Generation Transgendered

Slowly but surely,  parenting "self help" books are emerging. These help books (thank goodness) are centering around raising a transgendered child. "I Am J" by Chris Beam is written by a woman who has years of experience working with transgendered youths and raised a transgendered son.
It's no secret the tremendous guilt experienced by both sides. Parents are tormented by "what did I do wrong?" The kids are just tormented trying to be who their brain tells them to be.
Here is a short excerpt from Beam:
To ease the hurt, Beam suggests recalling your own relationship with
your own parents, and what it was like to become your own person, to
make your own decisions, to become "you." Transgender isn't a child's
"choice." But it's part of them, not their parents. It's yet another
piece of the separation between a parent's identity and their child's.
Stats on how many male to female kids are vague but numbers on female to male youth are even less specific.
Until recently, the number of female to male transgendered individuals was thought to be considerably less. The simplistic idea was that women could dress and act more "mannish" than men. The repression was considerably less or visible. A boy or man would have to go farther to do the opposite resulting in increased activity and visibility.
Just my opinion, but the transgendered boys could be "tom boys", grow up and blend into the lesbian culture...and essentially disappear. The hurt and turmoil they really experienced wasn't as easily exposed.
With books such as Beam's maybe some of that will change!

It Was Just My Imagination

Call it "karma"or whatever, but I was playing one of those trivia games on TV at a pub I was in. One of the questions was about "Eddie Kendricks". Kendricks had a great career with the legendary "Temptations" before moving on to a solo career. :
The place plays a lot of classic rock and about the same time, I'm treated to about 5 tunes in a row by groups such as the "Eagles, Doors and CCR".
As I sat there with my jeans and long hair, I became the long haired girl in the 70's I always wanted to be,
Just for a second "Kendricks"  was right.. I was just my imagination running away with me.
Wow, it certainly felt good!

Drag Shows a Good Sign?

Maybe the number of drag shows that are popping up around the country in various colleges are a good sign.
The younger gen is showing curiosity about our culture.
Here's a quote from the "Minneapolis City College News" following their drag show.
"Drag shows may appear to be performances hinged on glamor and
theatrics but they open a far deeper discussion about a person’s
identity." This quote came from one of the performers "Esme" who received her PhD in Hispanic Literature and Gender and Performance Studies.  She uses
drag shows as a platform to explore these issues.
During a Q&A session, the performers explained that drag is not just
about portraying the opposite gender.
“Drag is about incarnating the ideas of masculinity and femininity.
Those are ideas, not people,”

On a far different level, I see some of the "womanless beauty pageants" achieving the same purpose. The ones on the younger level do show the audience a person traveling to the other gender. We also know the womanless pageants provide the occasional stage for trans youth in the closet.
The saying is that any publicity is good. Good publicity and conversation is better!