BBC Sewing Bee

I think this is a startling part of the whole debate. The majority of life and the world is going about their business happily recognising binary sex, the associated genders, and not really giving a shit how people dress or what they call themselves. Binary sex and 2 genders are being used day in, day out to sell us stuff, to oppress us or promote us, to influence our children, to treat our medical conditions, everything.

Then you have this parallel narrative running on the internet, in the government and creeping into institutions that are cottoning on to the fact that right-think might get them some points.

On MN, Twitter and a few other places the two narratives meet and are critically discussed, but in the rest of society it's just sneaking in without anyone really paying it any attention.

There’s height as well as shape though. I’m 5’9” so not hugely tall but dresses and tops often aren’t long enough in the body, sometimes even if they do a tall option. So a TW of average male size or above would have problems.

Too much space in the shoulders and round the middle and not enough in the hips.

Yes I agree. There was a lot of disagreement about it on the group too but the company held firm.

Isn't it transphobic to point out transwomen need shoes outwith the standard women's size range?

I don’t know, it seems more “transphobic” to label a range as being for women but for it to be limited to the sizes of the female sex.

I dunno sometimes I think women's clothes probably do fit men's bodies better! I love h&m for its price and range but their clothes really don't love my hips and boobs. I notice they use trans models but never for the menswear.

I noticed this last week and wondered the same. I am in some sewing groups on Facebook and noticed recently that a couple of indie pattern companies have moved away from describing patterns as being for men or women and are using straight fit and curvy fit instead.

Isn't it transphobic to point out transwomen need shoes outwith the standard women's size range?

I think there are actually lots of areas where people are continuing to talk about men and women meaning their bodies/sexes. It slips through all the time, in medical contexts, things to do with size, reproduction etc. People probably just forget to be woke a lot of the time and switch into auto / common sense mode.

I have wondered about clothes and shoes in shops though. If you look at “women’s” shoes they still only go up to an 8 or max 9, and likewise women’s clothes aren’t made to fit male bodies, and that is surely transphobic according to transactivist definitions. But it’s the way it is for business reasons I would think. It wouldn’t be cost effective so they don’t do it.

I know there are special shops with larger sizes, but for a normal shop to sell women’s shoes that only go up to an 8 means they are open to accusations on transphobia, but it’s not something you hear much about.

I must admit in the last series final (I think) one of the tasks was to make a dress. One of the contestants made one for a man, which I thought at the time was a cop out, so much easier to not have to tailor around hips, boobs, etc.