A sighting

[vetobob9]

I was at starbucks yesterday. As I was sitting there posting on facebook, a woman walks up and starts talking to the two young women at the table across from me. I could tell when she walked in, she was born with a male body. But she was wearing women's clothing. When she first spoke to the women, she referred to herself as a girl, but in a regrettable male voice which is actually not very important.
She was meeting a couple of her friends and they sat at the table in front of me. I just smiled but I did not say anything because I did not want to interrupt them and I was too busy updating facebook because of all the stuff that happened in the news this weekend.
But it was really really nice that I was not the only transwoman there. I did note that one of the young women at the table she was just talking to seemed to whisper something that appeared derogatory by the expression on her face when she said it. The woman made the comment as soon as the transwoman's back was turned and probably thought no one would notice she did that. Also she was speaking very very loudly but when this young lady turned away from them, she got this expression on her and whispered like she found something she didn't like.
Like she turned her nose up.

I also noticed the woman in transition had a lot of confidence. Besides dressing the part, she was also quite talkative. That is what the trans community needs more of. People who are not afraid to just be themselves.

[Ann Louise]

I have a running joke with my best friend, a transwoman who had FFS by the same doctor as me about 3 years ago, and is truly, truly beautiful. She went through all the attempts that many of us try to get her voice right, including coaches, tapes and CDs, DVDs and YouTubes and personal friends earnest instructions. In fact, in her voice mail message she sounds so cute and sweet it's hard to remember what you were going to say, and instead I just want to ask her out to dinner! But I digress. She does slip into "guy voice" from time to time (don't we all?), and I just pat under my chin and joke "... Luke... Luke [Skywalker]...the voice Luke, remember the Voice!" ( a Star Wars line from way too long ago for some of you I suppose!).

She works in a very large heavy technological industrial setting, totally macho shop, ridden with male @$$holes. She's also a supervisor of sorts, having been doing what she does for nearly 25 years, and by her account, when she first transitioned at work, sweet voice and beautiful body and all, those jerks would all but ignore her, totally dis her, and that even though she was their supervisor and they were daily required to ask her what their orders of the day were. Finally, one by one, in private, she pulled each one of the "offenders" aside, and informed them in her sweet new voice (which used to be a powerful, deep, "drill instructor" kind that many males wish they had, and that they remembered she had used, "back then"), that she was still their supervisor, had the power to fire them, and although a formal "progressive discipline" procedure would be followed to the letter, she was absolutely not going to take any disrespectful s%!t from any of them ever again, at any time, and their heads would roll. Let's just call it "guy talk" undertaken by a female. And it worked.

Since that time she's indicated that she's only hand to pull the female "male voice card" out several times, each time with disrespectful young newcomers, who had no idea that she was a transitioned transwoman until later (yes, she's that beautiful). Each time, after their dropped-open mouths closed and they recovered from their near out-of-body experiences (LOL) their disrespectful mouths remained closed unless it was job related, and then they addressed her in a totally respectful, professional manner.

It's a tough row to hoe being a genetic woman in a mans gig, and as you all know, and even harder for us. I might differ with the OP in that I think our female voice, especially harder to accomplish for us older girls, is one of the toughest things that I have to deal with, but I think it's sort an element of respect for all of us transwomen as a whole, that on our collective behalf we comport ourselves in as female a manner as possible (note I said "manner," not "fashion," as in clothes, hair, etc. That's personal preference and more power to you, however you want to look).

I sincerely mean no offense. But please permit me to close with an adaptation of an old Wiccan saying you might want to remember told to me by my friend I mentioned at the start of this post:

"Do no harm, but take no $h!t."

Best of the best to you all, and keep on smiling :-)

)0( Ann )0(