The earliest identifiable recipient of Male to Female Sex Reassignment Surgery was 'Rudolf ("Dora R-'),[13], "He took the first step towards changing his sex in 1921, when he had himself castrated, As a result his sexual instinct was enfeebled, but the homosexual tendency, as well as his own feelings, remained the same. This step, however, was not sufficient for him, and he tried to obtain a still greater degree of femininity in his sexual parts. Finally, in 1930, the operation which he himself had attempted at the age of six was performed upon him, that is, the removal of his penis, and six months afterwards the transformation was completed by the grafting of an artificial vagina [sic]."
This was followed by Lili Elbe in Berlin, in 1930-1931. This was started with the removal of the male sex organs and was supervised by Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld. Lili went on to have four more subsequent operations that included an unsuccessful uterine transplant, the rejection of which resulted in death. An earlier known recipient of this was Magnus Hirschfeld's housekeeper,[14] but her identity is unclear at this time.
Filmmaker Tanaz Eshaghian discovered that the Iranian government's "solution" for homosexuality is to endorse, and fully pay for, sex reassignment surgery.[15] The leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa declaring sex reassignment surgery permissible for "diagnosed transsexuals."[15] Eshaghian's documentary, Be Like Others, chronicles a number of stories of Iranian gay men who feel transitioning is the only way to avoid further persecution, jail and/or execution.[15] The head of Iran's main transsexual organization, Maryam Khatoon Molkara—who convinced Khomeini to issue the fatwa on transsexuality—confirmed that some people who undergo operations are gay rather than transsexual.[16]
Thailand performs the most sex reassignment surgeries, followed by Iran.
Sunday 30 January 2011
sex reassignment surgery.
Sex reassignment surgery (initialized as SRS; also known as gender reasignment surgery, genital reconstruction surgery, sex affirmation surgery, sex realignment surgery or sex-change operation) is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble that of the other sex. It is part of a treatment for gender identity disorder/gender dysphoria in transsexual and transgender people. It may also be performed on intersex people, often in infancy.
The best known of these surgeries are those that reshape the genitals, which are also known as genital reassignment surgery or genital reconstruction surgery (GRS). However, the meaning of "sex reassignment surgery" has been clarified by the medical subspecialty organization, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), to include any of a larger number of surgical procedures performed as part of a medical treatment for "gender dysphoria", "transsexualism" or "gender identity disorder". According to WPATH, medically necessary sex reassignment surgeries include "complete hysterectomy, bilateral mastectomy, chest reconstruction or augmentation including breast prostheses if necessary, genital reconstruction (by various techniques which must be appropriate to each patient and certain facial plastic reconstruction."In addition, other non-surgical procedures are also considered medically necessary treatments by WPATH, including facial electrolysis.
Many medical professionals and numerous professional associations have stated that surgical interventions should not be required in order for transsexual individuals to change sex designation on identity documents.However, depending on the legal requirements of many jurisdictions, transsexual and transgender people are often unable to change the listing of their sex in public records unless they can furnish a physician's letter attesting that sex reassignment surgery has been performed. In some cases, such statutes may specify that genital surgery has been completed.
The best known of these surgeries are those that reshape the genitals, which are also known as genital reassignment surgery or genital reconstruction surgery (GRS). However, the meaning of "sex reassignment surgery" has been clarified by the medical subspecialty organization, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), to include any of a larger number of surgical procedures performed as part of a medical treatment for "gender dysphoria", "transsexualism" or "gender identity disorder". According to WPATH, medically necessary sex reassignment surgeries include "complete hysterectomy, bilateral mastectomy, chest reconstruction or augmentation including breast prostheses if necessary, genital reconstruction (by various techniques which must be appropriate to each patient and certain facial plastic reconstruction."In addition, other non-surgical procedures are also considered medically necessary treatments by WPATH, including facial electrolysis.
Many medical professionals and numerous professional associations have stated that surgical interventions should not be required in order for transsexual individuals to change sex designation on identity documents.However, depending on the legal requirements of many jurisdictions, transsexual and transgender people are often unable to change the listing of their sex in public records unless they can furnish a physician's letter attesting that sex reassignment surgery has been performed. In some cases, such statutes may specify that genital surgery has been completed.
manuel albarran.
oh how i love! ^
- the same sort of thing as Leigh Bowery.. manipulating the body into doing things.. body corsets, exposed breasts, daring head pieces.
LOVE.LOVE.
LEIGH BOWERY: PROFILE.
A fashion jester on a gargantuan scale, Leigh Bowery stretched every sartorial excess. But only by stripping off completely to become one of Lucian Freud's most charismatic subjects, did this transvestite-performing artist take his rightful place in the cultural canon.
Young Leigh was horrified by appearance and enjoyed a gift for design. His fashion statements soon raised many an eyebrow in his hometown of Sunshine, near Melbourne.
He dropped out of college and moved to London in 1980, making only one rule, to "wear makeup every day". He often left the house dressed in platform shoes, a latex body stocking and a pig's mask, the look topped off neatly by a police helmet. Bowery boasted as many piercings as sequins, and what started as an instinct to show off soon became an occupation.
As well as selling clothes, Bowery was a feted designer for Michael Clark's ballet company. His outrageous appearance and strong personality made him a natural host of the infamous club West End club Taboo, so named because "nothing there was".
When he wasn't being a one-man art installation at a friend's gallery, he was giving notorious live performances. With his art-rock band Minty, he could shock a weary audience by "giving birth" on stage to one of his friends. At seven feet tall, Leigh Bowery was a walking, talking objet d'art.
He was a great proponent of disguise, yet it was ultimately Lucian Freud's unmasking of this masked reveler that ensured his lasting credibility. After years of tripping over high heels on dance floors, Bowery revealed his power, stillness and serenity under the auspices of Freud's brush.
He was undoubtedly a complicated character. When he wasn't decorated to the eyeballs for an evening assault on town, Bowery dressed almost ascetically. In the last year of his life, this veteran of the international gay cruising scene married a close female friend. And although he appeared savagely inhibited throughout his career, for six years he kept the secret of his HIV status almost entirely to himself.
Lucian Freud is our most celebrated depicter of personal contradiction, so it is fitting that his huge canvases revealed Bowery in all his vulnerable, naked humanity. And for all the time and effort the performer invested in concealing himself behind sequins and feathers, it was of Leigh Bowery's undecorated form that Freud recalled, "I found him perfectly beautiful."
Young Leigh was horrified by appearance and enjoyed a gift for design. His fashion statements soon raised many an eyebrow in his hometown of Sunshine, near Melbourne.
He dropped out of college and moved to London in 1980, making only one rule, to "wear makeup every day". He often left the house dressed in platform shoes, a latex body stocking and a pig's mask, the look topped off neatly by a police helmet. Bowery boasted as many piercings as sequins, and what started as an instinct to show off soon became an occupation.
As well as selling clothes, Bowery was a feted designer for Michael Clark's ballet company. His outrageous appearance and strong personality made him a natural host of the infamous club West End club Taboo, so named because "nothing there was".
When he wasn't being a one-man art installation at a friend's gallery, he was giving notorious live performances. With his art-rock band Minty, he could shock a weary audience by "giving birth" on stage to one of his friends. At seven feet tall, Leigh Bowery was a walking, talking objet d'art.
He was a great proponent of disguise, yet it was ultimately Lucian Freud's unmasking of this masked reveler that ensured his lasting credibility. After years of tripping over high heels on dance floors, Bowery revealed his power, stillness and serenity under the auspices of Freud's brush.
He was undoubtedly a complicated character. When he wasn't decorated to the eyeballs for an evening assault on town, Bowery dressed almost ascetically. In the last year of his life, this veteran of the international gay cruising scene married a close female friend. And although he appeared savagely inhibited throughout his career, for six years he kept the secret of his HIV status almost entirely to himself.
Lucian Freud is our most celebrated depicter of personal contradiction, so it is fitting that his huge canvases revealed Bowery in all his vulnerable, naked humanity. And for all the time and effort the performer invested in concealing himself behind sequins and feathers, it was of Leigh Bowery's undecorated form that Freud recalled, "I found him perfectly beautiful."
ich bin kunst.
“What’s this feeling about distortion, your gender isn’t beauty or ugliness, i mean thats.. all your ideas”
"It started when I was only a boy
I couldn't kick a ball, climb a tree, play at war
I took pleasure in the things that make men shudder
I dressed up in the wardrobe of my mother!"
perfect catwalk song? yusyus.
"It started when I was only a boy
I couldn't kick a ball, climb a tree, play at war
I took pleasure in the things that make men shudder
I dressed up in the wardrobe of my mother!"
perfect catwalk song? yusyus.
midsummer nights dream.
http://tgmedia.enacre.net/lorna_lynne/lorna4.html
- such a good website, basically showcasing sucsessful transgenders!
- such a good website, basically showcasing sucsessful transgenders!
craig russell.
born russell craig edie in january 10, 1948. Amoung the best-known female impersonators in North America and became the ambassador of canadas gay culture.
In 1977 he made his film debut in the film outrageous and later won best actor for his performance at the Berlin International film festival in 1978.
bibiana fernandez.
"yes, i am a woman! in all the senses, a woman!"
- had a sex change at the age of 23 and has stared in several films by Pedro Almodovar none of them playing on her transexuality. She still continues to make films to this day!
- http://tgmedia.enacre.net/lorna_lynne/bibia.html
candy darling!
http://tgmedia.enacre.net/lorna_lynne/candy.html - won't let me copy & paste but this woman was born 'James Lawrence Slattery and ended up taking hormone injections and transitioning into a woman ending up working with the likes of Andy Warhol and staring in films such as 'Heaven Grand In Amber Orbit' and 'Klute' etc.
LOVE.LOVE.
.
"there's nothing you can do but endure puberty until you're all grown, and if you don't kill yourself by then, knock wood, many opportunities will magically become available and you'll have a lovely life."
"it crosses my mind a lot that some of my patients may choose sex changes out of internalized homophobia."
"The night before we first met, Elizabeth dreamed she walked into her room at Covenant House and there was a big cocoon hanging over her bed. As she watched, it opened up and she floated out, naked, her body perfect, beautiful, female."
http://www.salon.com/health/sex/urge/1999/08/28/transexualteens/index.html
"it crosses my mind a lot that some of my patients may choose sex changes out of internalized homophobia."
"The night before we first met, Elizabeth dreamed she walked into her room at Covenant House and there was a big cocoon hanging over her bed. As she watched, it opened up and she floated out, naked, her body perfect, beautiful, female."
http://www.salon.com/health/sex/urge/1999/08/28/transexualteens/index.html
.
Gender is the most basic identifying characteristic of every human being. Being forced into narrow gender roles and highly constrained forms of gender expression causes great suffering in transgender people. Being forced to grow up in and live in an incorrectly gendered body and social role is an especially horrifying experience for transsexual children. These situations can lead to intense ongoing disorientation and angst, and can preclude finding any of life's deepest rewards such as the full enjoyment of lovemaking and the finding of a love mate. Fortunately, society (at least in the modern western world) is making it easier for transgender people to explore wider opportunities for gender expression, and many social, medical and surgical options are now available for diagnosing, treating, and correcting intense TG and TS conditions.
However, practical counseling and medical science and technology often lead while religious, political, legal and social institutions lag. Transgender kids are still being thrown away by their families. Transgender and transsexual people are often shamed and blamed for simply trying to correct their affliction, and our society tends to marginalize and stigmatize such persons even after they have socially transitioned or even after a complete physical gender correction has been made.
However, practical counseling and medical science and technology often lead while religious, political, legal and social institutions lag. Transgender kids are still being thrown away by their families. Transgender and transsexual people are often shamed and blamed for simply trying to correct their affliction, and our society tends to marginalize and stigmatize such persons even after they have socially transitioned or even after a complete physical gender correction has been made.
Efforts at extending full human rights protections to transgender people:
In the past few years, more and more communities in the United States have become aware of the discrimination and hate crimes against TG/TS people, and people are then surprised to learn that the anti-discrimination laws that apply to gay people do not provide equal protection for the transgendered.
In response, a number of cities and eight states plus the District of Columbia in the U.S. have extended their anti-discrimination protections to include transgender people. For a map of and list of jurisdictions that provide such protections, see the Transgender Law and Policy Institute website.
One significant example of a change in legal protection was made in New York City on April 30, 2002, where Mayor Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed into law a bill that extends New York City's human rights protection to all gender-variant people, including crossdressers, drag queens, and transsexuals who have had or will soon have sex-change surgery. A New York Times editorial on May 1, 2002 said that "The new law, which passed the City Council 45 to 5, is an important step forward in fighting prejudice and in protecting the rights of some of society's most vulnerable citizens." For more background on the new law, see the Planet Out article "New York OKs transgender protections" . See also the NYAGRA website and the recent Transgender Law & Policy Institute Press Release for information on how activists worked for passage of this new law.
The year 2002 then became a watershed year for transgendered rights: Following New York City's passage of its new law, the cities of Dallas, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago then modified their codes to provide similar protections for transgendered people. The precedents set by these major cities affected policies in many other cities in the U.S. in subsequent years.
In response, a number of cities and eight states plus the District of Columbia in the U.S. have extended their anti-discrimination protections to include transgender people. For a map of and list of jurisdictions that provide such protections, see the Transgender Law and Policy Institute website.
One significant example of a change in legal protection was made in New York City on April 30, 2002, where Mayor Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed into law a bill that extends New York City's human rights protection to all gender-variant people, including crossdressers, drag queens, and transsexuals who have had or will soon have sex-change surgery. A New York Times editorial on May 1, 2002 said that "The new law, which passed the City Council 45 to 5, is an important step forward in fighting prejudice and in protecting the rights of some of society's most vulnerable citizens." For more background on the new law, see the Planet Out article "New York OKs transgender protections" . See also the NYAGRA website and the recent Transgender Law & Policy Institute Press Release for information on how activists worked for passage of this new law.
The year 2002 then became a watershed year for transgendered rights: Following New York City's passage of its new law, the cities of Dallas, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago then modified their codes to provide similar protections for transgendered people. The precedents set by these major cities affected policies in many other cities in the U.S. in subsequent years.
Gwen Araujo.
Although times have changed a lot, and much more information and help is available for transgender teens and their families, transition can be a very dangerous undertaking. The teen years are a time when many young males in the community, full of testosterone, have very violent tendencies as they cope with the challenges of trying to "prove themselves as men". Pairs and packs of aggressive young males are particularly prone to violence against transgender girls and women. This is especially true in the African American and Hispanic communities, where expressions of violence against "faggots" is especially common among young males trying to be "macho".
The terrible results of such violence are all too often in the news, as in the story of the murder of Gwen Araujo. Gwen was a 17 year old Hispanic teenager from Newark, California, who hoped to someday become a girl by having a sex change. She had lived as a girl for several years with her mother's full acceptance, and in time very likely could have achieved her dream. However, while attending a party in October 2002, several brutal, violent young men discovered her transgender status and immediately beat her and strangled her to death with a rope while other partygoers looked on. Her tragic murder shocked the liberal Bay Area, and brought home again the dangers that face many transgender teens. (Unfortunately, most news reports erroneously referred to Gwen as "Eddie" and "he" and "him", ignoring and negating her transgender identity as a girl).
The terrible results of such violence are all too often in the news, as in the story of the murder of Gwen Araujo. Gwen was a 17 year old Hispanic teenager from Newark, California, who hoped to someday become a girl by having a sex change. She had lived as a girl for several years with her mother's full acceptance, and in time very likely could have achieved her dream. However, while attending a party in October 2002, several brutal, violent young men discovered her transgender status and immediately beat her and strangled her to death with a rope while other partygoers looked on. Her tragic murder shocked the liberal Bay Area, and brought home again the dangers that face many transgender teens. (Unfortunately, most news reports erroneously referred to Gwen as "Eddie" and "he" and "him", ignoring and negating her transgender identity as a girl).
runaway 'T-girls'
Even though great progress has been made over the past few decades in providing options for correcting TG and TS conditions, the possibilities for transition are mainly available to those who are socially, educationally and financially advantaged in some way.
In parallel with all the advances in medical technology, and in parallel with the tens of thousands of successful gender transitions, an incredible tragedy has unfolded in recent decades. Because of ignorance of gender conditions, thousands upon thousands of transgender and transsexual kids have been excommunicated by their families. Every year, many such kids are forced to run away from home or are literally "thrown away" onto the streets by their families. A high percentage of these kids are Hispanic or African-American, since those communities are even more hysterically homophobic than is the white community - and often mistakenly think that their trans kids are "flagrantly gay". Many trans kids, even some coming from middle-class families, are simply given one-way plane or bus tickets to Los Angeles or New York City and told to "never come home again".
Since these kids are not gay, they do not fit into and are not welcomed by the gay community. With little hope of obtaining proper ID's or getting normal employment in their target gender, they cannot even pay for counseling or basic health services, much less save enough money for a full gender transition. Most can only hope to obtain some emotional relief and body modification from estrogen therapy (buying hormones "on the street") and social transition, and then living life as so-called "trannies" or "she-males".
Many of these castaway and runaway kids end up in lives of prostitution, degradation and ever-present danger on the nighttime inner-city streets - in the same way that ostracized women who have no families or money or any means of employment have been treated for all of human history. The high visibility of these TG/TS prostitutes on inner city streets has given rise to the urban myth that all transgender and transsexual women are prostitutes. Their vulnerability has led to their often being the victims of harassment and hate crimes.
The idea of a "male" taking estrogen and then dressing as a woman and becoming a she-male prostitute seems like a descent into utter degradation to most people. Even many TG women, at least those who are employed and doing OK, look down their noses on the street girls - thinking that what those girls do is disgusting and that "they give all us TG women a bad name". However, if you try hard to visualize how the world looks through the eyes of the young unemployable TG/TS woman on the streets, you'll see that being a she-male prostitute isn't perceived by them as degradation at all.
For many young TG/TS girls, being able to seduce straight men into desiring them and paying for their sexual favors is a powerful affirmation of their attractiveness and femaleness and brings many psychic rewards. With the money they earn they can buy some nice clothes, buy more hormones, and make themselves even more attractive to men. It is not at all surprising that many street T-girls, having no proper ID's, unable to find normal employment, unable to find decent housing and unable to enter the usual straight dating scene, will often turn to prostitution. For more insight into this situation, see Kyle Scanlon's column on this topic. See also the recent Boston Globe article about transgender prostitution in Boston, to learn about why these young TG girls engage in prostitution, and the many health dangers they face as a result.
In parallel with all the advances in medical technology, and in parallel with the tens of thousands of successful gender transitions, an incredible tragedy has unfolded in recent decades. Because of ignorance of gender conditions, thousands upon thousands of transgender and transsexual kids have been excommunicated by their families. Every year, many such kids are forced to run away from home or are literally "thrown away" onto the streets by their families. A high percentage of these kids are Hispanic or African-American, since those communities are even more hysterically homophobic than is the white community - and often mistakenly think that their trans kids are "flagrantly gay". Many trans kids, even some coming from middle-class families, are simply given one-way plane or bus tickets to Los Angeles or New York City and told to "never come home again".
Since these kids are not gay, they do not fit into and are not welcomed by the gay community. With little hope of obtaining proper ID's or getting normal employment in their target gender, they cannot even pay for counseling or basic health services, much less save enough money for a full gender transition. Most can only hope to obtain some emotional relief and body modification from estrogen therapy (buying hormones "on the street") and social transition, and then living life as so-called "trannies" or "she-males".
Many of these castaway and runaway kids end up in lives of prostitution, degradation and ever-present danger on the nighttime inner-city streets - in the same way that ostracized women who have no families or money or any means of employment have been treated for all of human history. The high visibility of these TG/TS prostitutes on inner city streets has given rise to the urban myth that all transgender and transsexual women are prostitutes. Their vulnerability has led to their often being the victims of harassment and hate crimes.
The idea of a "male" taking estrogen and then dressing as a woman and becoming a she-male prostitute seems like a descent into utter degradation to most people. Even many TG women, at least those who are employed and doing OK, look down their noses on the street girls - thinking that what those girls do is disgusting and that "they give all us TG women a bad name". However, if you try hard to visualize how the world looks through the eyes of the young unemployable TG/TS woman on the streets, you'll see that being a she-male prostitute isn't perceived by them as degradation at all.
For many young TG/TS girls, being able to seduce straight men into desiring them and paying for their sexual favors is a powerful affirmation of their attractiveness and femaleness and brings many psychic rewards. With the money they earn they can buy some nice clothes, buy more hormones, and make themselves even more attractive to men. It is not at all surprising that many street T-girls, having no proper ID's, unable to find normal employment, unable to find decent housing and unable to enter the usual straight dating scene, will often turn to prostitution. For more insight into this situation, see Kyle Scanlon's column on this topic. See also the recent Boston Globe article about transgender prostitution in Boston, to learn about why these young TG girls engage in prostitution, and the many health dangers they face as a result.
transphobia.
A long series of deliberate misidentifications by gay activists, as in Calpernia Addams' case, have led to tensions between gay activists and TG/TS people. The misidentifications have also caused further social isolation and invisibility of transgender people. Furthermore, many prominent gay men such as writer Jim Fouratt, and many prominent feminists such as Germaine Greer and Janice Raymond, are highly transphobic and have publicly worked against efforts to reduce discrimination against TG/TS people.
Fouratt is infamous among TG/TS people for his conflation of transgenderism and homosexuality, for equating gender transition to "anti-gay reparative therapy", and for writing that post-op transsexual women are really just "misguided gay men" who've undergone surgical mutilations.
Greer is notorious for her strident opposition to "sex changes" and for embedding transphobia into traditional "feminist theory". Her strange anger about the very existence of transsexual women is so profound that it prompted her (and thus other feminists) to engage in witch hunts to "out" and publicly defame post-op TS women during the 1980's and 90's (including physicist Rachel Padman at Cambridge University).
Raymond (a professor at Univ. of Mass.) is widely known in lesbian feminist circles for her deeply transphobic book "The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male", a book which informed much of early feminist thinking about transsexual women. In it she condemns MtF "sex changes" as a "male conspiracy to create artificial women who will cater to male sexual fantasies". She then goes on to pillory transsexual women as tools of patriarchy for upholding stereotypes of women. A second printing of this highly transphobic book in 1994 has been adopted in feminist and women's studies courses in many large universities, and it too is now furthering the stigmatization of transsexual women among a new generation of "academic feminists" in U.S. universities.
The ongoing public rants of folks like Frank, Fouratt, Greer and Raymond have helped embed a knee-jerk type of transphobia into older-generation gay, lesbian and feminist culture, to the point where it's politically-correct in those circles to be "opposed to transgender and transsexual transitions" if one is a "well-informed" gay, lesbian and/or feminist person.
This stance is deeply confusing to young MtF transsexual girls who are often very liberated in their thinking (and thus quite 'feminist' in nature), and among whom there are many who are lesbian in their corrected gender. It will take years of outreach to TG/TS women from younger spokespersons in the gay, lesbian and feminist communities in order to counter the lingering effects of all this past stigmatization.
Along yet another axis, many other gay and lesbian thought leaders are trying to "normalize" the image of gay and lesbian people. Wanting gays to seem just like "everyone else", they want to eliminate old stereotypes that gays "look like transgender people". Unlike the gay activists who claimed that Calpernia Addams was a "gay man", these people don't want to claim "trans victims" as their own - nor do they want to be identified in any way with "trans people". This trend is increasingly stigmatizing transgender people within portions of the gay community, in a manner similar to the stigmatization of gays by heterosexual crossdressers. Miranda Stevens-Miller, a prominent trans-activist from Chicago, has written eloquently about how this trend further isolates and stigmatizes trans people.
'femenist uni's' - how is this even allowed?
Social movements emerge within many organizations and institutions, but there are relatively few studies of how such movements arise, impact institutions, and maintain themselves. This paper examines the growth of feminism within McGill University, describing how the women’s movement has changed the university since the 1960s and established organizational habitats within the institution. Important outcomes of feminist activism include the creation of women’s studies and a women’s research center, benefits for women faculty, staff and students, and changes in the campus culture. The larger women’s movement, changes in the larger society, and national organizations were important to victories won within the institution. Feminists within the university have links to the larger women’s movement community and have contributed to the larger women’s movement. The movement within the university is subject to some of the same problems as the external movement.
even in Norway + Sussex! fair enough women should be treated as equals to men but to create a university and brainwash young minds against men and that when people transition from male to female their not really female and shouldn't be classed as one. wrong. wrong. wrong.
Fouratt is infamous among TG/TS people for his conflation of transgenderism and homosexuality, for equating gender transition to "anti-gay reparative therapy", and for writing that post-op transsexual women are really just "misguided gay men" who've undergone surgical mutilations.
Greer is notorious for her strident opposition to "sex changes" and for embedding transphobia into traditional "feminist theory". Her strange anger about the very existence of transsexual women is so profound that it prompted her (and thus other feminists) to engage in witch hunts to "out" and publicly defame post-op TS women during the 1980's and 90's (including physicist Rachel Padman at Cambridge University).
Raymond (a professor at Univ. of Mass.) is widely known in lesbian feminist circles for her deeply transphobic book "The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male", a book which informed much of early feminist thinking about transsexual women. In it she condemns MtF "sex changes" as a "male conspiracy to create artificial women who will cater to male sexual fantasies". She then goes on to pillory transsexual women as tools of patriarchy for upholding stereotypes of women. A second printing of this highly transphobic book in 1994 has been adopted in feminist and women's studies courses in many large universities, and it too is now furthering the stigmatization of transsexual women among a new generation of "academic feminists" in U.S. universities.
The ongoing public rants of folks like Frank, Fouratt, Greer and Raymond have helped embed a knee-jerk type of transphobia into older-generation gay, lesbian and feminist culture, to the point where it's politically-correct in those circles to be "opposed to transgender and transsexual transitions" if one is a "well-informed" gay, lesbian and/or feminist person.
This stance is deeply confusing to young MtF transsexual girls who are often very liberated in their thinking (and thus quite 'feminist' in nature), and among whom there are many who are lesbian in their corrected gender. It will take years of outreach to TG/TS women from younger spokespersons in the gay, lesbian and feminist communities in order to counter the lingering effects of all this past stigmatization.
Along yet another axis, many other gay and lesbian thought leaders are trying to "normalize" the image of gay and lesbian people. Wanting gays to seem just like "everyone else", they want to eliminate old stereotypes that gays "look like transgender people". Unlike the gay activists who claimed that Calpernia Addams was a "gay man", these people don't want to claim "trans victims" as their own - nor do they want to be identified in any way with "trans people". This trend is increasingly stigmatizing transgender people within portions of the gay community, in a manner similar to the stigmatization of gays by heterosexual crossdressers. Miranda Stevens-Miller, a prominent trans-activist from Chicago, has written eloquently about how this trend further isolates and stigmatizes trans people.
'femenist uni's' - how is this even allowed?
Social movements emerge within many organizations and institutions, but there are relatively few studies of how such movements arise, impact institutions, and maintain themselves. This paper examines the growth of feminism within McGill University, describing how the women’s movement has changed the university since the 1960s and established organizational habitats within the institution. Important outcomes of feminist activism include the creation of women’s studies and a women’s research center, benefits for women faculty, staff and students, and changes in the campus culture. The larger women’s movement, changes in the larger society, and national organizations were important to victories won within the institution. Feminists within the university have links to the larger women’s movement community and have contributed to the larger women’s movement. The movement within the university is subject to some of the same problems as the external movement.
even in Norway + Sussex! fair enough women should be treated as equals to men but to create a university and brainwash young minds against men and that when people transition from male to female their not really female and shouldn't be classed as one. wrong. wrong. wrong.
hmm..
the widely publicized beating death of Pfc. Barry Winchell at an Army base in Tennessee was initially portrayed as a "gay hate crime," both by gay activist groups and the mainstream media. However, Winchell's lover was not another man -- Winchell had never dated men -- but was a very pretty young transgender woman named Calpernia Addams. Callie was a performer in a "drag show" at a nightclub that soldiers frequented. Barry and Callie met there, began dating, and then fell deeply in love. Barry, who was a regular guy and who loved pretty women, fully accepted Callie as a woman in spite of her TG transition status. He was then beaten to death by another soldier in a burst of homophobic violence over his relationship with Callie. After this tragic event, the gay media referred to Callie as a "gay man" rather than a transgender woman, and she was deliberately kept on the sidelines to avoid having her status revealed. This aspect of the story was finally revealed in an article by reporter David France entitled "An Inconvenient Woman" in the New York Times Magazine on Sunday May 28, 2000.
Later, in the summer of 2002, Callie underwent SRS to complete her TS transition and is now the woman she always wanted to be. In 2003 a movie entitled "Soldier's Girl" , premiered at the Sundance Movie Festival, told the story of her love affair with Barry Winchell and of the tragic end of that affair. Calpernia has written a book Mark 247 about her life experiences, and she is also evolving a wonderfully supportive website for TG/TS people.
So it's all starting to link a little now. The death of Barry Winchell who was in the army.. Ian/Jan who was kicked out of the army for transitioning from male to female and the fact that most transexuals or 'curious' men join the army to supress their femenine feelings or to prove that they can be masculine?
Later, in the summer of 2002, Callie underwent SRS to complete her TS transition and is now the woman she always wanted to be. In 2003 a movie entitled "Soldier's Girl" , premiered at the Sundance Movie Festival, told the story of her love affair with Barry Winchell and of the tragic end of that affair. Calpernia has written a book Mark 247 about her life experiences, and she is also evolving a wonderfully supportive website for TG/TS people.
So it's all starting to link a little now. The death of Barry Winchell who was in the army.. Ian/Jan who was kicked out of the army for transitioning from male to female and the fact that most transexuals or 'curious' men join the army to supress their femenine feelings or to prove that they can be masculine?
Rethinking discrimination and hate crimes against gay and transgender people:
Because of the widespread misunderstanding and confusion about the difference between being gay vs being transgender, discrimination and hate crimes against transgender people are almost always incorrectly identified as being crimes against gay people. The vast majority of so-called "gay hate crimes" are mostly crimes against visibly gender-variant CD/DQ/TG/TS people, instead of against people who are simply known to be gay.
Discriminators and attackers themselves often believe that they are attacking "gays" when attacking the transgendered. Then too, some victims are simply feminine-looking men or masculine-looking women who are neither gay nor transgender. Furthermore, those gay men who are attacked are often young men who are small and effeminate, and who thus appear "stereotypically gay" (i.e., effeminate). What seems to trigger the rage and horrific attacks upon these young gay men is the appearance of femininity and vulnerability in a "male". A tragic example is Mathew Shepard, the small, strikingly beautiful, sensitive young gay man who was beaten and tortured to death in Wyoming in 1998.
Mathew Shepard
[December 1, 1976 - October 12, 1998]
In many cases, gay activists have exploited the "invisibility of transgenderism" by publicizing all attacks based on gender variance as being "anti-gay" hate crimes, while not clarifying the transgender, transsexual or otherwise physically gender-variant status of the victims.
Discriminators and attackers themselves often believe that they are attacking "gays" when attacking the transgendered. Then too, some victims are simply feminine-looking men or masculine-looking women who are neither gay nor transgender. Furthermore, those gay men who are attacked are often young men who are small and effeminate, and who thus appear "stereotypically gay" (i.e., effeminate). What seems to trigger the rage and horrific attacks upon these young gay men is the appearance of femininity and vulnerability in a "male". A tragic example is Mathew Shepard, the small, strikingly beautiful, sensitive young gay man who was beaten and tortured to death in Wyoming in 1998.
Mathew Shepard
[December 1, 1976 - October 12, 1998]
In many cases, gay activists have exploited the "invisibility of transgenderism" by publicizing all attacks based on gender variance as being "anti-gay" hate crimes, while not clarifying the transgender, transsexual or otherwise physically gender-variant status of the victims.
TABOO.
no, not the beautiful Boy George play..
A taboo is a strong social prohibition (or ban) relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and forbidden based on moral judgment and sometimes even religious beliefs. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society. The term comes from the Tongan word tabu, meaning set apart or forbidden, and appears in many Polynesian cultures. In those cultures, a tabu (or tapu or kapu) often has specific religious associations. When an activity or custom is taboo, it is forbidden and interdictions are implemented concerning it, such as the ground set apart as a sanctuary for criminals. Some taboo activities or customs are prohibited under law and transgressions may lead to severe penalties. Other taboos result in embarrassment, shame, and rudeness. Although critics and/or dissenters may oppose taboos, they are put into place to avoid disrespect to any given authority, be it legal, moral and/or religious.
A taboo is a strong social prohibition (or ban) relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and forbidden based on moral judgment and sometimes even religious beliefs. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society. The term comes from the Tongan word tabu, meaning set apart or forbidden, and appears in many Polynesian cultures. In those cultures, a tabu (or tapu or kapu) often has specific religious associations. When an activity or custom is taboo, it is forbidden and interdictions are implemented concerning it, such as the ground set apart as a sanctuary for criminals. Some taboo activities or customs are prohibited under law and transgressions may lead to severe penalties. Other taboos result in embarrassment, shame, and rudeness. Although critics and/or dissenters may oppose taboos, they are put into place to avoid disrespect to any given authority, be it legal, moral and/or religious.
ContrastingTransgender (TG) transitions and Transsexual (TS) transitions:
There are many different paths that MtF transgender people may travel on their way to becoming women.
Over the past few decades many transsexual women have undergone transsexual transition, including both a social change of gender and a surgical "sex change" of the genitalia, and have then gone on to live successful lives in their new gender. Many media stories about these cases have helped society gradually become more aware of, tolerant of and accepting of the notion of transsexual transition. Most states now have well-established procedures for changing public records of name and gender for those who complete a transsexual transition. Many employers now even have procedures in place to accommodate people going through transsexual transitions.
More recently, many transgender people who do not have intensely transsexual feelings, have begun to openly undergo transgender transition. Some are crossdressers finally overcome by TG feelings and the need to take on a female social identity. Others are drag queens who've long enjoyed participating in drag shows, but then who finally recognize the strength of their mixed-gender feelings. Most of these transitioners begin transition by taking modest doses of female hormones (enough to produce some degree of feminization) and by undergoing electrolysis to remove facial hair. When feminized to some degree, they shift their full-time social gender by dressing to some degree as women, modifying their voice and mannerisms to varying degrees, taking on a female name, and obtaining some forms of formal identification in the female gender. Thus they achieve varying degrees of social gender transition WITHOUT transsexual SRS surgery.
As transgender people have become more aware of the opportunities for social transition, the number of these TG transitions has risen dramatically. Many gender counselors now see far more transgender transitioners than transsexual transitioners, especially among their older clients. Acknowledgement of the validity of transgender transition in an important new trend, since there clearly are many more transgender people than transsexual people in the wider gender continuum.
Some TG transitioners migrate into a "transgender" social role instead of trying to pass as women. These transitioners may actually feel uncomfortable about becoming "fully female" in presentation and mannerisms, and they are especially uncomfortable about modifying their genitalia. They instead feel a need to take on a transgender or androgynous social role that better matches their mixed-gender identity. Such transitioners often remain visibly transgender and are comfortable in that identity, and their social lives outside work usually involve people in the transgender community. Many TG activists, support group moderators, speakers on TG issues, etc., are people having such openly transgender identities.
Other TG transitioners go much further towards becoming socially passable women (but without having SRS), and some are successful at reaching this goal. Some of them are even eventually successful in assimilating socially (though not sexually) as women.
to continue reading..
http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/TS-Ia.html#anchor35914
Over the past few decades many transsexual women have undergone transsexual transition, including both a social change of gender and a surgical "sex change" of the genitalia, and have then gone on to live successful lives in their new gender. Many media stories about these cases have helped society gradually become more aware of, tolerant of and accepting of the notion of transsexual transition. Most states now have well-established procedures for changing public records of name and gender for those who complete a transsexual transition. Many employers now even have procedures in place to accommodate people going through transsexual transitions.
More recently, many transgender people who do not have intensely transsexual feelings, have begun to openly undergo transgender transition. Some are crossdressers finally overcome by TG feelings and the need to take on a female social identity. Others are drag queens who've long enjoyed participating in drag shows, but then who finally recognize the strength of their mixed-gender feelings. Most of these transitioners begin transition by taking modest doses of female hormones (enough to produce some degree of feminization) and by undergoing electrolysis to remove facial hair. When feminized to some degree, they shift their full-time social gender by dressing to some degree as women, modifying their voice and mannerisms to varying degrees, taking on a female name, and obtaining some forms of formal identification in the female gender. Thus they achieve varying degrees of social gender transition WITHOUT transsexual SRS surgery.
As transgender people have become more aware of the opportunities for social transition, the number of these TG transitions has risen dramatically. Many gender counselors now see far more transgender transitioners than transsexual transitioners, especially among their older clients. Acknowledgement of the validity of transgender transition in an important new trend, since there clearly are many more transgender people than transsexual people in the wider gender continuum.
Some TG transitioners migrate into a "transgender" social role instead of trying to pass as women. These transitioners may actually feel uncomfortable about becoming "fully female" in presentation and mannerisms, and they are especially uncomfortable about modifying their genitalia. They instead feel a need to take on a transgender or androgynous social role that better matches their mixed-gender identity. Such transitioners often remain visibly transgender and are comfortable in that identity, and their social lives outside work usually involve people in the transgender community. Many TG activists, support group moderators, speakers on TG issues, etc., are people having such openly transgender identities.
Other TG transitioners go much further towards becoming socially passable women (but without having SRS), and some are successful at reaching this goal. Some of them are even eventually successful in assimilating socially (though not sexually) as women.
to continue reading..
http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/TS-Ia.html#anchor35914
In My Mother's Closet: Childhood dreams of womanhood
"My mother's closest was both a sanctuary and a crystal ball, a place in which I escaped the world and a place where, through the scrim of my mother's clothes I envisioned my future self. In my mother's closet my senses came alive. The smells of perfume, shoe polish, wool, leather; the feel of satin, velvet, silk, chiffon - these things had the power to evoke dreams and fantasies....
And, although it was not forbidden, I always was afraid to enter it. Afraid of what? Being caught? More likely I feared finding something, some clue that would reveal the mysterious world I knew I would one day enter, the world of being a woman." - Eugenia Zukerman
And, although it was not forbidden, I always was afraid to enter it. Afraid of what? Being caught? More likely I feared finding something, some clue that would reveal the mysterious world I knew I would one day enter, the world of being a woman." - Eugenia Zukerman
'gender reassignment surgery'
We learned in Lynn's story that she was born and raised as a boy, and later in life was changed into a girl by female sex hormone treatments and major surgical procedures. Because of this past, Lynn is sometimes called a "transsexual" woman. Why did this happen to Lynn, and what is transsexualism anyway?
In order to understand transsexualism, we must first answer some basic questions about gender. What is Gender Identity? Where does it come from? What events occur in nature that interfere with correct assignments of gender? These pages aim at answering these questions. Links are then provided to further information on gender identity, transgenderism, transsexualism and intersexuality, and to information about methods and technology for physical gender modification.
Knowledge in this area is under rapid development. There are challenges in defining, separating and "labeling" the different phenomena, and in making estimates of frequencies of occurrence. There are also differing interpretations of the underlying science, and differing points of view about the evolving social and medical protocols for resolving these conditions.
However, much more is known about gender identity than just a few short years ago, and those new understandings are very much worth sharing and building upon. The taboo on this area has also been broken, so that we can openly discuss these important issues without fear, shame or embarrassment.
As we'll see, far more people suffer from gender-identity conditions than previously suspected, and the lives of millions of people are impacted by gender-identity issues. The key to improving the quality of those lives is better knowledge and more widespread understanding of that knowledge.
http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/TS.html
In order to understand transsexualism, we must first answer some basic questions about gender. What is Gender Identity? Where does it come from? What events occur in nature that interfere with correct assignments of gender? These pages aim at answering these questions. Links are then provided to further information on gender identity, transgenderism, transsexualism and intersexuality, and to information about methods and technology for physical gender modification.
Knowledge in this area is under rapid development. There are challenges in defining, separating and "labeling" the different phenomena, and in making estimates of frequencies of occurrence. There are also differing interpretations of the underlying science, and differing points of view about the evolving social and medical protocols for resolving these conditions.
However, much more is known about gender identity than just a few short years ago, and those new understandings are very much worth sharing and building upon. The taboo on this area has also been broken, so that we can openly discuss these important issues without fear, shame or embarrassment.
As we'll see, far more people suffer from gender-identity conditions than previously suspected, and the lives of millions of people are impacted by gender-identity issues. The key to improving the quality of those lives is better knowledge and more widespread understanding of that knowledge.
http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/TS.html
Friday 21 January 2011
Gender dysphoria.
Gender dysphoria is a condition where a person feels that they are trapped within a body of the wrong sex. The condition is also sometimes known as:
•gender identity disorder
•gender incongruence
•transgenderism
People who have long-lasting and extreme gender dysphoria are known as transsexuals.
A person with gender dysphoria may:
•experience anxiety, uncertainty and persistently uncomfortable feelings about the gender that they were born with
•believe that their gender identity is different from their anatomical sex (for example, a man with gender dysphoria will feel that he is a female even though he was born with a male body)
Early symptoms
The symptoms of gender dysphoria usually begin to appear at a very young age. For example, a child may refuse to wear typical boys' or girls' clothes, or dislike taking part in typical boys' or girls' games and activities.
In most cases, this type of behaviour is just a normal part of growing up, but in cases of gender dysphoria, it persists into later childhood and through to adulthood.
The exact cause of gender dysphoria is unknown. It is currently classed as a psychiatric condition (relating to the mind), but many recent studies have suggested that it is more to do with biological development (relating to the body). Research into what causes gender dysphoria is ongoing.
How common is gender dysphoria?
Gender dysphoria is rare, but the number of people being diagnosed with it is increasing due to growing public awareness about the condition.
However, although awareness has increased over recent years, many people with gender dysphoria still face prejudice and misunderstanding about their condition.
In the UK, it is estimated that 1 in 4,000 people is receiving medical help for gender dysphoria. However, there may be many more people with the condition who have yet to seek help. On average, men are diagnosed with gender dysphoria five times more often than women.
Outlook
Treatment for gender dysphoria aims to help people become content with their gender identity. This can mean different things for different people. For example, for some people it can mean dressing and living as their preferred gender. For others it can mean taking hormones that change their physical appearance. Most transsexuals seek to have surgery to permanently alter their biological sex.
In 2004, the Gender Recognition Act was passed. It states that transsexuals and people with gender dysphoria can:
•marry in their preferred gender
•obtain legal documentation stating their preferred gender, including a new birth certificate and passport.
•gender identity disorder
•gender incongruence
•transgenderism
People who have long-lasting and extreme gender dysphoria are known as transsexuals.
A person with gender dysphoria may:
•experience anxiety, uncertainty and persistently uncomfortable feelings about the gender that they were born with
•believe that their gender identity is different from their anatomical sex (for example, a man with gender dysphoria will feel that he is a female even though he was born with a male body)
Early symptoms
The symptoms of gender dysphoria usually begin to appear at a very young age. For example, a child may refuse to wear typical boys' or girls' clothes, or dislike taking part in typical boys' or girls' games and activities.
In most cases, this type of behaviour is just a normal part of growing up, but in cases of gender dysphoria, it persists into later childhood and through to adulthood.
The exact cause of gender dysphoria is unknown. It is currently classed as a psychiatric condition (relating to the mind), but many recent studies have suggested that it is more to do with biological development (relating to the body). Research into what causes gender dysphoria is ongoing.
How common is gender dysphoria?
Gender dysphoria is rare, but the number of people being diagnosed with it is increasing due to growing public awareness about the condition.
However, although awareness has increased over recent years, many people with gender dysphoria still face prejudice and misunderstanding about their condition.
In the UK, it is estimated that 1 in 4,000 people is receiving medical help for gender dysphoria. However, there may be many more people with the condition who have yet to seek help. On average, men are diagnosed with gender dysphoria five times more often than women.
Outlook
Treatment for gender dysphoria aims to help people become content with their gender identity. This can mean different things for different people. For example, for some people it can mean dressing and living as their preferred gender. For others it can mean taking hormones that change their physical appearance. Most transsexuals seek to have surgery to permanently alter their biological sex.
In 2004, the Gender Recognition Act was passed. It states that transsexuals and people with gender dysphoria can:
•marry in their preferred gender
•obtain legal documentation stating their preferred gender, including a new birth certificate and passport.
.
http://www.jamierenae.com/bio-1.htm
This is where it all started, for me, and how I came to know Jamie Renae better:
I discovered the pleasures of female clothing somewhere between 10 - 12 years old. It was a full slip that my mother had left in the bathroom. All I had to do was slide it over my bare legs to discover the pleasures of nylon.
From there I started experiencing the thrill of sneaking into her closet and just sitting on the floor underneath the collection of dresses. I would run my hands over the material and get completely aroused. Several years later I had rescued some of the "give away" clothes and stashed them in the bottom of a drawer in my bedroom. When the opportunity arose, I would lock the door and put on the dress or blouse, letting the fabric fall over my shoulders. I got pretty good at sewing up the garments by hand, so that they would fit better. During High School I managed to rescue a few items that my girlfriends would leave in my car. I was still small enough to slip them on.
After entering the Military, I got married for the first time. That is when things began to gain momentum. I was starting to get quite a collection of women's clothes. They were mostly used things that I had picked out of Salvation Army, Goodwill and D.A.V boxes. I kept everything stashed in a cardboard barrel that had a locking lid. My first wife didn't ever know about my habits, as far as I know. I am sure that my oldest son would know if he could remember that far back. He was less than two years old when his daddy would strut around the bedroom in a dress.
After leaving the Military, I had another son, and got divorced. Those were tough times. I lived by myself for a while so I was able to enjoy my wardrobe. After I met my second wife, I decided I could stop dressing and threw away all that I had collected. So much for that plan, within a couple of years I started to slip into my wife's clothes when she was gone. It was pretty easy, she worked days and I worked nights. I also started to buy some new things of my own, including a wig. One evening my wife decided, for whatever reason, to put makeup on me. I was ecstatic inside. From that time on things progressed. I finally told her about my desires. She didn't handle it very well. That pretty well ended that marriage.
I was back on my own again, with a very sizable wardrobe. I had been introduced to makeup and wigs. Being an amateur photographer I proceeded to make a photo history. It was really scary looking at those early pictures. Before long I had met another very nice woman. This time, I told her up front about my desires. She didn't seem to be moved much either way. We got married a couple of years later. I again thought that I would be able to stop dressing, and pretty well destroyed my whole wardrobe. I still miss some of the things I lost in that purge.
As time passed, the lure of the closet overwhelmed me. My wife had a good selection of nice clothes. I also started to buy new things again. Being in a job that required a security clearance, I was very careful to keep my dressing securely inside. My wife was getting accustomed to seeing my female wardrobe in our closet. I also started wearing a nightgown to bed every night. When we both went out of town, I would take a couple of outfits along. I got to put on a skirt, blouse, slip, bra and panties after a visit to the hot tub. (I had to get dressed in something). As time passed I gave my alter ego a name. Jamie Renae had a very nice ring to it, plus it matched my initials. I could actually sign my femme name so it looked like my real name, no middle name used. I continued in this fashion for several years.
One night, during one of my wife's out of town trips, I was surfing the Internet, looking for wigs. In the search results was a site for Transgendered. Pandora's box flew open. I started reading the web sites of many T.G.s. I soon discovered that I was not alone in the world of crossdressing. There was another Jamie in my town. I emailed her and set up a meeting. We finally arranged to meet at another girl's apartment (Lisa). Other than driving down to the video store at 5:00 in the morning, this would be my first time out as Jamie Renae. I was soooo nervous I could hardly get my nails on. That first meeting was one of the major highlights in my life. I was among friends and sisters. What a feeling of relief. The group I got introduced to was a mixture of Pre and post op Transsexuals and male to female and female to male crossdressers. A wonderful and very supportive group of ladies and gentlemen. To this day I think of them often.
My wife was not a happy person when she found out that I had gone out in public enfemme. There were some tough conversations. She finally saw that I was not going to leave and become a full-fledged woman. I finally got her to come with me to a support meeting; I went in "boy mode". She got her first look at the rest of the TG world. After that we managed to go out with Lisa and Jamie a couple of times to dinner. What a blast it was to be out on the town with other TG girls.
Alas, change is a constant. We retired from our jobs and moved to NW Arkansas. Saying goodbye to my Sisters was a hard thing to do. We have found a TriEss group in Springfield Mo. (Sigma Mu) that supports couples. I think my wife has come to grips with Jamie. She still rolls her eyes sometimes when I come out of the bedroom completely dressed.
I have come to the point now that I want to be of assistance to others that are trying to come to grips with their "Femme self". All I can offer is a good ear and maybe some insights related to my past experiences.
If you have managed to read this complete story, God bless you. If there are any questions that you may have, please don’t hesitate to ask. I can assure you that anything said will stay confidential. I know what a wrong word to the wrong person can do to marriages and careers.
(look on the link to carry on reading)
This is where it all started, for me, and how I came to know Jamie Renae better:
I discovered the pleasures of female clothing somewhere between 10 - 12 years old. It was a full slip that my mother had left in the bathroom. All I had to do was slide it over my bare legs to discover the pleasures of nylon.
From there I started experiencing the thrill of sneaking into her closet and just sitting on the floor underneath the collection of dresses. I would run my hands over the material and get completely aroused. Several years later I had rescued some of the "give away" clothes and stashed them in the bottom of a drawer in my bedroom. When the opportunity arose, I would lock the door and put on the dress or blouse, letting the fabric fall over my shoulders. I got pretty good at sewing up the garments by hand, so that they would fit better. During High School I managed to rescue a few items that my girlfriends would leave in my car. I was still small enough to slip them on.
After entering the Military, I got married for the first time. That is when things began to gain momentum. I was starting to get quite a collection of women's clothes. They were mostly used things that I had picked out of Salvation Army, Goodwill and D.A.V boxes. I kept everything stashed in a cardboard barrel that had a locking lid. My first wife didn't ever know about my habits, as far as I know. I am sure that my oldest son would know if he could remember that far back. He was less than two years old when his daddy would strut around the bedroom in a dress.
After leaving the Military, I had another son, and got divorced. Those were tough times. I lived by myself for a while so I was able to enjoy my wardrobe. After I met my second wife, I decided I could stop dressing and threw away all that I had collected. So much for that plan, within a couple of years I started to slip into my wife's clothes when she was gone. It was pretty easy, she worked days and I worked nights. I also started to buy some new things of my own, including a wig. One evening my wife decided, for whatever reason, to put makeup on me. I was ecstatic inside. From that time on things progressed. I finally told her about my desires. She didn't handle it very well. That pretty well ended that marriage.
I was back on my own again, with a very sizable wardrobe. I had been introduced to makeup and wigs. Being an amateur photographer I proceeded to make a photo history. It was really scary looking at those early pictures. Before long I had met another very nice woman. This time, I told her up front about my desires. She didn't seem to be moved much either way. We got married a couple of years later. I again thought that I would be able to stop dressing, and pretty well destroyed my whole wardrobe. I still miss some of the things I lost in that purge.
As time passed, the lure of the closet overwhelmed me. My wife had a good selection of nice clothes. I also started to buy new things again. Being in a job that required a security clearance, I was very careful to keep my dressing securely inside. My wife was getting accustomed to seeing my female wardrobe in our closet. I also started wearing a nightgown to bed every night. When we both went out of town, I would take a couple of outfits along. I got to put on a skirt, blouse, slip, bra and panties after a visit to the hot tub. (I had to get dressed in something). As time passed I gave my alter ego a name. Jamie Renae had a very nice ring to it, plus it matched my initials. I could actually sign my femme name so it looked like my real name, no middle name used. I continued in this fashion for several years.
One night, during one of my wife's out of town trips, I was surfing the Internet, looking for wigs. In the search results was a site for Transgendered. Pandora's box flew open. I started reading the web sites of many T.G.s. I soon discovered that I was not alone in the world of crossdressing. There was another Jamie in my town. I emailed her and set up a meeting. We finally arranged to meet at another girl's apartment (Lisa). Other than driving down to the video store at 5:00 in the morning, this would be my first time out as Jamie Renae. I was soooo nervous I could hardly get my nails on. That first meeting was one of the major highlights in my life. I was among friends and sisters. What a feeling of relief. The group I got introduced to was a mixture of Pre and post op Transsexuals and male to female and female to male crossdressers. A wonderful and very supportive group of ladies and gentlemen. To this day I think of them often.
My wife was not a happy person when she found out that I had gone out in public enfemme. There were some tough conversations. She finally saw that I was not going to leave and become a full-fledged woman. I finally got her to come with me to a support meeting; I went in "boy mode". She got her first look at the rest of the TG world. After that we managed to go out with Lisa and Jamie a couple of times to dinner. What a blast it was to be out on the town with other TG girls.
Alas, change is a constant. We retired from our jobs and moved to NW Arkansas. Saying goodbye to my Sisters was a hard thing to do. We have found a TriEss group in Springfield Mo. (Sigma Mu) that supports couples. I think my wife has come to grips with Jamie. She still rolls her eyes sometimes when I come out of the bedroom completely dressed.
I have come to the point now that I want to be of assistance to others that are trying to come to grips with their "Femme self". All I can offer is a good ear and maybe some insights related to my past experiences.
If you have managed to read this complete story, God bless you. If there are any questions that you may have, please don’t hesitate to ask. I can assure you that anything said will stay confidential. I know what a wrong word to the wrong person can do to marriages and careers.
(look on the link to carry on reading)
Saturday 15 January 2011
Friday 14 January 2011
lea t
givenchys new model! transvestite? of course, so amazing how open she is, and shes stunning, look her up!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)