I have started this tread to expand on a side topic of the "Trying on clothes, but hairy" post in the Clothing forum with out farther stealing the thread.
http://crossdressers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67256
I would love to hear other peoples thoughts on the following two questions.
- Do we as the TG community (CD,TG,TS,..) as whole need to push society more and get out more to increase acceptance? And how or what are ways we do this?
- Do we as CD's, TG's, TS's push others by the way in which we word some of our posts? Are we pushing them to be more of a CD/TG when we say things like:
"You can't be a gurl without shaved legs."
Need to PASS to go out.
One must act and be as girly as possible.
A guy in a skirt is a terrible look.
You can not have facial hair and be a CDer.
... a real CDer ....
I personally agree with Jamie very much so in that we need to each be a an advocate for all TG's. But at the same time we need to do this within our comfort and safety levels for us, our families and others.
When women pushed for rights, few husbands were going to divorce them and besides they were just woman, possessions of a male. Then at least in the USA during the war the women went into the factories and other places and took the place of men doing a man's job. When the blacks pushed for rights they had little to loose as they were already thought of as nothing and low life to many. In the gay movement, they did not have spouses or kids to think about, it was mostly them self they had to worry about.
Yes IMHO, we need to push for rights and acceptance of all TG's. Yes we should show others ways this can be done, but also need to respect each of us has our own life to live.
And while we are pushing for TG acceptance I think we need to be very careful and not push TG's. So many TG's seem to just be finding out information and beginning a new task or continuing the task of figuring out who they are. We need to encourage others to look within them selves and see who they are and seek help from loved ones that are close to them and qualified professionals if needed. Encourage them to be their self and not be following some one else blindly. And we need to show them that being a TG is a wide, very wide spectrum and not just one type of person and actions. Each TG is very different, just as each person is very different. We need to encourage them to be them self, but also to stay within their comfort and responsibilities. Just because one CD/TG/TS does something does not mean each of us needs to do it or even try it. IMHO, if each of us truly looks within ourself, and sometimes with the proper guidance, we will know who and what we are. We can then be encouraged and guided by others to do and be who we are at our own pace and comfort level.
There is often a fine line between pushing for TG acceptance and pushing other TG's. And also a fine line between helping and encouraging other TG's to be who they are and Pushing them to do and be more.