When Netflix drama The Crown makes the news, it’s usually because something has happened with the actual Royal Family. Prince Phillip’s death, for example, or the ongoing American soap opera with Harry and Meghan. But earlier this month, the show went viral for an entirely different reason: Emma Corrin, who plays Princess Diana, posted a photograph of herself to Instagram wearing a “breast binder.”
For those of you who aren’t aware of this phenomenon, breast binders are chest wraps used by girls seeking to present as male to flatten their breasts and hide their busts. As the number of girls identifying as boys skyrockets across the West, breast binders are now the subject of scores of viral transgender how-to YouTube videos and tutorials. Getting a breast binder is an experience often shared on social media, and start-up companies have begun providing them. Girls frequently order these chest wraps without the knowledge of their parents.
Emma Corrin, interestingly, has never identified as transgender. She attended a Catholic school in the U.K. growing up, but nonetheless came out some time ago as “queer” and stating that her pronouns were “she/they.” All of this is vague, as “queer” has no specific meaning and adding the non-binary “they” to “she” accomplishes nothing (although woke journalists scrambled to butcher their copy by referring to her as “they,” despite the fact that she also still identifies as a “she,” if you’re tracking with me.) Despite that, the actress had photographer David-Simon Dayain photograph with her chest bound with boxing wrap and dressed in designer shorts.
