Dragon Lady Incognito

Most of the time my friend Eva Medusa really lets her freak flag fly so to speak — you may remember my recent post on her awesome green eyeball tattoos — so I was surprised to see this photo she posted wearing a wig. It’s quite amazing how different she looks “dressed down” like this — not better or worse per se, just… different. But different in a way that’s so traditionally feminine that it really shows off her double transformation. The other half of her transformation — into a dragon lady — somewhat overpowers most photos and it’s what I see first most of the time. But I hope I’m not revealing my predilection to traditional gender appearance, but add long hair to the mix and I really see the male to female aspect first. Actually I’m putting that wrong — saying it more accurately, I’m not seeing that aspect at all. I’m just seeing a beautiful dragon lady and not thinking about what may or may not have come before. Metamorphosis indeed!!!

eva-with-hair

Finally, for context, let me show you two “before” photos, one very recent, and another definitely not so recent, from when Eva was still known as NoMan Pan — how many people get to be a bodmod icon (NoMan was one of the first people to get implants from Steve Haworth), more than once in their life? I’m not talking about being recognized for multiple aspects of the same person — I’m talking about being recognized in ways that the majority of people may not even connect. Eva may well be the only member of that very short list right now, although she mentioned that she is aware of a small handful of others doing a “double transformation”. If you have an interest in this subject and are looking for support, I’d urge you to get in touch with her.

eva-before

A long journey

Tattoos can have all different kinds of meanings, some are simple, and others can have a meaningful story behind them.  This tattoo is the latter.  Amanda Grace Leadman from No Ka Oi Tattoo in Philadelphia helped one individual bring to life a tattoo design that signifies something very important.

“This tattoo connects my journey and my destination as a genderqueer trans person. Amanda and I collaborated in it’s design.”

The design they came up with is this, a pair of mating slugs suspending from a rusty key.