Yamato One Piece - Tumblr Posts
Absolutely right!!
Yamato, Transness, and "Passing"
Now that we're nearly a full arc removed from Wano and Yamato's introduction, I want to talk about the reaction that a subset of the one piece fandom had to his reveal as a trans man/transmasc person, the transphobia behind that reaction, and how the concept of passing plays into that reaction. I'm not going to be arguing that Yamato is a trans man, as I think it is very obvious that he is given how he is referred to in the canon text. This is instead going to be more of a fandom dissection of why (in my personal opinion) so many people refuse to acknowledge Yamato as a man.
When we are first introduced to Yamato, he is dressed in a way that gives him the appearance of a flat chest, and is wearing a mask to hide his face. He looks like a man in a cis-heteronormative way
When Yamato was depicted like this, he was (from what I can tell) mostly referred to with he/him pronouns by the fanbase. This is based on comments underneath his chapter debut and episode debut. There are comments under his episode debut that do use she/her pronouns and refer to him as a woman, but because these episodes have been out for a while, it would make sense that these kinds of comments would be left on his debut after his second design was revealed.
Then, when he removes his mask and outer layer of his outfit, he is depicted like this
After this reveal, more people began to refer to Yamato with she/her pronouns, and refer to him as Kaido's daughter, despite him referring to himself as Kaido's son, as well as the people around him using he/him pronouns exclusively for him. What changed? Well, Yamato went from having a design that looked traditionally masculine to having a more traditionally feminine one. As such people who associate only women with having breasts and more "feminine" features began to insist that Yamato was a tomboy, or a delusional woman, anything but accept that fact that he is a man.
There is a phenomena with trans "acceptance", where a character is accepted as trans only if they look like their gender according to the cis-heteronormative ideal, and questioned and denied if they don't. Kiku, a trans woman who "passes" as a woman did not receive nearly the same level of speculation and denial of her trans identity. (This is not to say that Kiku received no hate or transphobic comments, but that because she looks like a woman to the average cis-het viewer, she was treated as a "real" trans person, whereas Yamato was not).
Yamato has been repeatedly referred to as mentally ill for being a "non-passing" trans man. He has been called bad representation (despite large numbers trans men/transmasc people, myself included, saying that his IS good representation). People have made claims with no canon backing in an attempt to hand wave away his transness because he "looks like a woman", a popular one being that Kaido some how forced Yamato into being a man, despite his backstory telling us the exact opposite.
And the reasoning for all of this speculation is that trans people are held to such high standards in terms of appearance and presentation, even in fictional media. A trans man must have a flat chest, deep voice, facial hair etc. or he isn't actually trans. A trans woman must have breasts, a high voice, a lack of facial hair, etc. or she isn't actually trans. Non-binary people are dismissed entirely. This denies the many different and diverse ways that a person can be trans. Sure, some trans people wish to medically transition, get the "surgery" and go through life as if they were cis. But not all trans people want that. Gender is messy and complicated, its not nearly as black and white a we have been taught to believe. There are many trans people (both binary and non-binary) who will never medically transition. That does not make them less trans, it does not make them delusional. Yet because we have this black and white thinking ingrained in us from childhood, any deviation from the strict boxes of "man" and "woman" are immediately questioned, and that includes gender non-conforming people - both trans and cis.
This type of transphobia is not talked about enough, as the people doing it will so often hide behind the idea that they are protecting "real" trans people, and just want to make sure that they are respected and taken seriously. But, respect for a persons gender identity CANNOT be conditional. It does not matter if they "don't pass". It doesn't matter if they are a good person, a bad person. The second you start dictating who gets to have their gender respected is the second you stop being an ally. And that includes fictional characters like Yamato.
one piece queer characters rant<33
little reminder Yamato is a trans man. He goes by he/him, he takes baths with all the men, everyone in the series, calls him by male pronouns, “oh but that’s cus she wants to be oden, not cus she’s a man😖🥺” OMG PLEASEEEE STFUUUU THATS JUST WRONG INFO, HAVE U SEEN THE SERIES3!1?2 yes, he wants to be oden, he wants to be like oden, but that is not the reason he chooses to go by he/him. If Oda wants to make trans/gender neutral characters let him do that without being a little hoe abt it. Kikunojo is also canonically trans. In one scene someone calls her a swordsman, chopper asks her “wait ur a man?” And she says “i am a woman at heart” ODA HAS MADE TRANS CHARACTERS BEFORE OMFG‼️ need i even mention bon-clay, who is a gender neutral character, and i just want to say, with oda’s portals of his queer character, they are always good characters, sure some portals can be a little out of taste sometimes, but for more info on that, please go too melonteee’s YouTube video. His portals are always in a good light and he always has good intentions. I’m not gonna argue w the bad side of this fandom that insists on Yamato being a woman. 🤷🏼♀️ thanks for listening to my rant🔥🔥😋
srry abt this chat im going crazy😭😭✋
My favorite boyfriends <3
I am trying to learn how to use some watercolor markers, so plz excuse how messy it looks. I'm trying.
They're finally here!!!! Let's go!!!
Chapter 4 y’all!!!!!! Yippee!! This one is so much fun and we get the introduction to two of my favorite characters both in the original series and in this fic, Sabo and Yamato!!
Law gets a text from a mysterious number when he gets home from work one night, insisting they meet up. He gets nervous. Will he make a good first impression? What happens if he messes it up with someone so important?
Yamato my beloved <3
Design from my college au fic!!
The way his eyes sparkling like a child's. So innocent, so pure :>>>>
MUST PROTECC MY CUTIE PATOOTIE
I'm here to offer you guys some yamato vitamins
God i miss him so much
ODA PLEASE TAKE YAMATO OUT TO THE SEA WITH STRAW HATS
Pouty Luffy want Yamato to be his crewmate😭😭😭
He trusts Yamato and leaves Wano Land and everyone to him like a real friend.
I LOVE the interactions between these two so much. Yamato's smile to luffy's trust in him is so adorable. I hope to see Yamato again in the future, and this time, as a Straw Hats
drawing characters i know NOTHING about
since my friends love one piece i asked them what characters from it they would like me to draw, hope they look right :D
comic about the world where kaido ended up with ivankov's hormone fruit
I like that despite being a child abuser, child exploiter, and an emotionally absent father, Reginald draws the line at transphobia.
you're a ten, baby girl, and I'm the one
If I had a nickel for every time I've loved white haired oni men, I would have two nickels. That's not a lot, but it's funny that it happened twice. 🤷🏾♀️
FIRST POST ON A NEW BLOG my old one was @jellitaro but i moved here and am already starting off with one piece. have yamato as yamato takeru from the super kabuki production
bonus closeup, peace and love
totally missed pride with this one but it’s ok because transgenderism is forever <3