Trans Men, Body Diversity, and Our Content Scope
Hey everyone. We’ve been getting a lot of modmail about trans men posting here, and we’d rather talk about it openly than make a quiet call behind the scenes. First, where we stand as a mod team: trans men are men. That’s not up for debate in this thread. What is up for debate is content scope, and we want your input.
The complaint, summarized:
Some members feel that since we don’t allow vaginas in this space, posts from trans men with a vagina shouldn’t be allowed either. Others have pointed out there are dedicated FTM and trans communities on Reddit and have asked whether trans content fits here at all. Both points deserve a real conversation rather than a quiet policy change, which is why we’re bringing this to the full community.
Quick education, because bodies vary
Trans men are assigned female at birth, so many are born with a vagina, but from there every person’s path is different. Some keep their existing anatomy with no interest in surgery, while others take testosterone, which significantly enlarges the clitoris into what’s often called bottom growth, a t-dick, or a small penis depending on what the person prefers. Some pursue metoidioplasty, a surgery that reshapes the testosterone-enlarged clitoris into a phallus, and others pursue phalloplasty, a more involved surgery that constructs a phallus from grafted tissue. Some also have a vaginectomy, which closes the vaginal canal, either on its own or alongside other procedures. The point is that there is no single trans man body, and a trans man posting here might have anatomy that reads as a vulva, a small penis, or a surgically constructed phallus.
The honest problem with a “no vaginas” rule
If we draw that line, we have to be consistent across the board, and that’s where it gets complicated. A trans woman who hasn’t had bottom surgery has a penis, so under “no vaginas” her nudes would be welcome here. A trans man who’s had phalloplasty has a phallus, so his nudes would be welcome too. A trans man with bottom growth has anatomy that some people read as a vulva and others read as a small penis, which leaves an obvious gray zone. And a trans man with no surgery and no testosterone would be the only one excluded, which means the rule isn’t really about anatomy in the abstract, it’s about specific bodies. So “no vaginas” isn’t actually a clean line. It ends up sorting people by surgical status, hormonal status, and how cis members feel about a given body, and that’s worth naming out loud before we vote with our gut.
What we want your input on
We want thoughtful input, not just yes or no, so here’s what we’re actually wrestling with. Is this community about a specific kind of body, or is it about bi men sharing themselves with other bi men? If it’s about bodies, how do we write that rule in a way that applies consistently to both trans men and trans women? And are there options we haven’t considered yet, like content flairs, tags, or filter settings that would let members curate their own feed without excluding anyone outright?
What doesn’t change
No matter what comes out of this discussion, we only remove posts or ban members for violating community rules. We don’t remove posts because someone doesn’t like who is in them, and we don’t ban people for their identity. Any rule change coming out of this will be a content rule applied consistently, not a people rule applied selectively. Be kind in the comments. Disagreement is welcome and expected, but dehumanizing language about trans members of this community will be removed under our existing rules. You can hold a position on content scope without being cruel about the people involved.
Comments are open for the next 7 days. We’re reading everything, and we’ll post a follow-up with what we heard and where we land. Thanks for engaging in good faith.