...I must visit the loo...

Just what I needed! Thanks! 

Take a moment and think: isn't this brilliant? If they want to take our money, they'd better accommodate our personal needs. 

...50 shades of gay...

As the title mentions, it is very difficult to define who we really are if we belong to the GLBT community. But, should we share how we feel with others? Of course we should. If people like us, they will understand. Otherwise what's the point of them being called 'friends' anyway? 

Would you openly mention on social media that you are GLBT? That's entirely up to you and how you feel that other react to your identity. I dream of the day that our gender issues will be as open as our political views, when networking.

Maybe we should start from somewhere...

...Gender...

 

Time to realise that housekeeping is not "women's work". 

Time to realise that a woman / trans/ etc/ can earn more than a man. 


Time to realise that true love has no gender.

Time to realise that not all doctors are men. 

Time to realise that a trans individual can be a model in fashion shows. 

Time to realise that a trans person can teach in college. 

Time to realise that gay people have a better sense of humour than you do. 

Time to realise that a lesbian can love a woman more than you love your wife...

Time to realise...

Time to realise...

The beauty in this world is...

...that we are all different!

...Knitting a pet blanket...

I have recently started knitting. I can knit the basics (garter stitch, pearl stitch, yarn over, 2tog, like lace). 

I made a garter stitch blanket for my cat (picture). It's a simple garter stitch, easy to make. You may ask 'why do you knit if you have a manly attitude?'. If yes, watch this video on youtube. 

...A transgender 6 year old child...

This is the story of Ryland, a transgender 6 year old child who was born with a female body and a 'male' mind. His parents, luckily, realised that something was wrong and took action before it was too late.

Excluding the mention of god (which I find simply irrelevant), this is a lovely video, and even my childfree, dislike-all-things-kids persona would happily watch it for a second time (but not for a third time).

Watch the video...

...Feeling like a man...

Have you ever thought of how one can feel like a man when *she* has the body of a woman, albeit a few more male hormones than normal?

And how about *her* expectations? Society requires women to behave in a certain manner. But a woman with a manly attitude means that she speaks a bit funny, she is effectively like a bloke you have a pint with, in the pub on a Saturday night... 

Well, wrong! 

Forget about all you know about these stereotypes. Un-label people, don't call us lesbians, trans, queers... Even calling myself a 'third gender' raises the chances of misconception.

Everyone's unique, the way we express our gender reflects our personality. It also reflects social taboos around the world, but I am not willing to compromise. I am not a social product. I am a selfish 'activist', someone who crosses the border even if she feels like she is going to get shot. If you feel like you want to punish me, please do. Sooner or later times will change, whether you want it or not.

...Third gender...

Third gender. Not a man, not a woman. Simply 'other' gender. 

Wikipedia states  

'To different cultures or individuals, a third gender may represent an intermediate state between man and woman, a state of being both (such as "the spirit of a man in the body of a woman"), the state of being neither (neuter), the ability to cross or swap genders, another category altogether independent of men and women'.

No matter how you define yourself, you are who you are. Be proud of yourself!

Some famous people or groups of people who define/d themselves as 'third gender' (or they were defined by society as such) are

• South African sprinter Caster Semenya
• boxer Nong Tum
• the hijras of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. 
• the Sworn virgins of the Balcans
• the Fa'afafine

No matter where you are in the world, you are not alone. Society, polity, everyone, MUST learn to respect you.

Read also 'Third Gender – Equality and Truth'
Recent legislation changes in Germany

From wikipedia,  Anna P., who lived for many years as a man in Germany, was photographed for Magnus Hirschfeld's book Sexual Intermediates in 1922.

...A woman with a beard...

I recall a phrase from a favourite book of mine: 'Middlesex', by Jeffrey Eugenides. I read this book 7 years ago - and I found it fascinating. On page 1 (I think) he writes:

Beauty is sometimes freakish.  

Was I a 'girly' girl when I was young? Not really. Apart from the fact that I never played with dolls, I always preferred playing with boys' toys: cars, fire-brigades, spaceships, you call it...

I did have the encouragement of my family - i.e. to behave in a girly manner. 

When I was 11 a family friend took a picture of my face. Frankly, I did not like what I saw in this picture. My face was fat (I was overweight as a teenager), the hat looked silly on me. I certainly felt that the picture was not complete. I took a black marker and I drew a moustache and a beard. 

My mother saw it and she nearly had a heart attack. She was all about taking me to see a psychologist, but she never did. In the following days, after the 'talk' I 'changed' a little bit. I was good at pretending I was girly in my teens, possibly because that was my only way to make and maintain some friends. 

When I was 15, I started noticing some facial hair growing on my chin. I was bullied at school. I told my mum, who suddenly decided to see the elephant in the room and took me to see a specialist, a doctor. I also started hair-removal treatments, for which my family spent a little fortune.

What was discovered was: a) PCOS, b) malfunction of suprarenal glands. My hormones were all over the place. Too many androgens. Aha! That possibly explained why I was too manly. 

I took loads of medicines when I was a teenager. Medicins to alter my hormone levels. I had numerous tests in hospitals too. I was in and out of hospital.

The doctor's words were straight forward:

You should try and get pregnant early in life, if possible, as the older you get, the more you risk infertility problems. 

I NEVER EVER EVER took this issue seriously, to my family's surprise. There is something telling me that I knew, back then, that a child in my life would mean nothing to me anyway. 

I started feeling very manly in my early 30s. I decided that I liked men, but I do have an extremely manly everyday life. A manly profession, manly manners, everything manly! It looks like my attitude is that of a young man. 

And there is something weird there, don't blame paranornal but I feel that I have the 'soul' of a man, trapped inside a woman's body. Yes. This is how I define myself: a woman with a beard. A woman with a man's 'soul'.

In everyday life I play 'woman'. I rarely wear makeup, but I do make an efford to appear womanly. I wear ladies clothes, although I do have some preferences for the clothes I wear (subject of a future post). But people who really know me, love me for who I am. They don't ask me to change. These are the people I value most in life.