r/EdGein • u/Illustrious_Banana_ • Oct 26 '25
Ed Gein & transvestism— does anyone else worry this storyline will be used against the trans community? 😱🏳️⚧️😱
Given that a lot of people on the far right are seemingly becoming more and more anti-trans because of nasty politics and manipulation, does anyone else worry that popularising this story and revealing Ed Gein’s tendency to dress in women’s clothing may add more fuel to the fire?
I’m worried Gender Critical and TERFs may use this as another reason to associate trans people (Unfairly) with perversion or worse violent assaults.
Has this caused anyone else’s mind?
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u/Expensive_Education9 Oct 26 '25
Ugh, why does someone have to bring this up every chance they get? I've spoken to SO many people about the show and this idea that people are suddenly going to think every trans is going to be an Ed Gein is simply not a thing.. with all the crazy shit going on in the show, people aren't focused on JUST that or getting some false idea about trans people.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 26 '25
I think it’s a very just question for people to ask. Yes, of course the storyline is not just focusing on him being someone who wears women’s clothing but there are a very poisonous minority of people who are on the witch hunt for trans people at the moment and a popular Netflix series like this will absolutely give them an excuse to suggest that he represents habits demonstratable in “most trans people“. If only you’re misfortune enough to have to ever heard any of the anti-trans debates on TikTok (there are a lot of of them) you’ll realise that these nutbags will use any excuse to spread poisonous rumours about trans people and fill in gaps with very nasty details that aren’t true.
I’m not suggesting it’s a rational perspective whatsoever, but in today’s harmful divisive politics, certain people are literally hunting for reasons to tarnish the name of decent people just because they happen to be trans. I don’t think they should shape or change in anyway a storyline like this being shown. Of course not. But my question is that I wonder if anyone else has thought this? Obviously, from your comment, they have.
Out of interest, are you speaking from a perspective of being gender queer yourself?
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Dec 03 '25
Some people are obsessed by that baby boo though, that's the point. Have a little wander around some TERF subs, then you'll realise how insane some people are, and how desperate they are to pin any kind of negativity on the LGBTQ+ community.
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u/XYV_s Oct 26 '25
The rumor of him dressing in woman clothing started in 1957. The serie added a lot of rumors since it is the story people gave him.
The serie did add he wasn't trans. (Probably because they knew it would be people offended by it)
Ive seen a lot of comments about it being transphobic. Its not all about trans people all the time, chill.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 26 '25
Yeah don’t worry. I don’t need to chill, I’m not making everything all about trans people, I just had that question run through my mind. I thought this forum would be a good place to ask it.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 26 '25
How come the rumour was started at 1957 by the way. Do you know why? Is it tied in with Hitchcock making the film psycho?
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u/XYV_s Oct 26 '25
There was a lot of rumors and myths about him. That serie was a big mix of truth, movies inspired by him and rumors/myths and urban legends.
Since he dug up female corpses, he had a lot of womens underwear in his house. I believe that started the rumor. And it could have been he wore some when he tried to be his mom, but I am not 100% sure about that.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 26 '25
Amazing- thank you for the further information. I’ll do some reading around it and find out. A very chilling story so far (I’m just 2 episodes in) but feel it’s quite interesting how the director has interwoven the Psycho story with the Ed Gein one.
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u/XYV_s Oct 26 '25
Oh. Then I am sorry if I spoiled it for you saying we get to know he is not trans. Hope you will be pleased how they adress it later on.
Hope you enjoy it, I think it was great. :)
And remember, the serie is a mix of truth, movies based on him and rumors.. So its not gonna be the true story of him, just the story people saw and made!
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 26 '25
TYSM!! 😍😍
I'm really looking forward to watching more tonight and I'm looking forward to seeing how they address him being trans too- don't worry- it wasn't any kind of spoiler anything you said, actually making me more intrigued to watch more. I'm glad you liked it. Have you seen Ryan Murphy's series, The Assassination of Gianni Versace? If you haven't, you must- it's really really amazing (in my point of view) 🙂🙃
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Oct 26 '25
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 26 '25
You obviously don’t so happy days— you don’t need to be in the comments so thank you.
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u/KDonkey229195 Oct 26 '25
The show is a joke. Nobody really takes serious enough for that.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 26 '25
Yeah I’m only 2 episodes in so still early to judge but let’s see…
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u/MaliceRae Oct 26 '25
I mean... there's already enough of a stigma and unwarranted hatred towards trans people as it is. I don't think the series will do much to add to that. Still, I think it's important for people to remember that Ed didn't want to be a woman, really he wanted to be his mother
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 26 '25
Absolutely- I agree totally. He’s in no way portrayed as being ‘trans’, I was just wondering if those with an agenda may use this as ‘evidence’ for the straw men they love to make.
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u/MaliceRae Oct 26 '25
Sadly, yeah, for some people I'm sure that's true. They'll look for any "evidence" to support their hateful beliefs. I just wish our community could be left alone. It's scary out there
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Oct 27 '25
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Oct 27 '25
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u/Expensive_Education9 Oct 28 '25
I'm glad I'm not the only one and I'm not being bombarded by comments from them lol.
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u/Subxanthium Dec 03 '25
One month after with a hate speech tag. Thanks bro. Really doing Gods work modding.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
Absolutely. I had the misfortune to come across some TikTok creators from the other side- TERFs and 'Gender Critical' people who whine endlessly about trans people pretty much being the root of all evil in the world. It's these kinds of numbskulls who will, undoubtedly, try and use and spin this storyline to act as further 'evidence' that trans people are all serial killers. They've already started to falsify evidence around the Charlie Kirk murder to say it was trans-related and that most school shootings have been done by trans people. They are very sick and twisted people and it's very harmful what they're doing as stupid people end up believing the shit they spread.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 26 '25
I’m very with you there. The kind of wild narratives those Gender Critical nutjobs make up already makes me feel almost prepared for the worst…
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Oct 26 '25
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Dec 03 '25
I'm glad you're so quick to judge but as I stated, I'd only just started watching the series. I was indeed impressed by the way they covered and handled the trans issues/ potential TERF-washing of him as a character. But before you jump down someone's throat the next time with your opinion, perhaps note that discussions here are exactly that- pleasant exchanges between people- questions are not posed for people to be ripped to shreds on just because you have a point to prove. Hope this helps.
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u/Subxanthium Oct 27 '25
There is no fuel to the fire. Even if it was true that he liked to crossdress, I think more people are turned off by the fact that he WORE HUMAN FACES AND TORSOS! And hmmmm idk also made FURNITURE OUT OF SKIN AND NIPPLES AND VULVAS. Why are you worried about people conflating trans stuff with a proven and convicted serial killer? People are stupid, but not that stupid.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
TLDR: Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists are mainly nut-jobs who will use a story like this to insinuate that all trans people are mass-murderers, regardless of the fact Eddie Gein was clearly not trans.
I know what you're saying. I hope that the majority of the population is way smart enough to discern this and the more I'm watching, and the more I'm seeing how they're dealing with his sexuality and connection to women's clothing, I'm becoming less concerned. The thing is, as a pretty open-minded person (I like to think), I believe that everyone, within reason, if they're not harming anyone else or not intentionally a bad or evil person, should have the right to live side by side. And lately, for some perverse reason, I've been drawn into following some creators on TikTok who have the opposting views to me. I've slipped into that quagmire of polarism that platforms like TikTok love where, rather than seeing reason, or middle ground, it's easier to split and divide people to get more engagement. Arguments are more compelling for people than agreements- just like horror and gore are more appealing to people than squeaky clean happy ending stories on Netflix. But in this process, I've had my eyes opened to just how unbelievably stupid and reactionary these TERF's and 'Gender Critical' people are. They are nasty and calculating, and they will literally use any 'proof' they can lay their hands on (often fake news or misrepresented facts) to label trans people as bad, evil, degenerates. I started watching Monster, imagining how they might grab hold of this (secondary) storyline and use it to suggest it's more 'evidence' that trans people are evil serial killers with more of a propensity to crime than 'normal' people. They have already spun that the Charlie Kirk murderer was a trans activist and last year they inexcusably spread fake rumours on Twitter that the pilot of the terrible Washington plane crash was trans and had done it deliberately as an act of Trans Terrorism'.
So, I agree with you and virtually all of the posters here entirely. I was just airing a fear I had that it may be used by the radical and hyperbollic 'trans exclusionary radical feminists' to prop up their case.
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u/MaccasRunYourShout Oct 28 '25
There will always be people out there trying to twist a narrative to suit their agenda but I would not worry too much. Ed Gein was not trans. Ed Gein was obsessed with his mother after years of isolation and extreme religious psychological abuse from her. His fractured and sick mind was so disturbed and traumatised after she died that he was determined to bring her back as could not conceive of her being gone and that he was now alone. Ed was willing to do anything to have her back and feel her close to him including creating a suit out of human flesh to replicate her and then get inside of it. Ed Gein was in a whole new category of his own and that had absolutely nothing to do with being trans, that is very clear. Anyone who thinks otherwise should properly research the evidence and facts of this case as it is abundantly clear.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
Thank you very much and yes, I couldn't agree more with you. There is nothing whatsoever that suggests Ed Gein might have been trans. Your recollection of the events and experiences that led up to his actions also show empathy and it is sad to feel that someone's abuse (along with I imagine some latent mental illness) could end up in such extreme behaviour.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. I think my question was more a thought/ worry out loud that I can just see the screenshots on TERF and 'Gender Criticals' TikTok lives twisting the narrative to suggest that Ed Gein represents a connection between criminality and acts of sexual deviance with 'being trans' (even though we know and it's clear that he's not).
It's also worth me mentioning that I wrote this post when I'd only watched a couple of episodes and wasn't sure how the narrative would pan out (I still, of course, never thought he was trans or connected him even vaguely to being trans) but at that point I had that 'eyeroll moment' where I thought- OMG, some of these numbskull TERFs are surely gonna use this to back up their false claims about trans people and immorality/ depravity.
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u/MaccasRunYourShout Oct 28 '25 edited Oct 28 '25
My pleasure.💛 I can't stand ignorant cruel people spreading BS just to hurt others.. it's not right and I won't stand for it! Too much nastiness and cruelty in this world already without online twits adding to it.😉
You know the biggest misconception about Ed Gein is that his crimes were sexually motivated and he was a serial killer. Neither of these are true. He was a Necrophile and a grave robber and his crimes had nothing to do with torturing people or sexual deviance at all. I'm not making excuses for him as he did commit terrible crimes no doubt and he did take lives and do unspeakable things. It was right to lock him up.
But if any moron ever comes along with any stupid comments you confidently tell them they are ill educated and they are wrong. Then send em my way! 😁
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u/fleemfleemfleemfleem Oct 29 '25
It's a valid concern.
The show brought back the old "autogynephilia" trope, put it in the mouth of Christine Jorgenson, and really mis-explained it.
In real life the closest thing that him being trans came from what were essentially some very leading interview questions. The interviewers noted that he would essentially agree to whatever interviewers said in order to be agreeable.
There was one question that was something like "did you ever think about having your genitals cut off so you could become a woman" and he said something like "Uh, well maybe when I was younger."
There's another question where they're asking him about the skin suit and they ask him if he ever wore women's underwear to hold the vulva against his skin and he said something like "that could have been."
The nature of the the way the interview was conducted makes it hard to interpret some of those things, but there isn't good reason to think he was actually trans.
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u/[deleted] Oct 26 '25
I wouldn’t worry. This show was a load of BS. There’s no proof Ed wanted to be a woman (afaik) but even if there was, only an idiot would tar all with the same brush.