These testosterone
or T-diaries from the latter part of 2009
are the work of young female-to-male (FTM) men and boys who are in
gender transition—exactly what that process is varies
widely from individual. The six case studies here all focus on young men
who have chosen to use testosterone as one means of facilitating the process of
changing their bodies in order to match their inner
gender identity. As a genre, these T-diaries allow trans men and boys to demonstrate the effects of the hormone on their
bodies as they document shifts in their body mass growth, increase of body
hair including mustaches, beards, and sideburns as well as changes in vocal pitch
downwards. These videos also document (in some cases) the social problems
that arise from being trans in our culture.
Thus, this essay reads testosterone as a tool that helps facilitate social constructivism (though a construct in which the body actually changes) as one option of many for FTM transmen—in other words, the somatic changes caused by T are one form of social construction, one deliberately written on the body in order to augment the gender transformation and performance that is already underway.
Note: throughout this essay, T refers to testosterone, the hormone itself. T-diary refers to a vlog in which the use of testosterone for transition is documented; the wider category of trans-diaries which document all aspects of trans lives will be referred to as such.