Idea: Makeup giveaways for trans feminine youth!

Hi all,

I run a pretty successful binder exchange program for trans-masculine youth through a local non-profit. I am preparing a proposal to present to our board soon for the creation of a trans-feminine counterpart and I'd love some input from the community to present as a type of "market research." :help:

The idea is to create starter make-up kits with items that will work for people of all skin/eye/hair colorings and many different "looks" or styles. Then, just like our current binder program, trans spectrum (including all non-binary identities!) youth can apply to receive one online and we will mail them out, free of cost, all over the country. As a Phase II of the project, I would like to have makeup specialists provide trans-affirming makeup/style tutorials and workshops. They could be provided in person for local youth and then made available online for everyone else.

My questions for you are:
1) If you are in this age range (roughly 13-18) or can remember when you were, would the free makeup kit be a useful service for you and help you feel supported by your community? Why or why not? Is there something else that would be more useful or better?

2) If the makeup kits would be useful, what sort of items would you most like to see included? What's your "dream wish list"?

3) Same questions but for the makeup tutorials. Would this be a useful/exciting resource?

4) If you were to access the makeup tutorials online, what would be your preferred format? A live cast where you can interact via a commenting system, as a pre-recorded video on YouTube, or as a printable PDF? Or something else you can think of?


Any answers to these questions or comments/suggestions on the proposal in general will help me out a lot and help my organization make the best service possible for trans-feminine youth! Feel free to respond if you are not trans-feminine too, but please let me know that you are speaking as an ally. Thanks in advance for your support. (&&&)

 

Thanks Daydreamer! I'm very excited about it. Fingers crossed for lots of good responses that can help morph the idea into an amazing program!

 

Thanks for your feedback! I'm a little curious about your first answer. Do you mean having access to a trans-positive makeup exchange wouldn't help others see and accept you as your true gender? Would it help you to feel empowered and/or more self-confident in your gender identity and presentation anyway? If not, can you think of a different thing that would be better?

For what it's worth, we've also considered things that may be a little more analogous to binders, such as breast forms or gaffs, but their cost is likely to be prohibitive. We send an average of 40 binders out a month and would like the new trans-feminine program to serve just as many people.

 

Thanks for the feedback! I know that there are a lot of really good makeup tutorials already floating around online, but I haven't heard a lot of feedback from young trans women about how good they are or if there's anything they'd like to see more of from them.

We'll probably just focus on doing the makeup workshops in town for local youth and not worry about making them available online if others tend to share your experience!