Real World "Trans Dar"

On a recent comment, Pat relates a Trans Dar spotting I would like to comment on:

Yesterday we stopped at Lowe's for some hardware and paint items and there was a Lowes' clerk that I first encountered and who checked us out at the register. She had long very straight light blond hair that did not match her complexion. Her makeup was a bit loud, her teal nail polish was chipped, and her sneakers were festooned with hot pink details and laces. Otherwise she was wearing the Lowes uniform bib and the name plate "Jennifer".

While in the store my wife and I behaved like she was any other sales associate. The first thing my wife said upon leaving was, "That was a man". I fully agreed although I accept the 5% chance that we were both wrong. It was interesting in that my wife would use the male pronouns in our discussion but the overall vibe that this person presented was masculine. Her poorly manicured hands were large. Her walk was manly, as was her voice. She had several rather poor tattoos. On both forearms were tattoos that made her forearms look like Popeye's with his anchor tattoos. 

Even though I am about 5" taller than this person my wife did concede that even at my height and weight that I make a better looking and more presentable woman than our Lowes clerk...even if she fell in that 5% male/female margin of error.

What was so nice was the total normalcy of this person working as a sales associate at Lowe's. Other than giving my wife and I about 3 minutes of something to talk about on the ride home this person's working at Lowe's was neither odd nor unusual. I commented that if it were me presenting as a woman I would have rather worked at the Dress Barn a few doors down from the Lowe's. My wife matter of factly simply commented that the sales associate may have had more interest in the wares sold at Lowe's than the fashions at Dress Barn.

If you allow my cynical nature to cut in for a second, a constant fight I had with all my female servers at restaurants I managed was to not allow chipped nail polish.  My women servers never had the problem.  As far as your Lowe's person's overall look, she reminds me off an employee I used to see every now and then (not Lowe's, not a cashier) who had wonderfully highlighted hair, but then wore clothes which looked like she picked up in the reject pile at one of the Goodwill's here in town.  (Before you want to claw me, let me point out, I am a regular at Goodwill's and I too live on a very fixed income.) But! At the least, this person with the great hair, too much makeup and baggy man's pants from the 1960's had a job.  It was winter and I never got a real good look at the hands and I didn't see an Adam's Apple (which doesn't matter you can't see mine either.)

Of course you all know I just may have a few other ideas about the persons we observed (and maybe you too). I will get to them in a future post!

Cyrsti's Condo "Cover Girl" of the Day

Our cover feature today is Brook Ferreros who is described as an androgynous male to female model. Very androgynous!

Cyrsti's Condo "Star Gazing!"

The Goddess of Astrology has been kind to me for the last month or so! Check out the latest SMOOTCH!

Libra-(September 23-October 22): There will be a simple energy in the air, making it your best time to kick back with friends, family, lovers, pets, etc. For anyone you love who loves you back, this week is yours. Romance will be everywhere, as simple coincidences will feel fated. Appreciate this magic by doing more handholding and feeling the butterflies in your stomach.

If I could only tell you all how much I need the handholding in my life right now! Plus, as an extra bonus this week- Normally, I don't delve into other's "scope's" much, but Scorpio was just too good to pass up!

Scorpio (October 23-November 21): Sex and power is your cure all — duh. However, things are especially XXX hot and eye-opening now, if you make yourself the only one that matters. Yes, this is the week to get it. Go harder! Be ravenous! Treating another person like a piece of meat is something Scorpio can’t help, but this week, it’ll work to push your power through, and get you out of all your ruts.

Don't forget, you can get your "stars read" at theFrisky !

"Back in the Day"

Perhaps you have heard of or read some of Jennifer Finney Boylan 's work. (Shown below left.)  She writes for the New York Times and her recent article caught my eye because of how I identified with it.  Both of us grew up in rural settings and as she points out, yes we had "boyhoods".  Here's an excerpt from hers: 

(About her summers growing up in the 1960s)  "Although I became a woman in adulthood and struggled with the gender business until then, it’s nevertheless true that I had a boyhood, and that many moments in it were pretty blissful. I passed my days in the farmland and forests of rural Pennsylvania. I went fishing for brown trout, dived into creeks from covered bridges and shot off model rockets with my father. I climbed onto the top of the backstop at the elementary school playground — abandoned in summer — and learned swear words from a boy named Kevin Walsh."

She goes on to write:

"I’m not sure I would have traded my boyhood for a girlhood, if given the chance. I know I would have been grateful to have been spared the misery of adolescence, of course, and the wearisome transition that came after, but on the whole I give thanks for those July days I spent staring up at the blue sky. That boy lives inside me, even now. His dreams are still mine."

Finally, 
"As for me (Jennifer Boylan) , I have shed a few tears over the course of my life, searching for the boy I was. There aren’t that many people alive now who remember him, besides me, and that makes me a little sad. Like a lot of people, I sometimes ask myself the question posed by David Byrne: “Well? How did I get here?” Finding the answer, a sense of peace between past and future, is one measure of wholeness and well-being."

There is much more to this article in the Times and I hope by giving you excerpts, I have been able to give you the essence of her thoughts.  Plus, not that she cares, I wonder if there are those who have taken her to task for not being a true "transgender" woman because she knowingly took so long to transition? "Me thinks-yes!"

Go here for the entire post!

The "Meek" Shall Inherit What?

As we gender transition up and down this path we have taken, sometimes it is just too easy to jump back into the closet and hide. Done it myself, can't tell you how many times I went home and cried after a night out and that was before the days of emotions and HRT began to affect me the way they have.

I found this to pass along to you in Cyrsti's Condo which explains why the "Bitch" word can be a compliment and fits in very well with transgender women everywhere.

Androgyny

Androgyny or "too much beauty for one gender" compliments of Dima Sotnikov in Cyrsti's Condo.

Cyrsti's Condo "Cover Girl" of the Day

Our cover feature today is the Israeli Mtf transsexual actress Eden Yohanan!

Cyrsti's Condo "Sunday Edition"

"Ker Plunk!" Look out! Here comes another Cyrsti's Condo "Sunday Edition"

Page1.-  Equal Rights for All?  Well, not quite, but it looks as if "Prez Obama"is  set to sign a LGBT nondiscrimination executive order on Monday.  What it means is federal contractors will be prohibited 
against workplace discrimination as well as prohibiting discrimination against transgender federal employees.  Obama will amend Executive Order 11246, which prohibits federal contractors from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin and was first issued by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965, to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

He will also amend Executive Order 11478, which prohibits discrimination against federal employees on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability and age and was originally issued by President Richard Nixon in 1969, to also include gender identity. That executive order was previously amended by President Bill Clinton in 1998 to include sexual orientation. Although the Obama administration has previously interpreted existing law to cover transgender federal employees, the order will ensure federal employees will now be formally and explicitly protected from discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

Obama’s executive actions will impact 24,000 companies that employ 28 million workers — a fifth of the nation’s workforce- immediately!

**Editor's note:  I wonder now if Mr. local candidate who has so publically made  homophobic remarks and  whose business thrives on government contracts, will say OK, to hell with the money?  I will continue to discriminate?

Page 2.- Caution! Trans-Dar in Use!  It was a big week here in the Condo talking about Trans Dar for some reason.  I have always liked the game, going back to when my wife was around and yes, it was almost sport.  Ironically, what was probably going on was, we were missing more transgender women or cross dressers in the world than we were supposedly "spotting."  The true shame was, there were a few here and there I would have loved to talk to.   I either wouldn't or couldn't.  Unless the two of us were at some sort of social mixer, speaking to another "sister of the cloth" was frowned upon,-unless my wife initiated the conversation.  Why you ask?  I believe now, she had some sort of paranoia about me going "too far" up the cross dressing road.  Her feminine warning bells were going off and they were totally true.  These days, though, the problem is knowing exactly what level of gender expression you may be looking at.  My wife was a rare mix of arch conservative and inner liberal and it would be interesting to see eight years later how she would have felt.  Back in those days, she actually worked with a fairly big group of gay men (which included a couple of beautiful performing drag queens.)  They always discussed their "Gay-dar" but I think Trans Dar was pretty much unknown.  Plus, these days, HRT can throw many individuals into more of an androgynous look which is a whole other story all together!

Page 3.- Coming Out Again and Marking my Gender Spot.  Per norm with me, the few times I have come out to the few peeps I felt the need to, one of two things happened.  Either they shut up about it, or have many questions.  As you have read, I am going through the "many question" phase with a friend now.  It has occurred to me, I  haven't come out to a male friend since my days in the Army in the 1970's.  I told two I was a transvestite.  I'm not making a value judgement on coming out to guys. I'm only saying I had very few "guy friends" who I truly considered friends in my life and they are all dead. So, I never had to face the situation anyway.   Just guessing it's easier for me to attempt to explain to a genetic woman why I want to play in the girl's sandbox than to tell a guy why I'm "switching teams."

Finally last week, I hitched up my big girl panties and called into the Ohio BMV to request a "Declaration of Gender" Form.  I'm sure I will be writing quite a bit about the process of changing gender markers as it unfolds in my life.

Page 4.- The Back Page.  I'm wrapping up this week with a comment from Pat:

You should feel good whenever you are complimented on your looks, thoughts, words or deeds. The bottom line is that the myriad of triggers that excite men is mind boggling. Your trans status and presentation will be a trigger for some men. I suppose it goes with the turf.

As long as I can keep most of the "weeds" out of the turf Pat, all will be good!!!  

All of you have a great week!!!

Exotic, Sexy Elegance

When I locate a picture like this, I understand totally what many men (and women) find so exotic and alluring about a sexy transsexual woman. Once again here in Cyrsti's Condo is Suzanne Gagliardi: