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Transgaf: 'cause boys will be girls (and vice versa)

Roquentin

Member
I want to make that clear - the guy is really cool and I'm 100% sure that his reaction would be different if he had thought about this before. My point is that society in general doesn't think/tries to learn about transgender people. People are afraid of what they don't understand. Who knows, I might have skipped this thread if it wasn't for Nip/Tuck and how it got me thinking.
 

Melchiah

Member
BiasedGamer said:
More like: "the girl I had such a great connection to doesn't exist and I don't want to have anything to do with her/him, because it's a guy and I like ladies.". It's not even the reaction itself that made me sad, but how immediate it was. Not even a second of consideration.

Shouldn't relationships be based on honesty? If the other party hides and lies about something as important as that, what future is there for that relationship? What if the guy wants to have kids of his own? It wouldn't be possible.
 

Flink

Member
I think a "I can't have kids" blurb on the first date could work, and then dropping the trans bomb a few dates down the line.

Even then I think most guys would bail out.
 

Melchiah

Member
Flink said:
I think a "I can't have kids" blurb on the first date could work, and then dropping the trans bomb a few dates down the line.

Even then I think most guys would bail out.

Naturally. We're built to abhor being with men in an intimate way. Eventhough he would be a she now, she was once a he, and she isn't a natural woman in many men's eyes.

And before anyone chooses to accuse me of something, I'm a transvestite myself, which my girlfriend gladly approves (she knew about it before we started dating).
 

Stridone

Banned
BiasedGamer said:
I want to make that clear - the guy is really cool and I'm 100% sure that his reaction would be different if he had thought about this before. My point is that society in general doesn't think/tries to learn about transgender people. People are afraid of what they don't understand. Who knows, I might have skipped this thread if it wasn't for Nip/Tuck and how it got me thinking.

I think that's bullshit. People can respect transgenders 100% and still not want to be in a relationship with one imo. I personally don't think I could feel attracted to a girl that was once male. Just something on an instinctive level that puts me off I guess. If I were ignorant though, the girls in this thread are allowed to fool me any time. :D
 

Jangaroo

Always the tag bridesmaid, never the tag bride.
Melchiah said:
Shouldn't relationships be based on honesty? If the other party hides and lies about something as important as that, what future is there for that relationship? What if the guy wants to have kids of his own? It wouldn't be possible.
I'd rather have the girl tell me up front that she's TG rather than having it slipped in some random conversation three months down the line.
Flink said:
I think a "I can't have kids" blurb on the first date could work, and then dropping the trans bomb a few dates down the line.
That'd be fine with me.
 

Jangaroo

Always the tag bridesmaid, never the tag bride.
Aigis said:
Himuro/Jangaroo, your avatars have me confused when you post. :(
Yeah I know. But with a discerning eye, you can tell who's who. It's like having twins.
 
ninj4junpei said:
So, I have been playing with the idea of me as a girl.

Have you only started thinking about this since this thread started? If you're in a vulnerable place in life at the moment it's easy to be susceptible to suggestion - I'm just a bit worried you might be announcing things about yourself that you'll realize in a few weeks aren't really right. I could be wrong - this could have been on your mind for years?

The key factor in whether you should transition or not should be whether or not you can *function* without doing it. If you can - don't put yourself through it. It's harder than you can imagine, even in best case scenarios. You can manage gender dysphoria, if it's not too extreme, without transitioning fully. You can get facial hair permanently removed, express your feminine side more through what you wear, how you act, how you talk, the activities you take part in, letting people know you identify with women and don't want to be included in "manly" things, part-time cross-dressing if that works for you - there are SO many options before you get to the point where you start taking hormones and get operations and change your entire life, test every relationship, go through unbelievable humiliation, and spend all your money on transition.

Transition only solves a few problems and creates a LOT of them. Those problems you're solving need to be HUGE ones to justify it. Transition is a bit like chemotherapy - it can save you from a fatal condition but it nearly kills you in the process. (Disclaimer: Being trans is not like having cancer, they're different things. It was just a metaphor.)

Definitely talk to your therapist about this, maybe get referred to a gender therapist (a specialist in this area.) Big hugs for being brave enough to talk about this openly though, and if this *is* you - being trans - then I'm really happy this thread has helped you start addressing it.
 

lexi

Banned
Jamie xxoo said:

Absolutely in every way, if it is merely a preference for you ninj4, it's much easier to be gender-queer than trans. Talking about it and exploring that side of you will help illuminate what is right for you though. :)
 

Rctdaemon

Member
ninj4junpei said:
Nice personal entry.
From someone in a situation similar to yours, welcome. Jamie already gave you all of the advice you will need for now, but there's one thing that I wanted to add. Since you're in university, it might behoove you to see if there is a psychiatrist on site that specializes in sexuality. I don't know if this is the case where you go, but the college that I'm currently attending has psychiatrists that are available for free, private consultations.

Whichever path you choose, good luck.
 

Shanadeus

Banned
Melchiah said:
Shouldn't relationships be based on honesty? If the other party hides and lies about something as important as that, what future is there for that relationship? What if the guy wants to have kids of his own? It wouldn't be possible.
I think the line "I wasn't born a woman" is pretty neat and something one could or maybe should say on the first date - making it easier to find someone with an open mind if you are honest, and maybe not as tough to say as "I'm transsexual".
 

lexi

Banned
wow, over 2500 posts. This thread is huge! I'm so happy it was a success and we're educating people and being all nice and friendly. :)
 
BiasedGamer said:
So, my friend and his (new) girlfriend came over tonight. We got a little drunk, we talked about various things. Since I've been thinking A LOT about this thread and the subject it presents, I asked him how he would've reacted if he had found out that the girl (which he gets along with extremely well) used to be a man. The answer from both of them was very quick, I would even say automatic. I probably don't have to tell you what it was. I know that it mostly comes from misunderstanding of transgender people, hell, it may be not far away from how I felt before reading this thread. Still, it makes me sad about the way things are. I can't believe how ignorant I used to be, and while I'm happy to see how GAF and this thread made me a better person, I suddenly want people around me to fully accept transgender people. Yet, I think it cannot be forced onto them - they have to come to this by themselves. But, it's not a subject we have EVER talked about before and I don't know how I could help to come to the right conclusion. I feel so powerless.

/End of rant. Time to sober up.

Thank you for having those feelings, it's good to know some people are out there feeling this way. =)

Shanadeus said:
I think the line "I wasn't born a woman" is pretty neat and something one could or maybe should say on the first date - making it easier to find someone with an open mind if you are honest, and maybe not as tough to say as "I'm transsexual".

But - I've *always* been a girl inside, people just didn't know because my genetics told them otherwise.

I think this is the key thing - I was NEVER a guy. I just looked like one and tried to act like one because that's what I was told to do. I consider it a genetic disorder that some girls get that lumps them with the wrong sexual characteristics (and vice versa for transguys).

I wish people would be able to get it out of their heads that someone like me is a guy who decided to be a girl one day. This has been with me my *whole life*. If only people could get that I doubt there'd be so much of a "I can't touch you" attitude.

As well as not being *right*, saying "I wasn't born a girl" is just such a shocking way to say it to someone. It goes straight to the "Oh god this makes me gay!" fear that men have in dating me. I don't think there *is* a short way to tell someone. There's a story that's human and real to get across.

I do agree though that it's best to be upfront and not bring it up after something's already begun. It's the best thing for both of us.
 
No, not from accounts I've heard. Some people don't figure it out for quite a while. They just have a feeling of "wrongness" that they can't identify until one day it hits them.

Edit: I had some pretty strong indicators, like seeing myself as a girl in my dreams from the earliest age I can remember, and having the thought "I wish I had been born a girl" just about very day until I buried those thoughts as shameful in my teens. Not everyone gets such obvious clues.
 
Yep, that's right , no argument there.

But I would consider that "secondary" type to have been female from birth as well, just unaware of it.
 

Stackboy

Member
Hows your job hunt going lexi? Cool to hear you are moving in with your family!

More importantly (because we are Gaf), what games are you playing?
 

lexi

Banned
Hey Stacky :)

It's not exactly going very well. My interview last Friday was a shambles, my interviewer was late, he asked me to email him and I kept getting bounced emails, etc. Just really unprofessional and I never heard back.

I'm really very boring with the games I play. Lately I've just been playing through Half Life 2, Portal and occasionally TF2. I would be way too scared to play LFD2, mainly because I'd probably suck and get raged at.
 

Alfarif

This picture? uhh I can explain really!
lexi said:
Hey Stacky :)

It's not exactly going very well. My interview last Friday was a shambles, my interviewer was late, he asked me to email him and I kept getting bounced emails, etc. Just really unprofessional and I never heard back.

I'm really very boring with the games I play. Lately I've just been playing through Half Life 2, Portal and occasionally TF2. I would be way too scared to play LFD2, mainly because I'd probably suck and get raged at.

I'll play L4D2 with you once Steam is on Mac. We can both get raged at together, since I've never played.

Any of the new people have Last.FM? Here's mine if you're interested: http://www.last.fm/user/Alfarif347
 
Speaking of gender roles, I was walking my 5-year old niece to the park today and we passed a house that used to be pink, but has been painted gray recently. "Look honey, they painted their house!" I said. "A boy must live there now." she said.

Then the other day she drew a few pictures, and she decided they were presents for me. She has a couple of folders she keeps pictures in that she does for people. "Yours goes in the RED folder, 'cause you're a girl (red is close to pink I guess). Pa's pictures go in the BLUE folder, 'cause he's a boy."

This has come up a million times since I've been here - she has a real "all girls like pink"/"all boys like blue thing" and try to raise any idea that some boys might like pink or some girls might like blue and she just repeats "Yeah but girls like pink." She's just latched onto this at some point and wow is it fixed in place. Looking at her room it's easy to see why - it's just a SEA of pink. Even the walls are painted pink. She's obsessed with the color and the fact that it represents girls.

Makes me see how early we take on arbitrary gender-appropriate behavior and how ingrained it becomes. I mean, what's "female" about pink if you take away the cultural context? It's just so interesting.

On a side note we went to the park because I was starting to feel like I was avoiding going out in public since I came here to Small Town Nowhere. We walked to the park, said hello to several people on the way, then went to my brother's cafe where I stood and talked to him for half an hour while customers came and went, and then we walked home again passing a bunch of other people. Feeling pretty empowered against my anxiety now. =D
 

Stackboy

Member
I don't see anything wrong with a 5 year old thinking those ideals. They live in a pretty simple world. It seems best not to complicate things further than that.

Not picking a fight, just seems easier to keep things simple with kids that age.

Good luck with the job hunt too lexi, I'll play some L4D2 with you sometime. There is no shame in sticking to the Valve brand ;)
 

lexi

Banned
Stackboy said:
Good luck with the job hunt too lexi, I'll play some L4D2 with you sometime. There is no shame in sticking to the Valve brand ;)

Valve are awesome. I just wish they'd hurry up and get Steam on Mac.
 
Just got the best news - my new birth certificate was rushed through and sent off in the mail on Friday! Will have it this week! Yays! =D

I'm a bit behind on these valve games - I only just started playing Half Life 2 and Portal for the first time a few weeks ago and I'm barely an hour into each of them. For all the hype I'm liking HL2 the best out of both of them! Lexi was spoilering me all up and down the place a few nights ago as I was playing and telling her where I was up to LOL.
 

lexi

Banned
Jamie xxoo said:
Just got the best news - my new birth certificate was rushed through and sent off in the mail on Friday! Will have it this week! Yays! =D
I already gave my elation in a chat but congratulations again!!! I'm expecting mine in a few weeks :D

I'm a bit behind on these valve games - I only just started playing Half Life 2 and Portal for the first time a few weeks ago and I'm barely an hour into each of them. For all the hype I'm liking HL2 the best out of both of them! Lexi was spoilering me all up and down the place a few nights ago as I was playing and telling her where I was up to LOL.
lol, she would be like 'yay I just shot a bridge!' and I would proceed to describe the next 10 minutes of gameplay with glee. Half Life is awesome.
 

Alfarif

This picture? uhh I can explain really!
Jamie xxoo said:
Just got the best news - my new birth certificate was rushed through and sent off in the mail on Friday! Will have it this week! Yays! =D

I'm a bit behind on these valve games - I only just started playing Half Life 2 and Portal for the first time a few weeks ago and I'm barely an hour into each of them. For all the hype I'm liking HL2 the best out of both of them! Lexi was spoilering me all up and down the place a few nights ago as I was playing and telling her where I was up to LOL.

DO NOT LET LEXI SPOIL HL2 FOR YOU! I swear to god, I will have to HURT someone if you get spoiled on anything involving that game. The experience is SO WORTH IT.

Oh god, until you finish that game, you better just sit in a dark room somewhere with access to NOTHING but that game.
 

Alfarif

This picture? uhh I can explain really!
lexi said:
I already gave my elation in a chat but congratulations again!!! I'm expecting mine in a few weeks :D


lol, she would be like 'yay I just shot a bridge!' and I would proceed to describe the next 10 minutes of gameplay with glee. Half Life is awesome.

Lexi, seriously, do NOT spoil HL2, Ep 1, OR Ep2 for her! This game was one of those "I can NOT believe that this is a GAME" type of games because of what it DOES. DON'T SPOIL IT! Oh gooooooood! We gotta barricade Jamie in her room until she finishes! AAAAH!
 
Alfarif said:
Lexi, seriously, do NOT spoil HL2, Ep 1, OR Ep2 for her! This game was one of those "I can NOT believe that this is a GAME" type of games because of what it DOES. DON'T SPOIL IT! Oh gooooooood! We gotta barricade Jamie in her room until she finishes! AAAAH!

OMG, dude, calm down. LOL.

I have the whole day to myself tomorrow (until 3pm anyway) with no kids so I'm going to have a play session then.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Jamie xxoo said:
Just got the best news - my new birth certificate was rushed through and sent off in the mail on Friday! Will have it this week! Yays! =D

I'm a bit behind on these valve games - I only just started playing Half Life 2 and Portal for the first time a few weeks ago and I'm barely an hour into each of them. For all the hype I'm liking HL2 the best out of both of them! Lexi was spoilering me all up and down the place a few nights ago as I was playing and telling her where I was up to LOL.

Hit up some TF2.
 

Alfarif

This picture? uhh I can explain really!
Jamie xxoo said:
OMG, dude, calm down. LOL.

I have the whole day to myself tomorrow (until 3pm anyway) with no kids so I'm going to have a play session then.

You should poop sock it and finish all of it in one go. ZOMGZ! :lol

Himuro said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrSvTuyuUB8

I'M SO SORRY. I hadn't used a crouch + jump in like 5 years.

Is this a future video of me? Oh god...
 

lexi

Banned
A single player game hardly requires poop socking.

Doing ZG, MC, BWL, AQ20, AQ40, and 3 of the world dragons in one day is when you probably need to look to that. /oldschoolwownerd
 

Alfarif

This picture? uhh I can explain really!
Original AQ40 and ZG... ugh... I lost parts of my life during that time. Never EVER again.
 

lexi

Banned
So earlier I was saying I was expecting my certificate in a few weeks, IT ARRIVED TODAY! like 4 weeks ahead of schedule!

I had it sent to my Mom's place cause I was certain it would have taken so long and I'd have moved out of my current place... And she ONLY tells me at like 11:20pm that there's a letter for me from Births, Deaths and Marriages. I tell her to 'OPEN IT!!!' and she says ok.

Fifteen minutes later with her not answering the phone or ANYTHING she says she has fallen down the stairs. (I'm convinced I'm being punked at this point) but says YES it's the certificate and it's here and it's done and it's official! Oh and my mom's okay btw :lol

Talk about Anticlimactic! But I'm officially Lexi now!

I'm going over to pick it up tomorrow, so it'll be really really official then, when I have it in my hands.
 

Cetra

Member
Thats awesome, Lexi! *high fives* :D

Himuro said:
I'm sorry, I identified with the comic immediately due to the ritalin remark. :lol
I was kinda like "WTF" until I got to the "Want to play trucks?" and I lost it. So random. :lol
 

Alfarif

This picture? uhh I can explain really!
lexi said:
So earlier I was saying I was expecting my certificate in a few weeks, IT ARRIVED TODAY! like 4 weeks ahead of schedule!

I had it sent to my Mom's place cause I was certain it would have taken so long and I'd have moved out of my current place... And she ONLY tells me at like 11:20pm that there's a letter for me from Births, Deaths and Marriages. I tell her to 'OPEN IT!!!' and she says ok.

Fifteen minutes later with her not answering the phone or ANYTHING she says she has fallen down the stairs. (I'm convinced I'm being punked at this point) but says YES it's the certificate and it's here and it's done and it's official! Oh and my mom's okay btw :lol

Talk about Anticlimactic! But I'm officially Lexi now!

I'm going over to pick it up tomorrow, so it'll be really really official then, when I have it in my hands.

Well hello there Official Lexi. Congratumalations!
 

Shanadeus

Banned
Jamie xxoo said:
But - I've *always* been a girl inside, people just didn't know because my genetics told them otherwise.

I think this is the key thing - I was NEVER a guy. I just looked like one and tried to act like one because that's what I was told to do. I consider it a genetic disorder that some girls get that lumps them with the wrong sexual characteristics (and vice versa for transguys).

I wish people would be able to get it out of their heads that someone like me is a guy who decided to be a girl one day. This has been with me my *whole life*. If only people could get that I doubt there'd be so much of a "I can't touch you" attitude.

As well as not being *right*, saying "I wasn't born a girl" is just such a shocking way to say it to someone. It goes straight to the "Oh god this makes me gay!" fear that men have in dating me. I don't think there *is* a short way to tell someone. There's a story that's human and real to get across.

I do agree though that it's best to be upfront and not bring it up after something's already begun. It's the best thing for both of us.

Of course you gotta bring it up in a way you find most comfortable, I just went with that line because I thought it rolled of the tongue pretty sweet when I saw it in an interview with someone that had fully transitioned. Whether you just mention it as you get to know each other more and more or just put it out there (with my example being rather shocking, I know) before things has even started is of course completely dependent on how you are as a person.

Ideally, you shouldn't be "obligated" to mention your biological disorders to anyone you are dating - someone that is infertile won't be going around and saying they can't get kids either on the first date so bringing that up as an argument for being upfront is just plain wrong. It should just be something you are prepared to deal with if you like someone enough.

But until then you have to halt or pause a potentially nice thing you have going on with this one person that's genuinely alright, but just has some hangups probably put in place and enforced by stereotypes and societal views, instead of just going on naturally without having to think about how to bring up ones condition.

It's really their loss if they don't want to be with a girl as funny or attractive as you simply because of their close-mindedness and lack of independent thoughts, keep that in mind if you were to encounter someone using your disorder as an excuse not to see where things might go.

This has come up a million times since I've been here - she has a real "all girls like pink"/"all boys like blue thing" and try to raise any idea that some boys might like pink or some girls might like blue and she just repeats "Yeah but girls like pink." She's just latched onto this at some point and wow is it fixed in place. Looking at her room it's easy to see why - it's just a SEA of pink. Even the walls are painted pink. She's obsessed with the color and the fact that it represents girls.

Makes me see how early we take on arbitrary gender-appropriate behavior and how ingrained it becomes. I mean, what's "female" about pink if you take away the cultural context? It's just so interesting.

What's really interesting is how we went from viewing blue as a "girls colour" and pink as stereotypical male to the reverse, it's so randomly arbitrary that I cannot underpin a reason for the change.

wiki yay said:
In Western culture, the practice of assigning pink to an individual gender began in the 1920s. From then until the 1940s, pink was considered appropriate for boys because being related to red it was the more masculine and decided color, while blue was considered appropriate for girls because it was the more delicate and dainty color, or related to the Virgin Mary. Since the 1940s, the societal norm was inverted; pink became considered appropriate for girls and blue appropriate for boys, a practice that has continued into the 21st century.

Lexi: Nothing as sweet as it being official, congrats!
 

mollipen

Member
Been trying to figure out how to jump back into this thread (since I've missed a lot), so why not go for the recent "scandalous" question!

Oh, and really great to hear on the "being official" fronts for both Jamie and Lexi!

Instigator said:
Pre-op people...

I'm wondering, what do you do when you're horny? Say you got blue balls, do you relieve yourselves or maybe get frisky with a significant other? I know it's silly to ask, but if you don't like the genitals you currently have, maybe you'd be trying to avoid using them altogether.

If not, then what about apprehension with whatever operation you would get down there in the future could jeopardize your sexual pleasure?

Sex, at this point, is pretty much worthless to me. I get almost no enjoyment from it.

...okay, sure, that's a terrible answer, but I suppose there are still some things I'm a little antsy about talking about publicly.

Well, I guess I will say one other thing, since I've never had any reservation in admitting this: I have never, ever enjoyed being on the receiving end of oral sex using the parts I was given. I mean, okay, I'm sure there have been a few times that I did like it, but pretty much every memory I have of being in that position has been of me being utterly bored.

When I came to find out how much men covet having that done to them, I started to think that maybe something might be up with me. *laughs*
 

Alfarif

This picture? uhh I can explain really!
shidoshi said:
Well, I guess I will say one other thing, since I've never had any reservation in admitting this: I have never, ever enjoyed being on the receiving end of oral sex using the parts I was given. I mean, okay, I'm sure there have been a few times that I did like it, but pretty much every memory I have of being in that position has been of me being utterly bored.

When I came to find out how much men covet having that done to them, I started to think that maybe something might be up with me. *laughs*

I'm being overly nosy, and you don't have to answer, but would you see satisfaction in that if you had female genitalia?
 

mollipen

Member
Alfarif said:
I'm being overly nosy, and you don't have to answer, but would you see satisfaction in that if you had female genitalia?

Well, the problem is, I can say "yeah, sure, I'd love it," but until I actually had said part and was able to take it for a test drive, there's absolutely no way I could know. If I had to make a guess however, do I think I'd enjoy sex more with the other set of equipment? Absolutely!

For now, all I know for sure is what I've got and my feelings concerning such things. It's like I'm playing Street Fighter IV and all I have unlocked are shitty characters like Blanka, Dhalsim, and Zhangief.
 
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