Tag: trans
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Trans 101: Dating While Trans (with Julia Serano)
Every notification is a gamble: Is this a genuine connection or another person who swiped right just to tell you you're disgusting? Welcome to dating while trans. In this episode, we're exploring the disclosure dilemmas, infrastructure failures, and stigma that make dating "super hell" for trans people—featuring author and theorist Julia Serano (Whipping Girl). You'll hear why the design of dating apps fails trans people, how anti-trans stigma poisons relationships even when the attraction is real, what "chasers" are and why the fetish mindset is so harmful, and why trans women face wildly different (and more dangerous) dating experiences than trans men. Not attracted to trans people? Nobody’s gonna force you to change that—but we are going to help you examine whether your feelings come from you, or from the stigma society planted in your head.
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Trans 101: Finding Healthcare That Won’t Kill You
Here's a wild statistic: nearly a quarter of trans people in the U.S. avoid going to the doctor specifically because they expect to be disrespected. And honestly? They're probably right. In this episode of Taboo Science, we're pulling back the curtain on a healthcare system that requires trans patients to prove they're "really trans," charges thousands of dollars for basic care, and somehow graduates doctors who've never learned how to treat trans bodies. You'll hear from sociologist stef shuster about the folklore of trans medicine that doctors still believe, psychologist Stephanie Budge about the critical difference between over-emphasizing and under-emphasizing gender in treatment, and comedian Max Gross about what it's like to be your own medical educator at every single appointment. This episode is not gonna make you like your insurance company, but I promise there's hope at the end.
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Trans 101: How Transgender Hormone Therapy Changes Body and Brain
For decades, doctors tried to psychoanalyze trans people out of being trans. Spoiler: it didn't work. This episode dives into the medical reality of gender transition—from how hormones actually work at the cellular level to the emotional rollercoaster of a second puberty. You'll learn what estrogen and testosterone really do to the body, what bottom growth actually means, and how modern surgery can create everything from boobs to fully functional penises with hydraulic erections. We cover the psychological shifts, the physical changes, the hilarious terminology trans people have coined, and why medical transition isn't about "fixing" anyone—it's about letting people finally be themselves.
