Most of us have been there at some point and how we have dealt with the emotions from then on has defined us. Our newest addition to T-Central, Gwen started her blog early this month. Her admission in that first post reads like a manifesto for many of us.
I particularly enjoyed her post “where is this all going”, a good place to start; a very straight-forward post that lays it all out there.
thanks so much for the shout-out to my blog! My circle of friends has just grown exponentially!
ReplyDeleteI love your site-it's a wonderful anchor for all of us looking for connections, information and understanding. don't ever stop!
xoxo
gwen
I'd love to follow gwen's journey but like so many others lately it seems to be private! i use to read leslie's blog too, but then she made hers private as well! wtf!!!
ReplyDeleteDani, it doesn't come up as private for me. What I do see is a content warning, so that you have to click "accept" or whatever it says in order to get to the blog itself.
ReplyDeletePlease let us know if it still appears private to you.
My question to all of you is this.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the answer? Gwen sounds like what could be described, (as she/he self-describes), as a full blown cross-dresser, complete with purges and extended periods of repression. For me this is a gross over simplification.
As you all, and I, well know, there is something MAJOR going on here, and as Callie pointed out, what we each, as individuals, "do about it", is what defines us. It also affects our lives and the lives of those around us at the most basic level.
I mean, go back and read the guest blogs. Then, read deeper into the individual stories of pain, pathos and sacrifice. Read about the families lost or forever transformed; of careers at risk or forever destroyed.
Many who have transitioned will attest to the fact that it was worth the price. I have a feeling though, that there could potentially be many more who do not make public their tragic losses.
Occassionally a high profile suicide will make the news as happened with Christine Daniels. More often than not I suspect, the tragedies go down quietly, affecting only those closest to the victim, as was the case of Carina, just this past year.
My main point is this. The "system" for diagnosis and treatment of GD or GID or however one cares to define or "label" that incongruence in how we see ourselves and how we are actually PHYSICALLY BUILT, is simply NOT working.
For some of us, a sadly, paltry few, self-awareness comes early and appropriate steps are taken to mitigate the "problem". We are the ones that are rarely heard from because we transitioned and moved seamlessly into mainstream society with little drama or trauma.
I realize that there is a huge arguement abounding about the web concerning the "trueness" or "differences" or "hierarchies". I really DO NOT want to go there.
I began researching the current state of affairs in the TG world about 4 years ago when the Susan Stanton story hit the news. I was dismayed and not a little surprised that so little had changed in the almost 40 years since I had quietly transitioned via HRT and GRS.
I was further dismayed to find that rather than state of the art improvements in diagnosis, treatment, and surgical techniques, the entire situation had devolved into political and academic power struggles, with the individual sufferers used as fodder for researchers and political "activists".
Clearly there must/should be some different approaches to cases like "Gwens" who has a classic case of autogynophilia, and finds obvious relief by cross dressing, and say Callie or Hallie whose very identity seems in question.
I tried to figure this out 40 years ago, when I was confronted with the same such difficult issues. I knew when I was 5 years old that I would grow up to be a woman. Even though I had no idea how or why and my life was full of doubts, I have to admit that it was my Faith in God that pulled me through,
I am no closer to the answers now than I was then. Fortunately, the choices I made worked well, FOR ME. That is why I am here. I am "one of those" who have gone before. I have "walked the walk." I have witnessed the mistakes of others as well as those that I have made myself.
I am here to tell you that after 40 years as a woman, I rarely wear pantihose. I will if the weather or the occasion require or permit it, but I have absolutely no need or desire to "slip into" something sexy, unless it is to arouse some special interest in my husband. And then whatever I put on to arouse his interest cannot come off fast enough.
What you have Gwen is a fetish. Enjoy it. Revel in it. Just do not allow it to destroy your marriage or your family. If you have to, find a "special" circle of friends where you can be yourself.
If your wife "suspects" then perhaps you should discuss it with her, but to not expect her to "accept the womyn in you". She married a man, not a woman.