The Name Game

[JamieRog]

Whenever it came to light from within that I did not view my self as totally male, I tried to find information in books and articles and websites like this one (and some not like this one) so I could make more sense of the jumbled up mess of me that was inside my head. One thing that was noticed immediately, and consistantly, was that CDs, TGs, & TSs involved in the community all use female names.

Well, I picked the female version of my name (jamie), and it was more of a security blanket than a representation of me. I chose it to fit in, and that is the only reason. As I have grown through discussions with my wife, and the trials we have had (even in our short time together), and a bit of therapy as well, I finally have the courage to make a stand for my own name and not try to fit to what is expected.

I like my name. It has a certain ring to it that I find appealing. It sounds beautiful to me. I like being James. I am me and I don't want to let anyone's expectations of me alter the me that I want to be.

I am not asking a question or expecting a response, I don't even care if this post gets deleted. I feel better while typing this, and I feel a great deal of personal growth has come my way because I couldn't have declared this a couple of weeks ago. I wrote in my "about me" section that I love being me, but the fact is I find that idea terrifying. This is a tiny, but significant (to me) part of me that I am claiming.

I'm James, and I'm Beautiful.

[linda allen]

A few of us are lucky, we have gender non-specific names. "Kim" (a member here) comes to mind. I used to know a man whos name was "Dana". He would get a lot of unsolicited mail from female oriented stores and organizations.

Me, my given name leaves no doubt so I created my user name here from the name my mother would have named me if I had been born a girl and a family name.

If I can ever get my wife to call me by a female name it won't be "Linda" (there was a Linda in her past who she didn't like), but a female version of my given name.

To each his/her own!

[Princess_Andria]

I've noticed through the years many CDs who choose a fem name miles a way from their male name and there was a reason for it. With self acceptance i decided to stay as close to my male name as possible so i chose Andria (spelt with an i instead of e so if i write it i can do a cute lil heart as the dot lol) I don't often see CDs with a 2nd name either (on here there are those who do have 2nd fem names) I chose Grace, the only way its close to my male name is that it begins with G. Jamie is a great name to go with hun and it does have a sweet ring to it :)

True Fact, i used to know a guy named Sally lol

[JamieRog]

I've noticed through the years many CDs who choose a fem name miles a way from their male name and there was a reason for it. With self acceptance i decided to stay as close to my male name as possible so i chose Andria (spelt with an i instead of e so if i write it i can do a cute lil heart as the dot lol) I don't often see CDs with a 2nd name either (on here there are those who do have 2nd fem names) I chose Grace, the only way its close to my male name is that it begins with G. Jamie is a great name to go with hun and it does have a sweet ring to it :)

True Fact, i used to know a guy named Sally lol

Ummm I'm thinking maybe you didn't quite get the gist of my post... I picked Jamie at first to fit in, but it doesn't really speak to me. I like James, and I think that is beautiful, because it's me. I want me to be me all the time, and I don't want to go from one name to another. I feel like when using 2 names I am playing a role that isn't really me. Besides, James is becoming more popular as a girls name...

[linda allen]

Obviously, you can call yourself whatever you want to call yourself and you can even legally change your name if you want to.

For me, having a female name adds to the illusion, just like the clothes, jewelry, boobs, wig, etc. Others may feel differently and that's fine. There's no law that says you have to have a feminine name, either for a crossdresser or a GG.

[Cheryl T]

When I'm dressed I certainly do feel male and having someone refer to me with a masculine name or pronoun just irks me.