So, I have a bit of a confession to make.
Yes, I have transgender feelings and tendencies. Yes, a lot of the things our culture tells us are "guy" traits don't fit me at all, and I score 55/86/70 (masculine/feminine/andro) on the BEM sex role inventory. But like I said when I started this blog, I do like some stuff that's often considered stereotypically male: video games (though not the ultra-violent stuff like Call of Duty), and superhero comic books.
Of course, these things aren't really limited to the male gender, but you maybe don't see them as often with transwomen. Which was why I was so happy to discover Morgan McCormick! Morgan started a blog and YouTube channel a couple of years ago, and while she's not the most prolific of bloggers/vloggers, I love her, if for no other reason than that she's a devoted gamer and unapologetic geek! She's also much less preoccupied with sex than many (most) of the transpeople on YouTube, so I appreciate that about her too.
Anyway, this blog isn't about her, specifically. It's more about the fact that she and others like her exist, making me feel more like my passion for geeky stuff doesn't make me any less authentic in my trans-ness. So, if you see some of that sort of stuff pop up here on the blog (or over on my Google Plus) from time to time, now you know why. :)
I've met a ton of females that like sports, video games, comic books, etc. Also, almost every trans person I've talked to has male and female traits. It's actually perfectly normal for a transwoman to be more stereotypically 'masculine' than the average female simply because we have had more time and pressure to explore these facets of our lives and we didn't experience the pressure cisgendered females experience not to do things like play video games. The fact of the matter is everyone does! Remember stereotypes say nothing about the individual they only state trends we find in thousands.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'm not sure I've ever heard of a transwoman or a woman who is realistically 100% feminine, and it's perfectly okay and normal.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I like the new dynamic view applied to your site.
ReplyDeleteOh, and all that in my first comment was really just my attempt to justify the fact that I'm a transgirl geek too ; )
ReplyDeleteI agree! Everyone has both masculine and feminine; I just find it funny that many (most?) MtF transwomen seem to go through this phase where they try really hard to embrace all things femme. A friend on Google+ calls it "the Barbie phase," which seems like a good title for a blog entry... ;)
ReplyDeleteHi again you two, I am hopefully going to skip the whole Barbie phase as you describe it, although I did love playing Barbies with my sisters as a kid, except when my Dad was around, and my youngest daughter still engages me in great Barbie play from time to time.
ReplyDeleteI have pondered many times if my love of baseball and old cars and trucks is good feminine stuff or not, but they represent two of the few happy things associated with an otherwise difficult, turbulent and chaotic childhood.
My love of baseball has also transferred to all my children including my daughters and it seems to transcend gender and generations. Old cars was the one positive link I had to my Dad who wasn't ever very pleased with any of the other interests I developed in life.
I am glad the bandwidth (geek term for you two) is wide enough for all our varied interests! Laurie.
Well said, Laurie. And for the record, I've known plenty of cis-girls who are into baseball, and any (righteous) connections we can make with our parents and children based on shared interests are connections worth valuing and preserving.
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