Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Surprise!

The other day I inadvertently stumbled upon a cross dresser in Liz's martial arts group. It all happened on Facebook when he showed up in a post about how to go to one of the cross dresser - transgender socials...In male mode. Plus, if you are familiar, he kept showing up in my friends suggestions.

I was surprised since I don't remember seeing him at any of the support meetings. or socials.

I give him all the credit in the world for being able to come out and be who he is!

Liz actually took the time to talk to him. She asked who he knew in the group but he sidestepped the question and wouldn't say. Liz did say he didn't seen overly embarrassed by the questions.

Concerning me, he has never (to my knowledge) even side glanced at me.

Maybe he will now.

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

The Aftermath

Sunday, I did see the woman I have referred to as the "Prodder" or even "Mom" in recent posts. Predictably, after saying hello, she said I was a good looking "chick" BUT what was I going to do about my hair? I politely explained again, I would know more in a couple weeks when I go to the salon. Then I quickly moved across the room.

The salon appointment will be interesting because Liz has time booked to get her hair colored which she may not want to do now. So, I could move in and take the coloring appointment. The only problem is, I don't know what color I'm leaning towards. On the other hand, I will have the two women I respect the most (appearance wise) on hand to give me advice. If I can do it, or should according to my "advisers" I think I want to stay on the lighter side for a change with my hair.

Yesterday was my therapist appointment, anymore she just seems to zone out when she sees me and I don't really have any serious issues to discuss. We just talked about how much fun New Years Eve was and how much fun it wasn't interacting with the "Prodder".  She did bring up a good point saying sometimes it's just a difficult learning process how women treat each other.

In fact, I have a couple of comments to pass along on the subject:

  1. "It always breaks down to mother issues, it seems. Knowing that, you have saved a lot of money for Psychoanalyst's bills! :-)

    Don't be shy about telling her you do not like being touched, if she should try it again. Otherwise, you will have to be on a literal retreat."
  2. "I'm still coming to terms with how differently women relate to each other compared to men. I can find it most confusing when some of the people I am interacting with look like women, but behave like men."
  3. Fortunately, my therapy bills are free through the Veteran's Administration! Also, I have a tendency to forget how true it is gender stereotypes are on a spectrum too. Cis women have a tendency to get more aggressive in their later ages as their estrogen decreases and testosterone has more of an impact on them. 
  4. Thanks for the comments!








Sunday, January 6, 2019

What's Coming Up?

Following the somewhat frenetic holiday period, things are settling down around here.

Tomorrow though, Liz and I are spending  Sunday with our social group participating in what amounts to a spiritual retreat of sorts. I was looking forward to it totally until I found out my former nemesis was going to be there. You may recall the one I referred to as the "Prodder", she wouldn't stay out of my space.

After I began to think about her, I felt I shouldn't be so negative, she reminds me quite a bit of my Mother. FYI, my Mom passed away years ago and was not supportive of my transgender self. So I never had any inkling at all at how a real "mother/daughter" relationship would be. I was never one of the fortunate ones whose Mom's somewhat supported my feminine side.

In fact, the more I think about it, our interaction about my hair (for example) would be exactly what my Mom would say. If you recall, I am letting my hair return to it's natural shade, before we decide to color it again. The "Prodder" pulled no punches as she attacked my soft gray roots, as opposed to silver gray hair which I am against having too. In a couple more months, I will have the chance to choose any color from a soft brown to a blond. It will be worth the wait.

As far as "Mom" went, the last time she saw me my final vestiges of red hair were fading, Plus, I was stepping out of a 35 mile per hour wind/ rainstorm and admittedly my hair didn't look it's best. You can bet tomorrow, I will not forget to bring along a spare brush to "tidy up" my hair before I face her. No pun intended.  Although, she will just have to get over my "roots!"

As far as her continual touching goes, I am going to try to separate myself from her as much as possible. 

I wonder if she would mind if I called her Mom?

Creative Gender Tensions?

  Image from Levi Stute on UnSplash As I moved along my long and bumpy gender path, seemingly I created many gender tensions which were over...