Comments on: Trannie Bookses

By: Parrotfish, by Ellen Wittlinger

Parrotfish, by Ellen Wittlinger — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:08:37 +0000

[...] was a request from Zix, who wanted to know what I thought of this after reading Luna. (I do take requests, btw — if [...]

By: Zix

Zix — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:11:23 +0000

I believe the term you’re looking for there is “cisgendered.” :) And yeah, I really don’t know an answer to that. At least not a short, generalised, accurate one. Something of those always has to be sacrificed, it seems.

I think I’m going to pick up “Parrotfish” myself shortly. I’ve been hesitant because the only descriptions I’ve found tend to read like back-cover blurbs, and I don’t trust that sort of writing to give me an accurate idea of what the book really is.

By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 13:53:04 +0000

Zix: Thanks for the thoughts! I imagine you’re right, that the answer is too different for everyone to able to be explained to someone who feels “right” in their body. Which I’m sure makes acceptance so much harder — how do you find a good analogy to explain to a “normally-gendered” (?) person who’s never thought about transgendered people as anything but freaks? I’ve seen the “well, how did you first know you were heterosexual?” argument work, but this seems trickier.

I haven’t read Parrotfish yet, but I’ll bump it up on my list! I can’t promise a *decent* review, but at least it’ll maybe be entertaining? :)

By: Zix

Zix — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 02:16:30 +0000

What does it mean to “feel like a woman”? Do I feel like a woman? Would I feel like a woman if I were in a man’s body?

Irritatingly enough, it seems that this is one of those questions where the answer is, “Well, that’s different for everyone.” What is means to you to feel like a however-gendered person isn’t necessarily what it feels like for anyone else. On a certain level it just becomes a matter of feeling better, more wholly present and more wholly oneself while living as one’s target gender, but that’s annoyingly vague, and what that means (and how much “better,” or “more wholly oneself”) varies from person to person, and I’ve never known anyone (or any book for that matter, and I’ve been looking) that could adequately describe why ze felt that way.

…At least, that’s what seems to make sense to me right now.

Thanks for the review of “Luna,” by the way: I’ll strike it from my to-read list for now, I think. I’m not in the mood for it right now if it’s not great. Have you heard anything about “Parrotfish”? I’ve yet to find a decent review of it.

By: Martini-Corona

Martini-Corona — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 03:27:01 +0000

Oh, P.S.A. for anyone who shares my love of masculine clothing (I went to the mall yesterday in search of more Oxford shirts): Express (of all places) currently has a number of knee-length cargo shorts options. Unfortunately they’re $50 or so, and it is WAY too cold to be in a shorts-buyin’ mood. But maybe by the time it gets warm they’ll be on sale? Sorry. Knee-lenght cargo shorts for women always get me really excited.

By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 03:24:20 +0000

The more I think about it, I think Jaime hit on the key: it makes more sense to me if I think about being treated as a man or a woman rather than feeling like a man or a woman. The way society reacts to a femmie guy is very different from how it reacts to a woman. It makes sense that someone could want to be treated as a man even though he was born a woman, and vice versa. Not that it matters whether it makes sense to me, obviously. It's your body and your life; you shouldn't need anyone's approval, least of all mine. (Which was what was so interesting to me about what Boylan wrote about Grace, actually - it wasn't just his life when he made the decision to transition, it was his wife's and his family's, too. I'm not a Wiccan, but I am a firm believer in "an it harm none, do as thou wilt"...but in this case, it was going to harm someone. Not because she was intolerant, but because she was going to lose the man she married. So what is the right thing to do?)

By: Martini-Corona

Martini-Corona — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 03:02:55 +0000

So having just seen “Transamerica,” MPS and I were discussing how weird it would be to have a hole inserted in you that hadn’t been there before, and how that could possibly feel “natural.” (No offense to E! Actually I’m kind of interested to talk to her about this topic.) In books, I would recommend “Normal” by Amy Bloom — it’s a pretty short nonfiction read, with one chapter about F-to-M transsexuals, one about transvestites, and one about the intersexed (hermaphrodites). But maybe I’ll re-read it first. :)

Regarding feeling “wrong” in your body’s gender, I have to say I can identify. Since I was a little kid I’ve always screamed and yelled at having to wear skirts or dresses, because they feel wrong. I also sometimes feel like I move (walk, sit, gesture) in a fairly masculine way. And I believe (?) you know my dream to one day open Dykey-Dyke-Dyke, the store that sells clothing masculine enough for a man but designed to fit a woman. But I do like boys, and I have no wish to grow facial hair or pee standing up, so I guess it’s fortunate that I’m a lady…

By: anna

anna — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 02:59:57 +0000

films about f-m's: venus boyz is deeply awesome. i want to see it again. soon. even better, enough man, a documentary about transmen by luke woodward, who happened to be in my class at brown (and was about the first person i met there, at a stargazers party). i'm so impressed that he's created this (reportedly amazing) film and i'm dying to see it! unlike venus boyz, though, it's expensive/very hard to find. maybe your library could order it? educational? and cover the kids' eyes during the (supposedly super hot) sex?

By: ny

ny — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 02:39:43 +0000

your book reviews are great. i’ll have to read vicariously through them while in grad school :)

By: Jaime

Jaime — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 00:18:37 +0000

I have had the exact same questions about transgenderedness and so when my friend E came out I went with her to a lecture on it. My question was, why don’t you just crossdress? And I don’t remember a lot, but I remember that basically, it seemed like people who dress in drag. for example, feel happy when in drag. And then some people really only feel happy when they dress in drag, so they want to do that all the time. And then for some people, they don’t want to dress in drag, they want to be treated as a man or woman all the time- they just want to actually, y’know, BE a woman (or man) because that’s the only time they feel right. And that is a good sign that they’re transgendered. That may not have helped. Also, I’m not saying transgendered people are just dressing in drag, for the record.

I have never had the faintest interest in perfume or, um, geez, I can’t even come up with something else girly, um, shoes, yeah, but I’ve also never felt like ‘wow, I really wish people would treat me like Ben. ‘ I’m pretty sure that means I’m cool with my gender role, despite the fact that I AM attracted to women.

OK, clearly I have never taken a gender studies class. I understand Fiscal Policy better than Foucalt. My fellow Brunonians: bring it on!

Also, I want to borrow How I paid for college, which I’ve now read 1000 reviews of.