The Last Time I Saw A Tranny

For a long time now, I have been a big supporter of YouTube. I love that I have instant access to pirated films and TV shows for – with the exception of my broadband charges – free. I think it is absolutely excellent that I can find new rare recordings and demos of my favourite artists alongside covers by complete nobodies on the other side of the world. I think that being able to participate in covering songs along with all the other nobodies is a thrill matched only by live performance. It is inevitable, then, that communities of participants spring up on YouTube.

Until lastnight, I thought these communities could be limited to comedy vloggers (whether they are actually funny or not); musicians (spanning the entire talent spectrum from professional to downie-with-a-guitar) and those people you get who comment on videos – generally either praising Stevie Nicks for a great atonal screech midway through of Edge of Seventeen; or speculating on who she was sleeping with at the time of the recording, or how much cocaine she had up her butt during a certain concert.

Although I would include myself in the musician and worthless-comment-maker categories of YouTube user; I don’t think I am a true member of any YouTube community (unless you include the fact that I search for new videos under “Joni Mitchell” every single day of my life without fail). Unlike me, some people actually use YouTube as a window – for complete strangers – into their world. This concept was completely new to me, defying the three other categories. What I found were not comedy vlogs, they were personal diary vlogs. Sure, you’re thinking “clichéd and behind the times,” byt wait! What I found were in fact THEMED personal diary vlogs! This may not sound exciting enough to merit two separate exclaimations, but until I discovered their YouTube diaries, I had not lost any sleep over… FEMALE TO MALE TRANSSEXUALS.

Disclaimer #1: You may have noticed that this blog contains the word “tranny” almost as often as “the” or “arse”. Let me explain: I have a perverted sense of humour, and so do my readers. Evidently, most of my readers come to me because they have searched for something along the lines of “tranny blog”.

Now let’s face it – female to male transsexuals, or “F2Ms” as they seem to be known as in YouTube communities – are alien to me. In fact, the only place I’ve ever come across an F2M before is in documentary programmes that feature condensed material, and make these people out to be freaks and weirdos. YouTube actually provides a forum for people, especially those who are different from the status quo, to let themselves be known and to give help and advice to other people in the same position. The videos in the F2M community are unedited, raw footage; focusing on their joys and their pains. I spent the other night watching video after video about surgery, testosterone treatments and the like, which were incredibly thought provoking. I don’t consider myself to be the World’s Most Perfectly Average Human Being, but at least I don’t have to go through surgery and hormone treatments to feel right. Watching these videos made me realise that although I may not be wired up absolutely perfect; how lucky I am to be a relatively normal person.

Disclaimer #2: I may sound as if I am disparaging the entire F2M community by implying that they are not normal. I merely mean that they are wired up far worse than I am. I, of course, am not apologising to any tranny who has been offended thus far by my blog: no tranny is that thin skinned. I was actually just covering my arse from the PC brigade – at least until Labour get booted out of government. I would blog about party politics, but no-one would read my entries anymore.

Sure, watching videos about drastic surgery and the results thereof can seem like a big deal – in fact, these are the things that documentary makers focus on; but that’s not the whole story. One of the F2Ms spoke a lot about her personal life in her vlogs, for example about how he was dumped by her lesbian fiancé because she didn’t want to marry a man; and about how buying tampons and shaving cream can be embarassing and upsetting. These things make total sense, but when would they ever be brought out in the open otherwise?

People say that my generation is the first to be given the hugely educational tool of the internet, and we have squandered it. Instead, we make pointless blogs and spend our lives on MSN. We make MySpace profiles that reveal weaknesses in our half-developed characters. But these vlogs are educational! The undramatised, first hand footage found on YouTube is worth far more than an agenda-ridden Channel 4 documentary; and the fact that people so confused by their sex have a pool of support waiting for them is testament to the power of this educational tool. My generation, regardless of what media commentators may suggest, may be the most focused, sorted and self aware of any that has gone before.

Either that or the generation most pacified by bright colours and shiny music.