Transition VII

Over the past week or so here in Cyrsti's Condo we have been going over my levels of a Mtf transition. At level VII you are past (as Connie wrote) the "wide eyed wonders of a world you so have desperately wanted to live. 

All of a sudden you don't have to spend an hour in front of the mirror every morning to do your shopping at the grocery to be referred to as "she" or "her." All of that though does not come without peril, as your mind starts to wonder "is that all there was to all of this?" Then again you start to wonder just why didn't I do this sooner.

In reality Level VII should be the "jumping off point" to a possible GRS and changing your legal gender markers for good.

For example, all my important gender markers have been changed, but I still don't see (or feel) like a genitalia reassignment surgery should be in my future. I have learned though to never say never. 

Plus I worry over nursing home and other health issues in my future, so Level VIII is never too far off and then there is death. If I'm writing from the other side-you all need to worry!!!!

Transition VI

Welcome to my Cyrsti's Condo "Levels of Mtf transition." In level five we touched on your "aura" confidence and presentation levels. In level six we are going to assume you have figured out the life you are leading is the correct one.

As I have written a number of times, only you can decide gender on the most basic level possible. Do you meditate? Are you spiritual? Or, in my case, my life felt more natural and it opened up the other two I just mentioned.

More than anymore of the transition levels, VI is personal. Forget how you look, or act, this is all about the you- you should have been.

Perhaps this is the level you have decided to start HRT and began the process of GRS. (Neither of which should define your level of femininity.)

I like to call Level VI the closest level to going through adolescence. The world is just newer and more exciting somehow.

Perhaps it's because Level VII will be bringing more serious challenges!  

Pammy Rose

Pammy Rose the young woman from Seaham, County Durham (across the pond), is set to compete against other transgender women in a completely different kind of contest. 

Now fully embracing her true gender, Pammy is determined to become Miss Transgender UK 2016 for the first prize of a sex change which she has always dreamed of. 

Pammy said: “The last time I took part in a pageant nobody knew I was transgender but now I want everyone to know. I am raring to go, I can't wait for it. I am determined to become the representative for transgender people all across the UK.”
The now 23-year-old had no expectations when she entered the modelling competition. 

A talented dancer, Pammy Rose wowed audiences and judges alike as she made it to the final of the beauty contest.

But the gorgeous blonde was hiding a huge secret from everyone in the mainstream competition.

Pammy Rose was born male.

Cyrsti's Condo "Sunday Edition"

Ker Plunk! Another "Sunday Edition" is hitting your virtual front porch! Weather report? Here in Southwestern Ohio,it's a glorious Sunday, so today lets grab a cup o iced joe or tea and head out to the back deck and get started.

From North Carolina Hotel

Page One: The Week that Was or Wasn't: During the week, the costs to North Carolina's economy continues to mount from all sorts of different directions. Too many in fact to even begin to list here (a good thing) but you can go here to check out a comprehensive look from the Daily Kos. 


Also, if you have been following the "Prez's" visit to Great Britain, he has come out in favor of LGBT causes again, even to the point of saying he has learned from his daughters on the issues.

Now, if he pushes through equal rights for transgender active service women and men before leaving office...

Page Two: Yesterday's Coffee-Opinion:

All week long we have been presenting a series of posts on the different levels of transitioning. One of which briefly touched on the subject of aura. Which Connie followed with this comment:  "To be, aura not to be. That's the question! I would (respectfully) "tighten up" your loose definition by saying ones aura is her or his true self which radiates regardless of any self awareness thereof. I think that the brightness of ones radiance depends first, on the self awareness of the aura, and second, on the acceptance of it. 

Blessed is the person who learns both at an early age. I'm speaking as aura applies to gender identity here, as I also believe in negative auras; Hitler, Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, (and maybe Donald Trump?) fit into this realm. Although these people are (or were) inherently evil, they learned how to manipulate their auras just enough to fool others into believing and following them."

Extremely important when you consider gender is decided in a couple seconds when one human sees another.

Take the time I met Stana from Femulate for the first time. She oozed femininity from the inside out, and if you have read her blog at all, she says she pretty much always has.

Page Three: What's in a Name?: Ironically, Mandy sent in a comment which jogged my noggin into something I haven't brought up in a while...my name and how it relates primarily here and on Facebook/Twitter:

"My male name (which I won't disclose) is now a predominantly female name. All too frequently I hear women yelling "my name" in stores, to locate their daughters. A bit disconcerting, but I'm used to it now. 

The bright side is that I am often gendered as female after I present my credit card with my real name. Folks are used to seeing women named thusly. Used to hate my name in school. But now I can say "Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Mandy"

Well, my name was about as far away as being feminine as it could get and no it wasn't "Chris." So what I did was go with generational names from the family which the grand kids could use to call be. The abbreviation is "J.J"  and it works perfectly as an androgynous name. 

Page Four : The Back Page: Well kids, it's time to get out and enjoy this beautiful day! Monday we will get started again on my stages of transition which in turn will fill a chapter in book number two. 

As always, love you all and thanks for stopping by Cyrsti's Condo. 

Transition V

This week we are writing a series of posts here in Cyrsti's Condo on what I call the steps to completing a transition. We finished the Level Five post with the power of aura, confidence and presentation.

Loosely defined, aura is the sense of self which radiates from a person. I always believed my aura was feminine in nature because of the times in my past when I was completely engrossed in trying to be male and someone would nonchalantly come along and call me "mam".

Where times really got rough though was when I began to sync up my total person and gain the confidence to present my real feminine self to the world. At times it was a brutal experience because let's face it, I fall into the category of most male bodies, with big bones and a thick torso. For the longest time my life was brutal if I tried to go out, often being laughed at behind my back, if I was lucky. If I wasn't so lucky I had strangers wanting to take pictures of me and being just totally rude. "Whiplash" was what I called it when a person (mainly women) would flip their heads around so fast to stare I thought they were going to hurt themselves.

Through it all though, somehow a little voice inside me kept whispering to stay the feminine course. It all would be worth it in the end, as it was. Ironically, so many think my life is better because of how I present and it isn't. My life is better because of the confidence my circle of friends has given me and now the world see's my aura matched up with an exterior which does match. I compare it to running through hot coals in six inch heels. 

Once I made it to the other side though, I found it was time to begin to tie up loose ends of my old life and start a new one I never thought possible.

No Real Surprise Here?

Recently Rueters came out with this survey:

"By Daniel Trotta

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Transgender Americans may find greater acceptance in the future, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll that shows young adults and women more open to people using public bathrooms matching their gender identity.

The issue is polarizing much of the United States, notably in North Carolina, where big businesses and rock stars are boycotting the state over a new law requiring people to use the public restroom matching their birth certificate.

Americans aged 18 to 29 favor letting transgender people use the restroom of their identity by a 2-to-1 ratio. Among Americans aged 60 or more, the ratio was 2-to-1 in reverse with people saying restroom use should be mandated by the gender on one's birth certificate.

Forty-four percent of women favor letting a man who is in transition from male to female into their public toilets, compared to 39 percent who say they must use the facilities matching their gender assigned at birth."

Even though I am very much of the 60+ age category, I am fond of calling us dinosaurs and as the "baby boomer" crowd phases itself out It's quite obvious what the future holds for the transgender population. A bright one!

A couple of other factors I think influence the numbers are the number of women who have used the men's room in times of need at concerts etc, plus I can't fathom why any woman wouldn't know the amount of privacy available in every womens' room.

Maybe they just haven't out grown the great mystical idea that something outside of the obvious was happening?

Kinda Cute as a Button!

First of all I would like to thank all the "little people" for making this post worthwhile and my Mom for my name!!!!

Well, then again there were "little people involved"  as I did get my other set of professional pix taken. (There were two total.) and the second one was taken by a photographer probably around 5 feet tall. The pix should be back to me next week sometime she said.

Then today, Liz and I were out getting some errands ran and we made a rest room stop on the way home (since we don't live in North Carolina or Mississippi.) She finished before I did and on the way out said she would be waiting outside and used my name. A small elderly lady was coming in as she was leaving and looked me up and down and said..."You have the same name as one of my daughters!" 

How nice was that!

Transition IV

We are writing a series of posts this week on MtF gender transitions and today we are moving away from establishing your femininity in the world into establishing an "inner" circle of friends or family (if you are lucky.)

I remember the evening around five years ago when I decided I was going to pursue the hormone route.-HRT. It was around the time the Veteran's Administration announced it would help transgender vets with the program.

Of course my first stop was with a VA psychologist whom I see off and on to this day. One of her first questions to me was what kind of a support system did I have built around me for this big of move. 

I was able to answer that I had a very supportive daughter, a loving partner and two very good friends who helped me build a new life...more than I could say. So obviously the answer was yes. My days of hanging around gay venues and/or malls trying to feel feminine were over. I wanted/needed HRT to step to my next level of femininity. ***Not saying you have to do it this way, and shouldn't without a Doctor's supervision!

Years later as I look back, I have been able to broaden my circle of friends, as I have been able to meet some incredible people. Most incredibly, everytime I head around another corner, there is something new to discover.

Next, the power of confidence, aura and presentation.

Transition III

This week in Cyrsti's Condo, we have been running a series of posts on my perceptions of a MtF gender transition. Level One I called "Cross Dressing" and Level Two, I called "Tweener". Number Three I am going to call "S&S"...Successful and scared.

We finished up the last post writing about the "parallel lives" I was increasingly living. All of the sudden I was learning what my deceased wife said I would never know anything about-what a woman really went through in life. Certainly the existence was not the "kicks and giggles in heels" many think it to be, but a life I was coming to love. The more I understood it. At the least, people were beginning to relate to the new me and you know? I was scared on so many levels.

After all, here I was dumping all 60 plus years of male privilege in the trash at a time when merely having salt and pepper colored hair and goatee earned me a "Sir" if I deserved it or not.

I was scared too because I knew the next level was HRT and my male train was running out of track.

I was successful though because my transition felt so natural to me. For some reason I had been waiting for a moment of undeniable truth I was transgender.

There would be no turning back from that point forward.