Is there such a thing as feminine privilege? Even though it is much different than male privilege, I think there is.
At first, the only privilege I could see in response to
putting in all the work I was doing to present myself as an authentic woman was
men would open doors for me. Ironically, opening doors for me was just a
prelude to taking away my intelligence if they took the time to talk to me at
all. Sort of like the tow truck driver one night who needed to explain the
basics to me of how his wrecker worked before I gave in and just played the
part of a dumb blond which matched the color of my wig, I was wearing that
night when my car broke down.
What I was going through was losing my male privileges. The
main one I always warn novice cross dressers or transgender women about is the
male personal security privilege. Beware of going about your business as you
had as a man when you jump the gender border because it could get you hurt. There
is a reason women don’t go out alone into dark unsafe areas and you need to
learn it too. You can get hurt, or worse if you have no one to protect you as a
transfeminine person.
It took me awhile to realize there were many feminine privileges
except for clothes and makeup. Like so many other things I was experiencing, I
discovered the whole process was layered into the world of women as a whole. Much
feminine privilege I found came from the separate world women create away from
men. For example, to be allowed to play in the girl’s sandbox by cisgender
women became much easier when and if I was accepted by an alpha female who
acted as a gatekeeper. Much like when I was accepted in a venue I chose by a
lead server or bartender. It was an easy way to earn the right to use the women’s
room. All I needed to do was mind my own business and tip well and the alpha
would do the rest.
At no point did I ever take the privileges or freedoms I had
earned for granted. Because when I did, I would risk sliding back into the old
male world I had come to dislike so much. There were many times when I sat
alone and weighed the benefits of my new life to see if all the gender turmoil
was worth it. On one hand, I was learning what my second wife told me I would
have to learn about being a transgender woman, and on the other, I was scared
to keep going towards a very steep gender cliff.
I suppose the biggest move I made towards learning what
female privilege was all about was when I started gender affirming hormones or
HRT. As my body took to the new hormones
as something it should have always had, as much as I appreciated the external
changes, I appreciated the internal changes even more. My world rapidly seemed
to soften as my emotional level increased for the first time in my life. I
understood for the first time what women had gone through all those years in
their lives. It was a privilege to try to erase as much as I could the effects
of testosterone poisoning, which I had gone through so many years ago. As well
as having the opportunity to go through my own version of female puberty while
I still could.
The end result of my gender exploration was that each of the
binary genders has their own privileges. It just is as if a man’s benefits are
more pronounced, which is like a man’s life in general. As the man, I was for
all those years, I was used to blustering and forcing my way through many
situations I found myself in. Plus, I had very few real friends as a man which
I could rely on to help when and if I found myself in a bind. Of course, women
turned out to be different as I could rely on my cisgender women friends to
help me in times of need. Which turned out to be mainly emotional, more than anything
else.
After seeing both sides of the gender border, and having the
chance to cross it, I made the right choice for me when I chose to seek out the
real meaning of feminine privilege. Women certainly do not have it any easier,
but I would take what I learned and feel secure in my choice to live in society
as a transgender woman.
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