Welcome to the weird world of transfishing

A woman behind a popular Instagram meme account, @manicpixie.transgirl, with 34,900 followers, this week admitted that she had been “transfishing.” In other words: she was a cis woman who had been lying the whole time about being trans. Welcome to the other side of the coin of the very similar, controversial “transtrending”: when people pretend to be transgender without altering their appearance. For example, a gender-conforming man who claims he is a transgender woman for attention or pity may be a “transtrender,” where a natal woman who purposefully dresses or speaks in a particular way and claims she is trans is a “transfisher.” 

In a series of now-expired Instagram Stories, she wrote, “to all my trans followers that have looked up to me im really sorry… if anything i kinda helped blur the line on trans women and cis women kus if u think about it…like i actually did GOOD for the community… i consulted with a trans friend of mine and she said there’s nothing wrong with it bc trans women are women and if im cis i could still be trans because trans women are women.” 

It’s not entirely clear if @manicpixie.transgirl was really “transfishing” or if the whole thing is just an elaborate “shitpost” or troll. In a later Story, her mannerisms are so over-the-top (and so rife with obvious faux pas, like saying the word tranny and using “you guys,” then quickly correcting herself, in reference to trans women, who she refers to as “the beautiful community”), the messages read more like a comedy bit than a genuine apology. 

If it is a bit, it’s a good one — and it pokes holes in the way the mainstream talks about gender identity. In one reading, @manicpixie.transgirl is making fun of the circles that progressives run themselves in trying to be “sensitive” with gender-inclusive language. In another, it offers a style of humor that’s becoming increasingly visible to non-trans audiences — gender-critical jokes from trans women that aren’t critiquing “well-meaning allies,” but instead, widely-accepted inconsistencies in how we think about gender identity. If identity is as fluid and ill-defined as the mainstream discourse wants us to believe, then why couldn’t a natal woman be a trans woman? Or, maybe, why would it matter if she’s trans or not? 

But then there’s also the possibility that @manicpixie.transgirl’s “coming out story” is sincere. She wouldn’t be the first person to have transfished. Model Carissa Pinkston pretended to be trans after she was called out for making transphobic comments online. And before clarifying that she was born a man, TikTokker Taversia was often accused of “transbaiting.” Her consistent line was that it wasn’t anybody’s “business” what her sex was and that she was being a good ally by refusing to disclose her sex. For her, it was “proof” that it didn’t matter. 

There are many reasons why women transfish. The obvious one is that there’s a certain — though, seemingly diminishing — cachet in saying you’re transgender, particularly online. 

Taylor Stuckey, a trans writer living in Los Angeles, claims that it’s well-known that a lot of OnlyFans models will pretend to be trans and say they’re post-op or post “topless only” photos to service a particular niche. (A recent RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant was accused of doing this when they launched their OnlyFans account.) 

Beyond the growing appeal of transgender pornography, Stuckey added, “Online, female beauty isn’t unique anymore. We are over-saturated with hot women. But, at the risk of sounding rude, a seven or eight cis girl can instantly become a 9 or 10 trans girl, especially if you can’t perceive a single masculine characteristic on her.”

Some women feel an affinity to the culture and community, so will lie to be in an environment they feel is more comfortable or more interesting. And at least some women feel like the beauty standard for trans women is either more forgiving if you’re a natal woman, or, alternatively, makes more space for people who prefer to lean into over-the-top femininity, so they’ll say they’re trans to escape what they feel is unfair scrutiny — or as one Reddit user very uncharitably put it, to “attention farm.”