GenderEvolve - Transgender Transformation

A dear transgender friend confided in me about steps she is taking to become more feminine in appearance, including a planned first visit to the doctor to inquire about hormone therapy. She asked my opinion whether it's ok to be on female hormones without knowing for sure whether to live full time as a woman. Here's what I told her, plus a bit more... While no one but you can say what's right for you, I think being true to yourself is step #1. Not everyone else will agree with your decisions, yet you are the only person who must live within your skin, so you are the only person who can decide what makes you happy. Don't let anyone tell you this is selfish, because it's not. Once you are happy within yourself, you will overflow with positive energy which benefits everyone else around you. As the happiest person you can be, you will bring forth joy and harmony to others. My opinion is that gender is not binary, not just male OR female. The rainbow in-between the two g...

(Reprinted from briannaaustin.com) Too many times the TG community gets dumped on. Whether it is by an internally frustrated homophobic alpha male, a catty gay man, a mean spirited Lesbian woman or just a clueless tourist, the community does endure more than it’s share of crap. But, are we perpetual victims? Do we need to be? This past September there was quite an incident at East of Eighth, a neighborhood bar & restaurant at 254 West 23rd Street in New York City. I know the place quite well. I used to co/own, promote and host a trans-party there once a month. We would convert the upstairs restaurant into a trans-party that usually drew between 100 – 160 people on the 2nd Saturday of each month. The party often spilled into the down stairs bar where Jack was pouring drinks, and it was a great time. My friends and I would go to the downstairs bar every week, usually Friday and/or Saturday to start off our evening, before heading into the night for clubs unknown. We liked the staf...

By Jillian A. Bogater Originally printed 10/26/2006 (Issue 1443 - Between The Lines News) "Trans Gender Liberation: A Movement Whose Time Has Come" by Leslie Feinberg It was during the Stonewall riots of 1969 that acclaimed author and trans activist Leslie Feinberg came out. During this time of war and unemployment, Feinberg began a long journey as a warrior in identity politics. Some 36 years later, the country's political and economic climate is similar, and Feinberg is still on the front lines fighting for freedom of gender expression. Feinberg straddles the lines of defined gender - preferring to use neutral pronouns such as hir and sie - and has dedicated hir life to challenging transgender bias. Feinberg will talk about hir new novel "Drag King Dreams" and address the struggle for trans liberation in an era of war, racism and reaction tonight at Wayne State University. At a recent talk at the Workers World Party office in Detroit, Feinberg spoke about gend...

In a recent article in Newsday , a writer asks advise on how to deal with a male-to-female transsexual that is in transition at work. The writer, a man, was taken back and uncomfortable when "Karen" exited the men's room. I had to laugh because usualy the yells are from TSs using the ladies room, as if transwomen were somehow invading and violating holy ground. We've all been reading about such confrontations nationwide. Why "Karen" was in the men's room is any one's guess; perhaps it was company policy, perhaps being known at work previously as a man she was trying not to intrude into the ladies room until her transition was complete. But it does make one wonder what the eventual solution will be. Perhaps if we all just start peeing in the hallways the "normal" people will allow us to finally use a restroom without screaming foul. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: "Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund announced Monday that it has reach...

Click here for Carly Fiorina's own comments about being publicly fired from her position as CEO of Hewlett Packard Maureen Dowd, New York Times October 15, 2006 CARLY Fiorina prided herself on being adept at succeeding in a man's world without whining about sexism. In her new memoir, "Tough Choices," the expelled CEO of Hewlett-Packard - the first female head of a Fortune 20 company - describes how she insisted on going along to a business meeting at a Washington strip club when she started out as an ambitious young woman at AT&T. "I was scared to death," she writes, adding that she wore her most conservative dress-for-success business suit and little bow tie, carried her briefcase like "a shield of honor" and repeated the mantra, "I am a professional woman," even when her cabdriver asked her if she was the new act for the club, where babes in see-through negligees danced on tables. "In a show of empathy that brings tears to my e...

By Molly Moore, The Washington Post MADRID — When María Teresa Fernández de la Vega graduated from law school in the 1970s, Spanish law banned her — and any other woman — from becoming a judge, serving as a witness in court or opening a bank account. Today, the angular, outspoken 57-year-old is Spain's first female vice president, helping orchestrate a cultural revolution in the boardrooms and living rooms of the country that coined the word machismo — male chauvinism — five centuries ago. "We have a prime minister who not only says he's a feminist — he acts like a feminist," Fernández said. "In two-and-one-half years, we have done more than has ever been done in such a short time in Spain." Her Socialist government is requiring political parties to allot 40 percent of their candidate lists to women and is telling big companies to give women 40 percent of the seats on corporate boards. Half of Prime Minister José Luis Rodríquez Zapatero's Cabinet members...

One of the eternally recurring themes for the ambigendered (sorry, my term. It is intended to replace "transvestite" or "crossdresser" and refers to those who desire to and are, to a greater or lesser degree, skilled at presenting themselves as the opposite gender), is the idea of "moving forward." We all experience frustration when we perceive that we are not progressing towards our goal, or worse, that further progress is not possible. And what is the goal of the ambigendered male: to occasionally experience femininity as fully and completely as possible. Let me make an argument which was recently inspired by reviewing Aristotelian philosophy.The first premise is that our desired goal is impossible to reach. We transsomethings, by definition, cannot fully experience life as a woman. Certainly, we can attain some level of feminine experiences with varying degrees of success (and indeed those varying levels of success often cause frustration for many). Mor...

by Ellen Sherman Every Fall, several hundred traditional husbands, fathers and businessmen come together in Provincetown for Fantasia Fair with parties, seminars and workshops exploring the thorny issue of how to buy the right wig and hide a 5 o'clock shadow with the foundation and blush-on. Heterosexual married men from suburbia with families who cross-dress? What's going on? Apparently a much more common practice than most people would imagine. It's estimated that at least %1 of the male population crossdresses. And even as we approach the 21st Century, the idea of a heterosexual man in heels is still more than a little threatening. And confusing even for the crossdressers themselves. As JoAnn Roberts, founder of Renaissance, a Delaware Valley crossdressing support group of over 400 said" I knew growing up that I wasn't gay and I was heterosexual. I thought I might be crazy, but I knew I wasn't gay." Crossdressing is a subject that's been universally...

Just a quick note to pass along a reference for anyone seeking interesting films on trangender issues (as well as many other documentaries). Their titles include "Col. Jin Xing: China's Most Emblematic Transsexual", "Juchitan Queer Paradise", "The Remarkable Story of John/Joan", "Adventures in the Gender Trade", "Metamorphosis" and "Paradise Bent". Filmakers Library can be located at www.filmakers.com .