Transvestigation Nation

Unladylike

Unladylike Media

Society & Culture, Body Politics, Media Analysis, Feminism, Beauty Standards, Cultural Commentary, Gender, Womens Rights, Internet Culture, Personal Journals, Patriarchy, Intersectionality, Philosophy, Comedy

4.8 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What do toned arms, “wonky” eyes, and collar bone angles prove about your gender? Nothing. Nevertheless, the digital phrenology of transvestigation persisted. But how?? Digital culture researcher Lexi Webster decodes the conspiracy genre where all celebrities (and most First Ladies) are “secretly trans” and skull-measuring pseudoscience rules, then political scholar Fran Amery connects transvestigation brainrot to very real organized transphobia, uniting feminist factions with the far right in the name of protecting women.

Originally aired on Conspiracy, She Wrote in September 2024.

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Transcript

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1:05.9	Hey, unlades. It's Kristen. I am here today with an episode I cannot stop thinking about, even though I made
1:14.2	it last year for my other podcast, conspiracy she wrote. That's the one where I unravel
1:20.9	women, conspiracy theories, and gendered disinformation, which is way too hot right now,
1:27.4	which brings me again. Back to the
1:29.5	episode I'm sharing with you. It is about the rise and wise of celebrity transvestigation, as in
1:37.4	conspiracy theories claiming Michelle Obama, French first lady Brigitte Macron, or back in the day, Lady Gaga, that like all of these first ladies apparently and celebrities are secretly trans.
1:54.9	It's garbage, of course, but the episode contextualizes a lot about how we arrived in this moment.
2:05.4	Like as in today, right now, just the arch transphobia.
2:12.0	The gender so panicked that male veterans with breast cancer can't get VA coverage for treatment because it
2:20.9	somehow violates what the federal government is now calling biological truth.
2:27.2	Yeah, welcome to the French Times.
	...

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