Sports Illustrated first transgender swimsuit model

[Thegenderbreadperson]

Sports Illustrated are publicising their first transgender (MtF) model. The male followers of sports illustrated are unhappy, are clearly saying they wouldn’t see this model as a partner, and are making lots of misgendering comments. However these posters don’t seem to be getting the aggressive sexualised comments that women who comment on trans issues get, and no threats of fixing or cancelling.
Wonder why that is?

twitter.com/si_swimsuit/status/1281635702392999942?s=21

I think male hands are quite hard to pass, not even the best fake nails make much difference as it's usually the size of them. Funnily enough the cover photo of Valentina hides the hands and if you google Valentina, there aren't many photos with hands in or they are from a distance. I don't think Valentina passes quite so well in google photos. Very beautiful of course but many male models are.

Mmmm! Even the angle of shot , the carefully hidden hands and feet, the lack of another person for scale can't really hide the maleness of that person. Something just says "No!"

Very feminine facial freatures abound in some of the sexiest men alive. We are used to that, we see it.

We also see the hypocrisy of posters telling women they need to do something about The Mens! Sod off! You can hope what you like, but it isn't for me or any other woman to take on any responsibility for those male posters!

I think if they hadn't mentioned that she's trans gender most people wouldn't be able to tell. I certainly wouldn't!

Or should I say trans sex?

@Kljnmw3459

I think if they hadn't mentioned that she's trans gender most people wouldn't be able to tell. I certainly wouldn't!

Read the thread. Many have say why it’s easy to tell in spite of photoshop/ photography techniques making it harder.

I hope for more of this kind of thing.
The trans movement is dominated by MtF activists who keep on insisting that everyone else’s lived reality is false, that girl dick is a thing and people should accept that or they’re just massive transphobes.
More of this means we can sit back and watch while they butt their heads against the brick wall of male heterosexuality. Grab the popcorn, this is going to be fun.

@Ereshkigalangcleg

Also I couldn't give a fuck about the transphobic disappointment of men and their boners, they don't stick up for women and girls so they can enjoy the new world order.

Quite. I’m for women’s rights, not against trans people at all. Good luck to this person I say. Crack on and enjoy it. I wish I looked that good.

However I agree that the response to the ‘that’s a dude’ type comment look very different. There are shouts of transphobia, justifiably, but no announcements ‘suck my lady dick’. Comments. Funny that.

Valentina is indeed a beautiful individual in that androgynous way that seems to be common amongst models. As other people have said, the SI photo perfectly illustrates why standards of femininity have got naff all to do with being female. Good luck in the modelling career Valentina.

yes, that picture is a very fetching example of the feminine ideal in our culture. And it's not a picture of a female. Which only goes to show that with enough cosmetic intervention, a male can look like the feminine ideal - which means the feminine ideal isn't anything to do with innate femaleness.

Ah now you’re using logic, Floral. Not fair. You know how that upsets the boys.

I've had a quick scroll on there and so far haven't seen any of the usual screaming, violent sexual threats and name calling levelled at women simply for believing in biology. Isn't that interesting?

I find this so interesting and I think it illustrates my feelings about this whole issue.

If Valentina wants to dress and present in a feminine manner then why not, totally their prerogative, good for them. Anyone should be able to dress in any way they feel comfortable as long as it's appropriate to the situation (Pip 😏) And we should accept that. Why is it ok for me to wear jeans and a hoodie, but DH can't wear a dress if he wants?

But, if DH was to wear a dress that would not make him a woman.

In my opinion and experience it is men who are truly transphobic as nicely demonstrated by the reactions to the SI photo. If men were more tolerant of feminine presenting males maybe we wouldn't be in such in insane situation where biology is optional.

Or maybe we would as there are some men who just want to stomp all over woman and our rights no matter what.

Valentina is very pretty and congratulations to her for doing well in her career. She actually comes from a place where trans women ARE frequent targets of violence (including murder) so it can't have been easy going through transition and I wish her all the best.

I can't bring myself to care about trans women doing well in the modelling industry to be honest. It's not on the same level as insisting teen girls change at the pool with fully intact grown men, or the True Lesbians subreddit being banned (lesbian chat for those exclusively attracted to XX lesbians who like XX lesbians - but no, they must hang out with the XY lesbians), or any violent male rapist getting to choose to go to the woman's prison in Canada, etc. etc. etc.

I do have to laugh at how unhappy the menfolk are about supposedly being forced to wank over a trans model. Also, there are some comments which are actually downright mean, abusive and legitimately transphobic there but of course they won't be threatened with violence, rape or being cancelled, or accused of literally killing trans people, will they?

The difference in the reactions to comments from men on that thread to the awful abuse women have experienced for defending their own rights is extraordinary. A well-reasoned essay from JKR making clear that she would defend trans rights but is concerned about safeguarding and women's rights leads to awful abuse and threats. Men making vomiting emojis and posting "that's a dude" memes ? @@@@@ (that's a tumbleweed, btw)

I find the comments on twitter about her looking good/passing well etc so heterosexual men shouldn't be reacting differently interesting.
If we take the premise that it's a wank mag rather than high fashion those comments imply that men just wank off to the outer shell. I mean I'm a heterosexual woman so not an expert in what the male brain does when it's wanking but surely it's not just 'oh they look so good on the outside I'm going to cum', surely it ranges into having a sexual relation with them and the fantasy of that. And that involves imagining interacting with the physical body and the genitals and all the bits you can't see under the swimsuit.
When did whether someone turns you on or what you're attracted to become so friggin shallow? We know the feminine ideal is bullshit and counts for a lot of initial attraction/perception of value by het men, but it's heterosexuality not heterogenderality or heteropassingality.
Sex goddammit! Being a certain sex and having a certain type of sex is important to humans!!!! Stop trying to tell people who they should be sexually attracted to because of markers that don't necessarily have anything to do with sex!!!

That is so clearly a male body and if a female had those same measurements she would never have been booked for that shoot.

It does sadden me that yet again a paying job that could’ve gone to a woman has gone to a man, it might not be everyone’s ideal job but there are plenty of models who would love to be in Sports Illustrated to up their profiles and get more paid work.

The model looks beautiful.

The comments are horrific. We shouldn't be applauding or allying with misogyny.

@PPEcompensatoryeyeliner

The model looks beautiful.

The comments are horrific. We shouldn't be applauding or allying with misogyny.

Is anyone? I read it that posters here are pissed off that the men are not being told to die in a fire like a woman would do if she said some of the things the men have. I don’t read that anyone is saying that the comments are to be applauded.

I had three immediate thoughts in reaction to that piece-

That men think models are wank fodder, so get upset when they are not what they at first appear.

That models are rare women- their features are not common in women. Height, limb length etc

That the look is about the clothes and the pose as much as the body. So a slender male with a high cut swimsuit and thrust out hip looks like a sexy female, despite not being female.

fantasy woman is not in fact a woman.

I actually do have a problem with using transwomen models who retain male proportions and fat distribution and muscle definition for clothing meant for women to wear if that look then becomes unattainable for an average sized woman. Better to continue to pressure clothing retailers to use a wide range of body types obviously.

of course, SI have been more about objectifying women than anything else so obviously not the same. And frankly, if being objectified in that way is what transwomen want then they are very welcome. Is this the ultimate test for validation then?

I agree though that I really had to look because the proportions seemed out some how and the jaw and the hint of the Adam’s apple. It could well be that underarm shape. It could well be the pose makes my mind think the proportions are out of kilter too. However, if this wasn’t SI this wouldn’t be a discussion whether they ‘pass’ as a female or not. Ie. If it was Vogue it would be about the fashion and how they captured the look. But SI is all about male sexual interest isn’t it.

No denying that they are beautiful as they are though. If there has been no surgery then I hope that they don’t feel the need to do so in the future either.

Seriously? Men get off so lightly. Only men that stand with women seem to be getting aggressive you're trans phobic comments. And yet women are getting called transphobic for telling an american trans woman that to say suck my dick to women in the UK is highly offensive and they should respect other cultures than their own. Although admittedly that conversation did turn into - UK is not the world, we hate all UK people and they're despicable for their colony past. So maybe they weren't the most balanced of people.

Author Gillian Philip has a pinned tweet of the abuse she received and it is of course far worse than anything posted under vomiting gifs...

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue is horrible, outdated, sexist bullshit. Especially when women are still desperately trying to be taken seriously in sport. If transwomen want to be featured then they're more than welcome as far as I'm concerned. Perhaps it will help to divorce this kind of skinny, sexualised aesthetic from representing the "ideal female" and instead represent "ideal femininity".

And I agree with PP that the comments are vile. It's incredible to see just how enraged men can become when confronted with someone that does not conform to the "masculine" box.

The comments are horrific. We shouldn't be applauding or allying with misogyny.

Who is allying with misogyny here? If they are then yes, call them out. But most of us are commenting about the hypocrisy of the fact men are not being abused for their horrid comments.

I don't think it is because someone is not conforming to the masculine box. I think it is because they perceive a fraud has been committed against them, that someone is trying to trick them into believing that this model is a woman.