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Take a look at Gender Queer's Maia Kobabe's "starter kit for people thinking about binding for the first time"

Breathe: Journeys to Healthy Binding covers the basics for those interested in binding

Cropped panel from Breathe — Image credit: Maia Kobabe

Features by Tiffany Babb, Contributing writer

Published on Mon Apr 01 2024

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For anyone interested in binding, a graphic guide is on it's way from Gender Queer graphic novelist Maia Kobabe and University of Michigan professor Dr. Sarah Peitzmeier. Breathe: Journeys to Healthy Binding will serve as a resource for those who are considering chest binding and will include excerpts from interviews as well as evidence-based resources all combined in an accessible, comics-format manner.

About the upcoming book, cartoonist Maia Kobabe shared, “I was lucky enough to receive my first binder as a gift from a trans friend. It came with suggestions and knowledge about how to wear it, how long to wear it, and how often to take breaks. I received all of this information because I was already part of a trans community, but many people considering binding for the first time aren't part of the community yet. I loved the idea of working on a book which could act as a guide or starter kit for people thinking about binding for the first time.”

Dr. Sarah Peitzmeier added, “I hope readers see how powerful research can be when community gets to set the agenda for what questions get asked. I'm grateful to everyone who showed up for long interviews and endless surveys and made all of this work possible. My research team is still busy generating more insights from the data that folks shared with us and we hope to continue sharing those insights back in turn. For anyone who sees themselves in one of the characters' stories, I hope you feel seen yourself in reading this book and know that you and your journey matter.”

To get a feel of what Breathe: Journeys to Healthy Binding will be like, check out some pages from the forthcoming guide in the gallery below: