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Discussion"Clocking" TIPs in Public
One thing that is really interesting to me in this whole "trans visibility" initiative is how many things have or will backfire for them as a result of this effort.
I first peaked in late 2019/early 2020, so let's call five years ago "pre-peaked" for me.
Five years ago i assumed every person with a beard was a man because that's basically how it had been my whole life. I had no frame of reference for a woman growing a beard so if a person had a beard they were a man to me. Any TIF I met before that would have passed.
When it comes to TIMs they mostly don't pass & are easy to spot, but it was plausible that there were some times where a particularly androgynous person wearing women's clothes/with a higher pitched voice would have made me wonder esp because i was pretty unfamiliar with them.
However, project "trans visibility" has really put an end to all that. I am able to spot TIMs 50 yards away by their walk or cough or something (which will later be confirmed when he's closer). I was watching a silly Netflix show recently while doing chores and I heard a voice coming from the TV and by voice alone i knew it was coming from a "transwoman" because I'm now familiar with the things TIMs do to disguise their voices. I looked at the TV and my suspicions were easily confirmed. Their voices (even when they "feminize" them) are as telltale as any of their other features. My brain has now logged those speech patterns in the category of types of men's voices.
Similarly, I went to get coffee recently and the cashier was a person around my height (~5'2) with a mask covering some visible facial hair. Due to the mask I couldn't see most of the cashier's face and due to the counter I couldn't see below about mid-ribs on this person. But even thiugh I couldn't see much of her at all, she was still easily identifiable as a TIF (later confirmed when i noticed a trans pin on her apron).
I just found all this interesting. Sure, the more time that goes by surgical techniques will improve, but our ability to accurately determine people's sex is evolving too.
Thoughts on this or other times "trans visibility" backfired?