Mind readers

One of the most self deprecating types I know is the transgender person. Always worried and concerned about the opinion of others, they will bend themselves into pretzels to make sure that their very existence does not offend anyone else.

Heaven forbid.

It has occurred to me more than once that I came out to my extended family 16 years ago and their embracing has been at best tepid. My mistake was not realizing that people don't understand what your life has been like and expecting them to be mind readers is in general not a very good strategy. Instead one proceeds to live as one should and invite others to join or reject as their perogative would dictate.

We embrace ourselves slowly over time and promote one's own self respect. After all the only person who can comprehend what you are going through is you. The apologetic tone many of us adopt is disappointing but entirely expected since I lived it for the longest time myself. That there are still remnants of it today is testament to the tenacity in finding flaws with our very nature: sometimes to the point of obsession.

Hence we stand up for ourselves because failing to do so could mean waiting a very long time for someone else to do it.

Aside from Jack Molay's Crossdreamers I tend not to comment much on other blogs but I do for those whose authors are suffering most from the angst of not knowing what to do. Plus I'm not interested in fluff but more in the stuff that makes us volatile and therefore devastatingly and deeply human.