The gender stereotype that I would like to research this semester is that all transmen were tomboys growing up, and all transwomen were 'girly'. I would also like to talk about how this stereotype is reinforced even within the queer/trans community. I'm especially interested in this because I find many of the trans/gender-variant people I that I talk to actually take pride in reinforcing these stereotypes, which I find strange in such an open and accepting community. I feel like if transpeople reinforce them then that leaves less room for fluidity, and can ultimately always make someone feel outlawed. I find it weird that there would be reinforcement of gender stereotyping in a community that is so against the gender binary theory.
An example of how this stereotype is reinforced within the trans community is when let's say a transman says something like, "I played with legos and dirt growing up, so you could see the signs of me being trans early". While they are trying to relate to things that society would see as "male", to prove that they are "really a guy", they are also reinforcing that there are "boy behaviors" and "girl behaviors". This makes it seem like some transmen who, like me, grew up with barbie's and played with dolls aren't "really" a guy.
I'm a big fan of youtube, so heres a video that talks a little about this stereotype if you skip to the 5th minute!
