This article is an introduction to the options for gender affirming body contouring, also referred to as transgender body sculpting, that are available to non-binary and gender expansive patients. We start with a discussion of conventionally “masculine” and “feminine” body shapes to address how liposuction and fat grafting in our state-of-the-art San Francisco facilities–whether trunk liposuction, a BBL, hip dip fat transfer or more–can be used to meet your specific body goals. By strategically using the techniques of “body masculinization surgery” and “body feminization surgery”, we hope to provide models for patients who wish to create more androgynous or gender fluid body shapes through surgery.
A gender-focused body contouring procedure is the surgical process of removing or re-contouring body fat to alleviate feelings of gender dysphoria or discomfort between a person’s assigned gender and the gender with which they identify. These procedures hopefully are meant to improve the comfort a patient feels in their body. Much like nonbinary top surgery, body contouring specific to nonbinary people is seldom discussed but is a viable option for those who are interested in obtaining what is conventionally seen as a gender-neutral appearing body or a body with which it feels easier to fluidly express gender–depending on your unique goals. This content is geared primarily towards nonbinary people who underwent an estrogenic (estrogen-dominant) first puberty. For more expansive content that also speaks to procedures for people who went through an androgenic (testosterone-dominant) puberty, as well as summarizing the information on this page, see our printable PDF.
It’s important to note that when someone is nonbinary, genderqueer, or gender-expansive, their body is by definition also nonbinary (with or without medical intervention such as hormones or surgery), regardless of what others may believe their gender expression to be due to their body shape. For folks who feel that their body shape doesn’t align or reflect their nonbinary gender, this content will be helpful in determining what options there are.
Although the following images and descriptions attempt to describe average or typical body shapes, the human body has many variations that extend beyond this set of parameters. This information is intended to shed light on how people assign gender to others based on body shapes. It is likely that someone’s body shape might look different than these images based on what type of puberty they went through, among a variety of other factors.
To understand what could be viewed as a “gender-neutral or fluid body shape” (appearing what is conventionally considered to be neither exclusively masculine nor exclusively feminine) we’ll first define:
Waist-To-Hip-Ratio (WHR) is the dimensionless ratio of the circumference of the waist to that of the hips. This is calculated as waist measurement divided by hip measurement (W ÷ H) and it can tell you your fat deposition. The WHR for those who went through estrogenic puberty is usually between 0.65-0.80, whereas those who went through an androgenic development are usually 0.85-0.95. Depending on the amount of time since puberty and the amount of fat they deposited, the amount that soft tissue characteristics can be changed varies.
Since the patients of our surgeons who have sought out a nonbinary gender affirming body contouring procedure generally desire a more conventionally “masculine” body type to “defeminize” the curvature of their bodies, this is the information we will focus on. From there, we will move onto what could be considered more gender-neutral or androgynous appearing body shape and find a balance between the two.
Someone who underwent a full androgenic pubertal period will usually have the following characteristics that result in a “masculine” body shape and are distinctly from those who went through an estrogenic pubertal period.
A “masculinizing” or “defeminizing” body contouring procedure aims to do the following: :
When thinking about manipulating the aesthetics of gender, there are a few areas in which body fat will be removed or reduced in the following areas that can alter gendered aspects of the body:
In addition, when thinking about non-binary body contouring, special attention must be paid to the buttocks and hip region. In the image below, we see the body of a person who underwent estrogenic puberty on the left, and an androgenic puberty on the right.
If a nonbinary person desires a more “feminine” body shape, we can do fat grafting and liposuction to create more of the “S-curve” shape that we see on the left. Conversely, if the patient desires a more “masculine” body shape, we can work to create a more boxy body silhouette that looks more like the image on the right. That said when doing nonbinary gender-affirming body contouring, we work with every individual to design a unique, individualized plan that works for them. We also take into account the extent to which the patient’s final gender form will be expressed, meaning we will discuss the ideals and expectations of nonbinary body contouring at length.
Overall, when thinking about non-binary body contouring, our goal is to work towards eliminating characteristics that are conventionally gendered, depending on the goals of the patient.