Inspiration

 

From Egg to a Beautiful Chick?

 Recently I wrote a post roughly equating our transgender gender struggles with breaking out of an egg. Connie took the post another direction:

" All too often, after breaking out of a misplaced egg, one can see her/him-self as an ugly duckling. It takes more effort to learn how to be different from others, yet still fit in. After all, as difficult as it may be to break out of the egg, leaving the nest can be more daunting - especially when others see you as not conforming. Learning that you are destined to become a beautiful swan among ducks comes with the confidence that you can still swim in the same pond - even if you can't quite quack like a duck. I'm sure there are still those who would define themselves as cross dresser

 Increasingly, though, there are those who are referring to themselves as bi-gender. That is, when they present as female they feel to be female beyond what the clothing may indicate; but they enjoy living as their male-assigned gender the rest of the time. I tried that for many years until I admitted to myself that I did not enjoy living a male existence (despite the privilege that went with it). I realize that this does not make me "transer" than anyone else, and I can only allow each individual to self-identify, just as I expect them to allow me to do so. 

I was once told that I couldn't transition properly because I have to wear a wig to cover my male-pattern bald head, and can't undergo HRT or surgeries due to a medical condition. The exact wording this person used was, "You'll never be any more than a professional cross dresser." Thank goodness I know that only I can crack my own egg, and nobody else will shatter it. To that person, I can only say, "The yolk's on you!" :-)"

Great references! Thanks my swan friend!

Paula also added a comment about the growing pains of coming out of a transgender shell:

"I think we all made some howlers, but then I was making my teenage mistakes in my 50s when they're harder to hide.

If the term "cross dresser" goes the same way as Transvestite, how will I be able to update my joke ~ "What's the difference between a cross dresser and a transsexual? ~ About five years"

No Paula, I think your joke can stay the same :)

Saved by the Bell

 It's been announced Transgender actress Bell Agam (above) will be featured on a future calendar page released by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Trans Troop Reversal

 President Joe Biden will soon reverse the ban on transgender people serving openly in the military, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Wednesday.

While the reversal was not one of the 15 actions the new administration announced it would take Wednesday, Day One of the Biden presidency, Psaki said it would be among the “additional executive actions” that will be taken “in the coming days and weeks.”

I'm sure you all know I am a transgender veteran and how good I feel about this.

Inauguration Day

FINALLY, I was able to view the former president fly off to Florida on Air Force One. We now have a leader with a mandate to attack the many major problems we face as a nation.

I feel all of us as transgender women and men see change in a different way. After all, when you consider all the major changes we have had to endure in life, change becomes very personal to us.

In many ways, the former president represented the very same pressures we transgender women and men feel from our families when we decide to live as our authentic selves. By deciding to not mention President Biden's name in any way, it is similar to a trans person's father (or mother) refusing to mention the new name of their new daughter or son. 

So, we have a deeper understanding of the hurt the country feels as a whole from the effects of the former president. 

But now we can move forward, which we can understand also in our culture. 

Maybe now, we can have help and acceptance from the administration in Washington.

Rachel Levine

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be his assistant secretary of health, leaving her poised to become the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

A pediatrician and former Pennsylvania physician general, Levine was appointed to her current post by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in 2017, making her one of the few transgender people serving in elected or appointed positions nationwide. She won past confirmation by the Republican-majority Pennsylvania Senate and has emerged as the public face of the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Uncracked Egg

 After reading a couple other transgender related posts and talking indirectly to a novice cross dresser who is near my age and is able to finally get out into the feminine world as her old/new self, I came up with the gender being an egg theory. 

Let me explain a bit. 

Not unlike a baby chick trying to break out of the egg, a transgender person is trying to do the same thing when it comes to expressing our gender. Along the way, we have differing levels of success achieving opening our egg and bursting into a brave new world. Everyone is so different, yet so the same. Depending upon the amount of testosterone poisoning we had to endure, Mtf transitioning can be a daunting task. One of the things I had to tell the person I was chatting with last night was try to dress accordingly to where you are going and don't compare yourself to all the other beautiful models and/or trans girls you see on line. But do read up on all the ways you can approve your appearance. And, above all, don't try to dress as a sexy twenty something when you are a half a decade older. However, that does not mean you should dress like your granny. 

In other words, try to enjoy yourself and do the best you can until you are able to be more experienced as a novice cross dresser and/or transgender person. 

I wonder these days too, if the term cross dresser is on it's way out seemingly like the word transvestite did years ago. I suppose it is because recently, the people I have encountered just coming out of their gender shells (or eggs) are identifying themselves as transgender. Of course, the whole subject just makes an already difficult idea even more confusing. 

Looking back at my gender/egg experience, I know I made every terrible mistake in the cross dressing handbook before I settled in to a semblance of finding my way in a feminine world. I can't take any credit for that either because of all the friends who took me in. 

As with any other human life, coming out of your egg is never easy. It's just for transgender women or men, we get a chance to do it twice.

Still Relevant Today

 Today is Martin Luther King Jr. day. 

With all upheaval going on today, his quotes are even more relevant. Here is one:

Pronouns and the Trans Girl

 It does my soul good when I get addressed as "she" or "ladies" when I am with my partner Liz. 

In fact, one of the most difficult challenges I have faced during the pandemic has been the lack of positive feedback from the public. Since last March, we have only been out to eat three times. We have been out a few other times but only for necessities, mainly as we were masked at places like the pharmacy. We even have our groceries brought to us. As I said, it's been tough to experience anyone using pronouns with me at all. 

I finally caved it to pressure and changed my name on "Zoom" to include my preferred pronouns. By "pressure" I mean, I began to see more and more transgender individuals including their pronouns. In one way I don't mind it but in another way, I feel it is just another way to out myself. 

Of course as I always mention, I am fortunate to have had a strong trans affirming circle of friends around me for years. Going back to people like Kim, Nikki and Zena who helped me to learn up close and personal what a femininizing experience meant. It seemed they added the stage and all I had to add was the courage.

Back in those days of reckoning, the last thing I wanted to do was to give my name and add in my preferred pronouns. These days though, it seems the younger generation is cool with sharing their pronouns as a source of pride.'

Which is good with me.