androgynous model pejic
Feb

16

Beyond Gender

Health and Beauty / Politics and Opinion / Transgender Life  Posted by / 6 comments

Most people agree that there is male and there is female, and with the exception of a precious few folks on this planet, everyone is either one gender or the other.

Then came Andrej Pejic, called by New York Magazine “The Prettiest Boy in the World. (http://nymag.com/fashion/11/fall/andrej-pejic/ )” His androgyny is well-known, being that he models high fashion for both genders, but what’s more interesting is that he says that his gender is entirely a matter of perception and, that professionally, he has left his gender open to artistic interpretation.

“It’s not like, ‘Okay, today I want to look like a man, or today I want to look like a woman,’ ” he says. “I want to look like me. It just so happens that some of the things I like are feminine.”

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accommodation
Feb

12

Accommodation – Mitigating Factors and Being Me

Introspection / Transgender Life  Posted by / 2 comments

The recent implosion of my yaoi gender identity project (as described here) deserves just a little more attention.

My attempt at an androgynous presentation was shot down in no uncertain terms by a family member – which was somewhat shocking considering the contrast to the reactions, or rather lack of reaction, from close friends.

But there was an important distinction.

The family member in question KNOWS about Janie. And my androgynous appearance was in circumstances where we had agreed Janie would not appear.

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gender identity distinction
Feb

09

Gender Identity Distinction – Theory Meets Reality

Introspection / Transgender Life  Posted by / 6 comments

As much as theoretically I saw a helpful gender identity distinction at the boundary-line between male and female, I have found the distinction difficult to sustain on the ground.

For me to behave in a feminine manner, I have to channel a distinctly female energy within myself. I am not able to become a feminine man other than by seeing the world from as female a perspective as I can muster, and then stepping back over the line by filtering out certain clothes.

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gender identity distinctions crushed and bulldozed
Feb

06

Fine Gender Identity Distinctions Are All in My Mind

Out in the World / Transgender Life  Posted by / 5 comments

It seemed to me an awfully big deal to finally see the possibility of expressing my feminine gender identity as a man rather than as a woman. (See Trying on the Yaoi Gender Mix for Size and A New Take on My Male Gender Identity for more.)

I have expressed concerns about the latter, feeling to some degree, inauthentic, or put on. And, I have expressed the opinion that as long as I stay on the male side of the coin, the degree of my femininity is merely a question of fashion and therefore not subject to the same kinds of reactions and objections as gender questions might be.

Well, I didn’t get very far along this yaoi road before reality – at least my reality – stepped squarely in my path.

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cleavage
Feb

05

The Illusion of Cleavage

Health and Beauty / Transgender Life  Posted by / 3 comments

Seems that the male of the species has a pre-occupation with the bosom of the female – and the publicly viewable part of it, i.e., cleavage. For my part – if I still get a vote – I have never been all that interested in that part of the female anatomy – nice enough, but I generally have found that it is thin women who generally don’t have much there, y’know model types, who tend to catch my eye. Funnily enough, GF is quite buxom. Oh well, I’ll make do. 😉

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tempting fate - gender identity
Feb

04

Gender Identity – Tempting Fate

Health and Beauty / Transgender Life  Posted by / 6 comments

I followed up my performance at that last party by wearing the same teal green booties with white pants and a women’s casual top (and even a bit of mascara) to a dinner party with some of the same friends.

Again nothing.

At one point in the evening, we were discussing some celebrities, and one of the women mentioned that she didn’t like the way Brad Pitt looked with long hair. Too greasy, too droopy, no body – just didn’t look right.

“Maybe they thought that if they gave his hair more body, he’d look too feminine,” I piped in helpfully.

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teal booties with men's pants
Feb

02

On Gender Change – Hair’s the Thing

Health and Beauty / Transgender Life  Posted by / 10 comments

I think one of the most profound realizations that came to me in the course of considering the whole yaoi thing was the idea that I have been taking for granted the effect that the changes to my hair (both on my head – where the change is to more and longer – and on my body, where the change is to less and none) have achieved already.

I have been thinking so much about the effects that I might have to encounter if people I knew found out that I was a feminine man or even a part-time female, or whichever way we decide to characterize what it is that I am or do.

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snow capped fire red heels and mini skirt
Feb

01

Men and Their Heels

Health and Beauty / Transgender Life  Posted by / 4 comments

I just thought I’d direct your attention to an interesting article from the BBC entitled “Why Did Men Stop Wearing High Heels?”

For the uninitiated, it seems that men used to have long hair, wear flowing, frilly clothes, and yes, high heels. At times, this was done for functional reasons; other times, it was to signify wealth and class.

Equally interesting is that high heels were out of fashion for a time for both genders.

It was not only designers but changing gender and class roles and social mores that influenced who wore the pants… or stilettos… in the family.

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gender identity unifying theory
Jan

24

Gender Identity – Unifying Theory

Introspection / Transgender Life  Posted by / 4 comments

I obviously recognize that whatever I have done or wanted to do as a woman – or, on the other hand, as a man, “I” (as in the whole of me) did or wanted to do. And, despite genuinely feeling that these were two distinct and separate parts of me, I always felt just a little fraudulent implying with my separate personas that I was somehow two separate people. I was not and am not suffering from multiple personality disorder, I have always been fully aware of both sides of myself, I knew I had but one body, one brain, one heart.

In short, regardless of how it’s framed, whether a feminine male or two personas, I must “own” all of it.

My increasing realization that Janie is me and I am Janie, and that I was never comfortable with the logical flaw in seeing myself as two people has led me to try to find a way to make it all one.

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Jan

21

Are Gender and Sexuality Related?

Sexuality and Fantasy / Transgender Life  Posted by / 9 comments

The always insightful and elegantly expressed Petra Bellejambes, whom I am proud to count as a friend, pointed out recently the separateness of gender and sexuality, at least for her.

Our feminine experience alters us to varying degrees. Some are exactly the same person regardless of gender expression. Some find gentler and subtler aspects of themselves in their femininity, and even use that as a way of improving their male selves.

Some transform only for sex; for others, sex does not play a part at all.

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