Mer-people, colors, and gender

[C.J.]

So I was watching 20/20's special on transgender children (if you want to watch it, the first part is here on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utpam0IGYac) even though it's an older episode I think, and it got me to thinking.

It said in one of the parts of the episode that MTF's are generally obsessed with mermaids in their youth because of no lower genitalia, etc.

However, true or not, this got me to thinking about my own past to present (but I'm on the other end of the spectrum, FTM).

I like/d mermaids like Ariel from The Little Mermaid (not ashamed of that, either) but I was drawn to mermen as well - like King Triton for example. Am I the only guy that this happened to?

Curious if any other guys (and ladies too, if you'd like to join in this wondering) liked mermaids and/or mermen? If you know the reason why, why? I don't know the reason myself.

Do you think mer-people are a common like?

Also, colors. Colors obviously don't represent our gender identities, trans or not - but in society certain colors are deemed "boy" colors and "girl" colors. AKA, blue for boys, pink for girls. Darker colors for boys, lighter colors for girls, etc. But does it affect us at all? What is/are your favorite colors? How come you like that/those colors - is there a reason?

I personally think that color does not really affect me - I wear any color I darn well please, no matter if it's a "masculine" color or a "feminine" color. BUT I do think it affects my "passing" factor. I'm less likely to pass if I wear a bright color like pink or baby blue.

As far as my favorite colors - purple, baby blue, and green. Baby blue and green calm me. Purple I think is more "gender oriented" in my mind. I think it's a "balanced" color. You know how EVERYONE has masculinity AND femininity, but in varying degrees depending on the person? I think they're sort of a Yin & Yang, and I personally think purple is a merged representation of that. Just my thoughts.

How about all of you guys (and girls if you reply here as well :))?

- C.J.

[Miranda09]

Hi C.J. I do remember having a fascination with mermaids, but I really doubt it had anything to do with my CDing activity. Never heard of this connection before, but I suppose someone has done some sort of detailed study. However, you take the same results to another researcher and they're likely to come up with a completely different interpretation.

As for colors, I usually love anything that's earthy, such as ochres, sandy yellows, reds (as in the rocks of the southwest). I also like blues, but also love black! For me, colors are whatever grabs my attention and can provide a nice contrast or enhancement to my features.

An interesting thread C.J. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. :)

[Ze]

I never heard the mermaid thing before, CJ. That's pretty interesting!

I never really had a thing for mer-men. As far as Disney goes, though, I did have a serious obsession with "Mulan," the girl that cross-dressed as a male soldier to stand in for her father. :D But that's neither here nor there for this thread.

I stay away from pink and "female" colors for obvious passing reasons, but I don't have any particular favorites of my own. I stick to black a lot, but usually don't mind a color as long as it works with my punk-goth-emo-nerd style. :ner:

Wait...I lied. I just remembered I have a pink- and black-striped skinny tie. But that's all. I swear. :heehee:

[Kerigirl2009]

As far as being drawn to mermaids my answer would be No. However I do like the movie the little mermaid, one of my wifes fav Disney movie.
My favorite color is Green, followed by blue and then purple.
I own a pink shirt and a baby blue shirt. 2 of my favorites, I even have a soft yellow shirt. All polo style (only real choice for men)unless you wear t shirts.
So little choices for men, such a huge and lovely array of choices for women. Makes me jealous. I too like choices. Explains a little but not enough.:)

[C.J.]

I never really had a thing for mer-men. As far as Disney goes, though, I did have a serious obsession with "Mulan," the girl that cross-dressed as a male soldier to stand in for her father. :D But that's neither here nor there for this thread.

Mulan! YES. I can easily say I was and still am VERY drawn to that movie. Wasn't the movie based on a real woman, though?

Now that I'm done hijacking my own thread lol...

Thanks for your thoughts Miranda, Ze and Keri. :hugs:

Keri, I agree with you that it's unfair that there aren't many choices for guys. I'm not massively picky with fashion (I'm a definite jeans & t-shirt guy, I rarely wear much else), but I'd like to see more color choice in guy clothing.

It also sucks that (for us guys), passing is an issue when brighter colors are worn. Colors don't = gender, but I guess EVERYTHING in this world is gender-fied.

- C.J.

[brylram]

I always despised mermaids as a kid, because they seemed horrendously girly (mer-men too). King Triton was almost bad-ass, but ruined his chances at being admired by me by ultimately being kind of a huge pansy. lol

When I was a boy I was obsessed with blue. For a while it was all I would wear. Now that I'm older I wear whatever colour I want, and never consider gender when choosing colours. No-one doubts that I'm male when I wear pink, and certain shades look so good on me (lighter ones, actually) that my girlfriend will say "I love that outfit! Get back in bed..." and proceed to show she doesn't think of me as anything other than her man. :P I choose my clothes based on my personal colouring, which is the best way for ANYONE to choose.

Pink is a tint of red. On a colour wheel, purple falls between red and blue, and anyone who has messed around with paint probably realizes that purple is what you get if those two are mixed. So you're subconsciously relating gender to colour theory, which supports the idea of colour being an influence on how we're perceived. At the same time though, If I wear pink I still look fully male, and everyone can still tell I'm a man... whereas someone who's pre-t probably would be wise to stay away from pink. Pink may subconsciously cause people to double-check the gender of the person they're dealing with, but with a man (male mind, male physically) they'll find only maleness and be stopped... with a female-bodied person, or even boys, they may find some femaleness and end up either questioning or fully moving to a conclusion of female.

EDIT: There are some very interesting options for menswear... they just need to be searched for rather than just going to regular mall stores or department stores. Check out stores that sell designer menswear, or websites like revolve, yoox, emoda (I think that one counts, I may be remembering wrong), and the websites of interesting designers (there are lots, so I won't list any because my taste is different than yours probably is, but it doesn't take a lot of effort to start identifying designers that are interesting and suit your taste) and you can find more interesting things than regular stores.

[Andy66]

Interesting. I thought mermaids were cool when I was young, looong before The Little Mermaid movie. I always thought mermen were sort of unnatural snd disturbing though. I think it's their freakishly muscular build and giant beatds. I'm not sure why I find that creepy.

I've had different favorite colors at different stages of my life. Black as a teenager, then primary colors. I went through a pink phase when I was trying to be more girly. Now I like rich, deep colors. I suppose it reflects my state of mind.

[brylram]

I think it's their freakishly muscular build and giant beatds. I'm not sure why I find that creepy.

Maybe I would have liked them better if the ones I had seen were like that... instead they were usually shown as fairly scrawny and beardless.

[noeleena]

Hi... C J .
in my day it was blue for girls & pink for boys ... try that on . i.m 62. yet i had both . & cream as well . plus a skirt . oh dear what am i .....
...noeleena...

[Andy66]

Oh, that was weird, Brylram. I must have been typing my first post to this thread while you posted yours... after what you wrote, my post didn't make much sense. Darn. :p


Maybe I would have liked them better if the ones I had seen were like that... instead they were usually shown as fairly scrawny and beardless.

Really? Then maybe I'm confused and thinking of Triton.

Or manatees. :heehee:

[brylram]

Really? Then maybe I'm confused and thinking of Triton.

Or manatees. :heehee:

You could be thinking of him... he does fit your description. I'm sure it just depends on the type of source though. Traditional depictions of mer-men could involve beards and muscles, whereas the ones I have seen were primarily the sort aimed at children (Disney, other cartoons, etc.).

Damn those manatees and their massive beards! xD

[Ze]

Mulan! YES. I can easily say I was and still am VERY drawn to that movie. Wasn't the movie based on a real woman, though?

I think so. I don't remember if it was based on a specific woman or if it was based on the fact that it sometimes happened in general. But what I do know is the historical accuracy of the movie is off.

I secretly bought this movie on DVD a few years ago, btw. :shush:


Pink may subconsciously cause people to double-check the gender of the person they're dealing with, but with a man (male mind, male physically) they'll find only maleness and be stopped... with a female-bodied person, or even boys, they may find some femaleness and end up either questioning or fully moving to a conclusion of female.

Exactly. That's why I currently stay away from it. I don't have a problem with pink itself, but between the forceful wearing of my youth and the fact that it would potentially botch my passability...yeah...

[Joy Carter]

My house was pretty open when it came to nudity, as I saw my sister and mother all the time. I'd have to say genitalia was not on my mind, till sometime around puberty. To be it's more of a bother.

[sabo10]

No fascination with Mermaid or Mermen here. I liked The Little Mermaid to a certain extent because (spoiler!) she dies at the end and it was the first sad story I'd ever read as a kid.

I can't remember favouring any particular colours as a kid, but black has definitely emerged as my favourite. It's pretty much all I wear, although I have apparently acquired a reputation for interesting ties. I was at a seminar during the summer and my co-worker told me that the first thing he wondered when he woke up was what tie I would wear for our presentations...

(Speaking of Mulan, I've always HATED the 'cross-dressing girls' stories, although I've never seen the Disney version. I always ended feeling betrayed at the end when they'd just give up and "accept their inner girlishness" or whatever and live happily ever after.)

William.

[C.J.]

No fascination with Mermaid or Mermen here. I liked The Little Mermaid to a certain extent because (spoiler!) she dies at the end and it was the first sad story I'd ever read as a kid.

Really? All I've ever seen is the Disney version, lol.



(Speaking of Mulan, I've always HATED the 'cross-dressing girls' stories, although I've never seen the Disney version. I always ended feeling betrayed at the end when they'd just give up and "accept their inner girlishness" or whatever and live happily ever after.)

I can see why! That would sort of tick me off too. In the Disney version, she's back to dressing as a girl, but she earned the whole nation's respect and such. I was still drawn to it, though.

Brylram - Thanks for your input, especially on the color purple...Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the transgender symbol purple?

Thanks everyone else for your input as well. :thumbsup:

- C.J.

[crazy4cheezeits]

No interest in Mermaids or Mermen.

My favorite colors are blue and pink. Weird that these are the "boy" and "girl" colors, but I like both of them.