A California company's crocheted penis packing products for transgender children is drawing criticism on social media. StitchBug Studio, a queer-owned and queer-operated company that makes custom stitched products and designs, has become the subject of controversy after a Twitter user claimed the company was selling prosthetic penis packers for transgender children on its website.
"A knitted penis for extremely small girls to wear in their pants if their parents believe them to be transgender. It is intended for girls so young, they demonstrate the product in a diaper," the user wrote in the post, which she accompanied with screenshots taken from the StitchBug Studio's website.
The description of the infant-sized "BittyBug Soft Packer" reads "a custom prosthetic packer in sizes appropriate for children."
Penis packers are essentially penis prosthetics that are used to create a bulge and emulate the look and feel of a penis and scrotum in one's pants. They come in a variety of colors, sizes and textures and widely used by the transgender community as it helps them feel more comfortable and also allows them to deal with gender dysphoria - it refers to psychological distress that results from mismatch between their gender identity and their sex assigned at birth due to a mismatch
Twitter Reactions
The post instantly went viral with thousands of retweets and comments with users expressingtheir outrage over the product.
"WHY would a very small, diaper wearing child have any concerns, anxieties, or even *awareness* of their genitals?????," wrote one user.
"This is child abuse," commented another.
"Stop thinking about kids genitals and focus on making sure they get sleep, are fed, cuddled, read them a book occasionally, maybe teach them the alphabet... There is a very very dark seedy side to transing children and here is the evidence," opined yet another.
StitchBug Studio Responds
The company later changed the product's description to "a custom prosthetic packer in youth sizes" and responded to the original tweet with the following post:
It also included a note on the product's page.
"This product is not for infants or very young children," the note read. "There has been some confusion for those who are not aware of what some trans youths go through and how prosthetics can help their experience. Thank you to the parents out there who support your trans youngsters, and we are honored to be a small part of their process."
