Cara Tierney is challenging assumptions of what it means to be transgender in their new semi-autobiographical graphic novel, Phantomtits.
Tierney, a Carleton University cultural mediations PhD candidate, wrote the novel and collaborated with Ottawa-based artist and illustrator Pascale Arpin to produce the self-published graphic novel on trans experiences. It was released on Nov. 23.
Phantomtits is the first of three installments Tierney and Arpin expect to publish. The story follows Tierney’s experience with a double mastectomy or “top surgery”—a procedure many trans people decide to undergo—but with a supernatural twist.
The first installment follows Tierney’s real-life performance art piece. After having them removed, Tierney had their breasts cremated.
The cremation marks the beginning of a superhero origin story in the graphic novel, something Tierney says is an accessible format for teaching people of all ages about trans issues because of their familiarity.
Tierney added education is crucial in helping the trans community. Medical professionals questioned Tierney’s eagerness to undergo surgery. Tierney said their doctors’ confusion came from traditional definitions of what it means to be trans.
“‘You are born in the wrong body’ is a line that actually comes from the history of designing medical supports for trans people, which are designed by cisgender, generally straight white men,” they said. “It’s a language that gets imposed on [the] community.”
Tierney said researching trans experiences lead them to understand what it means to be transgender outside of the gender binary.
They defined being trans as “anybody who departs from the gender they have been assigned at birth.”
Tierney added that this lack of education on what it means to be trans early on meant they were introduced to the concept of being trans later in life.
Behc Jax-Lynx is a social worker and trans person in Ottawa. In 2018 they toured Ontario towns with Tierney teaching a workshop called “Question: are you a girl or a boy? Answer: no thanks” to rural communities.
Jax-Lynx said Phantomtits is a culmination of Tierney’s work with gender. They added it is important to hear about trans perspectives from actual trans people.
“When shifting to a human, holistic, real approach, it gets people to know that non-binary, two-spirit and trans people are part of our community,” Jax-Lynx said. “We’re being experienced and seen and participating, instead of being medical specimens.”
The first graphic novel took over three years to create, and for Arpin it was a change from her usual work as a sign painter for Ottawa businesses.
“I was so deep into learning lettering and into sign painting and into that whole world,” Arpin said. “At the same time, having this project to pull me back to another skill that I also really, really love and really want to nourish. It was a nice balance for me.”
Arpin said her contribution to the novel was one of support and collaboration. She said she wanted to tell Tierney’s story authentically.
Looking forward to the second and third volumes of Phantomtits, Tierney said they hope their story creates more awareness of trans issues.
“My hope is that [Phantomtits] allows people to get rid of some of that fear around using a gender-neutral pronoun because I think some of that fear comes from a form of disbelief,” they said. “I hope that it does create greater awareness.”
Featured image by Pascale Arpin.
This piece was originally published as part of the Charlatan’s January 2021 special edition.
