Hello All, just me Victoria D.
I guess I’m really not asking for advice, but feel free to chime in with your thoughts if you wish. We are all friends here and love to hear what you think. Yes I know, I do need to find a good professional therapist to discuses these issues, but a good friend here reminded me that sometimes you just have to write things down to help organize your thoughts. I’m sharing them here with you, because well, even though I haven’t meet anyone here face to face, I feel a certain deep friendship with many of you and for those that I have talked with, there is a kind of trust, intimacy and yes admiration for you being here that allows me to bare my soul. I also thought since most of us come here looking for answers It’s always good to read where some of us are on this journey. So this looks to be a long one. Sorry, but I opened up a bottle of white Zin for us, so take a glass and please bear with me as I tend ramble on.
As a young child growing up in the dark ages and before I hit puberty, I had no idea why I want to put on my mothers undies and bra, I’m sure I would have put on one of her dresses and not really sure I didn’t. It was dressing up and I was happy. I kind of vaguely remember an incident during this time. Something that told me this was wrong, that I was being girly and needed to “man up” and I believe this is where I started to build the manly mask that I’ve used throughout my live.
As a teen I had figured out that it was wrong in the world I lived in, but I could do things as a goof. I don’t know what drove me to put on a found, girls one piece bathing suit during a late night beach party, or why it was so important that I dress as a girl one Halloween. Why I stashed away a nightgown I found in a hotel room on a family trip. It wasn’t for sexual reasons. Then I never really thought about it, never knew there was something bad about it, except guys wore guy cloths and girls wore girl cloths. Ok there was more back then and as I look back it wasn’t just about the clothing. I know I wasn’t a typical boy. At family events, I would rather be in the kitchen with the women then the living room with the men watching sports. I have always been more drawn to women and not so much in the biblical sense, but more in the physiological and camaraderie aspect.
This all came crashing down when I turned 18 and found that my father was transitioning. ??!!?! If it’s unusual now, back then it was unthinkable. 1977 and the information on transgenderisum flowed forth from the mountain of knowledge like a…… um ya in the conservative north east really? The word gay was still being used to describe a good wholesome time. This all compounded by the fact that my father and I never could really talk or discuss any of this. I did what I thought was best, due to fear and guilt. Suppress and denial was the key. Pushed those feeling down so deep, Davy Jones could find them. I took all my life’s observation about men and became the manliest man I could. To say disaster would be a gross understatement. My biggest regrets are from this time period.
So good or bad and after much soul searching, I have walked this tight rope between genders, when I do the typical grunt, grunt with other males I see theses traits and realize the division of men and women on a whole other plateau. I am a guy I have the dangly parts yet I still side on the feminine side and find myself appalled by these male attitudes.
OK Part 2: I’ve opened up a bottle of surprisingly good red wine that I picked up in Turkey; so let me fill your glass.
Later throughout my life mid 30's-50’s these feelings would arise again. I felt for sure it was a sexual fetish.( I really did do a good job of suppressing my past) With excitement and lust, I would put on stockings, panties, a bra and suddenly my sexual excitement would dwindle (okay go away completely). A whole different feeling would come over me, I would want to put on a dress and it would just get very confusing to me. Heels I wanted to put on heels, but why I was already limp what would that do? The urge overwhelmed. I never thought I was born the incorrect gender, but I have had the odd thought from time to time. The, if I was in an accident where my “man jewels” were damaged in such a way, I would opt to transition. Yes I could go in and analyze that thought for years.
I came here about 9 months ago. By that point I had figured I was a cross dresser. Before I signed up on this site, I had all ready bought a couple wigs, breast forms, some clothing, oh of course heels and I had already been out in public a couple of times. Coming to this site I was sure I was a guy that liked to wear women’s cloths and present female from time to time. I knew that my inner personality was more feminine and I was sure that this was just a way for me to sooth my soul. I accepted this and let myself try on dresses, play with make up and do “girly” things.
When I thought this was just a juvenile boy thing, I was happy, made sense, easy to explain. When I thought it was a sexual fetish thing, I was happy made sense easy to explain. When I was sure I was a simple cross dresser I was happy, made sense, easy to explain. Now I find myself questioning this all over again. Cursing and hating myself for being so frigging complicated and not just being “normal” Life is full of jokes and it is truly playing a good one on me.
So where am I now? I’m finding more and more that I’m not so much trying to present as female as I am just happy embracing more of my real characteristics that are typically seen by society as female. I do look in the mirror and curse my weather beaten face, I find myself hating my stupidly proportioned body. I despise the hair that grows in the wrong places. I want so badly to have my Adams apple shaved off and yet at the same time I am happy being me and I do like the “man” me.
I don’t know if I am a man with the soul of a woman or if I’m a woman in the body of a man or if there really is a difference and at this point I don’t know if it really matters. I have lived a rich and very full life and have always tried to be a good person and that maybe all I need.
There is so much more of my confusion and most times I feel I could just scream. It’s just too much to put into a post, but if you have made it this far thank you, I just needed to get this off my chest.
As always your friend
Victoria D