You can call me Cyrsti or you can call me Kristi.

But don't call me a transvestite or a crossdresser or a transgendered or a transsexual.
Blah, blah,blah!
Perhaps you have read some or all of the endless rhetoric about our group and labels...but here is more.
From "down under" even!
The time has come again to talk about terminology.

The biggie is the ongoing furore caused by those who want to make
distinctions between various sub-classes of the transgendered
community, partly, I fear, because they want to assert a pecking order
in a range which includes cross-dressers, pre-ops, post-ops,
androgynes and drag adopted for various reasons — some commercial,
some for personal and temporary amusement without an ongoing
commitment to gender change, temporary or permanent.

For many years I thought of myself as a transvestite and acted
accordingly but the time came when I admitted to myself, and the
world, that I was transgendered. For years I imagined the correct term
was transsexual, because I accepted the term in general use, rather
than thinking through the assumptions created by the inevitable
parallel with the words homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual and
asexual.

In other words, that ‘transsexual’ had something to do with sexuality
and the selection of sexual partners. Like many who want the name to
reflect the truth, I now prefer ‘transgender’.

But hey, sexuality, like politics and religion, is a movable feast.
There are those who change their sexuality, with or without also
changing their gender role.
From the Sydney, Australia . "StarOnline".

The Shrinking Transgendered Girl?

I read an article by a big girl explaining the "big girl" role.
Here is a small part.
Must be overly cheery, smiley, and always happy. Not a complainer. Must take everything in stride. Must not shine. Can be pretty, but no prettier than the main character. Role of big girl is an attitude, not a number on the scale. Must be willing to dim your light so others can shine. (from "BlogHer")
I thought, that's me! In reverse.
The majority of the time I'm the "shrinking transgendered girl". The rules are to never really make eye contact. Don't speak until spoken too and give the minimum social effort.
The ultimate in trying to blend or the the ultimate in trying to disappear in a crowd?
What am I missing here? A lot!
To many, I come off as a bitch. They wonder why I don't speak. I totally miss out on some possible great interaction.
That's crazy. So what if I'm read as transgender? I am what I am. It's my ego (male?) slipping through with my inane "rating" system. At the end of the evening, I judge the success of the night on how many people "read" me or not.
Just as the "big" girl needed to change her focus, I need to change mine. I should judge my evening on when and if I met anyone or entered their lives at all.
Missing life due to shrinkage is no fun!!!!

Pioneer Women?

I do possess a degree in history and follow the past with some sort of passion and interest.
Of course transgendered history is very high on my list! I do believe through the past we can sometimes predict the future, or at least use the years as a yardstick. How far have we advanced? If at all?
Of course we all remember "Christine Jorgensen" who broke the gender barrier early in the 1950's.
The first British Transssexual possibly was "Roberta Cowell".
Roberta actually went through her operation nearly a year a half before Jorgensen.
There obviously won't be national holidays to remember pioneers such as these two ladies. Think of how difficult it was for them to go through basically an experimental procedure.
Think of how society as a whole viewed any gay person, let alone a trangendered one?
In society we are still largely made to ride in the back of the bus.
However, thanks to courageous  women like these, we have been able to move up a couple of rows.
Sooner more than later, we too will be able to sit where we want on the bus!