From Russia with Love

View the remarkable man to woman transformation of Russian entertainer Timur Rodrigez on YouTube on the Cyrsti's condo video screen:





Quality not so good but the cross dressing presentation is stunning! Check the reaction of the judges!

University of the Phillipines Beauty

An older look (2011) at a couple of the University of the Philippines Diliman male beauty contestants.  The annual Miss Engineering pageant could be compared as a womanless beauty pageant on steroids...or is that hormones? If you are not familiar follow the Femulate link  here in Cyrsti's Condo for more or go here.

The Trans and the Hair

With all due respect to the old nursery rhyme and Aesop, hair is a basic focus to all transgender or cross dressing critters such as us.
I think back to the ancient days of anguish over my dictated crew cut hair cut. Like many I tried scarves and even horded my paper route money to buy a cherished cheap Halloween costume wig. I dreamed of the day I could own my own luxurious hair.

Time went by and eventually I was able to purchase my own cross dressers dream- a beautiful long blond wig when I was in college.
Then the draft and Army took over and back I went in time to my crew cut days or worse. Somehow, long flowing locks were looked down on in Uncle Sam's service.

As a philosopher once said (or I read it on a wall) "eventually this too must pass" I finished my military service and set out to prove that perhaps I did indeed have a chance to cross dress and pass as a woman.
Once again I hoarded and hid money to buy wigs. Surely I was like a kid in a candy store. The varied styles, colors and textures of hair pieces just blew me away. In response I tried as many as I could. Unfortunately the greatest majority of my purchases were disasters.  I found wigs were similar to clothes in that hair doesn't make the woman, it just adds to the process.

Finally, here I am today. I have gone full circle thanks to good hair genetics I'm able to have my own hair (now down well onto my shoulders) styled and colored.
My final experience with hair is rather indepth-if I do it right.  Ironically, I'm still hoarding money to visit my stylist from my retirement budget- plus attempting to figure out which hair care products do the best job. The old days of a dollar bottle of shampoo are long gone. I'm now shopping for conditioners, color safe and other miracle hair products. In addition, I have upgraded my hair dryer, flat iron and brushes to enhance my locks (I hope).

Perhaps another one of the old "sayings" is right. Good things come to those who wait. Genetic women close to me compliment me on the thickness of my hair. I speculate much of the positives come from the fact my hair was not subjected to the heat, conditioners and styling a woman's does long term.
Would I love to have been that hippie girl with the beautiful hair streaming over her shoulders and back? You bet I would!
As reality would have it though, hair beggars can't be choosers  I'm just lucky to be where I'm at today.
In my case the "hair" beat the turtoise in the old fable.

Asian Top Ten Transgender

Not a lot of new ground from this YouTube video called the "Top Ten Transsexual Entertainers of Asia" but always worth another look here in Cyrsti's Condo:


 

Blast From the Past

Every once in awhile it's fun to go back in the old dusty archives here in Cyrsti's Condo and pull out an old post. This one is from the summer of 2011:

" I really get tired sometimes of all the "heavy" ideas and happenings of living a transgender life. Here's a funny little story. A week or so ago I was out making my rounds. Blond and beautiful (in my dreams) in my short black skirt and flip flops I slid out of my vehicle and started to walk towards a store. Without really looking around, I noticed a darned quarter on the ground by the car. Being the thrifty person I am I dove for it. On my way down I quickly remembered what I was wearing and maybe picking up the quarter wasn't such a good idea. No problem, no one around anyway. WRONG! I picked up the coin and looked straight into the eyes of a man who happened upon the scene. (of course) From the bemused look on his face, I had no idea of what he thought, I only know I quickly recovered my dignity and made my way to the store. My only redeeming value came from the fact I was wearing sunglasses. He couldn't see the shock in my eyes! Lesson learned...wear the skirt and leave the change alone!"

Domaine Struggles

Perhaps you remember Domaine Javier, 25, who was expelled from the private Christian school California Baptist University in August 2011 after she appeared on an episode of an MTV show called "True Life". She discussed the stigma experienced by transgender people and revealed that she was biologically male. She has now filed a lawsuit alleging that her civil rights were violated because she was expelled on account of her gender identity. She was informed that she violated the university's policy against "committing or attempting to engage in fraud or concealing identity" because she stated on her admissions application that she was female.

The basics once again go back to gender versus sexuality. Domaine of course had been living full time female for years and obviously identified as one no matter what her sexual organs were. So she was honest on the application.

For more on the story, go here.

Alphabet Soup

Check this out: "The gay rights movement has added a few more letters onto its initialism: LGBTQIA. LGBTQIA stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual. The new acronym allows the sexuality and gender identity-based community to include individuals who may not conventionally identify themselves as a man or woman." From the The University Daily Kansan (University of Kansas)

Let me add three more, OMG! Renee Richards (78) on Katie Couric this week said something to the effect the transgender word wasn't even invented when she was young. Hopefully Renee will be around this world long enough to see the entire alphabet not included in descriptors for our culture. Furthermore I disagree with the first sentence: gay rights movement and transgender being lumped together at all. That's the subject of a whole other post and a whole other alphabet.

Transgender Beauty

Well, it didn't take long for another young transgender woman from the Katie Couric Show to be subjected to extra publicity. Unlike her younger counterpart on the show (Coy) the 19 year old Devon (above) it seems benefited from puberty blockers and was able to live a mainly stealth existence until this show of course.
Devon's story was a bit different in the sense that Dad may have never totally agreed with the process but Mom listened to her child and all of them made the process possible.
Plus, experts on the show said blockers could be a temporary measure which allows the young person to better decide her or his gender path. Somehow I don't think Devon wants to backtrack and did say she wanted SRS as soon as possible.

The actual video of Dad's struggle is here on the Katie web site.

I know the process had to be hard on Dad. Devon's "Homecoming Princess" crown probably wasn't what he envisioned for his young son on Homecoming. But dad was almost man enough to let it happen!

For many of other of us stuck on the football team so many years ago, Devon's homecoming story was the impossible dream and it is so wonderful to have seen it happen for her!

Only the Beginning

You may recall Coy as the 6 year old transgender girl who was one of the guests on the Katie Couric Show  this week. (here).

Coy

As it turns out at the tender age of six, Coy's struggles are just beginning.
In a move- which could be on a show called "are you smarter than a first grader" (I know the real show is a 5th grader), Coy's school officials at Fountain-Fort Carson School District told her parents that their child could no longer use the girls’ bathroom at Eagleside Elementary.

That shocked her parents, said her mother, Kathryn Mathis. identified  The child had gotten through kindergarten with no problems and no complaints from anyone at the school. (of course)

Fortunately, this whole story is far  from over as a prominent transgender rights group announced  that it  filed a discrimination complaint in Colorado on behalf of Coy. It seems in this case Coy is being used as an example. If her restroom usage is determined now any future problems with unhappy parents could be headed off- if there are any.

The good news is anti-discrimination laws are finally being applied to the transgender community and this shy child has been forced into the spotlight to challenge blatant discrimination. Read more of the story here.