In a recent interview with ELLE, trans actor and model Hunter Schafer revealed that she had gender-affirming bottom surgery last December. She shared that it was “amazing, and I love it so much.”
Bottom surgery is the term commonly used within the trans community for surgeries which reconstruct the genital area to affirm a person’s gender identity and lessen gender dysphoria.
Hunter Schafer is one of the most successful trans celebrities at the moment, debuting as Jules in Euphoria at 20 years old. Over the years, she has acted in films such as Cuckoo, Mother Mary and Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. She is now set to star in Blade Runner 2099, which will be released on Amazon Prime on November 25.
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When discussing her decision to undergo bottom surgery, Schafer admitted, “For a long time I’ve embraced the gender-expansive part of myself, and I really wanted to make that previous body work, because I thought there was something really cool and badass about it”.
However, she mentioned a disconnect she felt between an idealised idea of queerness “versus how it applies and works in real life, in the context of the world that we’re living in… I feel like there’s always a tension there.”
Recovery after bottom surgery can be an intensive process, as Schafer said that her limit was 150 steps a day. However, she had her friends and family to keep her company at the apartment she rented during that time.
During the ELLE interview, Schafer also critiqued the current guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the UK, which excludes trans people from single-sex spaces, saying “That’s why these laws are so f*cking stupid… You can make it the law, but are you deploying a little gender policeman to stand outside the bathrooms?”
In terms of future career prospects, Schafer has expressed a keen interest in developing and starring in a romantic comedy featuring a trans woman protagonist, stating, “I’ve been thinking about that for a while. I would like to make that happen.”
You can watch Hunter Schafer in the trailer for the upcoming Blade Runner 2099 below!
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