Chest binders are for women who want to appear male. Why do they need to be free?
The College Fix reports:
Penn student government calls for free ‘chest binders’ for female studentsThe University of Pennsylvania’s Undergraduate Assembly will call on the school’s insurance provider to offer free “chest binders” for female students, elastic bands that help compress and constrict breasts so that the wearer can appear to be male.The UA “plans to launch a new initiative pushing Penn’s health insurance provider to cover the cost of chest binders for transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming students by fall 2020,” The Daily Pennsylvanian reports.Chest binders are popular among “transgender men” and “transmasculine” individuals, who were born female but who claim to identify as men or who opt to “present” as “masculine,” respectively. Purpose-built binders are traditionally wide bands of elastic material that can stretch tightly around the wearer’s chest, flattening the breasts and making the wearer’s body appear closer to that of a man’s.The student government will petition the university’s Student Health Insurance Advisory Board when it meets in the spring to determine benefits for next year, The Daily reports.
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