Though the trend has appeared to decline recently - at least among trans women in New York, according to Radix - as quality care for trans-identifying people continues to grow, it’s now become more visible among the body modifying subculture of gainers. “You’re desperate to change your body, people will go through great lengths. “When people come in and say silicone, they don’t really know what they mean because it could be anything,” says Asa Radix, senior director of research and education for Callen-Lorde in New York City, an LGBTQ-focused health center, adding that some of his patients even had quick cement or peanut butter injected in them. It makes health experts reticent to even call the mixture “silicone,” at all. In one Florida woman’s case, tire sealant and cement were both injected into her face.
But over the past five years, there have been a number of news reports exposing “pumping parties,” where groups of trans women pool their money to get injected with silicone, and the practice has now become more underground and more risky.Īnd much of that has to do with what’s being put in the mixture, which many times is unknown by those who receive the injections. Those who are not aware of this are more likely to believe that a “perfect” male body is attainable.Flashback: Tina Turner Covers Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson on Debut Solo AlbumĪmong trans women, silicone injections are a well known way to achieve the ultimate body: curvy butt, thick thighs or larger breasts.
Similarly, research has found that boys have less awareness than girls of how images in advertising are manipulated. īoys are less likely than girls to identify media stereotypes when they see them and may be more vulnerable to the third-person effect, in which people see media as having a greater influence on others than on themselves.
Acting Tough: “A man should always defend his reputation and be willing to use physical aggression to do so.”.Self Sufficiency: Men should figure things out on their own without the help of others.
These pillars are reinforced and sometimes created by media tropes seen in film, advertisements and on television. The report If He Can See It, Will He be it? Representations of Masculinity in Boys’ Television identifies popular stereotypes or pillars that reflect culturally around the world how men are stereotypically supposed to act.