Cool to be Trans?

As a culture I wonder sometimes if we will ever reach the cultural pizzazz of the gay culture or are we doomed to be boring. Will there ever be the equivalent of the Trans Housewives of Columbus, Ohio on the thousand channels of boring television?
Before you all want to medicate me again, let me give you some examples of where this is coming from.

When I was beginning to really explore the world, I did run into the occasional "trans-groupie". Normally this person was a young 20 something female. She just had to talk to me. It's not important to explore the whys now, I can only say the phenomenon doesn't happen with me much anymore. I'm just a trans girl in the world.

On occasion I have mentioned the "Bravo" television network which has to be the "gayest" effort since "Logo" The network has more than it's fair share of male gay shows as well as the occasional lesbian effort mixed in (Tabitha).  As I always do, I was wondering where the transgender show was? Then I knew-we weren't getting discriminated against-we are boring!

Our lives are different and compelling.  We are fighting to be accepted and to be extended basic human liberties.  We are fighting to build or maintain quality lives. Our suicide rate is ridiculously high and we can't get a job. Worse still, some people think it's OK to hurt us physically.

The entertainment flair of the gay community just isn't there and our stories are still too heavy for light viewing.  Change is happening as more and more of us decide to come out and be role models and not go stealth but still:

If one of us does hit the mainstream such as serious transsexual actress Laverne Cox (above) what entertainment chance does she have to overcome the ignorant flamer Rue Paul and his merry band of drag queens?

Bottom line is we have a very serious battle going on to define even where we pee. I guess the occasional wide eyed groupie asking where I bought my purse and the Bravo television show are going to have to wait.

Sex Safe Fashion

From the "Tuoitren" Vietnam News:

"Transsexual singer Huong Giang, who ended up in the top ten of the 2012 Vietnam Idol singing reality show, doesn’t mind donning a heavy dress made of 2,000 condoms as part of a community campaign to normalize condoms."

For the story, go here.

Check this Out

Perhaps you have read about or have seen this story which went viral:
" Thanks to being posted on Reddit, a Facebook post from a dad who sided with his son when the toddler asked for a copy of Disney's animated series about a princess, Sofia the First.


"The father, whose name has been redacted, recounts how he was standing in line at Walmart with his son when a display advertising Sofia the First caught the child's eye. After initially telling his son the family already had plenty of movies at home, a man in another line imposed some harsh gender-policing, telling the child, "You don't want to grow up like a mommy, you want to grow up to be like daddy." That's when the boy's dad stepped in, replying, "Actually, I just want him to grow up to be whatever he is supposed to be … and if that's a boy that likes princess movies, then great." The bystander, who the father simply labels "Moron," then gets outright explicit in warning the father that his son might turn out "funny" — you know, he might like boys. The dad's quippy response? "And I'd love him just as much … and he'd probably smell better as a teenager." Then an elderly woman in line behind the family offers the icing on the cake."

Go here for the icing!

I think the flavor should be called "Mind your own business Moron, the future doesn't need you."

We Got Mail

Yesterday I received this comment from Pat  concerning the "Pedestal or the Heels" post here in Cyrsti's Condo. To give you a little background, I was writing about my experience with two other transgender friends in a small gay venue. Part of what I said:

"At the least our little group was educational to a largely uninformed gay populace".  The reply:

"You hit the nail on the head. Because the common acronym is LGBT there is an assumption that those represented by each of the letters understand the others. This is clearly not the case with "T" people. I do not live in "fool's paradise" so I do not delude myself into think that at 6'1" and 240 lbs that too many people confuse me with being a GG. As such I tend to not get out with the civilian population but I do feel safe at an ever growing number of primarily gay venues. I like to go and strike up conversations with people. This past Friday I went to a gay bar. I had an extended conversation with a very nice 70 year old man. He said that he has known he was gay since childhood but freely admitted that he knew nothing about cross dressers. He said that he was told that men who wear dresses are mostly gay. I had the chance to fill him in on the concept that there is a very broad and wide spectrum from the occasional closet dresser to the surgically completed TS. I mentioned to him that most CDs are hetero and that it is estimated that the incidence of CDs being gay may be similar to the percentage of gays in the over all population. Normally, when I go out to the bars I am the first to head home to bed but since this guy was 10 years my senior he took his leave before I did."
 "Sitting next to me on the other side were two women. They were together and had been partaking of adult beverages for a while. We had several nice conversations with much of my talk being to educate them about "T"s and the fallacy that 'one size fits all' does not pertain to "T" people with any more accuracy than it does to pantyhose. Simply stated, based on my own frequenting of LGBT venues, it seems that the gay population does not have any better understanding of 'T' people than the overall population at large. As such, I do consider my time spent in conversations at such venues to be a form of education."

Indeed a wonderful job of educating the public Pat! Can not say it enough that the rest of the LGB triangle knows little about us. You may exceed the GG size limits and you also exceed with your
courage and heart! Thanks!!!!

Is All Publicity Good Publicity?

Gertrude Kachenis

I wonder sometimes if these guys who compete in womanless beauty pageants know  their pictures bounce around the web and end up like places like Cyrsti's Condo and ton of other sites? For some I'm sure they are flattered while some may be embarrassed. In some cases that's a whole ton of make up and looks to live down with the guys!

Here's the question. Did the womanless pageant participant "practice" by cross dressing at home in the closet for years?   Of course for the most part we will never know.


The reason I brought this up is I found yet another womanless pageant coming from the deep south of the US. Go here for more.

Hey Gertrude! If you are reading this gf, I will never tell!

Days Gone By

It's no real secret that more than a few of the peeps in our community have a highly idealized view of women. Especially the ones who have really not socialized as a trans woman with women.

I have mentioned a number of times I augment my meager retirement earnings by buying a selling "collectibles" or as some say old junk! If you are familiar with shows such as American Pickers  that's me on an itty bitty scale.

On a recent pick, I ran across a 1965 Luella Cuming Course in feminine social awareness, poise and gracious living. IF you are one of those who wish the world would rewind and women should socialize this way-this is a perfect book for you. IF you just want to take a look back into a long gone era, it's very cool too! IF you just want to shock your preteen grand daughters with this book like I did-it's worth it!

Go here for a better look, price and pictures. It's towards the top towards the left hand side.

BCGT 101

You transgender vets know the abbreviation "BCT" stands for basic training or used to. I just tossed in "G" for girl because we are so fond of labels and abbreviations in the transgender culture.

Earlier this morning I was out buying shipping supplies to send out a couple of my sold collectibles and found myself in familiar/unfamiliar territory.
As I was walking through the store, I unconsciously was moving from my hips and thus taking smaller steps. Finally my muscle memory and not conscious thought was moving me into the increasingly more familiar feminine movement territory. As with most anything else related to transitioning gender, there is a ton of information on how to adapt to feminine movements. And as with everything else in my life, I have a very difficult time reading directions plus god forbid following them. I did find a simpler down to earth link though I thought I would pass on called "Differences in Walking in Men and Women.".

Here's an excerpt:

"Men, for the most part are larger than women; their bodies are built for physical work. Walking for men, from a physiological stand point, is utilitarian. The purpose of walking is to achieve a specific function, get from place to place. As such, the walking movements of men tend to be straight and linear. Women tend to move more gracefully, swinging their hips and taking shorter "feminine" steps. The legs rarely go very far apart in long strides, even when walking swiftly. Women still walk to get from point a to point b, but their movements and walking style are influenced by years of evolution. From an evolutionary standpoint, walking style for women has served to attract men and get a mate. Shoes The kinds of shoes that men and women wear also influence the way they walk. For example, men who wear work boots will have added bulky weight on their feet. This results in a sloppier walk with less precision and control. Women who wear high heels would find it difficult to walk in heels if they did not control the exact movements of each step."

Follow the link above for more very simple but then again a very basic look at gender differences.

While we are on the subject of basics allow me to climb up on my soapbox and mention three of my transition basics:

!.- Diet
2.-Skin Care
3.-Research

Diet is self explanatory although I'm not saying go out and start a "super model" starvation diet. If you can't control that man's beer belly of yours with pair of industrial strength "Spanx" then you have a problem.
Skin care is so basic! The more you take care of your skin the better canvas you provide for your makeup. The less is more makeup principal takes it from there.
Research we always talk about here in Cyrsti's Condo. There is such an enormous amount of information in certain medias these days, there is no excuse not to get ideas.  The problem is sorting out the fantasy from the real woman info.

Finally I have a version of what is essentially a fantasy look at women coming up in my next post.

Before My Time!

I found this incredibly clear video on YouTube of famed female impersonator Julian Eltinge from 1929:

Enjoy!

The Wizard of Oz

Ozzie

Here's a different experience. I stopped at a store yesterday coming back from my daughter's house to pick up some much needed peanut butter cookies. As I was checking out the clerk (same age as I) said "Has anyone told you you look like Ozzie Osborn?"

Even my normal sarcastic self was at a loss for a comment except..."Really?" Then I started to think on the way home between cookie bites and fighting my dog for the crumbs...hell she was right! I was wearing a slight amount of eye makeup and for some reason lately my skin has been on the pale side so with my hair pulled back and in male clothes I probably did somewhat resemble the "Oz" with my HRT softened skin.

I did tell her that I do attribute parts of my hearing loss from going early Black Sabbath concerts when Ozzie was part of the band... and was she going to be attending "OzzFest" in Columbus this summer?

Could have been worse. She could have said I looked like Aerosmith's Steven Tyler! (below)