Another Transgender Pioneer Gone

 At my age, transgender pioneers mean a lot. After all, they had the courage to come out and live an authentic life during a period of time when it was exceedingly rare to do so. 

Jan Morris (below) was one of those people. 

Here is what "Wikipedia" wrote about her:

"Jan Morris CBE FRSL (born James Humphry Morris, 2 October 1926 – 20 November 2020) was a Welsh historian, author and travel writer. She was known particularly for the Pax Britannica trilogy (1968–1978), a history of the British Empire, and for portraits of cities, including Oxford, Venice, Trieste, Hong Kong, and New York City. She published under her birth name, James, until 1972, when she had gender reassignment surgery after transitioning from male to female.

As James Morris, she was a member of the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition, which made the first ascent of the mountain.^[3] She was the only journalist to accompany the expedition, climbing with the team to a camp at 22,000 feet on the mountain and famously having the successful ascent announced in The Times on 2 June 1953, the day of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation."

Inspiration

The Cyrsti's Condo quote of the day comes from Laleh Chini :

"Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw in later life what you have deposited along the way.”

A Message from the "Crazy Cat Lady"

 Recently I wrote a post here in Cyrsti's Condo concerning the issue of men being afraid of women...trans or cis. And, received this comment from Michelle "The Crazy Cat Lady." 

"OH NO IT'S the crazy lady again...LOL!!!!

You posed a question about trans women holding a position of supervision in any industry. The process would be almost impossible. Not only, would we have to fight against the males who look down at us as trying to steal their positions in life but cis-women that are fighting to climb that proverbial ladder to success.

Let's get real, men are just scared little boys that want to control the playgrounds. They sit back on their collective butts and let others, mostly women, do the work. Women on the other hand are fighting to keep their foothold on that ladder and can be really mean fighters. I've learned first hand, just how catty and underhanded women can be.

We have to battle both sides, male and female, as well as (as you put it) the effects of testosterone poisoning, and for some of us, learning to cope with the effects of estrogen that all cis-women learn from birth to live with. Add on the effects of the religious right and the "Failed Steak Salesman's" administration. It's no wonder we have hot flashes, mood swings and fear getting into confrontations.

Yes, I heard that comment about not being able to bear children. I've heard it from both males and females. To the men I say "Men can't handle pregnancy and all that comes with it". And to the women, I would point out that our gender has that option. Many don't want or can medically have children. Some that go through pregnancy are finding that like some of their male counterpoints, don't want the children they bring into this world. One woman pointed out that she became pregnant because she thought it was expected of her as a female.

Yes, you are so right that we of the trans nature have to fight hard to win our rightful place in the world. And on that merry note, I'll retire to my couch, with a big cup of tea and snuggle up with my cats."

Thanks for the comment!

I live with a self described "cat whisperer" and my daughter has a "gaggle" of cats. Being a dog person most of my life, it's all still very new to have these spoiled cats hanging around :)

Getting back to the subject at hand, I don't believe we discussed the power of sexuality women have over men.

Naturally enough, a man's sex drive is basically a large part of his ego and a women's is tied to a deep desire to feel wanted. I know I am trying to over simplify a complex subject. What is not over simplified is women have to take on the responsibility of birthing and raising the children. 

Of course, since transgender women still are on the outside looking in as far as birthing children is concerned, couples are capable of adopting and trans men in relationships with trans women are having children too. 

When you look at all of this, it's no wonder men are afraid of losing the power systems they have maintained over the years.