Kickin' It This Fall

I do have a fondness for fall.  The weather, the football and the fashion! Another fashion site I subscribe to (free) is The Budget Babe.  "The Babe" recently passed along a selection of "tough girl" boot picks for fall. If you are thinking sizes like I am and can't find your size one place,  many times you can discover a good selection in your size in other stores such as Payless Shoes.

In my case, I have a very difficult time with sizes on line and almost always need to purchase footwear in person. Boot's in particular are difficult. An example is when I'm looking for say a pair of slouch boots, I just can't assume my regular 11W size will work. Most styles won't slide over the top of my foot and up my calves.  If I move up into a 12, then the boot is too big on my foot and my calves. Finally I also have to factor in comfort and safety in a boot. Too much heel on a snowy or even icy sidewalk can mean an embarrassing look up at a cloudy sky from the ground for me.

Over the years I have also been successful in finding a quality, good fitting pair of boots on sale at Lane Bryant's or The Avenue. Quality is important in a boot which can last you several seasons if you add a timeless classic to your wardrobe. (Always a great idea!)

Many of you have your own shoe shopping solutions to one of the best, fun parts of being a girl but if you don't, maybe these ideas may help! The stereotype of a woman and her shoes definitely carries over to us!

***For those of you Cyrsti's Condo readers like me and are rather forgetful - I have added "Cyrsti's Beauty Nook" here in the Condo. In the nook I have added most of the fashion/beauty sites I mention and their links. If you have other faves I would love to see them and add them to "the Nook"!

The Reality of Perception

"I have breasts, hips, and will soon not have a penis. When I have a vagina will I still be a transgender woman? Am I a transgender woman now? Am I transgender only when someone doesn’t recognize me as a woman, and misgenders or harasses me? Do I only think of myself as transgender when I remember I’ve been male-identified most of my life? Trans and cis gender categories are tedious, hierarchical caste categories I would happily forget about completely, and which I’m finding less and less relevant to my self-conception."

This is a quote from Leela Ginelle on the PQ site called ID Check: It's Not Me, It's You.

It's safe to say "reality is only in the mind of the beholder". It's also easy to say body parts should not dictate your identity. In essence, Leela makes that point well.  SRS or not,  the public's perception of you equals reality- no matter how you label yourself..

In my case, Saturday was an excellent example of perception equalling reality with me. As I have written here in Cyrsti's Condo, I have not considered SRS, have been on HRT and feel comfortable identifying as a transgender woman. Around the home front, I basically just go to places where people have known me for awhile. Saturday though,  I ventured out of my comfort zone. My girlfriend and I watched football in a neighborhood tavern close to Cincinnati. Perception of my gender by the tavern clientele only became a potential issue when it was potty time. Both trips during the game...no issues but I never take my restroom pass for granted.  I can only wonder what a problem the potty would be if after SRS you were still hasseled?

Selfishly I only had two goals. (or three) Enjoying time with my gf, judging public reaction to my new hair style and watching the Buckeyes win. I went three for three.

Not long ago, ironically, a friend of mine and I took basically this same perception/reality discussion to a whole different level. He has an unwavering view that no male can truly ever transition totally to a woman and it's a myth gender is primarily between the ears.  He cross dressed years ago and purged never to go back so in all fairness to him, he is stuck in that mindset of judging a world which has changed from his past.

Of course you know I don't believe in any of his ideas and in a future post I'm going to pass along more of the discussion.  I know where he wants to go but gets lost doing it.

In the meantime, following up on Leela's comments, if she has a vagina or not, the only reality she has to consider is how she perceives herself. The world will follow...or not.

Cyrsti's Condo Quote of the Day

"Before you climb into the lion's den, try to figure out where she is".

cyrsti hart

Matt's Cute Pink Robe

Many of us know how wonderfully nice and feminine it is to have a soft snugly robe to cuddle in on a cool evening. It turns out movie stars Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leo felt the same way in their "Dallas Buyer's Club" movie. The "Pink Robe" story turned out to be rather complex as both men wore the robe in the movie and it actually belongs to McConauhey's wife.( He later admitted to wearing it at home.)

By the way, the movie hasn't really opened yet but Leto is getting great reviews for his portrayal of the flamboyant "Rayon" character. According to McConaughey:

Jared Leto (left) and McConauhey

“Leto came in after three or four years of not working. An actor could go I really need to make this count. He didn’t. It’s a very subtle and human performance. Rayon is in good hands. He cut out all the extra lagniappe, the etcetera. He kept Rayon real.”

I wonder if McConauhey's wife got her robe back?

Mostly Likely to Be....

I will let you decide what Big Ang (left)  from the reality series Mob Wives looks and sounds like.  I don't want a hit taken out on me.

Here's more to go with your pasta.

A "Penny" for Your Thoughts

Disclaimer time kids...I never have considered myself an expert or a "theologian" of any sort.

My ideas are mine alone from experiences I have been through in an area of the country where I live and areas where I have worked down along the Ohio River - from Portsmouth, Ohio through Ashland, Kentucky and over into West Virginia.

I'm picking up this thought from the "Autumn Sandeen" post where she said she grew up in a Penecostal Church family.

My knowledge of the "Pennie's" comes from knowing a few and the fact there is a fairly sizable "Penny" church down the street from me. I worked with a disc jockey once who was disowned by his Penecostal family.

 In a similar vein, I have traveled to the coal mining "hollers" of central and eastern Kentucky for funerals of friends held in "primitive" Baptist churches. One of them even recently added an addition with indoor plumbing! In one I thought I was going to have my first experience with a preacher "speaking in tongues". As he was close to going into a trance of sort over the coffin, I considered the idea he would somehow "discover" I was transgender and call in the devil.

Afterwards, I jokingly asked where the snakes were kept. I was seriously told that church was not their flavor of religion but there was one a couple "hollers" over. We could go if I wanted...hell no!

Let me add many of these people I met were in fact good solid folk but just had no wiggle room in their social beliefs. In fact I don't toss these folks into my "immoral right" category of those who may "preach" an agenda for the sake of monetary gain. Most have led a difficult life and their religion gets them through.

Sadly though, I more or less lost a  long term friend of mine who refused to even consider me being transgender and she is from the "hollers" and is back there now.  She couldn't accept me but would be on attack mode if anyone else would slander me. It's sort of like, here have a another piece of fried chicken and more mashed "taters"...now, what's this sh-t about you dressing as a girl?

You know though, I would rather face peeps like that than the ones who smile and then shove the knife into your back. Let's see, I will take another piece of chicken!

It's "Autumn" In Cyrsti's Condo

Actually here in O_H-I-O we have officially entered "Indian Summer" and the weather as always is staking out it's claim to the end of summer with high humidity and temps near 90.

This post though, I'm referring to a different "Autumn"- Autumn Sandeen.  She is the retired transgender veteran who is working so hard for the rights of all transgender veteran.

You all probably know by now, I'm one of those vets and rely on the Veteran's Administration for my HRT needs.

So,  almost anything post I can find from Autumn Sandeen I try to pass long and here's an excerpt from the latest:

Autumn Sandeen

"When I joined the U.S. Navy back in 1980, I knew I was transgender. I didn’t know the word transgender, but I knew deep down that’s what I was. Prior to joining the Navy, in 1979, my pentecostal parents considered transgender identities and transgender expressions to be sinful, and made going to “conversion therapy” a condition of living at home. Due to my own internalized transphobia, I thought I was sinful too, so I underwent the therapy, which had the goal of having me become “ex-transgender.” A goal of both gay and transgender conversion therapy is to embrace societal gender role norms, so in my case embracing masculine norms was the goal. It should come as no surprise then that when I enlisted in the Navy in 1980, it was in part an attempt to be the man I wasn’t. Chelsea Manning, who enlisted under the name Bradley Manning—and who in August received a 35-year prison sentence for releasing classified government documents to WikiLeaks—recently gave that same explanation as to why she enlisted."

This article comes the RH Reality Check site and you can go here for more.

As a side note, Autumn mentioned she grew up in a "Pentecostal" family.  The "Penny-Cost-alls" I know would definitely consider being transgender, gay or lesbian very sinful and I shudder to think what sort of "conversion" therapy they would consider! My next post will deal with the "Pennies" and more.

Homecoming Queen

No sillies, not your drag queen neighbor coming home with heels in hand after a hard night on the stage.

This is a story about a young transgender woman, Cassidy Lynn who is in high school and is competing for home coming queen in her school. From the looks of her, she will give the other genetic girls a run for their money.  Perhaps you will recognize her from older Cyrsti's Condo big screen presentations.  I am fascinated in this one how much she looks like a younger version of her Mom:

Vivien

Passing along a classic YouTube video from Lynne on the Cyrsti's Condo big screen: