Eureka I have solved the mystery of transgenderism

[SuzanneBender]

I do not know why I did not think of this sooner. When I was a youngster during those formative junior high years I found myself planning my schedule around a show. A show unlike any other. One that I now realize caused me to re-evaluate who I was. It made me secretly wish I too could live in a women's hotel as a Blondie and pursue women that looked like Donna Dixon. So much for years of therapy. All I needed to do was peruse I tunes to find the ultimate answer to why...... OK maybe not but this show was a lifeline, however silly that let the transgender desire sneak out on those glorious Tuesday nights at 7PM.

Did anyone else have shows like this that allowed them to feel like they were expressing that hidden side of themselves when they were a kid? I can think of a few more but I am interested in hearing from you because I hear myself in my head all day long. :heehee:

[Marcyme]

I LOVED that showing. Add me to the list of those influenced by it :)

[Sandy Banks]

Gosh my ex use to watch that show but, couldn't accept my crossdressing!:eek:

[Christie ann]

I tried really hard to make it appear that I thought the show was stupid even though I didn't dare miss an episode.

[Kelly DeWinter]

I think researchers have found the TG jean.

http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/showthread.php?142366-Human-Jeanome-update-TG-CD-jean-found

[bobi jean]

I always felt they made the show after someone caught me!!!! and thought it was funny.
I loved the show, my life did not revolve around it but I sure enjoyed it a lot.
I always knew why.

[Loni]

my self i can say that show had no influence on me, as i was dressing long before it came on the air...and got dumped by the networks.
never really cared for it. never missed it when it was taken off the air.
now when cap'n kirk got to change body's with that lady Dr i just wish i had that machine.


i would be filthy rich right now.


.

[Andrea's Lynne]

I was an avide watcher ... but like others was mortified to let others think I liked it.

Oh, how I longed to be in their position!!!!!

[Marilyn Beck]

In 1968-69 (when I was about 12 years old), there was a series called "The Ugliest Girl in Town" where the main character crossdressed in order to somehow get access to the woman he loved. The CD element fascinated me, but I usually didn't watch the show because my friends thought it was stupid, and I didn't want to be uncool.

[SuzanneBender]

Gosh my ex use to watch that show but, couldn't accept my crossdressing!:eek: I bet its because she thought you were doing this to just get a date with Donna Dixon.


I tried really hard to make it appear that I thought the show was stupid even though I didn't dare miss an episode. I think that is definitely the consensus. We all enjoyed this little indulgence, but surely didn't want to risk being outed by watching the show. I was lucky and had a TV in my room. I always had something happening on Tuesday nights that precluded my buddies from coming over.


now when cap'n kirk got to change body's with that lady Dr i just wish i had that machine. I would be filthy rich right now. I actually tried to build that machine from old junk washer parts. It didn't work and its a wonder I did not electrocute myself when I plugged it in! I always wondered why they just couldn't reprogram the transporter for a sex change. That thing could scramble your molecules and send them across the universe. You would think it would have a button on it that would allow Scotty to push it and bring you back as a gorgeous blonde lieutenant in a minidress with a bu font hairdo.


In 1968-69 (when I was about 12 years old), there was a series called "The Ugliest Girl in Town" where the main character crossdressed in order to somehow get access to the woman he loved. The CD element fascinated me, but I usually didn't watch the show because my friends thought it was stupid, and I didn't want to be uncool.
Marilyn based on yours and Lonis observation I may have to change my hypothesis to transgenderism is caused by early TV shows that had some sort of a transgender theme to them.

Why does it seem that the only cool shows that had a TG trend to them were Monty Python and Bennie Hill. Not fair!

[sometimes_miss]

I watched the show once, but not after finding out the reason they guys were crossdressing. I kind of really still wanted to become a real girl at that age, and just faking it to get cheap housing didn't quite fit what I was thinking of at the time.

[alice clair]

I loved the show.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Suzanne

Pretty much like others I loved to watch but acted like it was dumb.

Orchid

[daviolin]

Funny and good show. But my biggest influence were Betty Boop cartoons. I used to come home from school for lunch and watch the Soupy Sales lunch show. Remember Soupy Sales? He always showed Betty Boop cartoons. She was my little sweetheart.

[Sophie_C]

That show must have been off the air by the time I was born. Never heard of it. No "influence." When I was a kid, there were actual TG women I came across on TV (on Arsenio, Springer, etc), but this happened before I even saw that. Their existance just made it crystal clear what I was, even back then...

[Jorja]

Soupy Sales, omg, you are showing your age ;)

I thought I had found the mystery of transgenderism once but I kept swirling and swirling, round and round and went deeper into the rabbit hole.

[Sophie86]

Yeah, I loved it too. Before there was Bosom Buddies, though, there was Geraldine Jones. The first couple of times I did my Geraldine impression everyone thought it was hilarious. Then, all of a sudden, it wasn't funny anymore... :straightface:

[paulaluvssz8]

I remember that show. Loved it. But I always remember what my mom said "all the time"... You were suppose to be my girl... If she knew.... That I like to dress like one.

[SherriePall]

Ah, Flip Wilson and Geraldine. The Devil made me write that. Yes, I used to watch Bosom Buddies all the time (and not only for Donna Dixon!) with my wife (a long time before I told her about me). I learned a little from that show, especially the episode where they confessed that they really weren't women and Donna Dixon said she knew because of the hair growing from their ears. That taught me to rid my ears of hair everytime before I go out!

[Frédérique]

Did anyone else have shows like this that allowed them to feel like they were expressing that hidden side of themselves when they were a kid? I can think of a few more but I am interested in hearing from you because I hear myself in my head all day long.

This came along right around the time when gender-bending possibilities were “in the air,” but I must say the presentation, purely for laughs, didn’t inspire me to try on a wig. I saw it as an updated version of Some Like It Hot, albeit without the sophistication, a retread of a successful idea. Hawaii 5-0, anyone? Things like this, however funny, well-written, and well-acted, make me turn away, because they don’t represent genuine feminine feelings residing within, requiring expression via the “wrong” clothing. A sit-com, drama, or documentary about actual CD-ing, no strings attached, wouldn’t make it to prime time without a disclaimer. It wouldn’t get any ratings, either, which is why you need the gimmick of Mr. Hanks and Mr. Scolari in dresses to attract viewers. Of course they’re heterosexual, otherwise America would grind to a halt, at least here in the Heartland. I watched it, and I was amused, but inspiration was not forthcoming…

I don’t wish to hammer the issue to death, but this is the face of crossdressing to many people. It can’t be taken seriously as genuine expression, because it is presented as a goof, and the viewers who watch semi-transgendered “performances” of this nature accept it as such. Speaking from within a community that feels slighted on the best of days, don’t you think that’s wrong? Is it any wonder that crossdressing is largely unexplainable to the general populace? Most people don’t have much to fall back on when you “come out” from your closet of transvestism, except for TV shows with memorable yet antiquated visual manifestations of the aforementioned “behavior.” Better than nothing, I suppose, but I wish it were otherwise. If “innocent” shows like this tweak one’s curiosity, leading to lifelong exploration towards gender incorporation (or inversion), that may be a good thing. It has to start somewhere, but I wish it wasn’t such a “drag” to begin with…

All the shows that struck a chord with me (regarding future transgendered expression) were on PBS – go figure…
:doh:

[tommi]

Don't forget about the show soap and then bugs bunny was always dressing up and kissing elmer fud

[Sara Jessica]

Ya know, it's kind of strange. I watched the show when I was a kid but I don't remember it having any profound effect on me one way or the other. I'm thinking it was kind of like Tri-Ess, it didn't really speak to me. In other words, even at a very young age I recognized what it was all about, situational crossdressing. Now if the Tom Hanks character were to embark on the road towards transition, now that would get my attention!

[Karen 812]

How can we forget the movie "Tootsie" ?

[MargaretJ]

I don't think this show was on in the UK, and have never seen it. I did however, secretly like watching a show here in the UK, that featured a "Drag Artist" named Danny La Rue. He wasn't an, in your face, overt, over the top drag act, but I felt was a bit more classy, and always had nice costumes, that I so wanted to wear. This would have been around the time I was 10.

[Tina B.]

Tom and Peter where funny, loved flip Wilson, but as a kid all I had was Milton Byrle, or Red Skelton in an old granny dress, now that was just sad.
Tina B.

[Sophie86]

I don’t wish to hammer the issue to death, but this is the face of crossdressing to many people. It can’t be taken seriously as genuine expression, because it is presented as a goof, and the viewers who watch semi-transgendered “performances” of this nature accept it as such.

That's true, but, on the other hand, it could have been worse. At least Mr. Hanks didn't stab any young women to death in their showers while wearing his dead mother's clothing. That was progress! :heehee:

And compare the comedians like Berle, Skelton and even Wilson to what Kids in the Hall did, and what Eddie Izzard does with his crossdressing now. I'd say that's progress too.

[Christy_M]

Flip Wilson was great. Of course Laugh In had a bunch of skits that piqued my young interest. Then, at 11, I loved "Jodie" on Soap just because he was going to get SRS. Bosom Buddies was a great show as I was older but like many, I didn't dare tell people I liked it. I CDer with Donna Dixon - there was hope for me after all...

[t-girlxsophie]

I don't think this show was on in the UK, and have never seen it. I did however, secretly like watching a show here in the UK, that featured a "Drag Artist" named Danny La Rue. He wasn't an, in your face, overt, over the top drag act, but I felt was a bit more classy, and always had nice costumes, that I so wanted to wear. This would have been around the time I was 10.

I remember Danny La Rue too,he was very popular round about the time I began dressing,also around then,and also a huge favourite was Scottish comedian Stanley Baxter who played a woman in a large percentage of his sketches.His Queens speech skits were hilarious,and more Interesting than the "real" ones:heehee:

And of course these days Eddie Izzard has done so much to alter peoples perceptions of us.

:hugs:Sophie

[SuzanneBender]

Ah, Flip Wilson and Geraldine. I had a doll with Geraldine on one side and Flip Wilson on the other. Think my parents knew something early on.


[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="2"][COLOR="black"]this is the face of crossdressing to many people. It can’t be taken seriously as genuine expression, because it is presented as a goof, and the viewers who watch semi-transgendered “performances” of this nature accept it as such. Speaking from within a community that feels slighted on the best of days, don’t you think that’s wrong?

Frederique as always I enjoy your hearfealt posts. I couldn't agree more with your premise that Hollywood mis-characterizes us for the most part. However, I take heart in many of the portrayals that I have seen in the past few years. I point to examples like Transamerica, Normal, even a CSI episode that dealt with the murder of a Transgender minister in the most honorable of ways. We have come a long way baby.

But being the eternal optimist I must point out a silver lining here. I don't look at Bosom Buddies or movies like Tootsie and Mrs. Doubtfire disingenuous farces. Sure all three of these required extraordinary circumstances to get the guys in a dress and I agree its sad that they cant show (like soap did) that sometimes people do this because it is a part of them. However, each show or movie showed that the characters learned and grew as they lived their life in the female experience.

Unfortunately, you missed my point of the post. It was not to debate the quality of Hollywoods portrayal of the TG community. Its mass media and mass media is interested in showing what the average american family eating their Banquet TV dinners on a TV tray in the living room want to watch. Remember when the Huckstables from the Cosby show or the first Gay story line on a Soap Opera were ground breaking. Our time will come dear. I just wanted point out, as many of the replys did, that this show as well as others were lifelines for young teens huddled in front of the TV hoping not to be caught as they reveled in the fact that they were not the only TG people in the world.

I loved "Jodie" on Soap just because he was going to get SRS. I loved Soap one the funniest ground breaking comedies every and Jodie was the primary reason I watched it.

[Jenny J]

My moment was from a movie called Americathon http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078766/fullcredits#cast. A silly movie about the US running out of cash to pay it’s bills so they gave a telethon to raise money. Sound familiar?

They enlisted Harvey Korman who played Monty Rushmore to host the telethon. He was a washed up drag queen that did a TV show in drag. There was one scene where his television son, Billy I think, came by and Monty told him he had to get ready for the show.

When Billy returned he was wearing a really cute, frilly dress, long blonde hair with a ribbon in it and Mary Jane’s.

I wanted to be Billy in that movie!

Jen

:rose2: