Inside the Landmark, Long Overdue Study on Chest Binding
by Zing Tsjeng
SEP 28 2016
Chest binding is an everyday reality for many transgender and non-binary people, but healthcare professionals know little about the practice. The first ever medical study on the practice says that it's time to change that.
"I remember the first time I put on a binder," recalls Naomhan, a non-binary trans activist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. "An ex-boyfriend gave me his old binder and after I put it on, I remember looking down at my chest and then into the mirror, feeling euphoria at how happy it made me feel."
Chest binding is a fact of life for many people, including trans men, some gay women, intersex people, and gender non-conforming individuals like Naomhan. Flattening the appearance of one's breasts—whether that's through Ace bandages, compression undergarments, layered T-shirts, sports bras, or commercial binders—doesn't just make it easier to pass in public as the correct gender or wear masculine clothes. For many, it's a matter of psychological well-being.
"I couldn't take my binder off except to sleep," Naomhan says. "It would be the first thing I put on when I woke up in the morning, and I would feel dysphoric even sitting at home without my binder on."
Outside of the queer community, chest binding remains a relatively unknown phenomenon. It is more commonly discussed by trans vloggers (the search term "my first binder" brings up about 114,000 results on YouTube) than it is by healthcare professionals. But new research conducted by The Binding Health Project and published in Culture, Health, and Society—which they say is the first study on chest binding published in a medical journal—shows that a discussion on how to help people bind safely and effectively is long overdue.
A qualitative report from the five-person strong research project goes into more detail about the benefits of binding for those they surveyed: "Based on our preliminary analysis, for most participants, binding was a positive experience and led to improvements in mood and self-esteem, minimized gender dysphoria, anxiety, and depression, and helped them to feel in control of their bodies," a report they published on the study reads.
"In fact, some reported that a positive impact on emotional and behavioral health makes the physical discomfort of binding worth it.""Binding is a part of daily life for many, but it can have negative impacts on your physical health—ranging from minor to severe—across a wide range of symptoms, from pain in different parts of your body, to shortness of breath, to bruising or other skin changes," explains researcher Sarah Peitzmeier. She is a member of the Binding Health Project, which hopes to "expand and contribute new information on the physical and mental health effects of chest binding." It comprises of Boston University medical students and graduates, as well as a PhD student at in public health at John Hopkins.
The researchers hope that the study will provide an initial roadmap for change, educating physicians on the benefits and impacts of binding and allowing those who bind to take charge of their health. They scoured peer-reviewed literature and information from health clinics, LGBTQ organizations, and online community resources, coming up with 28 potential health outcomes from binding. 1,800 respondents answered an online survey with questions ranging from how often they bound, what they used to bind their chests with, and their gender identity.
According to the study, binding was a "daily occurrence" for its participants. Just over half of respondents bound their chests seven days a week, with people binding for an average of ten hours a day.
https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/artic...nsgender-study