Glamazon Press Revisited

Formed in 1993 by Christine Beatty, Glamazon Press originally aimed to market her book "Misery Loves Company".  Recently Christine published another book "Not Your average American Girl" which describes her journey from married male college student to transsexual woman. She writes another survivor story from the transgender ranks.
I have enclosed a link to follow to her site for info about the book as well as a catalog of other publications you can take a look at here.
Enjoy!

Another "Maid" to Order

By popular request, more "Maid Service"!

Michelle

Jender Jumping into No Return.

Early in my life I was afraid to jump into the female gender too completely. What if I never got back?
Of course more went into it such as family etc. Bottom line is that after a big night out of the closet, three times out of four I didn't want to go back.
I was grumpy with all around me and generally just difficult to live with because I was having a difficult time living with myself.
As I rationalized and rethought my gender situation a reoccurring thought came up. If I went too far, could I even find the closet again. Did I want to make that huge "jender jump"? Obviously I felt like a daredevil stunt person getting ready to jump over the Grand Canyon. Scared to death.
The problem becomes a monster is usually chasing us to the brink and it's tough to find the best place to jump.
Absolutely no easy answer here no matter what label you identify with: Cross dresser, transsexual, or transgender.  Some of us take a series of small jumps and others take the huge leap to SRS quickly.
I took the smaller jumps. Not right, not wrong-just my direction over the jump.
Whatever decision you decide to make, only was thing is certain. Most unknowns are never as good or as bad as imagined.
The stronger you are, the better you jump!

Selfish versus Self Preservation

Name me one person in the transgender, transsexual or crossdressing community who hasn't faced the terrible prospect of telling others. As they say in the "old country" that "ain't happenin".
Recently I had a chat with person who was just starting to come out of the closet in her mid 30's. She said she seemed to be following the same path I have been on.
After I apologized, kids came into the discussion. As in many instances she attributed two broken relationships to her transgender leanings and now was worried about her teenaged daughter.
Very shortly the "S" conversation came up. When is it not selfish to be put yourself in self preservation mode for the sake of yourself and your off spring.
Of course it's a highly personal question and one only each of us can answer.
As many of us have discovered, we can only be cornered so many ways by an affliction which is not going away. Something has to be done. It's not being selfish-it's reality.
As a pure observer I believe kids today are much better equipped to deal with a transgender or transsexual parent. The older people around them are the problem.
So if there is a path to success in this situation, it's having the proper amount of material or discussion to present yourself in a true manner.
One of the tougher problems is to present your transgender status as a real part of you while not being a victim. What I mean is don't act like this has been a huge struggle your whole life. (Even though it has.) BUT it has been and will be a part of you hidden from the world.
You need to try to open a dialogue in  which the child needs to know both of you will be better off under the new gender situation. A huge motivator at this point in time is trust. You are trusting your offspring with the issue.
Finally, while it's good to never push too hard, it's never good not to try some gentle followups.
The child needs to know this is not something that is just going away.
Good luck!

Mina Caputo a Year Later

From Loudwire:

Against Me! singer Tom Gabel has been in the headlines this year as he undergoes the transition from male to female to become Laura Jane Grace. But if she needs someone to talk with about being a rocker undergoing such a change, she might want to reach out to Life of Agony‘s Mina Caputo.
Last July, the longtime metal vocalist known as Keith Caputo revealed that he was making the transition from male to female and would be known as Mina Caputo. The musician tells Noisecreep.com, “I got a lot of grief for it, but it was nothing compared to the years of pain I went through not being open about the way I felt inside.

Over and over again I can't express how positive all of this is for the transgender community. Every baby step we can take becomes larger when a public figure comes out and tells the world he or she is transgender or transsexual. 
When the trans person involved is a younger public person, then the impact is even larger. 

Hey! Isn't Your Name....

 A "Blast from the Past" post.
Sometimes I feel as if I'm on the "Titanic". Sailing along in my luxury cabin feeling at peace in my feminine world and...here comes the iceberg.
I live in a town of less than 100, 000 peeps and like most of you led (or lead) a very visible life. On occasion I have tested the waters locally by going out into socially straight venues. In fact these sometimes exciting little cruises through the icebergs were extreme successes followed by dismal failures.
Most of the time I would travel to larger cities which are close to me and are for the most part decidedly more liberal. I began to feel a feminine liberation I never thought possible.
Until I went home.
Here I was recently sailing through the icebergs on my home turf. My back was arched, chest was out and soft hair framed my face.The illusion was  the world was mine. Until the iceberg.
A feminine voice came up from the rear and said "Isn't your name..."? Of course she used my male name and of course I said no.
I was going down now as fast as the "Titanic" and finished my drink and headed home...devastated.
Back to the drawing board I went.  Was it how I looked, how I carried myself, past transgressions? Of course it was all of them.
Looking back the iceberg, I discovered positives as I built my next cruise ship.
If you sail in the icebergs, chances are you will be hit-just don't sink.
Then again maybe some of  the icebergs weren't such a threat after all. Maybe the woman that night already had heard the "rumors" and just wanted to talk to me out of curiosity and not meanness. Perhaps I could have been the "icebreaker" that night?

"Maid to Order"

Looking for competent  "Maid" service?  Consider Cheryl!

Hammering Away at Gender Norms

You have probably seen this story and grasped it's transgender scope:
"Keelin Godsey may not have made it to the 2012 Olympics, but the 28-year-old has already made history as the first out transgender athlete to seriously compete for an Olympic berth. Yesterday Godsey competed in the Olympic trials in the women's hammer throw competition, finishing in fifth place but setting a personal best record of 231 feet 3 inches.
Godsey, who came out as a transgender man in 2005, had previously, according to the The New York Times, assumed this Olympic cycle would be the end of his career and that after it he'd begin the medical transition process — a move that would disqualify him from competing in the women's category in the future."
Read more here.

Some Like it Hotter!

Today I saw (again) bits and pieces of the classic film Some Like It Hot.
Without wasting words and time, I still had to pause for a second and marvel at the production.
No matter how you feel about the entire cast of Jack Lemmons, Tony Curtis et all- Marilyn Monroe's casting was the genius move by Director Billy Wilder.
Think about the ramifications for those of us in the transgender community. Two men playing women with one falling in love with Marilyn who was in herself a huge caricature of women; an impossible feminine ideal too strong for even Marilyn herself And how many of us came away from the movie with the yearning to play music in an all girl band?
If all of that wasn't enough, there is always the wonderfully improbable final line in the picture when Jack Lemmon unveils himself as a man to a hopelessly infatuated Joe E. Brown. " I'm gonna level with you. We can't get married at all... I'm a man. 2) Well, nobody's perfect" - the reply. (Joe E. Brown) Ha ha! So cute!!!!
Remember this all took place in 1959 when even dressing as the opposite gender in public in most towns was a crime and of course being gay was unheard of!  Hollywood just had to be the biggest gay closet in the country. Way to go "Billy Wilder"!
All of this was happening ten years before the "Stonewall Uprising" during the summer of 1969 in New York City.

The Stonewall Inn, taken September 1969. The sign in the window reads: "We homosexuals plead with our people to please help maintain peaceful and quiet conduct on the streets of the Village—Mattachine".<sup>[1]

If you haven't had a chance to catch the special  on "PBS" about Stonewall, check it out!</sup>