Embedded Files
By Finley Baker
Last Updated March 25, 2025
Image Description [Vignette style illustration with a pink, purple, blue, and yellow color palette. The pink frame of the vignette features a purple gaff, a DIY gaff, and yellow stars repeated in each corner with the text "Finley Baker 2025" at the bottom. Within the vignette, two nude figures are getting ready in a bedroom with aqua walls and yellow carpet. The figure in the foreground is a thin, muscular Black trans woman. She is standing up in front of a purple wingback chair with a pair of pink underwear on the back. She has kinky-coily hair up in two low puffs, multi-colored barrettes, and gold jewelry. There is an estrogen patch on her torso, with some residual adhesive from the last one. She is pulling a DIY gaff up over her legs, and she is a below-knee amputee with an aqua-colored prosthetic leg and yellow residual limb sock. She has a pink and yellow forearm crutch in her other hand, decorated with a small frog plush and stickers. The figure in the background is a mid-size white genderqueer trans masc wearing blue underwear. Ze has a aqua-dyed mullet, purple Loop earplugs, and pink eyebrows. There is a "T4T" tattoo on hir arm and visible top surgery scars. Ze is applying pink lipstick in the mirror while leaning on the vanity. There are three pill bottles and a Tangle fidget next to hir. Ze has a band-aid on hir freckled leg. The mirror has three stickers of a gold childhood cancer ribbon, a disability pride flag, and an infinite symbol. Hanging on the wall on hangers are a pink top and skirt, a yellow button-up with purple stars, and purple bell-bottoms. There is a necklace and studded choker on the wall.]
Image Description [Infographic with several illustrations and photos in three sections. Heading text reads "Tucking" with the subtitle "reducing the appearance of a phallus with compression garments." There is a QR code with a link to this webpage and the caption "Scan for more + safety info." The first section has a blue background and reads "DIY Gaff" and there are three numbered steps with corresponding diagrams. There is a caption that reads "Pro: low cost, safely available materials. Con: may slip down over the day." The first step reads "Cut. Cut along the ankle of a crew sock. Cut the waistband off an old pair of underwear." with an image of a sock and pair of boxers with dotted lines and scissor icons denoting wear to cut. The second step reads "Assemble. Slide waistband through tube created by the sock." with an image of the completed gaff, a compressive section created from the sock with two loops created on either side by the waistband. The third step reads "Wear. Tight underwear on top of gaff. Testicles up inguinal canals, penis back between cheeks." with an illustration of someone's legs and torsos pulling up the gaff with underwear around their ankles and an image of a medical model of a AMAB pelvis with added arrows showing the inguinal canals. The second section has a yellow background and reads "Underwear style gaffs" with images of a black gaff with the caption "Origami customs - cheeky style" and a silky white gaff with the caption "Transform - thong style." The caption for this section reads "Pro: reusable, comfy, secure; Con: more $$$" The third section has a pink background and reads "Tape" with the captions "*TIP: Shave first, remove with oil*" and "Pro: custom size, tighter tuck, waterproof; Con: single use, skin irritation potential." There is an image of a long triangular piece of tan tape with a small tab at the top with the caption: Unclockable Tuck Kit: Pre-cut tape in tucking shape." There is another image of a roll of dark-skin tone colored tape with the caption "TransTape: need to cut to size, watch videos online."]
Tucking
Tucking
DIY Gaff
Pro: low cost, materials are widely available and safe to obtain as an AMAB person who may not pass
Con: will slip down throughout the day, difficult to size correctly
Underwear Style Gaff
Pro: reusable, more comfortable, more secure, easiest to put on (similar to typical underwear)
Con: most expensive option
Tape
Pro: can customize the size exactly to your body, tighter tuck (the genitalia will be closest to your body, giving an even flatter look to the crotch area), waterproof (safe for swimming!)
Con: single use, skin irritation potential (always do a patch test, see the TransTape page), must have the ability to look down at your crotch for an extended period of time and operate scissors precisely
Tips
Pee ahead of time if you can! If you deal with incontinence, underwear style gaffs that can be removed quickly may be easier. Or, if you tape in a way that leaves the tip of the penis exposed, you may be able to sit down to pee without having to untuck.
When trying on the gaff, it is ok to feel some pressure, but pain is not okay. This is your body telling you something is wrong.
DO NOT use duct tape or athletic tape for tucking, the adhesives are not meant for your skin and can cause damage, irritation, and infection with long-term use.
Safety Information
May cause redness (on light skin)/discoloration or tenderness (on darker skin) if compressive garment does not fit correctly. This may be especially problematic if you have no sensation in the area (ex. risk of autonomic dysreflexia for people with spinal cord injury).
Take breaks from tucking (if possible) - the groin is warm and damp, and skin breakdown is possible when exposed to wetness for extended periods of time.
If you can, try not restrict your fluid intake to tucking, though it may be inconvenient to untuck. There is conflicting research that says being dehydrated can lead to a urinary tract infection, or UTI (Beetz, 2003). Essentially, be mindful of your fluid intake while tucking if you are at a high risk for UTIs, like for those that have Type II Diabetes (Saliba et al., 2015). For anyone, dehydration can lead to many other unpleasant side effects, .
Tucking can reduce sperm quality and quantity if done regularly, but this can be reversed if you take time off from tucking (Turley & Potdar, 2023). If you are wanting to have biological children, it may be worth it to consider fertility preservation methods (Mattawanon et al., 2018; Rubin et al., 2024).
Resources & References
Resources & References
How to Make a DIY Gaff - Tumblr
Cheeky style gaff - Origami Customs
Thong style gaff - Transform
Tucking - TransTape
Tuck Kit 2 - Unclockable
Gaffs & Tucking - Gendergear (2023)
Fertility Preservation for Transwomen - Rachel Gerber, MD (2021)
Brief overview of process of freezing sperm, meant to be read by trans femmes
Fucking Trans Women by Mira Bellwether: A famous zine about having sex with trans femmes, created by a trans woman. Page 20 of 80 has a diagram of tucking and explains "muffing."
Beetz, R. (2003). Mild dehydration: a risk factor of urinary tract infection? European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 57(S2), S52–S58. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601902
Mattawanon, N., Spencer, J. B., Schirmer, D. A., & Tangpricha, V. (2018). Fertility preservation options in transgender people: A review. Reviews in Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders, 19(3), 231–242. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11154-018-9462-3
Rubin, E., Palmor, M., & Amato, P. (2024). Fertility treatment and preservation options for transgender and gender diverse people. Reproduction. https://doi.org/10.1530/rep-24-0120
Saliba, W., Nitzan, O., Chazan, B., & Elias, M. (2015). Urinary tract infections in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: review of prevalence, diagnosis, and management. Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy, 129. https://doi.org/10.2147/dmso.s51792
Turley, R., & Potdar, N. (2023). A case of oligoasthenoteratozoospermia following genital tucking: Transgender fertility preservation. Reproductive Sciences, 30(7), 2248–2251. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-023-01168-1
Related Topics
Related Topics
Suggested APA 7 Citation
Suggested APA 7 Citation
Baker, F. (2025, March 25). Tucking. Disabled & trans sexual health. https://sites.google.com/view/disabled-trans-sexual-health/sex-ed-postcards/tucking
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