It's So Quiet in Here:

It's so quiet here at JJ's I can hear a pin drop.

It could be because I had another (yawn) uneventful trip with Liz this morning, or it could be my youngest grandson (nine) got a full drum set for his birthday party yesterday.

I "sorta" kind of always wondered what this moment would be. I don't think a transgender person stands a chance sometimes for the "din" in their noggins to quiet down enough to think things through.

Either you are on the "passing" path trying your best to convince the public of who you are, or you are going down the hormone/surgical route which of course brings it own set of challenges. Then, lets not forget the pesky legal gender markers we have to worry about.

So, since I've decided any major surgery (SRS) is pretty much out of the question for me, everything else is pretty much copacetic in my life. A good thing except I have been running so long, I don't know how to take it.

Which brings up the question for a transgender person, when a pin drops in your life, do you hear it?

You bet ya!

J.J.'s Sunday Edition

Hello All! Another Sunday Edition is hitting your virtual front porch! KerPlunk! 
Weather: We are in what I call a summer lull here in Ohio when Momma Nature gives us a break from the heat and humidity for a couple days. It has been really nice and I hope it is too where you are.

Page One: The Week that Was-or Wasn't: Here on the blog, the chatter over the drug DES very much dominated the conversation. Michelle Hart wrote (no relation I think):

"I see that the DES controversy has come out to play once again. I remember in the infancy of the internet, when many of us sought the hows and whys of who we were, many latched onto this tidbit of information. You have to remember that back in the late 80's early 90's, everyone had information to share, whether it was the right information didn't matter."
And went on: Today, I just think to myself the immortal words of Popeye, "I ams what I ams and that all I ams."
Plus, January Powell wrote: "Having previously miscarried, Mom got estrogen -- DES, I guess? She said the popular alternative then was thalidomide; call me lucky.

Thanks to all who commented on the original post.

Page Two: Yesterday's Coffee-Opinion: Once again the world was spinning upside down or even out of control with the events in Dallas, Baton Rouge  and elsewhere. As crazy and tragic as all of this has been-some of the reaction I have seen has been worse. Some are calling for the "zombie apocalypse" is or worse yet...other end of days. What bugs me the fact I know so many good people on both sides of the spectrum. And, most certainly we can't attempt to run a society without a police force.

If once we get there, the evangelicals have just built a full fledged reproduction of the Ark down in Kentucky which may be a place to run to. Somehow though, I don't think any of the LGBT community would be allowed in two by two, and what rest rooms would we trans folk use?

I'm far from a genius but somehow we need to stop the indiscriminate killing by and of police and start to heal so together we can face an every looming greater terrorist threat.

I'm also kind of jealous in that I would love to see my grand-kids inherit a functioning country.

Page Three: Shopping On a lighter note (finally), Liz and I are thinking about taking a trip to Maine later on this fall, and it's never too early to consider what I am going to wear for the cooler weather. I have always considered seasonal shopping to be one of the greatest pleasures of being a girl!!!

Page Four: The Back Page: Well kids, it's a busy day ahead with the youngest grandson's 5th birthday party, so I must go. Take a moment to set aside your mistrust and even hatred and worship whatever higher being you believe in...we all need it!
Luv you all!!
JJ 

I Got "DES'D"!

It was interesting to me how the comments fluctuated on my DES post about the estrogen laden drug given to at risk pregnancy Mothers from the late 1940's through the 1970's.


Pat wrote: My mother miscarried three baby girls before my birth. She was treated with mega doses of estrogen...likely DES. I surmise that there may be a connection but there are also plenty of folks dealing with gender issues whose mothers did not take the drug.

Calie: My mother took DES. Her feeling was always, "if one pill is good, two are better". No doubt in my mind that this has something to do with the way I am. 

And Connie: Blessed are they who have accepted themselves for who they are without needing to know the reason (or excuse?). There are no maybes about it, a lifetime of questioning does no good at all.

No, a lifetime of questioning does no good...but I will take the blessings.

Calie, as you may have read in the link, DES was given out as some sort of a vitamin, so indeed you could be right.

And Pat good point and I wonder if my Mom found out about the connection somehow. She always had a very "over the top" (guilt?) reaction to me?

Thanks to all who responded!

We've Been Around

I happened across this set of five short transgender videos you may want to check out called "We've Been Around" 

Which leads me back to a point I have been wanting to make for awhile. At our last Trans Day of Remembrance planning meeting, the subject came up about how many more transgender people were there. Maybe not organized - but there.

If you watch any of these video's it turns out we have always been somewhere in the shadows waiting for our turn.

I have also began to follow another very wordy blog whom I think was trying to explain away any transgender movement.

I would argue she doesn't read much other than her own blog or doesn't get out much.

As I have always said, it matters not how beautiful you are or aren't, or how rarely you do get out of the closet, unless you are a complete ass, you are part of a larger transgender movement.

Candis Cayne

There is much more to this link including Jen Richards, co-writer, star, and producer of "Her Story," who then used the example of transgender actress Candis Cayne who 
became a positive role model. Cayne, when she came to national attention in 2007 starring in the ABC drama, Dirty Sexy Money. She was the first transgender actress to play a recurring transgender character in primetime, said Richards.

Growing up, Richards said she didn't see people like her on television. They were usually "the dead prostitute or the punch line," she said.

The next generation of trans people will have the advantage of seeing "trans people speaking in their own voices" onscreen in programs like "Her Story," said Richards."

Maybe it's just me, but this just might be a transgender movement?

Andreja Pejic

As "Andreja Pejic" rose through the modeling ranks to stardom a couple years ago, she was a blogger's dream. Beautiful, successful, blond and a trans supermodel-who could ask for more as a blogger?

She made history in 2015 as the first transgender model to grace the pages of American Vogue. Pejic, who was born in what is now Bosnia-Herzegovina, was discovered in 2007 while working at a McDonald’s in Melbourne, Australia. The scout didn’t know if she was a boy or a girl, just that she looked like a model.

Three years later and she was walking in both the men’s and women’s shows for Jean Paul Gaultier in Paris, and she isn't done.

This year, she will appear as a face of Make Up For Ever, making her one of the first transgender models to score a significant beauty campaign .

For more go here.

Back in the Day

Recently we encountered a cis-female acquaintance whose spouse was scared to death to come out of the closet and also the mother of a trans daughter.

Immediately my heart went out to both, knowing fair well what the feelings are like. In fact, I was pretty sure the first night I came out my best accessory was an oxygen tank.

I had cross dressed off and on sure, but on this special night, I was going to go into a place I had scouted out several times as a guy-and go in as a woman. Order a drink, appetizer, the whole deal by myself.

The evening imprinted me so much that I can still feel the smooth sliding of hose inside my black flats as if it was yesterday. Not 20 years ago. The funny thing that happened was I managed to blend, breathe and not get laughed out of the place.

I am sure the bar tenders knew because soon I became a regular.

These days, I consider it my biggest pleasure to help anyone out of the closet-anyway I can. At the least it's good karma and most certainly I have enough smart and stupid stories to fill part of the evening.

The nice thing is around here at least (Southwestern Ohio) there are several "layers" of groups from cross dressers to transgender women.

Hopefully some night we can meet for coffee!  Of course there are always intangibles but if your spouse or parent supports you, the big ones are out of the way!

Just Think of the Possibilities!

Thanks Connie!

DES

The controversy over the mothers of transgender children and the drug DES, is raging again.

If you recall, the drug (with enormously high levels of estrogen) was given to women with a history of mis-carriages beginning in the late 1940's and continuing through the 1970's. Not only is DES linked to cancer in women, some also believe it causes gender identity manipulation.

Of course there are as many believers as disbelievers in the scientific community, but one way or another, those of us who fit the age profile can find a semblance of peace with this.

My mother suffered two still births before me - so I fit the profile.

Maybe all those years of questioning wouldn't have done me any good anyhow.

I didn't have a choice.

Here's a link for more.   

The Rise and Fall of the "Beta" Male?

I was surfing along this morning looking for unique thoughts and or idea's to pass along to you all. Today I ran across a post about "Beta Males" from the T Central site.

Without giving you too much of a spoiler alert, a "Beta Male" could be a person who doesn't quite need to completely transition or is having transition regrets so to speak.

All of this comes from a blog called "Claire Flourish." and here is an excerpt to get you started on the post:

"Am I a beta male? Can I enjoy that, and not transition?” I am suffering transition Regret at the moment. But first, what is a beta male?

"Here’s Evan Marckatz, a man who explains men to women. A woman asks about the “total sweetheart” “beta-male” she’s dating. She wants to “take control” but resists the urge because the Guru has advised otherwise. The Guru tells her that advice only applies to alpha males. “He’ll be thrilled that you’re taking control”. If that’s what you want, have fun!"

I would only say Evan, it's easier said than done, because most of the Beta Males I have known I kept wanting more and more until the relationship became more or less so one sided it was unworkable. Some where along the way, the Beta Male still has to develop some sort of workable personality. 

All in all though it is an interesting concept. I live 24/7 as a woman and I don't consider myself anything but a woman and I have had no surgery. So, placing myself in the beta male category doesn't work for me.

I suggest you follow the links above for your own take.