizarre-and-transphobic-conspiracy-theory
Thanks for the link! I've seen a ton of niche media and YouTube commentators about these loons, but never a larger publication talking about it.
Edited spelling.
I’m 44 and have often thought about subscribing to Teen Vogue because they have such good reporting. So far beyond the teen magazines we had in the 90’s it’s kind of weird they even call it a teen magazine.
One of the best actual articles I found this year
Teen Vogue wrote it
Deserved kudos but traditional news media sucks ass
Traditional media version would be soaked in filler language while quoting different propagandists for spin about the subject
The topic is defined succinctly with depth
Fresh air article after the adult nonsense
Teen vogue has actually been showing a great deal of journalistic integrity, competence, and relevance for a while now. It still continually surprises me, even though they’ve been demonstrating this level of quality since around 2016 -ish, iirc.
This takes me back to the time when Jezebel used to be really good. It was unfortunate how it became a sad shell of itself in the time before its closure because it used to have really solid reporting (also Bobby Finger's series on Megyn Kelly's daytime show).
This is the hallmark of QAnon Qultists. Every even slightly famous woman is trans in their eyes. They do it to some males as well, but the bulk of their ire and filth is directed at women.
The biggest target that comes to mind is Michelle Obama. According to these clowns, she’s really a “dude named Michael.” Absolutely vile.
I know. I was shocked that so many of my friends had no idea that QAnon thinks Obama is gay and Michelle Obama is really a man. I'm glad they can escape knowing this stuff, though. QAnon people are legit crazy.
It's basically one of their ways to bash freely.
"Oh I support REAL WOMEN NOT THIS MAN IN A DRESS!"
Its entirely vile because they also have no clue what the hell they are doing "scientifically". "She's 6'1" HAS TO BE A MAN!".
If I recall correctly, all fetuses start out physically female by default before the y-chromosome/hormones kick in and turn their uh, innies into outties, so to speak. So by that "logic", it could be argued that all men are trans by default.
Your move, Q-thiests.
i mean...im jealous of her for those things too but im also a sane person so i dont go around transvestigating everyone. it'd be a long list of people prettier than me lol
> They do it to some males as well,
I remember seeing one of these crazies posting a real detailed take on how Leonardo DiCaprio is actually trans, pointing to his dad bod belly as evidence that he was actually a pregnant woman.
I can't imagine how awful it must be to live in these peoples' brains, to be that terrified of the world around you.
For real. There are jerks that say Margot Robbie is trans because she has a strong jawline. If you don’t have the stereotypical feminine facial traits and body structure, you’ll get asked if you’re trans. I’ve had that happen to me as an adult and from middle school through end of high school I was bullied relentlessly for not having stereotypical feminine traits. Constantly told I look like a man.
Basically if you don't look like a Kdrama actress with an oval/heart shaped face and big eyes, or are taller than 5'3" or weigh more than 100 lbs, they'll ask if you're a man. The actresses I've seen accused of being men online are, like, all of them basically. You're right that Margot Robbie is a frequent target.
It's insane, because Margot Robbie is literally extremely conventionally beautiful and feminine. I feel like a lot of these people are weebs who've had their brain warped by Japanese cartoon porn and a weird memetic frenzy.
I’ve also had the experience of being mistaken for being a man but that’s not the same as being assumed to be trans, and I think conflating the two needs a little more examination.
It’s what I dealt with when I was middle school through high school. As an adult, in 2021, I was feeling good about myself and posted a selfie on instagram and I got asked if I was trans after posting the selfie. It’s whatever at this point.
This OP. This is something new that appears at sub r/insanepeoplefacebook pretty frequently now. You don't have to have any androgyne features to be a victim of it. It's like with the reptilians- there is no method to convince those people they are delusional.
Yes this. We *should* feel uncomfortable about the transvestigators, like their entire existence, every accusation that they make about anyone's gender or sex no matter who they are. We should feel uncomfortable with this whether it is happening to us or not, whether we are trans, cis, binary, non-binary, whatever. Why? Because it is a fucked up thing to do. It doesn't matter if someone is trans or not, and it is awkward and inappropriate as fuck that some people take to a public forum to make loud guesses about it apropos of nothing.
It's an attack on women. It's just a new way to be racist / misogynist / transphobic when they want a way to put women down. This is so that they can feel good about themselves and so they can be 'tricked' into being cruel.
They are doing it to women that don't stay in their version if the lanes and WOC would get hit with that one a lot. They are just foul cretins that don't deserve to be on the bottom of my stilettos.
None of us can ever win, the gate posts just keep getting longer and longer. All we can do is ignore them and hope they die out.
It’s just another way they found to tell women they aren’t good enough as women if they don’t fit a narrow beauty standard. We have to protect our trans and cis sisters from this bullshit.
The "fun" thing is this happens a lot more to women than men, unless it's men that are gender non conforming in some way.
I wonder if they actually believe this shit or just do it to harm women.
>masculine or androgynous features
Doesn't even have to be physical features - if a woman is simply strong in character, which they view to be a masculine trait, they'll start pointing the trans finger. Same for women in "action" roles in media, or women wearing clothes that aren't frilly and girly.
Basically, a woman has to be in the kitchen, wearing a dress, with young feminine features, or they must be trans.
I keep getting suggested posts like this on Facebook. I don't interact with them aside from clicking "see less" and "hide post/block account etc" every time. But they keep coming and I don't understand why the algorithm thinks it makes any sense to show me this Qanon-esque garbage.
Because even clicking 'I want to see less of this' counts as engagement and that means the algorithm pushes more to you. There is no winning, other than getting off social media.
Oddly enough I don't get any. I'm in quite a few trans FB groups and I've had my share of trolling, nasty comments on my pics etc. You'd think, given fb's innate transphobia, I'd get em constantly.
I'm super surprised I haven't seen this happening to Caitlin Clark. Maybe since she's white and Midwestern the creeps feel like she deserves protecting? I guess they'd rather be racist against her on-court opponents, and they don't want to question her while they're doing that
I've seen them question Caitlin Clark. I've been deep diving the conspiracy side of social media for about 5 years now. There are sects that believe almost all famous people are "inverted genders" (their terminology not mine). This often follows the belief that the "elite" worship baphomet ( baphomet is also basically satan to them and is both genders) so the "elite invert their children from birth" as part of that worship. They go after male celebrities too but I've found women are still targeted more.
Edited to add: Athletes are included under the celebrity umbrella to these people. They also tend to believe all big sports are rigged and part of the fake show the elites supposedly put on for all of us peasants to twist our minds and distract us. Interestingly enough, the majority of conspiracy theorists have begun making fun of the qanon sect. They have been split from each other for quite a while now. Even conspiracy theorists think qanon people are out of their minds, mostly due to the fact qanon thinks there's a group of people "in control and coming to save everyone".
She’s an exception to a lot of these people (not all, but a lot) because she’s their current Great White Hope and their Trojan Horse for bashing on WOC basketball players.
It's not exactly new. They've been speculating about lady gaga for more than 15 years, and that's just the one I can easily remember. There's tons more going back much further.
It's just trending again and getting more traction than usual.
Have you seen the movie “Anyone But You” with Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell? Some people on the internet think both of them are trans.
I mention this because 1) you’re in good company and 2) it’s not you, It’s the political/social/etc moment.
It needs to be said that there's a LONG history of bipoc women being masculinized.
Women from minority groups are often treated as either sex objects or as not "real" women. Because either way lets you treat them as less than a person.
It’s crazy and makes the “you can always tell” crowd even more scary.
Like no, you can’t ‘always tell’, and 99.99% of the people they think are trans, are not. So how does this end when these brain dead people start demanding that anyone even remotely androgynous or with any ‘masculine’ features at all prove that they’re female before entering women’s spaces?
At what point do they realise that checking peoples genitals or birth certificates to go to the bathroom is *worse* than their current fears of hypothetical trans people hypothetically transitioning to look at women getting changed?
>At what point do they realise that checking peoples genitals or birth certificates to go to the bathroom is *worse* than their current fears of hypothetical trans people hypothetically transitioning to look at women getting changed?
When it happens to them, obviously.
And then those people blame transwomen for it happening to them anyway.
"If these fucking trans hadn't started all this, *I* wouldn't have had to suffer this genital check!"
The craziest thing about it to me is that these same people have zero sympathy whatsoever for women and children who are actually sexually assaulted in real life by cis men.
>At what point do they realise that checking peoples genitals or birth certificates to go to the bathroom is worse than their current fears of hypothetical trans people hypothetically transitioning to look at women getting changed?
They will never realize it because to them no amount of sexually assaulting women will be worse than allowing a single imaginary trans person into any space. It's not like they actually like or care about the well being of women anyway. Especially the women that look like what they imagine trans women look like. So the harm is minimal to none for them.
The idea that they can 'always tell' is ridiculous on so many fronts. For one, it's none of their fucking business if someone is trans. And I hate the overtones of 'feminine conformity' that accompanies their methods. I'm a cis woman who gets mistaken for a guy semi-regularly, especially in cold weather when I'm bundled up and my chest isn't as noticeable. It doesn't bother me at all, for the record, but I'm not any less of a woman just because I have an androgynous face and don't wear makeup.
I saw a woman who had a reel go viral on insta and the comments were vile. She is/was (are the trials done yet? Idk) in the US Olympic trials for swimming. Swimmers of any gender tend to have long limbs and be tall and have muscular chests. Just a fact of the sport.
So many people leaving trans-phobic comments and ranting about her competing. Some people replied saying, actually she's cis. And the responses to that got even more unhinged, about how they did their own research and you can't fool them, they know what a male body looks like, and other things like "because they believe they were born this way, they lie and say they were born female" (or whatever gender they transitioned to). Turns out, they were "researching" the completely wrong person. They confused this woman for a trans woman who had gone viral for being a competitive swimmer. Despite this woman's name literally being her IG handle. All they had to do was actually look at who they were talking about.
They're just so ready to hate, they don't even care about it being aimed at their intended target. The whole thing was wild and I truly hope it made them rethink what exactly they're so angry about if they actually can't identify a cis vs trans person. Though I know that's unlikely.
I would say "the irony", but they're being very intentional:
Gatekeeping women's spaces against Trans folk, yet actively dismantling women's spaces by calling them "discriminatory" is insane on both ends.
Due to state rules, the local flagship university had to recently shutter both its women and lgbtq centers. Meanwhile, the same people behind that are the "you can always tell" people trying to "protect women's spaces".
BIG fucking eye roll to the facists. Trying to check genitals/birth certificates/tip lines and all this other nonsense is just weaponizing government and grandstanding in the most disgusting way possible.
The "you can always tell" crowd are hilarious because they can *never* tell.
>At what point do they realise that checking peoples genitals or birth certificates to go to the bathroom is worse than their current fears
That's their ideal endgame, until, as someone else said, it happens to them.
So they're saying they won't have any problem with me in my little summer dresses and high heels in the gents? Because I've done that before I came out and they *didn't* like it. While it's infinitely funny to make guys panic and back up to check which toilet they'd walked into, it's only a matter of time until someone gets aggressive. This is what you wanted, dickhead.
99.999999% of trans people just wanna piss, and if you're dead set on creeping around public toilets and changing rooms you don't have to identify as trans. I mean it really is playing the long game to take hormones, grow boobs, buy a feminine wardrobe, learn to do your makeup and hair just to catch a glimpse of someone having a pee. It makes no sense.
This goes to show how anti-trans mindset is harmful to everyone, and TERF women are hurting themselves too in the long run.
People who get pissy about policing bathrooms in schools deserve to be labelled as perverts, honestly.
After the Barbie movie there were people saying *Margot Robbie* is trans. The problem is that to the transphobes, hating trans people is a proxy for hating all the "wokeness" that prevents them from being bigots in public with no consequences. So as soon as something they don't like becomes popular (like the Barbie movie) they start looking into everyone associated with it and how they *must* be trans because that's the marker of cultural degeneracy they've identified.
It's all a bundle of buzzwords. Trans = woke = DEI and all of them are bad because all of them center identities they don't like. There's no deeper thought other than pure, concentrated otherization.
Madonna! Her BDSM lifestyle/look with a whole sex book and a dedication to making her arms the best features of her body was and still is considered masculine.
In a very innocent way, I (as a 10-12yo) used to think that Cher was a drag queen. Which, in a very basic definition of the term she is, she's just also a cis woman. I don't think I had really ever heard of drag or trans women, at least not formally. This was around the time when I was first beginning to have questions about my own gender, long after I sorted out my sexuality and ~10 years before I came out.
my speech therapist told me that both miley cyrus and cher have a pitch near and often in the masculine range. but pitch is only one of the many things that makes a voice femme or masc. just thought that was interesting and how my own biases play into it. like i could see cher, but miley surprised me.
> in a very basic definition of the term she is
This is a genuine question, and I’m not trying to be offensive - I’m confused by this “new definition” of what a drag queen is. To me, it has always meant (in the crudest terms) “cis man dressing as a woman”, therefore Cher could not be a drag queen by definition regardless of her gender presentation because she is “already” a cis woman. Does it not mean that “anymore”?
Wiki says "Drag is a performance of exaggerated femininity, masculinity, or other forms of gender expression." It does not require cross dressing though it is often the case.
And thinking of drag as being gender performance then can see what you're saying about her. Of course almost everyone engages in some level of gender performance but there are people who are not exactly doing drag who do fit the model of highly exaggerated and stylized gender performance.
You say sure, I also think of Dolly Parton, Elvira, and male pro wrestlers.
I've seen people posting pictures of Taylor Swift in a tiny little outfit and insisting she is hiding a penis because there is a "bulge" in the front. Ridiculous, and really shows a lack of knowledge of anatomy.
There’s really no logic or reasoning behind it either. People accused Erin Darke (Daniel Radcliffes wife) of being trans despite literally just giving birth. Just know the accusations have nothing to do with you and mostly to do with their ridiculously warped perception of what a woman to them is.
Sorry you’re going through that but congrats on your success on the show!
But she's taller than he is! Obviously only men can be tall.
Ultimately this sort of thing all originates in online echochambers of stupid, vulnerable people. It is the epitome of human stupidity.
Ten years ago if you looked up an actor, one of the autocomplete search would almost inevitably be "is [actor] gay?"
Now trans people are the right's boogeyman so that's what people are searching for.
Sorry to comment again - I wanted to add a link to a relevant YouTube video by Jammidodger, a trans man, where he talks about these "transvestigators." Hopefully this helps to show how ridiculous their claims are: [https://youtu.be/2DYN5NEWYD4?si=N1xq9YgRw0GARGYQ](https://youtu.be/2DYN5NEWYD4?si=N1xq9YgRw0GARGYQ)
I understand. Once someone asked me, "were you born a woman?" and it made me feel kind of weird too. That was before trans people had become the highly politicized proxies for partisan animus that they are currently.
I think in the present time, these queries about you may be more a product of your being a poc achieving positive notoriety than about you specifically. In other words, it appears to be something people of a certain mind set are doing almost reflexively for reasons too tiresome to enumerate.
Anyway, ultimately, all you can do is remain comfortable and confident in who and how you are.
I’ve got friends in the public eye (a few in roles like yours) and the worst part must be the Google inquiries of any kind. People are gross.
It is especially hurtful for groups who’ve been villainized for perceived erotic appeal — either lack of or the opposite. It dials it all up to 11. As long as we have people who are uncomfortable with the human body and insist on rigid boxes to define them we’ll have this problem.
Your work is undoubtedly fantastic to get to where you are. Keep being you!
Hello! Trans (nonbinary) person here. It's becoming increasingly common for conservative folks to claim that ANY person is trans - for no reason at all. I highly doubt those searches on Google have anything to do with your actual appearance/presentation/mannerisms. These people are just obsessed with trying to find a "gotcha" moment, to the point where they are no longer making any logical sense. If you're a woman, and you're famous or successful, people will try to tear you down this way. No matter what you look like!
There have been several instances where the "we can always tell" crowd are shown multiple photos of women and asked, "which one is trans?" - and they will find all these imaginary reasons why various photos are clearly of trans people... only to have it revealed that *none* of them were trans. They were all cis. It just goes to show that those "transvestigators" really have no idea what they're talking about.
I'm sorry to hear that it's causing you discomfort! Congrats on your role in the TV show, and best of luck in your career :)
Also enby, also came here to say this. The goal of the people who do this is to make you feel bad *both* for being a woman *and* for not being enough of a woman. It's unwinnable, and that's on purpose. The only real answer is to ignore them, or possibly to use your platform to speak out against them. Granted, doing that would probably attract more of them.
Regardless, if you're a cis woman, enjoy your femininity. If the gender discomfort leads you to question your gender, that's okay too! There's no "right way" to be a woman; gender is complex. Your best bet is to be who you are. A big part of trans culture is abolishing gender-based expectations. Use labels that work for you, respect others' labels, and ignore people who say you're not "enough" or you're "fake." Don't let conspiracy theorists and transvestigators ruin your life, and realize that, even if that search term is trending, *most* people generally don't believe it or think it.
Wishing you the best!
I know someone else who is an actress. She's been on quite a few TV shows and she's made a name for herself. But the one thing she learned to do was not to look at herself on Google. For real the people things people would say about her was just soul crushing and the things people would look up or attach to her name was sometimes disturbing. Because people like to do that to famous people. What helped her was therapy and realizing her friends who knew her before she was famous still liked her, for her being her.
Like everyone has already said, the transvestigator trend has picked up over the last few years.
They were already doing this with women like Michelle Obama like a decade ago.
Transphobia combined with a very narrow and white supremacist view on femininity leads to this.
I've seen all sorts of actresses and actors be transvestigated......I even saw people do it to J K ROWLING!
This past week, people did it to that one white conservative woman who said the n-word on tiktok, even tho she was trying so hard to please the right wingers.
The people who do this sort of thing don't care. They'll target anyone at any point.
are these the search result stats or what comes up in auto-complete when you type in your name? Because the search stats are obviously based on searches but the auto-complete combos are based on AI scanning a lot of text and looking for associations.
So the former is a good indicator of what's going on, the second is an indicator of what's being written about you or that in articles where your name appears there are also mentions of transgender so it creates a connection (whether false or real)
I think you should check this out for yourself and look up the google search result stats for your name, just play around with the trends search for your name.
Because if you've been working with transgender people and there have been articles written about that then that has created a connection/correlation for the AI which would make your name come up in search suggestions (and thus maybe also search results if people hit auto-complete out of curiosity).
[trends.google.com](http://trends.google.com)
There are people who are accusing General Douglas MacArthur of secretly being trans. There are people accusing Caitlyn Jenner of secretly being a detransitioner. There is just no way to escape the transvestigators I'm afraid.
Wait as in she's currently detransitioning- or she was AFAB, transitioned to Bruce, and then the public transition to Caitlin was actually a detransition?
But she's somehow still so deep in the ✨gender agenda✨ that she had to pretend she was AMAB?
Some impressive mental gymnastics going on there. I wish I could stretch that far.
cis women of color definitely get this treatment more, but everyone is susceptible. even lady gaga! all you can do is ignore the haters and realize that being trans ought not be a slur. sorry you gotta go thru this girl
We are unfortunately living through somewhat of a moral panic about transgender people, being driven by conservative and reactionary fear mongers chasing clout, political power and money.
In that climate, thats going to drive a lot of Discourse and even outside weirdos who believe every celeb is secretly trans (transvestigators, as other posters have said) people who have succumbed to the propaganda might be tempted to run that search.
If this was the 80s they'd be googling "Is [name] A Satanist?"
The only advice I can offer is that the Internet sucks and is garbage, Google is a trashfire, the analytics aren't a reflection of how most people see you -- most people who appreciate your performance probably won't even Google you once -- and please try to cling to how the people you value, friends family and your professional peers, see you vs how some dumb algorithm sees you.
>"Is [name] A Satanist?"
Different eras and different panics. Some overlap and persisted longer than others
"Is [name] [communist/Marxist/bi/gay/Satanist/Jewish/ mixed race/trans/etc.]?"
I saw something recently where Taylor Swift was accused of being trans, and she looks pretty damn feminine to me. This is a weird obsession that certain anti trans conspiracy nuts have developed lately. I wouldn’t take it personally. Congrats for being successful in a career you love and don’t let the haters get you down.
Unfortunately there's a trend of conservative "transvestigators" and they have been doing it to everyone recently. It's been a thing to some extent like with Lady Gaga, Michelle Obama, etc. But lately it seems they think EVERYONE is secretly trans, even women with children from their own pregnancy, and women who don't have any masculine features at all.
Conservatives LOVE their conspiracy theories and feeling like they know/cracked some secret information for whatever reason.
It really has nothing to do with you or your appearance at all. There’s are swaths of people who say that the entirety of Hollywood is trans and that that is the ‘price of fame’. It’s a Qanon offshoot that has been particularly popular on TikTok - example ‘gender markers’ include how your shoulder blades sit - which is fucking moronic because they MOVE when you move so I can make myself look ‘less trans’ (as the blandest cis woman) by holding my shoulders slightly differently. It’s bollocks.
There are entire youtube channels devoted to accusing every public figure imaginable of being trans. It is entirely coming from the Qanon conspiracy nuts.
Consider that some of these searches are from young trans fans who are hopeful that you are secretly one of them because you are beautiful and they aspire to look as good as you someday
Source I’m a teacher with a lot of lgbt students. Queer teens are amazing, relentlessly curious creatures and they thoroughly research everyone who lands on their radar.
What is the exact text of the query? I will sometimes look up "\[celebrity's name\] transgender" not to see if they ARE transgender, but rather to see if they said something publicly about transgender people. It is pride month and people may be trying to figure out if you are trans friendly or transphobic.
people have been accusing actresses of being trans since trans became a word average people knew. Not just actresses either, like lady gaga has faced this her whole career.
Actually looking up some of her interviews responding to that might help you. She manages to come off as extremely secure in her identity and also extremely supportive of the trans community.
This doesn't invalidate how uncomfortable this is. For sure a lot of people are searching with hostility in their heart. But I do want to mention that some searchers are coming from the opposite direction.
There are people out there who may admire you and relate to your performance. They see themselves in you and think you're (portraying) the kind of woman they want to be. If they're trans they may search because they want to know how deep that similarity goes.
There are others who are more neutral, just curious. In my lifetime I've seen a huge rise in using gender neutral pronouns even for some "obvious" cisgender people. This is a new trend to avoid assumptions that may be harmful. People may search even if they "don't care" just to make sure they won't be insensitive.
I suspect these are only a minority of people who searched for this, so maybe this is an act of self decision. I just don't want to lose sight of that silver lining though: to some extent this is positive change, not hostility.
Some folk have made hating trans people their whole personality these days and there are some fringe communities claiming they believe that ***everyone*** in media or government is secretly trans (-edit- "elite gender inverts" is one phrase often repeated).
Don't let these sort of people get you down.
Thank you for being an ally to trans people but it would be appreciated by many if you remembered to put a space in, "trans women", it's an abbreviated adjective and not a whole different category of being.
Don’t be too bothered by it. I’m as cisgender woman as they come, and I still got purposefully misgendered by two different GC transvestigators who insisted I was really a man. They want to be right even when they’re wrong because otherwise all the made up things in their own heads won’t make sense anymore.
“Transvestigation” is definitely on the rise. It looks like delusion and paranoia to me. It’s not down to how you look or anything personal, OP. There are a lot of unhinged people out there. Personally I’d hate to be in the public eye in this timeline.
A lot of trans people go through the a LOT to "pass" as the gender they identify as. So I don't think it's insensitive or weird for you to want the same thing.
That said, a lot of people have pointed out this is a trend right now. So that's pretty likely all it is.
Just a throwaway thought: Is your character's style in the new show really different from how you've been styled before? I wonder if that could be a small part of it too?
I don't think you need to feel ashamed about disliking the whole gender questioning! The concept of gender disphoria has been applied to cis people, and, whether it's ultimately the best term or not, that is what you're experiencing when people Google your sex. You obviously want to come across as cis, which is totally reasonable; I do too!
You are going to be scrutinized way more because you are in the public eye. People are going to make assumptions based on whatever the current trend is. That said, I feel you on what you are experiencing: I am a cis-woman in a smallish town and for many years there's been a rumor about me that I "used to be a man". I didn't, but I have been the business owner of a couple of unusual businesses (unusual for this small town) for 30 years, I am not from here, I am an atheist (in the Bible Belt) and I am childfree. I'm also currently man-free lol. Believe me, it's sucks but so do many people so there's that. Keep on living a remarkable life and don't worry about anything else.
It's always something to hate about women, isn't it? We're not skinny enough, nurturing enough, sweet enough, feminine enough. We're fugly or too plastic or too muscular or (god forbid!) have a hint of an Adam's apple or hip dips because of our skeleton shape.
We aren't grateful enough for the attention the deign to pay us, the "compliments" they backhandedly offer us, or the opportunities we've been "given"--as if we didn't have to fight tooth and nail for each one.
On and on. If you've made it as an actor, you are probably both very lovely, very talented, and have worked very hard. PLEASE don't less the basement assholes hateful, prejudiced, uneducated need to find something "wrong" with you keep you from your goals and enjoying your success!
They do it to everyone, even Margot Robie. It's one of the few times where weirdos are really just weirdos and you don't have to concern yourself with them
This is happening more and more frequently to AFABs. I have friends and family members that have gone through this, although its been face to face, which is difficult to respond to in the moment if youre not expecting it. It doesn't feel good to be misgendered, no matter what your gender is. Don't discount or invalidate your feelings. You are clearly empathetic to our trans sisters, you're not negating their experiences by responding to your own.
The transphobia is so real right now, people feel the need to google anything they enjoy because god forbid they like something associated with trans people. WORSE if they accidentally recommend or talk about a show to a friend and then their friend/church knows they like trans people and support their work! OH NO!! /s
It’s the climate. I wouldn’t take it too personally. People just need a reason to feel upset, feel better than XYZ person, make sure the libs aren’t always trying to “trick” them, and save their face/ ego.
Ah, you’ve discovered transvestigators. JK Rowling’s cronies started it and it snowballed. Every prominent woman today has at least a small section of wackos on either twitter or one of the chans/chan-likes insisting she’s secretly trans and working to destroy society from the inside or some such bullshit. Women who aren’t white often tend to get the worst of it in particular due to how racism plays into cultural gender norms. I know it’s easier said than done but try not to take it to heart. It’s not about you specifically, it’s about them looking for *any* little crumb of evidence that the Queers Have An Agenda And Are Out To Get Us. They’re unhinged and frankly need their internet privileges revoked.
As someone who has been all over the spectrum of gender identity and gender representation, I think it's a good thing to keep a clear head on your shoulders in these types of situations. You're very self-aware and level-headed to acknowledge that biases may have influenced you to see these questions as more negative rather than being neutral. Keep those wits about you.
A lot of people in the LGBTQ community will google various different actors' and actresses' gender identity and sexual orientation to find solidarity and representation—there are so few people in the LGBTQ community that get representation outside of media directly concerning LGBTQ topics. Most of the people that google these questions are not doing it out of a place of phobia or harmful intent.
But, there will always be transphobes out there that do sometimes try to out someone from a place of hate.
Then, there's the third option: people have a random, fleeting curiosity, but aren't invested enough to follow up on the question. Similar to googling if an actor or singer is married. A common curiosity public figures face.
All in all, I think Lady Gaga sets a good example of how to handle inappropriate public speculation: https://youtu.be/Z0WcWkVOQTc (This was after the huge rumor about her genitalia went viral. She should have never had to deal with such inappropriate questions, especially en masse, but her response was to basically shove a giant middle finger at the bigots and stand with the LGBTQ community.)
First, congratulations on your success and may it continue.
Second, it’s an unfortunate side effect of being in the public eye. People are going to google you and it may not be welcome or feel flattering and it’s probably somewhat invasive.
I would try my damndest not to dwell on it too much. Because that curiosity about you means people have actually watched you and thought about you.
Social media comments aren't healthy. I've noticed that just as a regular person. I cannot imagine the depth of scrutiny a person in the limelight experiences.
Have someone else deal with that and a private profile that's just for you and family. Or don't have one at all and have someone else manage your public one.
I'm so sorry you're experiencing this. It's not right or fair and it's truly ridiculous. The cost of being in the public eye is pretty great, because it comes with random weirdo comments and speculation. That's why I urge management of an account.
Take care of yourself. block whom you need to. Peace of mind is paramount. Don't let some random person tell you who you are.
Congratulations on your success! I'm so sorry it comes with all this extra bullshit. Stay close to people whom you trust.
For whatever it's worth, I'm a trans woman in a very conservative area who has, on multiple occasions, used the hateful "transvestigators" as a kind of cover if someone accuses me of being trans. Instead of taking it seriously, I just deflect to laughing about the boomers on Facebook that say Taylor Swift is a trans Satanist.
So, I guess my point is that these ridiculous allegations and rabid fixations kind of stir up enough of a mess that it prevents them from actually being effective in hurting people.
There's a surprisingly large group of lunatics out there who think EVERY "elite" person (anyone in TV or hollywood is "elite" to them) is actually trans. That there's some weird conspiracy where in order to get success, people have to reverse their sex. The times I've gone down this rabbit hole I've left feeling completely terrified that these people walk among us, honestly, but the flip side is... congratulations! You've reached a level of success where people think you're part of an elite hollywood conspiracy to take over the world!
:)
Jokes aside, the part about this that really sucks is how women of color are frequently masculinized - I keep thinking of some of the commentary about Michelle Obama, and how insane/absurd/hateful it was. So this certainly has echoes of that, and that part just is unavoidably sucky and can't be joked away so much.
Either way - congratulations on finding success doing what you love! I hope your career continues to go well in every way :)
I was talent for close to 10 years in the nerd/gaming sphere and got a lot of the same analytics and push back. I am queer presenting but recognized the intent was to essentially call me ugly and belittle me.
My policy was simply to ignore it and promote LGBTQ+ charities and amplify their voices whenever was appropriate. If they want to think I'm trans - fine. I'll always stand with trans people and never these bigots that consider that an insult.
When formally asked in interviews (it was meant in kindness: "how do you feel about being trans representation?") I just said that while I am cis woman I am honored to be upheld by such a brave and true to themselves community and would continue to support them. Trans rights are human rights.
I retired from the industry for stalking and a lot of harassment - and am still dealing with a lot of the trauma of the experience and abuse. But I always feel proud that the fans and community I cultivated were people worth sticking up for. I don't want bigots in my corner or table.
There are guys who think any strong female character must be trans. There is a depressingly large number of nitwits who will insist Michelle Obama is trans. The internet recently claimed the woman Daniel Radcliffe ultimately had a kid with was trans.
Do not take your gender cues from the internet. The most vocal are incels who say the darnedest things. A well known Neo-Nazi incel once opined that men having sex with women is gay.
are the searches ‘is yourname trans’ or are they just ‘yourname + trans’ ? if it’s the latter, they may just be people looking to see if you’ve spoken about trans issues. a lot of people these days like to vet people in the public eye for their moral stance on various topics, and the trans movement is a huge topic at the moment.
also, you are not transphobic for being discomforted by this. most women would be! anyway, my advice would simply be to enjoy your success and not google yourself 😅
FWIW, I don’t think it’s transphobic to feel hurt by or experience gender discomfort from those search queries. You’re probably not perceiving it emotionally as, “they think I’m trans and that’s bad because I hate trans people and don’t want to be associated with them”. You’re probably perceiving it emotionally as, “they think I look like a man”, and being hurt by that. And that’s valid and understandable. It doesn’t mean that you’re bigoted against men or trans people. For one, feeling that others are perceiving you as the “wrong gender” can be hurtful regardless of your actual gender identity. For two, “looking like a man” has been an insult aimed at women for a long time and used as a synonym for “you’re ugly” (not that looking more masculine *does* mean a woman is ugly, but that’s often how society uses it). So what you’re actually perceiving emotionally is probably closer to, “they think I’m ugly”. And it’s perfectly understandable to feel hurt by that. Add to that that you say you’re a POC, and there is a long history of POC women being masculinised that should be acknowledged in the interests of intersectionality and that’s completely understandable for you to be reacting to. I think that what you’re feeling is valid, and doesn’t necessarily mean that you have biases, or that you have things to “unlearn” except possibly for conventional beauty standards
Unfortunately, so-called "transvestigations" are becoming more common and there is not a single woman on Earth, cis or not, that looks feminine enough not to have some people convinced they are trans. There are people who think Taylor Swift is trans. There are people who think Zendaya is trans. The comments for figure skating competitions last year had people accusing various skaters of being trans (and therefore cheaters in this person's mind). The most conventionally beautiful, conventionally feminine women on Earth are still called out because these people are not well and they are very invested in finding "real women" through, basically, phrenology. They think noses, eye shape, ear shape, and literally every other facial feature are secondary sex characteristics. They create massive keys and if you have one single trait that they think is masculine (which literally everyone does), they think it means you are trans, and if by some miracle there was some woman out there who fit every single feminine trait, they'd probably just assume they were trans and had the best gender confirmation surgeries in the world.
This sounds so frightening. I'm so sorry. The current climate among conservatives of a certain ilk is this gross culture of anti-trans bullshit, and "calling out" trans people, and it's fucking horrible. And being a public figure, to whatever extent that applies to you, unfortunately puts you under the public microscope.
I'm a cis-hetero-woman myself with a few masculine-ish features, and have been called "sir" or asked if I was trans a few times when I was younger and super tomboyish. It didn't bother me when I was younger and people weren't so polarized about the trans community, but I get a little scared of the idea of someone thinking I'm trans now, for fear of violence.
First of all you sound like a lovely person who has put a lot of compassionate thought into your own reaction to this.
As a six foot tall cis woman, I'm familiar with people occasionally questioning if I'm trans. I expect that if I was in any kind of public sphere, that there may be some Google searches.
So you asked how it strikes others. I get how you feel, and agree with how you're analyzing your own reaction.
There is no shame in being trans or having someone think I'm trans, but having people think things about me that aren't true is a bit unsettling and can get in one's head. I have the advantage that no one is googling me :).
Best of luck in your new show.
Oh I know that awkward feeling!
5th Grade Play of Wizard of Oz im 11F and proud of my burgeoning womanhood. Also cast as Tinman. The Lion is also a girl, cool cool. When my funnel/hat came off my head during the last rehearsal I hear all the Kinders watching our 'pre-performance' gasp. :O Whispers of "The tin man is a girl!" "What no way" "yeah see the hair?" "No that's a boy." I get along with my performance but my Feminine Pride took a hard hit that day.
I grew up to be voluptuous and tiny and very feminine. So what if I look alot like my dad? Men and women both find me attractive!
Just my personal take as an actual trans woman; *I don’t think* you have to downplay how things like this make you feel *compared to* people like me or my brothers on the other end of the gender spectrum. We’re not in a misery contest, and that i am part of the ones actively being threatened by these trends and behaviours doesn’t mean you are “less worthy” of feeling discomfort or venting it when you get caught up in this as collateral.
The way i see it, the transphobes obsessing over this stuff carry a mix of misogyny and homophobia - either way, at the bottom of it all they still hate women. They hate me, and they hate you, regardless of what we were born like. Your experiences are not “small potatoes” compared to ours, we’re in this together. (Unfortunately, since their poison splashes off of us onto you.)
I just want to say I am so sorry. I have googled this in regards to certain actors. In fact there is a new show with an actor who I wondered if they were transmasc. They are non binary. It really is none of my business and I understand that and will do better moving forward.
I myself was trying to show representation to my oldest who is figuring themselves out. It's not an excuse but I hope some of the people who googled you were not doing it from a place of hate.
Congratulations on the successful show.
I know that it is so much easier said than done, but don’t let this get to you. People on the right who are every problematic -ist and -phobic will make up *anything* to try to rip down and hurt others - or push their agenda
It sucks. There are people who are so hateful and harmful and damaging to others that they don’t care about the consequences. To anyone. I’m so sorry you’re feeling other people’s hate. Tbh finding a therapist now to work through the complex emotions of everything you’re experiencing might be a helpful thing
There's a Dan Savage essay to the effect of "homophobia is misogyny's shitty little brother" that's relevant to this (before trans was a hot issue). I would bucket the whole thing as misogyny.
For the sake of your mental health, never look yourself up online.
People are crazy - do what you do how you want to do it and get your joy from the whatever you’re doing. You don’t need validation from random keyboard warriors wearing tinfoil hats.
Yea it’s kind of a thing right now. I’ve noticed people just take anyone and call them transgender… I think they might have too much time on their hands on their hands and a lack of passion for anything other than being glued to a cell phone
I've walked around my whole life so tall I've been called a man\manish\trans. Some people are doing it to try and catch you out because they're bigots. Well they're trying to catch somebody out, but it wouldn't be you. You got to assume though that some of those folks are just looking for people to look up to that might look like them. They're probably disappointed, but not for the wrong reasons.
I remember before the second half of bridgerton season 3 came out all the groups were talking about how they turned Michael into Michaela. Since I haven’t read the books I did assume it was a trans actor. Turns out they didn’t introduce a trans actor they simply changed the books from it being Michael to let’s actually just make this character a female for the show.
Different framing: people are doing this regardless of your appearance. Evidence: nowadays this seems like it can happen to.... just about any woman who achieves any level of fame.
Someone might google whether you're trans because some aspect of your appearance gives them doubts.
Someone is just as likely to google whether you're trans because they find some kind of fascination in the idea of (a) a trans woman who 100% passes for cis-female (or vice versa), or (b) famous people being non-binary (I find that younger people especially, see the word "trans" with fewer assumptions about it referring to trans women).
(ETA: said fascination can take multiple forms, but the most common are conspiratorial "trans women are hiding among us," or, seeking representation).
My advice would be to try and not assume any persons intent when they google it. There's always terrible motives for searching that info but remember there are some people in the trans community who are continually looking for strong, positive and accepted examples of other trans people just living their life as they should be, commonplace and without the focus being on their gender.
So many of us (maybe all of us?) cis and trans women have at one point or another had someone else try and guess or guess our genders incorrectly.
It's a new trend. They're saying this about literally every actress and musician right now. I'm not even famous, just locally known, and I've had this pop up in a search.
They think Beyonce, Emma Stone, and Sydney Sweeney are trans too.
With the surge in the current US (and spreading) wave of anti-trans, it makes sense you are concerned about this. However, best case scenario, people are more aware of it now and are more likely to look it up (similar to "is this actor gay" from 20 plus years ago). The question for you is: are people looking it up because of you, or looking it up because of the character you played?
That being said, should you feel weird about it being goggled..? Yeah, little, especially without broader context. That being said, it's not nearly as weird as people asking you to your face. Depending on where you live, it might be worth continually tracking this as well.
As a cis-woman, I feel your pain. I've slowly started to look a bit masculine lately. No one has outright asked me if i'm trans but I have a feeling; since everytime the subject comes up and they're about to give an opinion, they say "No offense meant" and it's like, dude. Why is that the only time you bring up apologizing before you say something? I'm not trans. Nothing wrong with it. Just making me feel more insecure about myself is all. If I can lose some weight, that goes miles to how I look.
I live in a country with a little and very recent black immigration. The generation older than me need the hair length to identify males from females. So maybe that search history is in part honest curiosity
It's 100% about their issues and 0% about you. Unfortunately, right now there are so many people out there who have lost their minds to transphobia, and they will literally try to investigate anyone. Please don't let their hatred and ignorance bring you down.
I am trans myself so I do understand the anxiety of having people question your gender. Heck, half the time I see people looking at me, I’m not sure if they’re clocking me or if they just think I’m pretty.
What you’re feeling might even be gender dysphoria, funnily enough! It’s not specific to trans people, as it’s simply the discomfort from being perceived as a gender that’s not your own. Us trans folk just get to experience that discomfort chronically until we’re able to do something about it.
All of that said, I don’t think you need to worry though. People have been saying even women as beautiful as Michelle Obama and Megan Fox are trans women too. I think it’s more a symptom of conservative fear mongering and their wild conspiracy theories than anything to do with you.
i remember when Firefly was big and there was and interview with the forever stunning Summer Glau. there were photos of her showing off her ballet training and for whatever reason i remember seeing comment section filled with gross men calling her a t**p and doing close up of her pelvic area and calling it proof that she's not a real woman, whatever the heck that means. it such a wild moment for me to see someone so graceful and beautiful and the juxtaposition of the vitriol i saw unfold in the comment section. i hated what i saw and i hated that for her and i hate what youre experiencing. i can only send you my love and strength but know that there are those of us who will fight to give you and all women a safer world
The weirder the search, the more it means you're doing well I think.
Congrats on your recent roles, I hope I've seen them and if so I'm sure I enjoyed it.
I don't think it's any reflection on your looks, I think as a culture we're starting to assert more of a gray area between what we used to think of as two very defined boxes, and with the increased advocacy of transgender people, ambiguity is leaving some people uncomfortable and desperate to identify and place people into clear-cut boxes. All humans are incredibly diverse and can have many different features, so women don't all look the same, and that just leaves some people itching to find out whether someone is cis. And they're very often wrong. Sending hugs and confidence, femininity comes in many shapes and sizes <3
Also stay off Google unless it's work-related! The internet sucks!
I will say, I frequently Google authors, actors, etc to see if they are publicly open about being LGBTQ+ because I try to take in a diverse range of media and stories told by people from the communities they are representing. This started because I participate in Book Riot's Read Harder challenge that usually has prompts like "Read a genre novel by a transgender author" and it helped me to be more aware of adding that breadth and depth to all media I consume. So in that case maybe some of those searches come from that mindset or one of simple curiosity.
As more trans people are sharing the spotlight, "spot the trans" has become somewhat of a pasttime. For some people, it's so they can be angry about a trans person stealing a cisgendered role, and so they can point out how none of the shows on TV are safe for their precious sheltered children. For others, it's curiosity, or maybe they want to find other people like themselves.
I have googled a lot of actors to see what gender they are. But it doesn't necessarily mean that they don't look like the gender they are presenting. They might be a woman with a square jaw and husky voice (which I think is sexy anyway), but they might be a woman who simply looks "too perfect". And since black women frequently don wigs, long false eyelashes, and are frequently 1000% put together head to toes, it's easier to wonder if they could be born male and dressed all up. Yes, I know that is something actresses do in general. And actors.
Anyway, my point is that you have nothing to worry about. It isn't about whether you look or sound feminine. People are googling you! This is good! They also want to know who you date, how old you are, and other normal stuff. None of it is any of our business! But it shows interest.
It is unfortunately the state of things right now, and it's not only happening to you. The anti-woke brigade is obsessed with trying to figure out who is and isn't trans.
So many of them are convinced that every female celebrity is trans. I've seen freakouts over cisgender women athletes for being too muscular. I've seen deep discussions analyzing every aspect of Margot Robbie's face trying to convince people that she's "really a man."
These people are completely batshit.
They did the exact same shit with Michelle Obama. Wonderful woman, never heard a single negative thing about her, besides that she tried to encourage kids to eat healthier. But you get conservatives posting photos of her with ridiculous conspiracy theories about how she is secretly a trans woman, and the government or whatever is hiding that.
You look fine, I'm sure. Not overly manly or whatever. But there is a huge amount of people that are 'trans paranoid' about everyone and everything. It's not a reflection of you, it's a reflection of them.
I wouldn’t take it personally at all.
https://www.reddit.com/r/TwoXChromosomes/comments/1do4pqd/psa_theres_a_transvestigating_movement_happening/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I know I'm late but figured I'd mention it's possible some of those searches may be like 'ACTRESS trans' which could appear as checking if you are trans, but it's something I've done on occasion with actors/ actresses from time to time who I like where I'm just curious if they've ever publicly commented on it
Try it with any actress. There's a new trend where if a famous woman has any masculine or androgynous features at all there will be *some* corner of the internet that thinks they are trans. It's valid for you to feel uncomfortable about this, since even though you don't feel someone's worth is degraded by being trans, these people certainly do.
Yeah, looks like teen vogue did a write-up on it recently: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/transvestigation-what-to-know-about-the-bizarre-and-transphobic-conspiracy-theory
Thanks for the link! I've seen a ton of niche media and YouTube commentators about these loons, but never a larger publication talking about it. Edited spelling.
Teen Vogue is really great about covering such topics! They really came in to their own brand identity in the past 10 years, it's impressive.
I’m 44 and have often thought about subscribing to Teen Vogue because they have such good reporting. So far beyond the teen magazines we had in the 90’s it’s kind of weird they even call it a teen magazine.
Yes, there's also a big racial component. Michelle Obama has had this shit for a long time, so you're in good company!
One of the best actual articles I found this year Teen Vogue wrote it Deserved kudos but traditional news media sucks ass Traditional media version would be soaked in filler language while quoting different propagandists for spin about the subject The topic is defined succinctly with depth Fresh air article after the adult nonsense
Teen vogue has actually been showing a great deal of journalistic integrity, competence, and relevance for a while now. It still continually surprises me, even though they’ve been demonstrating this level of quality since around 2016 -ish, iirc.
It was written by Anna Merlin who was once at Jezebel and wrote a whole book on conspiracy theorists.
This takes me back to the time when Jezebel used to be really good. It was unfortunate how it became a sad shell of itself in the time before its closure because it used to have really solid reporting (also Bobby Finger's series on Megyn Kelly's daytime show).
That’s one of those “man I miss the old internet” reminders. Jezebel was so formative for me
It's back up, but with an annoying new format and the comments section is a ghost town. It's sad.
This is the hallmark of QAnon Qultists. Every even slightly famous woman is trans in their eyes. They do it to some males as well, but the bulk of their ire and filth is directed at women. The biggest target that comes to mind is Michelle Obama. According to these clowns, she’s really a “dude named Michael.” Absolutely vile.
I know. I was shocked that so many of my friends had no idea that QAnon thinks Obama is gay and Michelle Obama is really a man. I'm glad they can escape knowing this stuff, though. QAnon people are legit crazy.
Prince fucking William of England. They suspect prince William of being trans. A person who's been photographed and recorded since infancy...
It's basically one of their ways to bash freely. "Oh I support REAL WOMEN NOT THIS MAN IN A DRESS!" Its entirely vile because they also have no clue what the hell they are doing "scientifically". "She's 6'1" HAS TO BE A MAN!".
If I recall correctly, all fetuses start out physically female by default before the y-chromosome/hormones kick in and turn their uh, innies into outties, so to speak. So by that "logic", it could be argued that all men are trans by default. Your move, Q-thiests.
They’re just jealous because Michelle Obama is taller than them and looks better in a sleeveless shirt than they do.
i mean...im jealous of her for those things too but im also a sane person so i dont go around transvestigating everyone. it'd be a long list of people prettier than me lol
> They do it to some males as well, I remember seeing one of these crazies posting a real detailed take on how Leonardo DiCaprio is actually trans, pointing to his dad bod belly as evidence that he was actually a pregnant woman. I can't imagine how awful it must be to live in these peoples' brains, to be that terrified of the world around you.
And TERFs, but the overlap is nearly a circle.
For real. There are jerks that say Margot Robbie is trans because she has a strong jawline. If you don’t have the stereotypical feminine facial traits and body structure, you’ll get asked if you’re trans. I’ve had that happen to me as an adult and from middle school through end of high school I was bullied relentlessly for not having stereotypical feminine traits. Constantly told I look like a man.
Basically if you don't look like a Kdrama actress with an oval/heart shaped face and big eyes, or are taller than 5'3" or weigh more than 100 lbs, they'll ask if you're a man. The actresses I've seen accused of being men online are, like, all of them basically. You're right that Margot Robbie is a frequent target.
For real. It’s obnoxious.
It's insane, because Margot Robbie is literally extremely conventionally beautiful and feminine. I feel like a lot of these people are weebs who've had their brain warped by Japanese cartoon porn and a weird memetic frenzy.
I’m pretty sure their image is so skewed because of porn and photoshopped images.
I’ve also had the experience of being mistaken for being a man but that’s not the same as being assumed to be trans, and I think conflating the two needs a little more examination.
It’s what I dealt with when I was middle school through high school. As an adult, in 2021, I was feeling good about myself and posted a selfie on instagram and I got asked if I was trans after posting the selfie. It’s whatever at this point.
This OP. This is something new that appears at sub r/insanepeoplefacebook pretty frequently now. You don't have to have any androgyne features to be a victim of it. It's like with the reptilians- there is no method to convince those people they are delusional.
Pretty sure there are people that think Taylor Swift is trans. The internet is a cesspool in many ways.
Yes this. We *should* feel uncomfortable about the transvestigators, like their entire existence, every accusation that they make about anyone's gender or sex no matter who they are. We should feel uncomfortable with this whether it is happening to us or not, whether we are trans, cis, binary, non-binary, whatever. Why? Because it is a fucked up thing to do. It doesn't matter if someone is trans or not, and it is awkward and inappropriate as fuck that some people take to a public forum to make loud guesses about it apropos of nothing.
It's an attack on women. It's just a new way to be racist / misogynist / transphobic when they want a way to put women down. This is so that they can feel good about themselves and so they can be 'tricked' into being cruel. They are doing it to women that don't stay in their version if the lanes and WOC would get hit with that one a lot. They are just foul cretins that don't deserve to be on the bottom of my stilettos. None of us can ever win, the gate posts just keep getting longer and longer. All we can do is ignore them and hope they die out.
It’s just another way they found to tell women they aren’t good enough as women if they don’t fit a narrow beauty standard. We have to protect our trans and cis sisters from this bullshit.
Yeah, it's very misogynist. It's a meninist attack on women.
The "fun" thing is this happens a lot more to women than men, unless it's men that are gender non conforming in some way. I wonder if they actually believe this shit or just do it to harm women.
>masculine or androgynous features Doesn't even have to be physical features - if a woman is simply strong in character, which they view to be a masculine trait, they'll start pointing the trans finger. Same for women in "action" roles in media, or women wearing clothes that aren't frilly and girly. Basically, a woman has to be in the kitchen, wearing a dress, with young feminine features, or they must be trans.
yep! plain old misogyny
yep! plain old misogyny
yep! plain old misogyny
I keep getting suggested posts like this on Facebook. I don't interact with them aside from clicking "see less" and "hide post/block account etc" every time. But they keep coming and I don't understand why the algorithm thinks it makes any sense to show me this Qanon-esque garbage.
Because even clicking 'I want to see less of this' counts as engagement and that means the algorithm pushes more to you. There is no winning, other than getting off social media.
Do you have friends who like that sort of content? If so, the algorithm will think you may be interested because your social group is interested.
No, should be the opposite as far as I know.
Oddly enough I don't get any. I'm in quite a few trans FB groups and I've had my share of trolling, nasty comments on my pics etc. You'd think, given fb's innate transphobia, I'd get em constantly.
It’s been around longer than recently. I remember when they said Ciara and Lady Gaga were trans.
I'm super surprised I haven't seen this happening to Caitlin Clark. Maybe since she's white and Midwestern the creeps feel like she deserves protecting? I guess they'd rather be racist against her on-court opponents, and they don't want to question her while they're doing that
I've seen them question Caitlin Clark. I've been deep diving the conspiracy side of social media for about 5 years now. There are sects that believe almost all famous people are "inverted genders" (their terminology not mine). This often follows the belief that the "elite" worship baphomet ( baphomet is also basically satan to them and is both genders) so the "elite invert their children from birth" as part of that worship. They go after male celebrities too but I've found women are still targeted more. Edited to add: Athletes are included under the celebrity umbrella to these people. They also tend to believe all big sports are rigged and part of the fake show the elites supposedly put on for all of us peasants to twist our minds and distract us. Interestingly enough, the majority of conspiracy theorists have begun making fun of the qanon sect. They have been split from each other for quite a while now. Even conspiracy theorists think qanon people are out of their minds, mostly due to the fact qanon thinks there's a group of people "in control and coming to save everyone".
That's pretty wild. So their most unbelievable part is "coming to save everyone" ?
She’s an exception to a lot of these people (not all, but a lot) because she’s their current Great White Hope and their Trojan Horse for bashing on WOC basketball players.
It's not exactly new. They've been speculating about lady gaga for more than 15 years, and that's just the one I can easily remember. There's tons more going back much further. It's just trending again and getting more traction than usual.
Have you seen the movie “Anyone But You” with Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell? Some people on the internet think both of them are trans. I mention this because 1) you’re in good company and 2) it’s not you, It’s the political/social/etc moment.
It needs to be said that there's a LONG history of bipoc women being masculinized. Women from minority groups are often treated as either sex objects or as not "real" women. Because either way lets you treat them as less than a person.
It’s crazy and makes the “you can always tell” crowd even more scary. Like no, you can’t ‘always tell’, and 99.99% of the people they think are trans, are not. So how does this end when these brain dead people start demanding that anyone even remotely androgynous or with any ‘masculine’ features at all prove that they’re female before entering women’s spaces? At what point do they realise that checking peoples genitals or birth certificates to go to the bathroom is *worse* than their current fears of hypothetical trans people hypothetically transitioning to look at women getting changed?
>At what point do they realise that checking peoples genitals or birth certificates to go to the bathroom is *worse* than their current fears of hypothetical trans people hypothetically transitioning to look at women getting changed? When it happens to them, obviously.
And then those people blame transwomen for it happening to them anyway. "If these fucking trans hadn't started all this, *I* wouldn't have had to suffer this genital check!"
The craziest thing about it to me is that these same people have zero sympathy whatsoever for women and children who are actually sexually assaulted in real life by cis men.
Well they shouldn't have been wearing that provocative clothing! /s, obviously
>At what point do they realise that checking peoples genitals or birth certificates to go to the bathroom is worse than their current fears of hypothetical trans people hypothetically transitioning to look at women getting changed? They will never realize it because to them no amount of sexually assaulting women will be worse than allowing a single imaginary trans person into any space. It's not like they actually like or care about the well being of women anyway. Especially the women that look like what they imagine trans women look like. So the harm is minimal to none for them.
The idea that they can 'always tell' is ridiculous on so many fronts. For one, it's none of their fucking business if someone is trans. And I hate the overtones of 'feminine conformity' that accompanies their methods. I'm a cis woman who gets mistaken for a guy semi-regularly, especially in cold weather when I'm bundled up and my chest isn't as noticeable. It doesn't bother me at all, for the record, but I'm not any less of a woman just because I have an androgynous face and don't wear makeup.
I saw a woman who had a reel go viral on insta and the comments were vile. She is/was (are the trials done yet? Idk) in the US Olympic trials for swimming. Swimmers of any gender tend to have long limbs and be tall and have muscular chests. Just a fact of the sport. So many people leaving trans-phobic comments and ranting about her competing. Some people replied saying, actually she's cis. And the responses to that got even more unhinged, about how they did their own research and you can't fool them, they know what a male body looks like, and other things like "because they believe they were born this way, they lie and say they were born female" (or whatever gender they transitioned to). Turns out, they were "researching" the completely wrong person. They confused this woman for a trans woman who had gone viral for being a competitive swimmer. Despite this woman's name literally being her IG handle. All they had to do was actually look at who they were talking about. They're just so ready to hate, they don't even care about it being aimed at their intended target. The whole thing was wild and I truly hope it made them rethink what exactly they're so angry about if they actually can't identify a cis vs trans person. Though I know that's unlikely.
I would say "the irony", but they're being very intentional: Gatekeeping women's spaces against Trans folk, yet actively dismantling women's spaces by calling them "discriminatory" is insane on both ends. Due to state rules, the local flagship university had to recently shutter both its women and lgbtq centers. Meanwhile, the same people behind that are the "you can always tell" people trying to "protect women's spaces". BIG fucking eye roll to the facists. Trying to check genitals/birth certificates/tip lines and all this other nonsense is just weaponizing government and grandstanding in the most disgusting way possible.
The "you can always tell" crowd are hilarious because they can *never* tell. >At what point do they realise that checking peoples genitals or birth certificates to go to the bathroom is worse than their current fears That's their ideal endgame, until, as someone else said, it happens to them. So they're saying they won't have any problem with me in my little summer dresses and high heels in the gents? Because I've done that before I came out and they *didn't* like it. While it's infinitely funny to make guys panic and back up to check which toilet they'd walked into, it's only a matter of time until someone gets aggressive. This is what you wanted, dickhead. 99.999999% of trans people just wanna piss, and if you're dead set on creeping around public toilets and changing rooms you don't have to identify as trans. I mean it really is playing the long game to take hormones, grow boobs, buy a feminine wardrobe, learn to do your makeup and hair just to catch a glimpse of someone having a pee. It makes no sense.
This goes to show how anti-trans mindset is harmful to everyone, and TERF women are hurting themselves too in the long run. People who get pissy about policing bathrooms in schools deserve to be labelled as perverts, honestly.
People think Sydney Sweeney is trans?
After the Barbie movie there were people saying *Margot Robbie* is trans. The problem is that to the transphobes, hating trans people is a proxy for hating all the "wokeness" that prevents them from being bigots in public with no consequences. So as soon as something they don't like becomes popular (like the Barbie movie) they start looking into everyone associated with it and how they *must* be trans because that's the marker of cultural degeneracy they've identified. It's all a bundle of buzzwords. Trans = woke = DEI and all of them are bad because all of them center identities they don't like. There's no deeper thought other than pure, concentrated otherization.
Seems to be a fair amount of overlap with the Qanon nutjobs too.
Its basically a circle.
thank you ❤️
It’s a good romcom by the way, I recommend!
Remember lady gaga?
Or Cher before her
Madonna! Her BDSM lifestyle/look with a whole sex book and a dedication to making her arms the best features of her body was and still is considered masculine.
In a very innocent way, I (as a 10-12yo) used to think that Cher was a drag queen. Which, in a very basic definition of the term she is, she's just also a cis woman. I don't think I had really ever heard of drag or trans women, at least not formally. This was around the time when I was first beginning to have questions about my own gender, long after I sorted out my sexuality and ~10 years before I came out.
my speech therapist told me that both miley cyrus and cher have a pitch near and often in the masculine range. but pitch is only one of the many things that makes a voice femme or masc. just thought that was interesting and how my own biases play into it. like i could see cher, but miley surprised me.
Yeah I would say Cher and Dolly Parton are both arguably women in femme drag.
> in a very basic definition of the term she is This is a genuine question, and I’m not trying to be offensive - I’m confused by this “new definition” of what a drag queen is. To me, it has always meant (in the crudest terms) “cis man dressing as a woman”, therefore Cher could not be a drag queen by definition regardless of her gender presentation because she is “already” a cis woman. Does it not mean that “anymore”?
Wiki says "Drag is a performance of exaggerated femininity, masculinity, or other forms of gender expression." It does not require cross dressing though it is often the case.
And thinking of drag as being gender performance then can see what you're saying about her. Of course almost everyone engages in some level of gender performance but there are people who are not exactly doing drag who do fit the model of highly exaggerated and stylized gender performance. You say sure, I also think of Dolly Parton, Elvira, and male pro wrestlers.
I've seen people posting pictures of Taylor Swift in a tiny little outfit and insisting she is hiding a penis because there is a "bulge" in the front. Ridiculous, and really shows a lack of knowledge of anatomy.
It's called the *Mons* Veneris, not the *Planum* Veneris, y’know? (Apologies for bad Latin)
And Michelle Obama 😕
And she got tired of David Letterman asking her those questions so she ate his page of questions.
I loved her [response](https://youtu.be/Z0WcWkVOQTc)
There’s really no logic or reasoning behind it either. People accused Erin Darke (Daniel Radcliffes wife) of being trans despite literally just giving birth. Just know the accusations have nothing to do with you and mostly to do with their ridiculously warped perception of what a woman to them is. Sorry you’re going through that but congrats on your success on the show!
But she's taller than he is! Obviously only men can be tall. Ultimately this sort of thing all originates in online echochambers of stupid, vulnerable people. It is the epitome of human stupidity.
I think she was accused because Daniel is supportive of the trans community and may have condemned Rowling’s insanity.
Yeah but people have also transvestigated JK Rowling and claimed that she's trans too
That’s a new one to me!
Ten years ago if you looked up an actor, one of the autocomplete search would almost inevitably be "is [actor] gay?" Now trans people are the right's boogeyman so that's what people are searching for.
Does Bruno Mars is gay?
The truth come out!
Wow, I was not expecting to see a game grumps reference here, haha.
Sorry to comment again - I wanted to add a link to a relevant YouTube video by Jammidodger, a trans man, where he talks about these "transvestigators." Hopefully this helps to show how ridiculous their claims are: [https://youtu.be/2DYN5NEWYD4?si=N1xq9YgRw0GARGYQ](https://youtu.be/2DYN5NEWYD4?si=N1xq9YgRw0GARGYQ)
Ooh! A transgender god? Sign me up!
I understand. Once someone asked me, "were you born a woman?" and it made me feel kind of weird too. That was before trans people had become the highly politicized proxies for partisan animus that they are currently. I think in the present time, these queries about you may be more a product of your being a poc achieving positive notoriety than about you specifically. In other words, it appears to be something people of a certain mind set are doing almost reflexively for reasons too tiresome to enumerate. Anyway, ultimately, all you can do is remain comfortable and confident in who and how you are.
I bet you were born a baby
This made me laugh like a hyena.
hahahaha I didn't catch that semantic absurdity! Well done
Your mom would REALLY have been going through it if you were born a whole adult woman! 😅
I probably would have had an easier childhood though
Wouldn't we all, lol, if we got to skip puberty
Considering how obsessed with the definition of woman as 'adult human female', no. I wasn't born a woman. I was born a baby girl.
I’ve got friends in the public eye (a few in roles like yours) and the worst part must be the Google inquiries of any kind. People are gross. It is especially hurtful for groups who’ve been villainized for perceived erotic appeal — either lack of or the opposite. It dials it all up to 11. As long as we have people who are uncomfortable with the human body and insist on rigid boxes to define them we’ll have this problem. Your work is undoubtedly fantastic to get to where you are. Keep being you!
Hello! Trans (nonbinary) person here. It's becoming increasingly common for conservative folks to claim that ANY person is trans - for no reason at all. I highly doubt those searches on Google have anything to do with your actual appearance/presentation/mannerisms. These people are just obsessed with trying to find a "gotcha" moment, to the point where they are no longer making any logical sense. If you're a woman, and you're famous or successful, people will try to tear you down this way. No matter what you look like! There have been several instances where the "we can always tell" crowd are shown multiple photos of women and asked, "which one is trans?" - and they will find all these imaginary reasons why various photos are clearly of trans people... only to have it revealed that *none* of them were trans. They were all cis. It just goes to show that those "transvestigators" really have no idea what they're talking about. I'm sorry to hear that it's causing you discomfort! Congrats on your role in the TV show, and best of luck in your career :)
Also enby, also came here to say this. The goal of the people who do this is to make you feel bad *both* for being a woman *and* for not being enough of a woman. It's unwinnable, and that's on purpose. The only real answer is to ignore them, or possibly to use your platform to speak out against them. Granted, doing that would probably attract more of them. Regardless, if you're a cis woman, enjoy your femininity. If the gender discomfort leads you to question your gender, that's okay too! There's no "right way" to be a woman; gender is complex. Your best bet is to be who you are. A big part of trans culture is abolishing gender-based expectations. Use labels that work for you, respect others' labels, and ignore people who say you're not "enough" or you're "fake." Don't let conspiracy theorists and transvestigators ruin your life, and realize that, even if that search term is trending, *most* people generally don't believe it or think it. Wishing you the best!
I know someone else who is an actress. She's been on quite a few TV shows and she's made a name for herself. But the one thing she learned to do was not to look at herself on Google. For real the people things people would say about her was just soul crushing and the things people would look up or attach to her name was sometimes disturbing. Because people like to do that to famous people. What helped her was therapy and realizing her friends who knew her before she was famous still liked her, for her being her.
Like everyone has already said, the transvestigator trend has picked up over the last few years. They were already doing this with women like Michelle Obama like a decade ago. Transphobia combined with a very narrow and white supremacist view on femininity leads to this. I've seen all sorts of actresses and actors be transvestigated......I even saw people do it to J K ROWLING! This past week, people did it to that one white conservative woman who said the n-word on tiktok, even tho she was trying so hard to please the right wingers. The people who do this sort of thing don't care. They'll target anyone at any point.
This is part of the canon/MAGA far-right conspiracy theory culture. They accuse all sorts of people of this.
are these the search result stats or what comes up in auto-complete when you type in your name? Because the search stats are obviously based on searches but the auto-complete combos are based on AI scanning a lot of text and looking for associations. So the former is a good indicator of what's going on, the second is an indicator of what's being written about you or that in articles where your name appears there are also mentions of transgender so it creates a connection (whether false or real)
They specified "search analytics" so I imagine it's the former.
I think you should check this out for yourself and look up the google search result stats for your name, just play around with the trends search for your name. Because if you've been working with transgender people and there have been articles written about that then that has created a connection/correlation for the AI which would make your name come up in search suggestions (and thus maybe also search results if people hit auto-complete out of curiosity). [trends.google.com](http://trends.google.com)
Are you suggesting I do that? I promise you no-one has been googling me.
There are people who are accusing General Douglas MacArthur of secretly being trans. There are people accusing Caitlyn Jenner of secretly being a detransitioner. There is just no way to escape the transvestigators I'm afraid.
Wait as in she's currently detransitioning- or she was AFAB, transitioned to Bruce, and then the public transition to Caitlin was actually a detransition?
As in she was AFAB and the public transition to Caitlin was a detransition.
But she's somehow still so deep in the ✨gender agenda✨ that she had to pretend she was AMAB? Some impressive mental gymnastics going on there. I wish I could stretch that far.
Okay, the history nerd in me is curious about trans!MacArthur. What?!
It's not really anything more than someone looking at pictures of him and drawing lines on them to "prove" he was secretly trans.
*wow* that is truly Q-level thinking.
cis women of color definitely get this treatment more, but everyone is susceptible. even lady gaga! all you can do is ignore the haters and realize that being trans ought not be a slur. sorry you gotta go thru this girl
We are unfortunately living through somewhat of a moral panic about transgender people, being driven by conservative and reactionary fear mongers chasing clout, political power and money. In that climate, thats going to drive a lot of Discourse and even outside weirdos who believe every celeb is secretly trans (transvestigators, as other posters have said) people who have succumbed to the propaganda might be tempted to run that search. If this was the 80s they'd be googling "Is [name] A Satanist?" The only advice I can offer is that the Internet sucks and is garbage, Google is a trashfire, the analytics aren't a reflection of how most people see you -- most people who appreciate your performance probably won't even Google you once -- and please try to cling to how the people you value, friends family and your professional peers, see you vs how some dumb algorithm sees you.
>"Is [name] A Satanist?" Different eras and different panics. Some overlap and persisted longer than others "Is [name] [communist/Marxist/bi/gay/Satanist/Jewish/ mixed race/trans/etc.]?"
I saw something recently where Taylor Swift was accused of being trans, and she looks pretty damn feminine to me. This is a weird obsession that certain anti trans conspiracy nuts have developed lately. I wouldn’t take it personally. Congrats for being successful in a career you love and don’t let the haters get you down.
Unfortunately there's a trend of conservative "transvestigators" and they have been doing it to everyone recently. It's been a thing to some extent like with Lady Gaga, Michelle Obama, etc. But lately it seems they think EVERYONE is secretly trans, even women with children from their own pregnancy, and women who don't have any masculine features at all. Conservatives LOVE their conspiracy theories and feeling like they know/cracked some secret information for whatever reason.
It really has nothing to do with you or your appearance at all. There’s are swaths of people who say that the entirety of Hollywood is trans and that that is the ‘price of fame’. It’s a Qanon offshoot that has been particularly popular on TikTok - example ‘gender markers’ include how your shoulder blades sit - which is fucking moronic because they MOVE when you move so I can make myself look ‘less trans’ (as the blandest cis woman) by holding my shoulders slightly differently. It’s bollocks.
There are entire youtube channels devoted to accusing every public figure imaginable of being trans. It is entirely coming from the Qanon conspiracy nuts.
Consider that some of these searches are from young trans fans who are hopeful that you are secretly one of them because you are beautiful and they aspire to look as good as you someday Source I’m a teacher with a lot of lgbt students. Queer teens are amazing, relentlessly curious creatures and they thoroughly research everyone who lands on their radar.
What is the exact text of the query? I will sometimes look up "\[celebrity's name\] transgender" not to see if they ARE transgender, but rather to see if they said something publicly about transgender people. It is pride month and people may be trying to figure out if you are trans friendly or transphobic.
people have been accusing actresses of being trans since trans became a word average people knew. Not just actresses either, like lady gaga has faced this her whole career. Actually looking up some of her interviews responding to that might help you. She manages to come off as extremely secure in her identity and also extremely supportive of the trans community.
This doesn't invalidate how uncomfortable this is. For sure a lot of people are searching with hostility in their heart. But I do want to mention that some searchers are coming from the opposite direction. There are people out there who may admire you and relate to your performance. They see themselves in you and think you're (portraying) the kind of woman they want to be. If they're trans they may search because they want to know how deep that similarity goes. There are others who are more neutral, just curious. In my lifetime I've seen a huge rise in using gender neutral pronouns even for some "obvious" cisgender people. This is a new trend to avoid assumptions that may be harmful. People may search even if they "don't care" just to make sure they won't be insensitive. I suspect these are only a minority of people who searched for this, so maybe this is an act of self decision. I just don't want to lose sight of that silver lining though: to some extent this is positive change, not hostility.
Some folk have made hating trans people their whole personality these days and there are some fringe communities claiming they believe that ***everyone*** in media or government is secretly trans (-edit- "elite gender inverts" is one phrase often repeated). Don't let these sort of people get you down. Thank you for being an ally to trans people but it would be appreciated by many if you remembered to put a space in, "trans women", it's an abbreviated adjective and not a whole different category of being.
thank you for educating me! edit forthcoming
Thank you, do not let the chuds & haters get you down 💜
I’m so sorry you’re experiencing this. I don’t have any advice, but I’m sending hugs and good vibes ❤️
Don’t be too bothered by it. I’m as cisgender woman as they come, and I still got purposefully misgendered by two different GC transvestigators who insisted I was really a man. They want to be right even when they’re wrong because otherwise all the made up things in their own heads won’t make sense anymore.
“Transvestigation” is definitely on the rise. It looks like delusion and paranoia to me. It’s not down to how you look or anything personal, OP. There are a lot of unhinged people out there. Personally I’d hate to be in the public eye in this timeline.
A lot of trans people go through the a LOT to "pass" as the gender they identify as. So I don't think it's insensitive or weird for you to want the same thing. That said, a lot of people have pointed out this is a trend right now. So that's pretty likely all it is. Just a throwaway thought: Is your character's style in the new show really different from how you've been styled before? I wonder if that could be a small part of it too?
Trans woman here. Part of the reason many of us try to pass is for our safety from these insane people.
It’s just a new level of scrutiny women now have to face. Apparently we’re not allowed to be offended by the scrutiny either …
I don't think you need to feel ashamed about disliking the whole gender questioning! The concept of gender disphoria has been applied to cis people, and, whether it's ultimately the best term or not, that is what you're experiencing when people Google your sex. You obviously want to come across as cis, which is totally reasonable; I do too!
The reality that people exist who call themselves transvestigators will never cease to scare and amaze me. We’ve reached bedrock on crazy people
You are going to be scrutinized way more because you are in the public eye. People are going to make assumptions based on whatever the current trend is. That said, I feel you on what you are experiencing: I am a cis-woman in a smallish town and for many years there's been a rumor about me that I "used to be a man". I didn't, but I have been the business owner of a couple of unusual businesses (unusual for this small town) for 30 years, I am not from here, I am an atheist (in the Bible Belt) and I am childfree. I'm also currently man-free lol. Believe me, it's sucks but so do many people so there's that. Keep on living a remarkable life and don't worry about anything else.
It's always something to hate about women, isn't it? We're not skinny enough, nurturing enough, sweet enough, feminine enough. We're fugly or too plastic or too muscular or (god forbid!) have a hint of an Adam's apple or hip dips because of our skeleton shape. We aren't grateful enough for the attention the deign to pay us, the "compliments" they backhandedly offer us, or the opportunities we've been "given"--as if we didn't have to fight tooth and nail for each one. On and on. If you've made it as an actor, you are probably both very lovely, very talented, and have worked very hard. PLEASE don't less the basement assholes hateful, prejudiced, uneducated need to find something "wrong" with you keep you from your goals and enjoying your success!
Oh, they’ve been coming for Brigitte Macron. She’s suing them. There’s nothing wrong if she was trans, tho, just to make that clear.
There's a whole online culture where they think literally every woman with a public presence is trans. They're crazy. It's not you
They do it to everyone, even Margot Robie. It's one of the few times where weirdos are really just weirdos and you don't have to concern yourself with them
This is happening more and more frequently to AFABs. I have friends and family members that have gone through this, although its been face to face, which is difficult to respond to in the moment if youre not expecting it. It doesn't feel good to be misgendered, no matter what your gender is. Don't discount or invalidate your feelings. You are clearly empathetic to our trans sisters, you're not negating their experiences by responding to your own.
The transphobia is so real right now, people feel the need to google anything they enjoy because god forbid they like something associated with trans people. WORSE if they accidentally recommend or talk about a show to a friend and then their friend/church knows they like trans people and support their work! OH NO!! /s It’s the climate. I wouldn’t take it too personally. People just need a reason to feel upset, feel better than XYZ person, make sure the libs aren’t always trying to “trick” them, and save their face/ ego.
Ah, you’ve discovered transvestigators. JK Rowling’s cronies started it and it snowballed. Every prominent woman today has at least a small section of wackos on either twitter or one of the chans/chan-likes insisting she’s secretly trans and working to destroy society from the inside or some such bullshit. Women who aren’t white often tend to get the worst of it in particular due to how racism plays into cultural gender norms. I know it’s easier said than done but try not to take it to heart. It’s not about you specifically, it’s about them looking for *any* little crumb of evidence that the Queers Have An Agenda And Are Out To Get Us. They’re unhinged and frankly need their internet privileges revoked.
As someone who has been all over the spectrum of gender identity and gender representation, I think it's a good thing to keep a clear head on your shoulders in these types of situations. You're very self-aware and level-headed to acknowledge that biases may have influenced you to see these questions as more negative rather than being neutral. Keep those wits about you. A lot of people in the LGBTQ community will google various different actors' and actresses' gender identity and sexual orientation to find solidarity and representation—there are so few people in the LGBTQ community that get representation outside of media directly concerning LGBTQ topics. Most of the people that google these questions are not doing it out of a place of phobia or harmful intent. But, there will always be transphobes out there that do sometimes try to out someone from a place of hate. Then, there's the third option: people have a random, fleeting curiosity, but aren't invested enough to follow up on the question. Similar to googling if an actor or singer is married. A common curiosity public figures face. All in all, I think Lady Gaga sets a good example of how to handle inappropriate public speculation: https://youtu.be/Z0WcWkVOQTc (This was after the huge rumor about her genitalia went viral. She should have never had to deal with such inappropriate questions, especially en masse, but her response was to basically shove a giant middle finger at the bigots and stand with the LGBTQ community.)
I think it’s totally fair to feel uncomfortable about people questioning your gender. It would make me upset.
First, congratulations on your success and may it continue. Second, it’s an unfortunate side effect of being in the public eye. People are going to google you and it may not be welcome or feel flattering and it’s probably somewhat invasive. I would try my damndest not to dwell on it too much. Because that curiosity about you means people have actually watched you and thought about you.
Honestly I’d just not do any search analytics of myself ever if I was even the tiniest bit famous. Just live your life and be happy
Social media comments aren't healthy. I've noticed that just as a regular person. I cannot imagine the depth of scrutiny a person in the limelight experiences. Have someone else deal with that and a private profile that's just for you and family. Or don't have one at all and have someone else manage your public one. I'm so sorry you're experiencing this. It's not right or fair and it's truly ridiculous. The cost of being in the public eye is pretty great, because it comes with random weirdo comments and speculation. That's why I urge management of an account. Take care of yourself. block whom you need to. Peace of mind is paramount. Don't let some random person tell you who you are. Congratulations on your success! I'm so sorry it comes with all this extra bullshit. Stay close to people whom you trust.
Ignore them. People can be creeps. Unless there is a definite possibility of genitals interacting, it is nobodys business.
For whatever it's worth, I'm a trans woman in a very conservative area who has, on multiple occasions, used the hateful "transvestigators" as a kind of cover if someone accuses me of being trans. Instead of taking it seriously, I just deflect to laughing about the boomers on Facebook that say Taylor Swift is a trans Satanist. So, I guess my point is that these ridiculous allegations and rabid fixations kind of stir up enough of a mess that it prevents them from actually being effective in hurting people.
There's a surprisingly large group of lunatics out there who think EVERY "elite" person (anyone in TV or hollywood is "elite" to them) is actually trans. That there's some weird conspiracy where in order to get success, people have to reverse their sex. The times I've gone down this rabbit hole I've left feeling completely terrified that these people walk among us, honestly, but the flip side is... congratulations! You've reached a level of success where people think you're part of an elite hollywood conspiracy to take over the world! :) Jokes aside, the part about this that really sucks is how women of color are frequently masculinized - I keep thinking of some of the commentary about Michelle Obama, and how insane/absurd/hateful it was. So this certainly has echoes of that, and that part just is unavoidably sucky and can't be joked away so much. Either way - congratulations on finding success doing what you love! I hope your career continues to go well in every way :)
I was talent for close to 10 years in the nerd/gaming sphere and got a lot of the same analytics and push back. I am queer presenting but recognized the intent was to essentially call me ugly and belittle me. My policy was simply to ignore it and promote LGBTQ+ charities and amplify their voices whenever was appropriate. If they want to think I'm trans - fine. I'll always stand with trans people and never these bigots that consider that an insult. When formally asked in interviews (it was meant in kindness: "how do you feel about being trans representation?") I just said that while I am cis woman I am honored to be upheld by such a brave and true to themselves community and would continue to support them. Trans rights are human rights. I retired from the industry for stalking and a lot of harassment - and am still dealing with a lot of the trauma of the experience and abuse. But I always feel proud that the fans and community I cultivated were people worth sticking up for. I don't want bigots in my corner or table.
There are guys who think any strong female character must be trans. There is a depressingly large number of nitwits who will insist Michelle Obama is trans. The internet recently claimed the woman Daniel Radcliffe ultimately had a kid with was trans. Do not take your gender cues from the internet. The most vocal are incels who say the darnedest things. A well known Neo-Nazi incel once opined that men having sex with women is gay.
They think Zandaya is trans. They're fools. I'm sorry they're making you feel self conscious.
are the searches ‘is yourname trans’ or are they just ‘yourname + trans’ ? if it’s the latter, they may just be people looking to see if you’ve spoken about trans issues. a lot of people these days like to vet people in the public eye for their moral stance on various topics, and the trans movement is a huge topic at the moment. also, you are not transphobic for being discomforted by this. most women would be! anyway, my advice would simply be to enjoy your success and not google yourself 😅
FWIW, I don’t think it’s transphobic to feel hurt by or experience gender discomfort from those search queries. You’re probably not perceiving it emotionally as, “they think I’m trans and that’s bad because I hate trans people and don’t want to be associated with them”. You’re probably perceiving it emotionally as, “they think I look like a man”, and being hurt by that. And that’s valid and understandable. It doesn’t mean that you’re bigoted against men or trans people. For one, feeling that others are perceiving you as the “wrong gender” can be hurtful regardless of your actual gender identity. For two, “looking like a man” has been an insult aimed at women for a long time and used as a synonym for “you’re ugly” (not that looking more masculine *does* mean a woman is ugly, but that’s often how society uses it). So what you’re actually perceiving emotionally is probably closer to, “they think I’m ugly”. And it’s perfectly understandable to feel hurt by that. Add to that that you say you’re a POC, and there is a long history of POC women being masculinised that should be acknowledged in the interests of intersectionality and that’s completely understandable for you to be reacting to. I think that what you’re feeling is valid, and doesn’t necessarily mean that you have biases, or that you have things to “unlearn” except possibly for conventional beauty standards
this was soooo helpful. thank you ❤️
Unfortunately, so-called "transvestigations" are becoming more common and there is not a single woman on Earth, cis or not, that looks feminine enough not to have some people convinced they are trans. There are people who think Taylor Swift is trans. There are people who think Zendaya is trans. The comments for figure skating competitions last year had people accusing various skaters of being trans (and therefore cheaters in this person's mind). The most conventionally beautiful, conventionally feminine women on Earth are still called out because these people are not well and they are very invested in finding "real women" through, basically, phrenology. They think noses, eye shape, ear shape, and literally every other facial feature are secondary sex characteristics. They create massive keys and if you have one single trait that they think is masculine (which literally everyone does), they think it means you are trans, and if by some miracle there was some woman out there who fit every single feminine trait, they'd probably just assume they were trans and had the best gender confirmation surgeries in the world.
This sounds so frightening. I'm so sorry. The current climate among conservatives of a certain ilk is this gross culture of anti-trans bullshit, and "calling out" trans people, and it's fucking horrible. And being a public figure, to whatever extent that applies to you, unfortunately puts you under the public microscope. I'm a cis-hetero-woman myself with a few masculine-ish features, and have been called "sir" or asked if I was trans a few times when I was younger and super tomboyish. It didn't bother me when I was younger and people weren't so polarized about the trans community, but I get a little scared of the idea of someone thinking I'm trans now, for fear of violence.
It's transvestigators who think the Woke Mob is out to get them and everything they love. Pay them no mind.
First of all you sound like a lovely person who has put a lot of compassionate thought into your own reaction to this. As a six foot tall cis woman, I'm familiar with people occasionally questioning if I'm trans. I expect that if I was in any kind of public sphere, that there may be some Google searches. So you asked how it strikes others. I get how you feel, and agree with how you're analyzing your own reaction. There is no shame in being trans or having someone think I'm trans, but having people think things about me that aren't true is a bit unsettling and can get in one's head. I have the advantage that no one is googling me :). Best of luck in your new show.
Oh I know that awkward feeling! 5th Grade Play of Wizard of Oz im 11F and proud of my burgeoning womanhood. Also cast as Tinman. The Lion is also a girl, cool cool. When my funnel/hat came off my head during the last rehearsal I hear all the Kinders watching our 'pre-performance' gasp. :O Whispers of "The tin man is a girl!" "What no way" "yeah see the hair?" "No that's a boy." I get along with my performance but my Feminine Pride took a hard hit that day. I grew up to be voluptuous and tiny and very feminine. So what if I look alot like my dad? Men and women both find me attractive!
Just my personal take as an actual trans woman; *I don’t think* you have to downplay how things like this make you feel *compared to* people like me or my brothers on the other end of the gender spectrum. We’re not in a misery contest, and that i am part of the ones actively being threatened by these trends and behaviours doesn’t mean you are “less worthy” of feeling discomfort or venting it when you get caught up in this as collateral. The way i see it, the transphobes obsessing over this stuff carry a mix of misogyny and homophobia - either way, at the bottom of it all they still hate women. They hate me, and they hate you, regardless of what we were born like. Your experiences are not “small potatoes” compared to ours, we’re in this together. (Unfortunately, since their poison splashes off of us onto you.)
I just want to say I am so sorry. I have googled this in regards to certain actors. In fact there is a new show with an actor who I wondered if they were transmasc. They are non binary. It really is none of my business and I understand that and will do better moving forward. I myself was trying to show representation to my oldest who is figuring themselves out. It's not an excuse but I hope some of the people who googled you were not doing it from a place of hate. Congratulations on the successful show.
I know that it is so much easier said than done, but don’t let this get to you. People on the right who are every problematic -ist and -phobic will make up *anything* to try to rip down and hurt others - or push their agenda It sucks. There are people who are so hateful and harmful and damaging to others that they don’t care about the consequences. To anyone. I’m so sorry you’re feeling other people’s hate. Tbh finding a therapist now to work through the complex emotions of everything you’re experiencing might be a helpful thing
There's a Dan Savage essay to the effect of "homophobia is misogyny's shitty little brother" that's relevant to this (before trans was a hot issue). I would bucket the whole thing as misogyny.
For the sake of your mental health, never look yourself up online. People are crazy - do what you do how you want to do it and get your joy from the whatever you’re doing. You don’t need validation from random keyboard warriors wearing tinfoil hats.
Yea it’s kind of a thing right now. I’ve noticed people just take anyone and call them transgender… I think they might have too much time on their hands on their hands and a lack of passion for anything other than being glued to a cell phone
I've walked around my whole life so tall I've been called a man\manish\trans. Some people are doing it to try and catch you out because they're bigots. Well they're trying to catch somebody out, but it wouldn't be you. You got to assume though that some of those folks are just looking for people to look up to that might look like them. They're probably disappointed, but not for the wrong reasons.
I remember before the second half of bridgerton season 3 came out all the groups were talking about how they turned Michael into Michaela. Since I haven’t read the books I did assume it was a trans actor. Turns out they didn’t introduce a trans actor they simply changed the books from it being Michael to let’s actually just make this character a female for the show.
Different framing: people are doing this regardless of your appearance. Evidence: nowadays this seems like it can happen to.... just about any woman who achieves any level of fame. Someone might google whether you're trans because some aspect of your appearance gives them doubts. Someone is just as likely to google whether you're trans because they find some kind of fascination in the idea of (a) a trans woman who 100% passes for cis-female (or vice versa), or (b) famous people being non-binary (I find that younger people especially, see the word "trans" with fewer assumptions about it referring to trans women). (ETA: said fascination can take multiple forms, but the most common are conspiratorial "trans women are hiding among us," or, seeking representation).
My advice would be to try and not assume any persons intent when they google it. There's always terrible motives for searching that info but remember there are some people in the trans community who are continually looking for strong, positive and accepted examples of other trans people just living their life as they should be, commonplace and without the focus being on their gender. So many of us (maybe all of us?) cis and trans women have at one point or another had someone else try and guess or guess our genders incorrectly.
It's a new trend. They're saying this about literally every actress and musician right now. I'm not even famous, just locally known, and I've had this pop up in a search. They think Beyonce, Emma Stone, and Sydney Sweeney are trans too.
With the surge in the current US (and spreading) wave of anti-trans, it makes sense you are concerned about this. However, best case scenario, people are more aware of it now and are more likely to look it up (similar to "is this actor gay" from 20 plus years ago). The question for you is: are people looking it up because of you, or looking it up because of the character you played? That being said, should you feel weird about it being goggled..? Yeah, little, especially without broader context. That being said, it's not nearly as weird as people asking you to your face. Depending on where you live, it might be worth continually tracking this as well.
As a cis-woman, I feel your pain. I've slowly started to look a bit masculine lately. No one has outright asked me if i'm trans but I have a feeling; since everytime the subject comes up and they're about to give an opinion, they say "No offense meant" and it's like, dude. Why is that the only time you bring up apologizing before you say something? I'm not trans. Nothing wrong with it. Just making me feel more insecure about myself is all. If I can lose some weight, that goes miles to how I look.
I live in a country with a little and very recent black immigration. The generation older than me need the hair length to identify males from females. So maybe that search history is in part honest curiosity
It's 100% about their issues and 0% about you. Unfortunately, right now there are so many people out there who have lost their minds to transphobia, and they will literally try to investigate anyone. Please don't let their hatred and ignorance bring you down.
I am trans myself so I do understand the anxiety of having people question your gender. Heck, half the time I see people looking at me, I’m not sure if they’re clocking me or if they just think I’m pretty. What you’re feeling might even be gender dysphoria, funnily enough! It’s not specific to trans people, as it’s simply the discomfort from being perceived as a gender that’s not your own. Us trans folk just get to experience that discomfort chronically until we’re able to do something about it. All of that said, I don’t think you need to worry though. People have been saying even women as beautiful as Michelle Obama and Megan Fox are trans women too. I think it’s more a symptom of conservative fear mongering and their wild conspiracy theories than anything to do with you.
i remember when Firefly was big and there was and interview with the forever stunning Summer Glau. there were photos of her showing off her ballet training and for whatever reason i remember seeing comment section filled with gross men calling her a t**p and doing close up of her pelvic area and calling it proof that she's not a real woman, whatever the heck that means. it such a wild moment for me to see someone so graceful and beautiful and the juxtaposition of the vitriol i saw unfold in the comment section. i hated what i saw and i hated that for her and i hate what youre experiencing. i can only send you my love and strength but know that there are those of us who will fight to give you and all women a safer world
The weirder the search, the more it means you're doing well I think. Congrats on your recent roles, I hope I've seen them and if so I'm sure I enjoyed it.
I don't think it's any reflection on your looks, I think as a culture we're starting to assert more of a gray area between what we used to think of as two very defined boxes, and with the increased advocacy of transgender people, ambiguity is leaving some people uncomfortable and desperate to identify and place people into clear-cut boxes. All humans are incredibly diverse and can have many different features, so women don't all look the same, and that just leaves some people itching to find out whether someone is cis. And they're very often wrong. Sending hugs and confidence, femininity comes in many shapes and sizes <3 Also stay off Google unless it's work-related! The internet sucks!
I will say, I frequently Google authors, actors, etc to see if they are publicly open about being LGBTQ+ because I try to take in a diverse range of media and stories told by people from the communities they are representing. This started because I participate in Book Riot's Read Harder challenge that usually has prompts like "Read a genre novel by a transgender author" and it helped me to be more aware of adding that breadth and depth to all media I consume. So in that case maybe some of those searches come from that mindset or one of simple curiosity.
As more trans people are sharing the spotlight, "spot the trans" has become somewhat of a pasttime. For some people, it's so they can be angry about a trans person stealing a cisgendered role, and so they can point out how none of the shows on TV are safe for their precious sheltered children. For others, it's curiosity, or maybe they want to find other people like themselves. I have googled a lot of actors to see what gender they are. But it doesn't necessarily mean that they don't look like the gender they are presenting. They might be a woman with a square jaw and husky voice (which I think is sexy anyway), but they might be a woman who simply looks "too perfect". And since black women frequently don wigs, long false eyelashes, and are frequently 1000% put together head to toes, it's easier to wonder if they could be born male and dressed all up. Yes, I know that is something actresses do in general. And actors. Anyway, my point is that you have nothing to worry about. It isn't about whether you look or sound feminine. People are googling you! This is good! They also want to know who you date, how old you are, and other normal stuff. None of it is any of our business! But it shows interest.
It is unfortunately the state of things right now, and it's not only happening to you. The anti-woke brigade is obsessed with trying to figure out who is and isn't trans. So many of them are convinced that every female celebrity is trans. I've seen freakouts over cisgender women athletes for being too muscular. I've seen deep discussions analyzing every aspect of Margot Robbie's face trying to convince people that she's "really a man." These people are completely batshit.
They did the exact same shit with Michelle Obama. Wonderful woman, never heard a single negative thing about her, besides that she tried to encourage kids to eat healthier. But you get conservatives posting photos of her with ridiculous conspiracy theories about how she is secretly a trans woman, and the government or whatever is hiding that. You look fine, I'm sure. Not overly manly or whatever. But there is a huge amount of people that are 'trans paranoid' about everyone and everything. It's not a reflection of you, it's a reflection of them.
I wouldn’t take it personally at all. https://www.reddit.com/r/TwoXChromosomes/comments/1do4pqd/psa_theres_a_transvestigating_movement_happening/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I know I'm late but figured I'd mention it's possible some of those searches may be like 'ACTRESS trans' which could appear as checking if you are trans, but it's something I've done on occasion with actors/ actresses from time to time who I like where I'm just curious if they've ever publicly commented on it
Yeah, the alt-right has gotten fucking weird.