The Blog of a Crossdresser?

[Valerie Nicole]

For those of you who don't know me that well, I used to be a fairly active member of this forum. I've stopped posting much of late because I've just had a lot going on in my life and haven't had the chance to check back here very often. Some of you know that I'm often trying to come up with ways for us to reach the public and become more normalized. I applaud the TV shows which put us in a positive light (such as the episode of King of the Hill where Peggy befriends a "drag queen"), and people like us who dare to live openly (such as Dr. Gilbert of York University). Basically, I'm really interested in the PR for our community.

That's why I'm considering starting a blog about us. It would be about me, under a fake name (such as the one I use here), and my own experiences and thoughts as a crossdresser. I would reference threads from this site only with permission, of course. The goal would be that the few people that see the site might come to understand and accept us just a little more.

In order to do this, I have some questions.
#1. This is perhaps my biggest concern, and is a more technical question. How safe and anonymous is blogging? I would set up a new email address just for the blog, and every name would be faked? How possible would it be for someone to hack the account and find out who I am?
#2. What is the best blogging site for something like this?
#3. Do you think this is a good idea in general?
#4. What sorts of things do you think I should talk about? What kind of tone should the blog have? Should it be a humorous blog about frivolous aspects of CDing, or a more serious blog about what life is like for us/me deep down?

So if you have answers to any of these questions, or general suggestions for this idea, please let me know. Of course, once I start the blog I will post the link here. I personally really like this idea and can't wait to get started.

[Eugenie]

Basically, I'm really interested in the PR for our community.

That's why I'm considering starting a blog about us.

This is an interesting project. It would provide answers to some people. Unfortunately it would probably be "Preaching to the choir"

What I mean is that it would be likely to be people who are already looking for information on X-dressing whould visit it.

For PR about our community, we need to become more visible...

One important thing is to "go out" to people who would probably have never heard about x-dressingn except through some ill informed medias.

One possibility is to go out "en femme" while giving a good image of X-dressers...

One other way is to participate officially to a general public forum as a x-dresser. (I subscribe to a forum for people who are "full size"...)

Another way is to be active in "Trans Gender" advocacy groups that work on improving our image and help us fight against discrimination.

:hugs:
Eugenie

[Valerie Nicole]

Okay! I went ahead and started the blog. The first post is already up there. "Life from the blender" is on the air! I write there under the name "Blender Girl" but feel free to call me "Val" if you get the urge to post a comment. Let it be known that I am officially attempting to represent crossdressers on the world wide web.

I'm going to note that I do not represent or deeply discuss transgendered people, transexuals, transvestites, or drag queens, and there are several reasons for this. The first is that I still understand very little about these terms and what the mean. The second is that since I want to largely speak from my own experience, I do not feel qualified to speak in the name of or represent any of these groups, because I do not belong to them.

Anyway, here's the link. Hope you enjoy it and check back often for updates.

http://girlinablender.wordpress.com/

[DemonicDaughter]

They say blogging is quickly becoming a great way to advertise and to get a message out there. You might try more than one blog site (you can copy and paste the same entries to different blogs to save you some time and thought process for new material). You can also join the blog communities. LiveJournal has several as well as simply befriending those you find in those groups and outside them as well.

Might I also offer the possibility of giving this persona several profiles on sites such as myspace, yahoo 360, FaceBook and the like. You can link them to each other and your blogs for more exposure. Plus you will be able given plenty of room to explain not only who you are but exactly what CDing is on the profile.

#1. This is perhaps my biggest concern, and is a more technical question. How safe and anonymous is blogging? I would set up a new email address just for the blog, and every name would be faked? How possible would it be for someone to hack the account and find out who I am?

Not very well on finding out who you are as long as you don't have it recording IP addresses (livejournal offers this). If they hack your account they can get everyone's IP if the setting is activated.

#2. What is the best blogging site for something like this?
Several. LiveJournal and Blogger I think are the biggest out there.

#3. Do you think this is a good idea in general?
I think the more exposure to it the better!

#4. What sorts of things do you think I should talk about? What kind of tone should the blog have? Should it be a humorous blog about frivolous aspects of CDing, or a more serious blog about what life is like for us/me deep down?

I think discussing the daily life of CDing is most important. Giving a sense of normalcy to it and allowing others to see it isn't all about sex, clothing, sex changes, etc. Dispel the stereotypes!

[Pandora]

A blog sounds like a great idea. Another forum member, TSchapes has one going and it's pretty darn good. I love the name of it, Tracys' Happy Place. Pretty funny writing too. I'm finding that having a sense of humor is helping me alot in being comfortable with myself.

http://tracyschapes.blogspot.com/

The tackle box idea just killed me, so guess where I went last weekend. Dicks sporting goods to buy a tackle box for my future makeup and jewelry collection.

Good luck with your writing! :hugs: