Dick pics might get a bad rap, but they can be pretty useful when trans guys are holding the camera. This is especially true when it comes to photos of post-surgery penises, which trans guys have been increasingly sharing not to flirt, but to educate each other on what their new members really look like and can do.
There are two main types of surgeries trans and nonbinary people can undergo if they’re hoping to “masculinize” their lower half. The first is phalloplasty. This involves constructing a dick from a skin graft, usually taken from the arm. It’s a multi-stage procedure, and there are optional add-ons: Some guys add balls, others don’t. Some will ask their doctors to construct a glans — a dick head, basically — and others will be happy without one. Then, there’s metoidioplasty. First, testosterone therapy is used to engorge the clit, creating what’s known as a “T-Dick.” From there, metoidioplasty, or meta as it’s colloquially known, builds on this existing tissue as opposed to using a skin graft to create a shaft, which provides a variety of options — e.g., some people choose to keep their vagina and uterus along with their new dicks, too.
Just like cis penises, trans genitals come in all shapes, sizes and configurations — making it pretty damn hard to know where to start when considering your own. Normally, the best place to see dicks up-close and personal is in porn, but this isn’t the case for trans guys — even now, there’s still little representation of men who’ve undergone bottom surgery in porn, no matter the type. The rise of subscription sites like OnlyFans have enabled the online presence of stars like Roshaante Anderson, who proudly shows off his post-phallo dick, but examples of other trans guy porn stars with metoidioplasty are still nearly impossible to find.
Medical websites aren’t much help, either. Technically, they should be full of dick pics, but most of them only go so far when it comes to showcasing the final results of lower surgery. There are sites where surgeons upload before-and-after photos with their patients’ consent, but the real-life stories behind them are omitted — and it’s important to bear in mind that they’re basically advertisements. For the average trans guy looking to find nuanced, detailed accounts of what it’s actually like to go through these procedures, surgical websites offer very little solace.
The highly medical language is pretty unhelpful, too. It’s important to know the surgical details, but it’s not unreasonable to suggest that trans guys might want to know how their future dicks will feel, whether they can get hard, cum and feel pleasure, all of which is seldom discussed on surgical websites, let alone in conversational terms.
This conversation is, however, taking place on dick pic forums for trans guys. As it stands, these forums, which showcase all types of bottom surgeries, are pretty much the best resource out there for trans men looking to weigh up their options. They’re really like mutual aid — post your penis, help another trans guy figure out the dick of his dreams.
The most popular site is TransBucket, an extremely old-school, registration-only platform where trans people — mostly trans men — post before, during and after photos of their surgeries, as well as relevant details about their surgeons. It’s not just about showing off, though — users also rate their surgeries for sexual “satisfaction” and “sensation,” offering far more insight into the function of post-phallo peens than the vast majority of surgeons’ sites. The images can be pretty no-holds-barred, too. From scarring to erections, there’s an abundance of crowd-sourced material, much of which comes with the sort of real-life stories and unpolished, realistic images trans guys often seek. The subreddits like r/phallo and r/metoidioplasty are full of helpful advice and photos, too.
For sex blogger Kelvin Sparks, forums TransBucket and some of the aforementioned subreddits “made lower surgery something real and tangible.” Before finding them, he mainly saw theoretical conversations around what post-op dicks could do, but he also saw “a lot of misinformation about bottom surgery” in some of the research he did. In fact, before he encountered these forums, he’d never even seen what bottom surgery results looked like after they healed.
According to Caleb LoSchiavo, a PhD candidate at Rutgers University who specializes in LGBTQ+ health and harm reduction, these platforms vary in size. Some, like TransBucket, are huge, whereas others “are community-run Facebook groups, which are either for bottom surgery overall or for specific procedures and surgeons.” Facebook doesn’t allow nudity, of course, but trans people often connect in these locked groups and then exchange their nudes in the DMs. There are other options like FTM Surgery Support as well, but it’s not updated as regularly.
Naturally, it’s important for dick pic forums to be carefully-protected. It only takes a scroll through Twitter to see that transphobia is rampant — opening these message boards to the public would undoubtedly unleash a torrent of abuse. Facebook groups sometimes require evidence of gender clinic visits to admit entry, whereas TransBucket requires an account and verification to see someone’s actual dick. “I completely get why people make their post-op pictures as non-public as possible,” continues Sparks, “but being able to see some really did shake off a lot of the misconceptions I had about what post-op genitals looked like. From there, I wanted to figure out how much of what I’d been told about sensation and function wasn’t true either.”
There’s more than just research to be gained in these groups, though. “They can also provide a much-needed space for peer social support,” continues LoSchiavo, “especially for trans people who are stealth (not openly trans) or have limited access to trans-focused spaces.” Comments in these locked forums are often incredibly affirming, too. Trans guys will often compliment each other on their nudes — and their bodies more generally — but it’s different than sexting or flirting. These aren’t just message boards jammed full of dick pics aimed at getting someone into bed, they’re safe spaces to affirm and celebrate trans bodies.
For guys like Sparks, finding these spaces can be a turning point in their transitions. “I truly don’t think I would have gone down the route of pursuing lower surgery for myself if it hadn’t been for people sharing their dick pics,” he concludes.
Maybe there is such a thing as a good dick pic, after all?
Jake Hall
Jake Hall is a freelance journalist, fashion features editor and author. Their debut book 'The Art of Drag' is scheduled for release in May 2020.
