Say What?

 Somewhere in the past I remember hearing that any publicity is good publicity. Most certainly the idea is not true when it comes to the transgender community. I was going to add the entire LGBT community into the idea but decided not to. After all most of them decide to ignore the trans part of the gay, lesbian and bisexual communities until they suddenly need us for something. In fact, I don't know how we began to be included in the first place. It probably came from the days when cross dressers and transgender women went to gay bars for "safety."

Then again, there are the lingering affects of the Jerry Springer type shows which did damage to an already fragile transgender image.

This quote which comes from "The Age" in Australia sums up to a differing degree what trans folks are facing now with the seemingly flood of new transgender stories:

"  We trans people are endlessly spoken about, as though we were children or animals rather than fully-fledged humans expert on our own lives. The ‘trans issue’ is reduced to what cisgender people feel about transness, leaving little room for trans knowledge and experience. This is similar to the centering of white people – at the expense of Indigenous and Black voices – that too often characterizes conversations about race. Again and again, discourse about marginalized communities remains dominated by the instigators of that marginality.

It’s not that cis people can’t be useful trans allies; cis folks can and do use their platforms to advocate for trans rights. This is valuable work. The problem comes when cis voices become a deafening chorus that drown out trans perspectives."

Ironically, other problems can occur when a transgender person becomes too comfortable and decides to for all intents and purposes goes stealth. Every voice in the chorus is needed to present the trans perspective.

After all, we worked so very hard to arrive at the place we are. 

Cyrsti's Condo Quote of the Day

 

Her Story

 Richards not only starred in Her Story, she also co-produced it. The show went on to receive an Emmy nomination back in 2016. But more importantly, Richards, who has since appeared on TV series like Nashville, Better Things, and Tales of the City, has been working hard to promote trans visibility.

She founded an organization called Trans 100, which works to honor and recognize trans people and businesses that are doing positive things for the community. She has also been an advocate for pushing producers to cast actual trans people in trans roles. Her picture is below.

Another Supreme Court Win

 From "CNN":

"The Supreme Court declined on Monday to take up a case from parents in Oregon who challenged a public school's policy allowing a transgender student to use the bathroom that corresponded with his gender identity.

The petition was considered a long shot because of several complicated threshold issues, including the fact that the policy had been put in place five years ago for one student -- referred to as "student A" -- who has since graduated from the high school located in Dallas, Oregon. At issue was an individualized plan drawn up specifically for "student A."

In declining to take up the petition, the justices left in place an appeals court decision earlier this year that held that the school's policy intended to "avoid discrimination and ensure the safety and well-being of transgender students."

Good news indeed!

Jamie Clayton

 Honored by Out magazine back in 2011 for being one of the top transgender personalities, Jamie Clayton (below)has been portraying transgender characters for the last decade, starting off with HBO series Hung in 2011.

She has also done work to help young kids going through the confusing stages of their lives and gender identities by narrating the young adult novel George about a transgender girl. Sense8, the Netflix series that garnered Clayton an even bigger following than she already had is one of many that fans believe was cancelled far too soon. It has since developed a cult following.

Building on the Positive

 

Sex is Power?

 Recently here in Cyrsti's Condo I wrote a post about the idea of why women (cis or trans) scare men so much. Essentially it is because sex is power and to many men, women hold most all of the power. After all, women are often stuck with raising children if unplanned pregnancy's occur. Along the way too, men end up perceiving women as possessions. 

Many women (again cis or transgender) eye being with a man as a validation of their femininity. I was guilty of that also when I started to date after coming out as transgender. Plus I thought if I could find a man to be with, I could present better as a woman in public. Ironically, my brief flirtation with men didn't last long after I found I was experiencing much more attention from women.

But through it all, I found sex was power as I pursued companionship with men on the newer dating sites which were springing up on that new found contraption called the internet. I don't want to remember how many times men were willing to flirt with me on line and just as willing to stand me up in person. After seemingly hundreds of contacts, I did experience several dates with above average men...including a couple way above. Including a transgender man. 

During it all, I was always acutely aware I was different and yet I was still able to sense the strong sexual attraction rarely between men and I and seemingly always with the women who were intrigued by me. So, sex was power.

Actually this whole post came about from this comment from Michelle:

"I have to agree with you about ego vs need to feel wanted. As for the complexity of the subject, it's somewhat simple in the way, women need to feel the emotions of wants and needs. We give ourselves freely in order to secure those emotions, with the hope that a man can live up to the responsibilities of providing the security. We need to understand that it isn't just for a one night stand but a long term commitment.

As for the sex drive portion, in today's society, it's because of several factors. One is that women have learned from our male counterparts that sex can be used to secure power. It can be used for both aggression as well as passiveness. The second factor is that we have been inundated, since the 60's, with people telling us that sex is the pleasure we need to maintain our sanity. In a way they are right since a woman's body does need that kick of hormones that sex gives us to help maintain a healthy body."

Thanks Michelle! One of these days we will have to examine the role high heels play in the gender power struggle. 

Isis King

Isis King, the first transgender woman to compete on “America’s Next Top Model,” has been making inroads since her groundbreaking appearance on the show, most recently appearing in an episode of HBO’s “Equal.” Her picture is below:

Adjectives

 We all spend incredible time and effort to achieve a feminine transgender life. 

Seeing as how most all of us had a late start on the world and had to make up all of our own rules as we went along, changes were inevitable. Over the years, the woman in the short jeans skirt (me referred to in an earlier post) became the woman who is rarely seen in a dress or skirt at all. Instead I concentrated on refining and building my new person I was building. Seeing as how, very few humans have the opportunity to legally reinvent themselves, I didn't want to screw it up. Since I ran into fewer and fewer other cis women I encountered dressed like I use to dress, I began to dress to blend. 

Instead, I will let Connie add a few adjectives I wanted to achieve:

"Qualifying adjectives I like are: smart, witty, loving, caring, kind, lovely, pretty, talented and capable. The more I try to present myself as a woman who could be described by any of these, the less important it becomes that anyone might also add "transgender" to my identity."

Great words to live by! Thanks.