Gender Affirming Items
What are Gender Affirming Items?
Gender-affirming items include clothing, garments, or prosthetics that help people feel more aligned with their gender identity.
These items offer non-surgical ways for people to feel more comfortable and authentic in their appearance, supporting well-being and confidence in everyday life.
Our recommendations come from Andres (they/them), a former Community Support Specialist and Caden (they/he), CSS Specialist.
What Kind of Gender Affirming Items Does GHC Have?
This is a list of the essential items we keep stocked, plus we have a lot more on hand!
Trixie Cosmetics Girl Talk Palette
In shades: brown, beige
In sizes: 2", 3", 4"
Trixie Cosmetics Flower Power Bronzer
In shades: Groovy Gardenia, Peace Out Poppy, Free Love Freesia
Safer Chest Binding Guide
Binding helps transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming persons feel more aligned with their gender identity.
By reducing chest dysphoria, binders and tape boost comfort and confidence. They offer non-surgical options for achieving a more affirming appearance.
Scoop or shift your chest tissue so your nipples are centered across the midline of your chest in the binder to create a flatter look and prevent falling out.
Do not bind with your nipples pressed downward, as this can cause chest tissue damage.
Sizing
Binders are professionally made compression garments designed for safety and to flatten the chest.
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Measure the largest part of your chest, often around the midline.
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Many companies also require a shoulder or ribcage measurement (just under the chest tissue).
Hours Worn
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Binders can generally be worn safely for up to 8 hours.
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Do not use a binder during sleep or exercise.
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For longer periods due to extreme dysphoria, you can opt for a sports bra without padding to sleep in for compression.
Larger Chests
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Scoop or shift your chest tissue so your nipples are centered across the midline of your chest in the binder to create a flatter look and prevent falling out.
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Do not bind with your nipples pressed downward, as this can cause chest tissue damage.
Binder Recommendations
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Underworks Half Tank: Best value.
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Spectrum Half Tank: Best ratings.
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GC2B Razorback Half Tank: Most comfortable.
Tape for Gender Affirmation
Why use tape?
Using tape instead of a binder may offer several benefits:
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It may be easier to breathe.
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You can swim, exercise, sleep, and shower in it.
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It can be worn for 3–5 days.
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Some feel it looks more natural for their body type.
Safety Note: Be patient, as this method requires trial-and-error. Listen to your body, and if something hurts, take it off.
What you’ll need:
A roll of body-safe tape (e.g., Trans Guy Supply, TransTape, KT Tape).
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Scissors.
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A bit of toilet paper or bandaids (for nipple guards).
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Clean skin.
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Coconut, jojoba, or baby oil (for removal).
Taping Technique
Nipple Guards: Use band aids or toilet paper larger than your nipples to create guards to prevent pain.
Preparing Tape: Cut pieces of tape long enough to reach from the middle of your sternum all the way to your side, and round the edges.
Anchoring Tape: The first and last 2 inches of tape should be un-stretched to prevent blistering.
Application: Place the tape at your sternum, then scoop or pull chest tissue to the side toward your side or armpit.
Note: Larger Chests: You might need longer or wider pieces of tape. Bend over to move the chest tissue around, then tape after you stand.
Blistering From Tape Tips
Do not stretch the tape near the anchor points (where it begins and ends on your body); this can cause pain, itching, and blistering.
Make sure the tape is entirely flat before adhering it to prevent blisters.
If you are already blistering, do not use tape until the blisters are healed, and see a doctor if they don't improve.
Trans Tape Removal
Best practices:
Massage oil into the tape.
Soak the tape and skin for 5–10 minutes.
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Take off the tape in the shower.
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Some people use skin-safe adhesive remover as well if the tape doesn’t come off easily.
Do NOT use: Duct tape, packing tape, etc., as they are not body safe and can cause pain, blistering, chemical reactions, and acne.
Tape Recommendations
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Widths: 3in, 4in, 5in, 7in
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Options: Comes with 5 skin tones, 6 colors, and tattooed options
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Price: $14.50-$19 for a 16.5 ft roll
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Special Feature: Sensitive skin friendly
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Width: 4in
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Format: Pre-cut into 10-inch strips
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Note: This tape is less multi-directional stretchy
Gender Affirming Packing
Packing uses a prosthetic or item in the underwear to create a bulge, helping trans men, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people feel more aligned with their gender. It offers a non-surgical option to enhance comfort and confidence, promoting a sense of congruence with one’s gender identity in daily life.
How to Pack: The Packer Guide, (made by community members) is currently the most comprehensive guide to packing and how to pack. Some people use harnesses, some use KT or transtape to attach their packer to themselves, some place their packer in their underwear directly. There are various types of packers.
Types of Packers
Bulge Only
These are ones that do not look like a penis and simply are made to emulate the shape in pants of a bulge. Sometimes made of hard foam. Sometimes people use socks as makeshift packers.
Soft Packers
These are packers that are made to look and function as a flaccid penis for the purpose of staying in your pants to create a bulge.
Stroker Packers
Strokers typically do not have testes and function as a penis with a space that you can insert your natal genitalia into in order to self pleasure or penetrate with.
Hard Packers (Pack & Plays)
Hard Packers are made of firmer silicone that can be used to penetrate and are typically designed to look like an erect or semi-erect penis. They may be more difficult to pack with discreetly.
& More!
There are many other types of packers, including packers that only features testes for those with larger natal genitalia or with a surgery that does not include testes.
Where To Buy Packers
Here are some brands that have options priced under $200:
They feature several stroker and extender features that attach to your natal genitalia. This can be good for self-pleasure or play with a partner, though not ideal for everyday packing.
They have a variety of more affordable options, include bulge only packers, soft packers, STPs and testes only. They offer single and dual density packers.
Custom, made to order soft packers. Excellent choice for realism, variety in size and shape, and uncut options.
Good variety of options for STPs, soft packers and hard packers including options for meta (metoidioplasty) extension and strokers.
Axolom features soft packers, hard packers, and STPs and all their products are priced under $100 making them ideal for people with limited funds. They offer single and dual density packers and have a variety of sizes.
Tucking Gear
What it is: Tucking involves safely positioning or securing genitalia to create a flatter appearance, helping trans women, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming individuals feel more aligned with their gender identity. This technique can reduce dysphoria, increase comfort, and boost confidence, providing a discreet, non-surgical way to feel more at ease in their body.
Additional Tucking resources:
Gender Affirming Shapewear
Corsets can be used to compress the stomach area of the body to give a more curvy shape and narrower waist.
Adjust the corset where you want it on your body and start latching the front closures one by one, starting from the bottom. You may have to adjust or apply tension to the front to get the latches on correctly.
Once it is completely closed, if there is a zipper, zip the corset up. It should now be in place where you want it. Make sure you can take a deep breath.
Note:
It is not recommended to wear them more than eight hours at a time.
It can take a while to put on a corset for the first time. As you learn and practice it will get easier and faster. Depending on the quality and material of the corset, you may need to put on a thin tank top underneath to put a layer between you and the corset.
Here are Available Gender Shapewear Items Online:
STP (Standing to Pee) Guidance
Standing to pee can be extremely important for some transmasc folks, whether it be for practicality, safety, or gender euphoria. In order to STP successfully, there are a few things to consider.
Locating your urethra TW: anatomical language mentioned
a. Your urethra is located below the clitoris and above the vaginal canal. It’s exact location may vary however, and some people have very forward urethras (closer to their clitoris) and some may have their urethras set far back (closer to their vaginal opening). If you don’t know where your urethra is, you can trial and error or you can get a mirror.
How to Position: If that sounds too dysphoric, feel free to test out STPing in the shower. Your urethra is probably farther back than you expect. Your STP should be positioned directly under you. You want to aim to be peeing directly into the opening of the STP.
Packing Gear Available Online:
