Elliot Page’s abs are the talk of the town.
On Monday, the Umbrella Academy star and Canadian treasure shared an image of himself topless by a pool in swim trunks, complete with six-pack abs and a beaming smile.
“Trans bb’s first swim trunks #transjoy #transisbeautiful,” he wrote.
The thirst trap marked the first public shirtless image of Page since he’s had top surgery. Page came out as trans masculine in December 2020. He’s since spoken openly about gender-affirming surgery’s impact on his life, because there is “such an attack on trans health care right now” and shared his experience in a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.
“It’s being able to touch my chest and feel comfortable in my body for the—probably the first time,” he told Winfrey.
And now he’s shared a little slice of that trans joy by the pool.
It’s a big moment to see someone as publicly trans as Page share such joy while trans rights continue to be threatened across the United States. Following the photo, a wave of support for Page rolled in across social media platforms with commenters praising his openness. Celebrities from Jann Arden to Ruby Rose to Julianne Moore shared their love for Page on his Instagram post, which has nearly 2.5 million likes as of Tuesday afternoon.
Miley Cyrus summed up my and many others’ reactions pretty well, commenting “Hot ❤️.”
It is truly remarkable to see arguably the world’s most high-profile trans masculine person showing off their body in such a positive and joyful way.
But Page’s post also sparked online discussions around unreal body expectations for trans masculine people and the disproportionate access to gender-affirming care trans celebrities have.
Trans masculine body image
Much like the cisgender celebrities Page is being compared to in the comments on his photo, Page represents a white, thin and cis-normative image of what a masculine person should look like. And that’s not the reality for every trans person or their body.
We can congratulate Page on his openness and acknowledge the dysphoria and body image issues he likely faces himself, while also acknowledging that just like cisgender celebrity bodies, his physique is unattainable for many everyday folks.
It’s the same as cis men being expected to look like Chris Evans: Not all trans masculine people look like Page, nor do they have to. Trans people come in all shapes, sizes, races and genders. Many face compounded levels of body dysphoria and dysmorphia tied to gender and societal expectations, and trans people are also statistically more likely to experience eating disorders than their cis counterparts.
The desire to attain a cis-normative male body or have abs like a checkerboard is an issue that plagues many trans masculine people in particular. Search tags related to female-to-male (FTM) transition or hormone replacement therapy on social media, and you’ll find pages of workout videos and muscular trans masculine folks flexing.
It’s a systemic problem not talked about enough in the trans community, experts say.
“We still have work to do in our community, and in society in general, to push back against the stereotype of what a man should look like,” Emmett Schelling, executive director of the Transgender Education Network of Texas, told Refinery29 in 2018. “Right now, we have this image of what makes men attractive and we say, ‘This is how you have to be to feel good about who you are.’”
Many people on social media were quick to affirm that Page’s photo is worth celebrating, but also reminded trans folks they don’t have to look like that if they can’t or don’t want to.
Access to gender-affirming surgery
Page’s top surgery was also a hot topic of discussion in the wake of the photo.
Many people on social media marvelled at the relative speed with which Page got top surgery, a gender-affirming procedure to masculinize the chest. And while he hasn’t mentioned when he got it, it’s important to remember that as a wealthy celebrity, Page likely had an easier time accessing these services than say, an average person like you or me.
Many people languish on waiting lists for years before even being approved for top surgery—and in the U.S., it often comes with a steep financial price tag that is, simply put, unattainable for many.
Even in Canada, where the procedure is ostensibly covered by socialized health care, many people still face barriers to access, whether that’s long waiting times, geographic unavailability or the institutional fatphobia of our medical system.
A thin, wealthy celebrity with as high of a profile as Page has a much easier time accessing the best care, and it’s not a standard all trans folks should be expected to hold themselves to.
Still, Page’s openness to pose so confidently with his top surgery scars was affirming for many people who have had or want to get top surgery.
The discourse around Page’s photo shows there’s still a long way to go when it comes to trans health care access around the world and the public image of trans people. Still, it is nice to see trans joy. Here’s hoping we get more of it from all types of trans people going forward.
Why you can trust Xtra
