The Two Second Challenge

The second part of the previous Cyrsti's Condo post, addresses the two second gender challenge. In fact It's one of the topics I was educating my therapist about yesterday in our transgender veteran support group.

I have read studies in the past which have said the average human forms a gender determination in a space of two seconds.

In my stages of transition, I believe I have reached the point of having a fighting chance of being considered feminine with the majority of strangers I encounter these days.

More likely than not, I try to be ultra friendly (with a smile) the first time I meet someone, so they will pleasantly remember me when and if I see them again.

I learned the "second meeting" idea when I first started to go out as a cross dresser and the people who encountered me a second time expected me to interact with them. It was when I first learned I could (and wanted) to be a functioning transgender woman outside of my closet.

These days, I feel it's up to me to better my voice and project female to other strangers. Plus, if they don't get it, that is their problem, not mine. Which makes the whole deal stress free for me.

Plus, even these days, I still try to learn from every interaction. After-all, if I didn't, life as I know it would be over and I may as well regress back into my dark past in a cross dressing closet.

It's a gender game I love to win!

To Be ...or Not To Be

There are two huge questions we face as we go through the "stages of MtF gender transition."

One of which is the pesky "passing" question. If you go back through all the very old Cyrsti's Condo's posts you may notice an inordinate amount of them have to do with how I looked. Over time though, I became less and less obsessed  and more concerned with how I felt. In addition, you probably noticed, many of the pictures I use are dated.

Connie noticed: (Thanks!)

FABULOUSCONNIEDEEDecember 20, 2017 at 11:12 AM

"You forgot to take a selfie?!? Now, that marks a point of transition. It's a long way from being obsessed with taking selfies, anyway. Although I have never been one for taking selfies, it seems to be a pretty popular thing to do within the trans community, especially among the cross dressing faction."

I think there is a certain sense of pride in all the work it takes to transform one's self from a man to a woman for a selfie at least, and rightfully so. The problem becomes when you  have to take the selfie out into the public's eye and deal with reality. I remember all the times the mirror told me I looked devastatingly good, just to be totally devastated when I would be immediately busted. It's impossible for a picture to hold up a standard when you add in all the angles and movement of real life.

Over time though, I personally was fortunate enough to be able to grow out my own hair enough to do away with wigs and gain enough confidence from it to move forward in my transition to another stage. I am aware too, a cross dresser or transgender woman can do the same with a quality wig/hair piece.  

The end result of course is how confident you feel and if a picture helps, why not? 

Often, to be...or not to be is just in the eyes of another anyhow.

I believe now I have crossed into another stage of transition where much of the public automatically views me as a woman and it is up to me to screw it up from there. Which is the topic of another upcoming blog post here in Cyrsti's Condo and answer the second question.

The Everyday Life of an Everyday Transgender Blogger

When I embarked on writing Cyrsti's Condo some five plus years ago (thanks to Connie) I barely knew what a blog was, let alone write one. Then I found out how many bloggers don't post everyday.

Early in the process, writing everyday was a challenge (yes), but on the other hand, a much easier one in that the whole process was so bright, shiny and new. In my pet "levels of transition" the first big level of stepping out into the world as a real live trans woman.

Echoing my sentiment in many ways is fellow blogger Paula Goodwin: Paula GoodwinDecember 19, 2017 at 6:57 AM

"As things progress it does become very difficult to find things to write about, when I started Paula's Place each outing was worth at least four posts, as I planed my outfit, my route and everything else down to the smallest detail to avoid any risk, then I could usually mange at least a couple of posts, on what I did, how I felt and what people's reactions were.

Now it's just everyday life!

I have found that the Blog is now much less Trans or Clothes related than it used to be, it is just about me, my opinions, experiences, and my ideas. Writing a daily Blog is tough! and a big commitment."

I can't agree more Paula about your overall comment, especially the part of this level of transition is when life becomes essentially "ho-hum" I am finally living my dream as a transgender woman. I too, struggle to write about clothes as much as I did. 

It's a good problem to have!