This is Daniielle Alexis.
Alexis (above) is an Australian-born transgender woman on an acting visa in the US - and she is fully embracing her Hollywood trailblazer status.
After overcoming bullying, family struggles and discrimination, she is now living life on her own terms.
Before her move to Los Angeles, the West Australian appeared in popular Aussie television shows such as Wentworth and The Heights.
International Women's Day was yesterday, so yes I am a little late in mentioning it. In many ways I feel justified being late in mentioning it because of how transgender women are largely ignored.
Since women of all types have been hit so hard by the pandemic, I understand the urgency of any sort of a quality push for gender equality.
As a woman of transgender experience, I feel added pressure to "fit in" in society. After all, we trans folks, woman or man, have to blend into on some occasions and have to be better on other occasions than our cis gender counterparts. Plus, it's so much harder to obtain quality employment, housing and insurance which also needs addressed.
So, on this late "International Women's Day" post, I'm having a difficult time getting enthused. Even though I have been welcomed to play in the cis women's mailbox on occasion, perhaps it's my impostor syndrome which is keeping me from feeling totally equal.
Then again, maybe someday the world will catch up to our world and transgender women will truly be able to be included in the Women's Day observance.
Connie (below) responded to the Cyrsti's Condo recent post concerning me connecting with one of my previous employees, or more precisely...she contacted me.
Here is the comment:
"Even in this very left-leaning city of Seattle, there are pockets of toxicity. One needs only to drive a few miles out of town to find it, as well. I've had my share of "Dude Looks Like a Lady" and "Lola" experiences, myself. Nobody needed to tell me that my business would have suffered, had I come out, as I depended on the patronage of building contractors (not always the most liberal-thinking people). My own dysphoria ended up sabotaging my business, so that (I thought) I could move forward with my transition. Ironically, this caused a great hindrance for me to have the finances with which to do so.
I changed my name and gender, legally, in 2015, when I was 63-years-old. I had thought about delaying the changes in order to secure employment, as my male self, with a company that I knew would have accommodated my transition later. I know people who have done this successfully, yet I just felt it to be wrong for me. It felt, to me, like going through the back door, rather than being the honest and straightforward person (woman) I wanted to be. After all, I had been living a lie for so many years, and I was just plain tired playing that game of deception. The game itself is toxic - and of my own creation. Just as transphobia can be internalized, so can the toxicity. Sometimes, I think, moving away from toxicity involves more than finding a new location. It can also mean that we have to let go of those internal demons that keep us from moving forward - not only with transitioning, but with life."
Thanks for the comment! To be sure, you are right, the transgender journey we have pursued is by nature full of toxicity.
I was fortunate in that when I decided to do my MTF gender transition, I had the resources (barely) to just retire and go on to change my life. Then again, along the way, I considered the feasibility of joining a new company and then transitioning. But at that time the restaurant business I was part of was a very conservative patriarchal industry. So, starting over in a new profession as I transitioned was even more daunting.
The toxicity levels I was about to face were tremendous. I took the easy way out and didn't face them at all.
Image from Robin Edqvist on UnSplash. Last night I had one of those dreams I always had hoped I would have when I was young. I dreamed I w...
