The binding methods we’re told not to do

About a decade ago, before he was outed as scamming his audience, Chase Ross was one of the biggest transmasc youtubers. In one if his early videos he had a skit where he was binding with tape (on his bare skin) to poke fun at the action and then immediately follow up by telling his audience of mostly young trans guys that we shouldn’t do that. He was, of course, post top surgery in this video.

I don’t bring this up to shame Ross, I have no interest in beating a dead horse, and his videos were very helpful to me in my early years after coming out. I bring this up to discuss that how even among our own community, unhealthy binding became the butt of many jokes, because you can and should just buy a gc2b binder.

But what happens when our access to binders is attacked, when they’re treated like “dangerous medical objects”? When the geriatric cis men in power are concerned about “young girls’ breasts”? Perhaps we need to make like our trans elders and remind them that there’s always duct tape.

I made a post about healthy binding before, discussing the social aspect of how binding is treated. That gets worse when you’re using tape or multiple sports bras, you have to justify yourself harder. So for those reading who are not transmasc, I urge you to understand the stakes. If a transmasc in your life is using these “bad” methods because he cannot get a proper binder, you shouldn’t place blame on him for “harming his body”, the blame is on the fearmongering against binders. We need to take the fight there.

Before I got a proper binder, there were a few options I resorted to. I will outline them here honestly with how uncomfortable they may be, and how to avoid hurting yourself.

Multiple sports bras: This is probably the tamest option. It’s not comfortable, but it’s effective and it’s not quite as dangerous as other options. Ideally you’ll want at least one of them to be tight on you, I usually wore two, anymore than that and it’s kind of insufferable and not really any more effective at flattening. Obviously you don’t want to wear this for longer than you have to, but in a pinch with a baggy shirt and some slouching, or an open jacket (dysphoria jacket my beloved) it does hide your chest.

Ace bandages: This is just what we see in literally every film depiction of a transmasc character. I did try them, I found I had to layer it with a tight sports bra or a shirt with tape around it. Now, this may be because I am not small chested, if you’re smaller chested it might work better, I did not personally find it effective and you have to layer them quite tightly around you, so it’s another one to be careful of. Specifically with most of these you need to be careful not to compress your ribs too much.

The dreaded tape: Now I have heard mixed things about trans tape, it is much safer than duct tape, so that is probably something to try first before this. With duct tape, when I used it to bind, I did so over a very tight t-shirt. Pulling it off bare skin is a nightmare, doing it over a shirt makes it easy to cut off and the layer of fabric does help with your comfort levels. You do need to be careful not to go too tight, if you’re having trouble breathing you need to abandon this round immediately and do it looser. I understand that dysphoria is a bitch, but I have done this too tight and it’s very painful, so if you do have to resort to this, take some safety precautions. Carry scissors with you and a couple sports bras, give yourself the means to get out of it quickly if it’s causing you pain.

Amazon binders: You know the ones. The “lesbian 3.5 chest flattener zip up back something something”. You gotta be careful with these ones. They’ll not only cost you money, but they don’t have breathable backs and are little better, potentially worse, than just using sports bras. Most people who use these do so for cosplay, not permanent wear, because they are not made for that.

Making your own: There are chest binder patterns, if you have some basic sewing knowledge, you can make your own. I will link a resource for that here: https://www.patternschool.online/tnb-chest-binder

You may also see companies start marketing chest binders as…not? But you know what they are. The ads for the Fluxion binder I’ve gotten have described it as “athletic chest compression” or something of the like, with models who are mostly thin and smaller chested, none of whom who have visible facial hair. This is not a slight against the company, I’m planning on buying one and trying it out, merely that I’m sure they’re advertising this way for plausible deniability. Most cis people will see it and think it’s some sort of sports bra, we will know that it’s a chest binder.

This is also a good time to stockpile binders while you can, if you can afford to, this way we can disperse them amongst ourselves. This isn’t foolproof, there will be trans guys outside our circles we have no way of contacting. But if it helps some people, it’s still worth it.

Bad scary and unhealthy binding methods have been pushed so far into “no don’t do this, don’t even read about this” territory these past few years because we did not know that our access to safe binders (which still have safety regulations) would come under fire. But it has, and we need to make like our elders and learn how to bind within our means.

If you’ve read this and your thoughts are “Sol we should not be encouraging this!” then I think your priorities are in the wrong place. Speak out against the fearmongering and banning of access to chest binders that is happening right now. With access to more comfortable options, people will always choose that. If you’re truly concerned about the safety of transmasc folk, help us speak up and make binders accessible to all who need them.