A simple rebutal of Dirt's position.

The nemesis of FTM transition is 'Dirt'. I am sure many of our FTM out there are aware of Dirt.

One of her premises is that female to male transsexuals transition to escape the male gaze and to avoid being masturbatory fuel for male sexual fantasy. That the woman inside is seeking to escape the confines of patriarchy that holds her down.
huh
Sounds almost reasonable at first glance what with all we know about patriarchy doesn't it?
But it fails under scrutiny.

So if female body dysphoria is solely fueled by a desperate attempt of the female soul to escape patriarchy why is it that there are male to female transsexuals?
What are they trying to escape? Certainly not the patriarchy, it favors the natal male.

Perhaps their is one set of influences making FTM and another MTF?
Nope. Listen to the stories of FTM and MTF and there is a similarity in them that is striking. Both the FTM and the MTF feel an intense discomfort in their birth sex. It is like wearing someone elses shoes. Even if the size is right they will never feel right.
When puberty hits the transsexual is freaked out. If the transsexual chooses to live his or her life in their birth sex they live a life of misery. Only when the transsexual transitions do they feel any sense of relief.
Transsexuals suffer from a form of intersex. Simplified to the lowest common denominator the brain is one sex and the genitals are another.
The brain is the biggest part of our reproductive system, it is hard wired to our genitals.
When you put the wrong brain in the wrong body there is a disconnect that is very painful. Basically you have the wrong software for the peripherals being used.

So I ask you this reader...
If the body can demonstrate that it is intersexed in one part of the body (genitals) why do some people rage against the idea that another part of the body (brain) can be intersexed?


I'll tell you why. Some people fear that this will lead to gender essentailism. That what you have between your legs determines your limits and abilities.
Which is bunk. It has been demonstrated time and time again that the only vocation that is gender specific is wet nurse.

Have a great day.

Hugz and luv,
Cynthia Lee

Happy New Year

Sorry we haven't posted in so long.

Life is in that rather boring state of day to day. Not much going on to be honest.

We had a decent Holiday Season.

I hope everyone out there had a good time over the holidays.

2012 is on us. On the 21st of December we will see the reseting of the Mayan long count calander. I highly doubt there will be anything to write home about but on the off chance I am wrong on this, may this be a good year if it is to be our last.
;)

On the transition front there is nothing new to report. Which is good and bad. I seem to have grown into my life as a woman with ease, but I am still stuck pre op.
Saving money for my surgery is nearly impossible in this economy. Unless things turn around for every one we are stuck.
Here is hopeing the economy turns around for all of us!

Hugz and luv,
Cynthia Lee

World AIDS day

Me.

And my love. And a few of my dear friends.

AIDS is not everything I am. It does not consume me, it is not *me* entirely, but it is part of this whole. There are many many times that I feel overwhelmed, sick and sad....

But then again...my life is also filled with hope, peace and much love. There is still so much stigma and misinformation surrounding AIDS/HIV. Please, educate yourself. Learn more, open your mind.... You don't know how I got it. You don't. You don't know what I've been through to get to this point of advocacy and hope. It touches anyone indescriminatly. If we cover our eyes and pretend we can't see AIDS...we miss out on some powerful opportunities.

Please...please don't put HIV in your bag of denial:

World AIDS day. What a thing to "celebrate". Please go get tested, and then read some about what AIDS REALLY is.

HIV+ women having HIV- babys

HIV stigma and women

No viral load=No transmittion!!

AIDS AIDS AIDS a poem

The end of AIDS: Hope for a cure!!

Please read any or all of these articles. None of them are written by me. All studies are by professionals. This is not a matter of opinion. This is fact now. Thank you for your time. Your own education is a blessing to me. I love that poem "AIDS AIDS AIDS". I met the author. She's amazing.

The thing I want to really discuss today...is something Bono said last night on the Daily Show while discussing his (amazing) work in the field of AIDS advocacy and fundraising. He said that circumsision in males would lead to lower infection rates in men.

When I heard him say that....my mouth hit the floor. I can't believe that someone as knowledable as him would say such a thing!! This is NOT TRUE. So many people watch the daily show, so many people are going to believe him because of who he is...and it's WRONG!!

A study was done (poorly...imo) in Africa back in 2006 (round about then..) and it "showed" that circumsision in men led to less infection. This has since been proven false. There was a slight protection in straight men, but none in gay or bisexual men. This...in Africa...where many still believe that if they have sex with a virgin (read: Rape a young girl!!) that they will be protected from ever contracting AIDS. This is dangerous and false information.

There are great strides being made toward a cure and I can't believe Bono would throw out information about circ instead of talking about gene therapy, or blood cleansing protocols that are coming out. (discussed in the "End of AIDS" article I linked to above) Ugh!! Pisses me off.

If anyone with better google-fu than me can find a (current, recent) article talking about the myth of this circ connection...please share it and I'll link it here. I couldn't find one in the few moments I had to do a search.

Above all...be careful with yourself. Respect yourself enough to demand safety. HIV is easily avoided. Condoms work. Don't touch blood. Have compassion for those who do have this disease. Here's to the end of AIDS. I hope I can see it in my lifetime and...I believe I will.

Happy Holidays!!!

The holiday season is now here.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful day and a better tommorow.

May your favorite team win in overtime and may the dressing come out perfect.

Hugz and luv,

Cynthia Lee

Back to conspiracy...

My take on the NWO, and Illuminati....

Some one has to run the show. You and I certainly can not do the job. We are not trained to do so.
They are.

Yes there are some corrupt asshats out there.
SO?

It comes with the territory. You can't make an omlette without breaking some eggs.

When I think of how they are running the show and how I would run the show, I come to the conclusion that they are allot nicer than I would be. I would be a brutal and absolute tyrant. Simply because I do not know how to politically manipulate my enemies like those who have been doing it all their lives.

Population control and demilitarization of foreign powers would be state policy. Mass manipulation of the proletariate for political purpose? You betcha.
Excecution of disidents and malcontents? In a heart beat.

When I consider how brutal I would be if in charge....these guys are pretty mellow.

Those of you out there who would stage revolution are going to have one of two things happen.
You are going to loose and get killed or placed under the boot heel of the powers that be if you survive.
If the revolution is successful then allot of people not trained in the excercise of power will accend to positions of power after they excecute the old powers that be. Resulting in a greater despotism than we already are in.

/sigh

Better the devil you know, than the devil you don't.

Things that do not shame me. And a rant.

I am not shamed when you point out my flaws.
I am not shamed because I am HIV+.
I am not shamed because I am bisexual.
I am not shamed because I am transsexual.

Nothing you say can hurt me.
Nothing you say can silence me.
Nothing you say can make me go away.
Nothing you say can take away my humanity.

News Flash: I am not beholden to anyone to comply with social norms that I do not agree with. There is no law you can invoke that gives you the right to condemn me or anyone else for their transition. There is no law you can invoke to make transsexuals go away.

I really do not understand why it is important to some people that others are transitioning.

One hateful blog comes to mind particularly. We shall call her blog 'unclean caucasian male' because I certainly do not care to add traffic to her site. Why is it so important that she insert herself into the trans dialogue? She is a cisgender female. She does not even have a pony in this race yet she battles against the 'male medical machiene' to stop FTM's from transitioning.
Why?
Certainly there must be some moment in her life that has fueled her passion to fight against FTM transition.
I wonder what it is?

Back on point.
Transsexuals exist. We have existed in some form or another from the gender bending shaman to the Phrygian Priestess to the berdache of the Americas to the modern day transsexual. We have been here since time started. How on earth does anyone think they can make transsexuals go away simply by complaining about us?

Gender neutral pronouns ~Sevan

A person who identifies outside of the male/female binary wants to be identified just as women and men want to be identified. They want to be seen and heard as they are, for the gender they are. There are options out there that are "neutral" (They, One, Person, etc) but for the words I've provided I've never heard of options that are specifically for those outside the binary. I suppose the title "gender neutral" is misleading. Now that I think about it. What I was/am looking to provide is words for those who identify outside the male/female binary. Which actually isn't neutral at all.

A while back...a few years ago I believe...I talked about gender neutral terms. I was only able to tell you about another option in place of he/she which is "ze" (I should mention...there are many sets. There are also a number of folks who don't dig any of the pronouns sets...and that's ok.) and the replacement for his/hers which is "hir" (pronounced "hear")

That's it. That's all we could say. That's all there was. However...looking at language there are so many other gendered words that only having these two words...left MUCH to be desired. Anywhere I've looked I've never seen anyone discuss any words beyond he/she and his/hers. There are SO many more gendered words that we need in order to flesh out our language. Thankfully English is pretty flexible...slang is always coming into "vogue" (and often right back out of vogue....) I feel like...when words can come in, and flow, and click...they can find they're way into our natural speak.

Cyndi and I have set about to find, or create words to open up the language so that it's more function, usable and accessible. So I present the current list to you. After all...it's not really me who uses these words...as I don't talk about myself in third person. It's for others. For you...perhaps. This list is not complete, and as I said...we actually created some of these words...so it's no professional linguist bringing this to you. :)

In searching I found Per which is short for person. It would go in place of he/she. So you could say "Oh yea, that's Sevan. Per's cool." (if you were to use that set. Cyndi and I have been playing with it...it's an option.)

I think the reasons people have strong feeling about it is because it's new. No one ever questions he/she because we learned t at such a young age we didn't question it, or any other words we learned. That's just the words. That's just what those words mean. It just is, and we accept that. These new words are for scrutiny because they're new.

I have no real illusions of changing the world. I've seen blogs, forum posts and many many people trying to discourage me for a number of reasons from creating or seeking words to support and represent those outside male/female binary. I get it. There are MANY reasons these words may never ever take off. I'm ok with that. I just want to add to the conversation. I want to be able to express myself, and have those around me express and talk about me in ways that are supportive and positive...and correct. Labeling me female is not right. That's not what/who I am. I am an androgyn and the language should support that. While I'd love for our language to just not be gender based but....THAT'S not gonna happen. So...even if my circle of peers is the only people who use these words I'm offering...fine. That's fine with me. However...if these words are found by someone else, and gives them language to express themselves in a positive way...that's AWESOME!

The first one I really like is boy/girl/nute. Nute being short for neutral. Cyndi came up with it, and the main reason why we found it important is to fit into boyfriend/girlfriend/nutefriend. Generally you don't find children expressing androgyn or third gender identity. Teens however and young adults in relationships who might desire a word for their significant other...there ya have it!

I've got a friend who really likes to call people Sir/Ma'am and I have stumped her. So we came up with Mir. It's a simple mash of Sir and Ma'am. Many of the words we've come up with are mashes of the male and female words.

Such as Hersband, in place of husband/wife. Hers-band. :)

Still don't have one for the Father/Mother...but I really like Mada in place of Mom/Dad.

Brother/Sister Bro-ster. This one actually came from Cyndi's brother who was struggling with the transition early on and just couldn't make the leap in his mind that Cyndi was now his sister. We hear that and immediately had a word for those in between.

One word I badly want is a word in place of Uncle/Aunt but...I don't have one. Niece/Nephew and Grandma/Grandpa replacements aren't as important to me personally...but I'd like to have them just to complete the set. I'm sure there are words I'm missing but this is the list as it stands so far. :)

Male	Female	Androgyn/3rd gender/Null
He	She	Ze/Per
His	Her(s)	Hir(s)/Pers
Boy	Girl	Nute
Sir	Ma'am	Mir
Mr.	Mrs.	Mir
Husband	Wife	Hersband
Boyfriend	Girlfriend	Nutefriend/Ladydudefriend
Father	Mother	?
Dad	Mom	Mada
Brother	Sister	Broster
Uncle	Aunt	?
Nephew	Niece	?
Grandpa	Grandma	?