The First Transsexual Lady

Candy Magazine is featuring a transgender model made up to look like Michelle Obama being sworn into office.
The split front cover (left) shows New York model Connie Fleming being sworn into office and waving a U.S. flag accompanied by the headline 'The Candydate'. Fleming of course is dressed in typical First Lady fashion complete to the pearl necklace and hair style.
I can't resist. Behind every good woman is a good man?

Cross Dressing on Spanish TV

This a story from the Aida TeleCinco Spanish sitcom which goes something like this:
" Mecos hung a quirky billboard of Fidel.  However, This does not sit too well, since he is trying to make life impossible. Then,  Fidel and Jonathan ally against Mecos to devise an evil plan: make him think that Fidel is a tall attractive young woman surrendered to fall at his feet."

My apologies for my translation of a translation! Go here for more!

Ukrainian Singer

This is the Ukrainian party Idol and singer Boris April before and after !

We Got Mail!

This well thought out comment comes from Dianne replying to the Transgender Due Diligence post here in Cyrsti's Condo.

"This is so good! Thanks. There are two schools of thought that love to clash in the trans community. First philosophy, Trans care is a commodity and should be accessible to all. You visit a shrink, go out of the country, snip, you live as a woman. A light hearted, free spirited approach that figures you will likely be OK. Second philosophy, you have to prove you are a "true" transsexual by suffering, then you change your whole life and leave everyone behind, then you deny you ever lived another way. Somewhere along the line you have surgery and then you denigrate everyone else coming along behind. You earned the right to be harsh and you will be as Bit%&y as you want! Obviously to some, the real world might be somewhere in between. The Middle Path. In both extremes the socialization and the acceptance in society seems to be an assumed result of surgery that will just occur by itself. In both extremes the people at the other end are viewed as stupid and don't get it. I'm not really sure anyone at either end can even SEE the far off horizon of the other extreme. Me, I'm in the middle so it seems like one half of the trans world thinks I'm a stodgy old worry wart of a thing. That I waited too long out of fear or something. The other half thinks I'm a know nothing that can't imagine how lonely it is to be so lonely so just stay the Heck away from me (just like everyone else does, see???) They think their experience is totally unique and completely unlike mine. I've never been at either extreme of anything. Actually, I'm a duck. I look calm on the top of the water but I'm paddling like crazy underneath. I paid 15 years ago when I broke my life up and almost transitioned (I got scared...). My socialization? The other day I looked back and realized that I have had, maybe, 4 or 5 close male friends in my entire life. My closest friends that I've shared the most with have always been women. I just waited a long time to join them!"

I love the final line! Plus at one point of time I counted a similar number of male friends in my life also.

"Speaking to the Choir"

Blurred Youth: Cross-dressing’s dirty laundry: Clothes do not define sexuality.
This is the title from The Daily Titan which is the student voice of the University of California, Fullerton.

The article does not delve into issues such as transgender or transsexual women and men but instead takes a look at more than a couple powerful constants: The history of gender choices and the societal impact today.

Here is a historical excerpt:

"There have been many instances in which society hasn’t placed so much emphasis on clothes in relation to sexuality. Historically, there have been the “two-spirit people”: Individuals within indigenous Native American tribes who lived harmoniously through their blurred sense of gender. They wore clothes and did work that were typically associated with the opposite gender, yet the majority of these people were explicitly heterosexual. In modern terms, countries such as Japan, while essentially holding LGBT rights on the same legal level as the United States, is a bit more lenient in terms of cross-dressing in popular culture. Some of this can perhaps be attested to the historical idea of bish?nen, which refers to youthful men whose beauty transcended that of gender or sexual orientation. The hijra of South Asia are another example, men whose physiological state is that of a male, but who take on female gender roles. Their history is also rich, tracing back to the inception of the Kama Sutra. It was during British rule of India that these people were sought out to be eradicated, further displaying a sense that Western “morality” has consistently been a looming threat over previously relevant gender associations."

And a more current observation:


"Most of the problem people have with cross-dressing seems to not be so much about the person who is dressing, but rather personal insecurity and a fear of being dominated. What this means is that men in our society are afraid to be treated like women, much like the way they sexualize and demean women themselves. This means that when a man encounters a gay man, he assumes that he has become an object of sexuality, and that this gay man is going to try and show dominance over him. Being that many cross-dressers are typically perceived as being gay, this situation is relatable to myself. The initial reaction I encounter with men who are at first convinced that I’m a girl is one of shame, as if they should have known better. However, I find such hindsight to be a poor justification in initially finding someone attractive. Many claim that cross-dressers and transsexuals should not “trick” straight men with their appearance, but perhaps it is actually straight men that are confused about their own sexuality and are tricking themselves. I simply dress the part of a woman and that is all. I am not trying to sleep with you, nor do I find you remotely attractive. The only one who does is you. From that point, the situation continues to take on either one of two forms. The first is that the man feels uncomfortable, much like the aforementioned “gay encounter.” The other is that the man begins to openly treat me like a woman. As much as compliments like, “I would still have sex with you,” reinforce how much I can pull off my appearance, I can’t help but think how such comfortable demeaning mannerisms truly display the general attitude men posses towards women in our society. It’s sickening and, quite frankly, I’m really not that turned on. Cross-dressers are seldom seen as straight men, and until society is able to realize that is not entirely true, then we refuse to let go of irrational judgments based on simple things such as clothing. Ultimately, a piece of clothing is not always a sexual preference; it is a choice of taste and expression."

The post was written by Julie Nitori and you can go here to read more.

Horror Scope

Another week has jetted by here in Cyrsti's Condo and it's time for yet another "Horror Scope"! Libra (September 23-October 22):

Choices are going to be presented to you, giving you a new sense of freedom and making you want to act fast. You know who you are and what you love and that logic tends to fly out of the equation first. However, if that is how you’ve been doing things, perhaps a slight change in your approach is necessary. Don’t end this year messy. Hmmmm..."new sense of freedom" and "love, logic and messy"?

I'm glad the stars didn't try to add tooooo much! "Horrorscope" is my own term and you can get your own from theFrisky !

The Mystery of Mom and Trans Daughters

I wrote this post some time ago here in Cyrsti's Condo and it's mainly directed towards those of you who have lost their Mothers: "Yes girlfriends, I'm talking about us. Some Mom's really wanted a daughter and dressed some of us as girls. Some Mom's may have found it interesting to relate to us on some level as a girl and let us in on a little makeup or clothes. Other Mom's may have shut us out all together. All of the mother/son interaction intrigues me because of a couple of reasons. The first would be the simple question of why me? Did my Mom set me up for all of this? (My brother believes she did). The second would be is how much I look like her. How many of you believe your Mom knowingly or even unknowingly opened your door into a female world? I remember vividly the way my Mom blotted her lipstick and made sure the rest of her outfit was together before she went out. I would bet you my brother doesn't! The age old question-environment or genetics? Was I predisposed to be transgender? Most likely it's a question I will never know. Maybe the whole "daughter" question explains my total lack of respect for women who do not take care of themselves. This girl was raised believing that appearance was part of the female gender. My Mom passed away years ago and I believe in two sure facts. She would like the fact I try to keep up a good appearance. She would hate the fact I'm a lot like some of the girls I brought home she didn't like!!!!!!"

Transgender Due Diligence

I'm biased but it's hard to imagine many tougher journeys through life than changing ones gender.
If you are lucky enough to know for sure you were born into the wrong body and you are fortunate to be born into a loving accepting family-then you have society to face.
If you aren't, at the least- you have the genders ripping and tearing you apart internally. At the worst you become a tragic suicide statistic.

A few alternatives of course are therapy or due diligence. My definition of transgender due diligence is exploring the world the best you can.  In other words you are stuck patching together bits and pieces of a life in your planned gender.  I liken it to to playing golf, the more you play the better you are. In my own case I normally averaged perhaps one day a week to get out in the public and test the feminine waters it was tough to learn the girl basics.
Plus, like many of you I understand completely the dynamics of tearing loved ones, friends and jobs and possibly losing them all.  I am not one of those in the transgender community who rate you on time served or operations you have had or how you look.

I have heard from more than a couple trans folks who have taken me to task for being an intruder of sorts into the so called higher echelon ranks of those who are fortunate to live a quality life in my chosen gender. But more importantly I hear from more of you asking how I served my due diligence to arrive here.

For any number of reasons, I buried my true feelings deep into my own mental closet believing cross dressing was enough. On occasion I think by the time my life is over, it will be shortened by the extra gender stress I suffered. But, it's way too late to cry over lost dresses.

So if we survive the Mayan debacle, a stray asteroid  or even a giant solar flare- think about your due diligence in the new year. Consider your biggest warning could be  not jumping from the frying pan into the fire.Don't get burnt and  run out and buy a store bought vagina before you have any chance to socialize yourself as a woman and start taking it out on the world.
What happened to the days when you had to live a year or so as a woman before a clinic would accept you for surgery? What a concept! How many have found that even a store bought vagina does not guarantee acceptance in society- or that you would even like it?

Just remember the "DD" experience (not that one!) Do the best you can to serve your due diligence as a girl and plan your life from there.  Doing your best is all anyone can ask.

Pejic Fronts Again

Andrej Pejic, an androgynous model who made headlines throughout the year of 2012, made another history by becoming the first male model to be featured on the cover of Elle Serbia.

Beautiful Transgender Changes

Yet another YouTube video to pass along here in Cyrsti's Condo of a young transgender woman's journey:

HRT Month Twelve

December 31st 2011 I took my first "little blue pill" which to the consternation of one pharmacist was estrogen and did I know I was taking it?
Quite the year in review though-regardless of her invading my privacy.

Changes in the breast area came quickly. Changes to my psyche took a couple extra months and as the six month point rolled around I was noticing full scale changes in my face and skin.In addition,  emotional issues began to gain importance as I increasingly was becoming more socialized as a woman.
The summer months were similar to a furnace for me but for the first time I could actually wear sleeveless feminine fashions. Later in the summer, more than the weather heated up when I started my battle with the VA for my second phase of HRT with a real live endoctrinologist .  During a three month period I had to decrease my dosages while the bureaucracy took it's slow time. I hit the wall during that time and didn't really gain momentum again until later in the fall.
I finally made it to an appointment with the "Endo Doc" and he signed off on my status quo until the first of next year.

So here we are.  Changes are occurring now in my hips and rear area, body hair has thinned greatly and the hair on my head has thickened. All were predicted by my first Doc. Of course my facial hair has not been effected.
Emotionally, I think I worry more and I burst into tears when I first saw the elementary school tragedy yesterday plus I think I smell more.  All of these (I know) are highly subjective facts.
All in all it's been a wonderful year which exceeded all my expectations. Luckily,  the fun part of the year was my life outside of the pharmaceuticals.

In the spirit of 2013 coming soon, I will being passing along those experiences too! Thanks for being along for the ride!