In a powerful essay at The Establishment, Evelyn Deshane discusses rejecting the medical narrative around transitioning, and how tattoos allowed them to reclaim their own body:
When the physicality of my gender—that “place” that could be home—feels out of reach, tattoos are my way to be present in my body, and to control what happens to it. When I get a tattoo, I can decide how much of the pain I want to bear by either staring directly at the artist’s needle as they work, or by looking away. I decide on the design, and I create the story behind that design, too, and how it relates to me.
