I am almost 51. I have been doing this since around 14.
I am almost 51. I have been doing this since around 14.
I think there are a couple reasons for that.
Those of us in our mid to upper 30s or older, even if we were on the internet in the early to mid 90s, did not have the resources available now to investigate and find community. Many of us also began our normal male lives with families, children, careers, and living as 'we should.' It's part of the reason the trans community seems to have a lull until the kids-have-moved out years. I think if many of us were your age now, with the info and society as it is, we'd be more likely to consider transition or at least be open about it.
For the teens and 20 somethings, the internet has always been here, and with it an availability to the resources, shopping, communities, etc to make it seem like your world is bigger than a local town.
CD falls under the TG umbrella, when the reality is that we're not the same as the TS girls, no more than TS people should fall into the Gay/Lesbian labels (unless they are). When a CD interacts with a TS person, I've found an overwhelming form of over-support and encouragement to consider that I'm TS, too. (Ha, ha, difference between a CD and a TS? One year) And if so, I should start transitioning and getting on hormones and laser now, etc. It's basically a form of proselytizing and really, who doesn't want an answer to why we do this? Couple that with you guys being at an age of discovering yourself and you are very, very malleable.
And I say that because I've thought a lot about it and I'm virtually positive that if I had these resources and knowledge when I was in or just out of college, I really would have considered transitioning or at least, trying aspects of it out.
—Mikaela
I'm 53 years old, but don't feel it. 50 is the new 15.
Eryn
"These girls have the most beautiful dresses. And so do I! How about that!" [Kaylee, in Firefly] [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"What do you care what other people think?" [Arlene Feynman, to her husband Richard]
"She's taller than all the women in my family, combined!" [Howard, in The Big Bang Theory]
"Tall, tall girl. The woman could hunt geese with a rake!" [Mary Cooper, in The Big Bang Theory]
We can all learn from each other and I'm no exception, but one thing that life and the school of hard knocks have taught this "old dog" is to pick your battles, and not to sweat the small stuff. In the end, no one will care, as none of us gets out of this alive anyways - the only variable being how soon we leave this earth and by what means. Try to lighten up a bit, Kelly - that chip on your shoulder must be getting awfully heavy by now...
As for the skew in the demographics of the membership here - it is probably no more complicated than the fact that many of us old farts here are either retired or only working part-time at this point, and have way too much free time on our hands .
I am 42 years old, I wish to stop the clock
I've felt in the past, and still do to some extent, that younger people simply don't need as much support these days. When I was in my 20s I avoided all places like this, because I didn't feel the need. I grew up in a generation, and around people who were very accepting. I only joined here a few years ago out of simple curiosity, and to see if I could lend a different perspective to things.
About a month ago I searched out the younger generation (18-25), and found a chatroom where young T people chatted together. The atmosphere in that room is far far different to this site. You better have thick skin if you're going to post a picture or if you ask for support. They don't mess around when it comes to telling it like it is. They also use tinychat daily to video chat with each other. It's nice to put names to faces. They were all mostly too young and beautiful though. It was depressing.
I am 21 currently. So I am a younger member who frequents this forum.
x-Cold Black Rain Flows From These Eyes-x
Cheza Rayne
51 and a grandma
My body was 97 on Monday, trying to get over the abuse of a motocross race on Sunday.
Well I am 3 no wait 40 no allright 53 you dragged it out of me.
I am 51 but people tell me regularly that I look anywhere between 38 and 44, while in drab. Hardly anyone knows I love the ladies styles.
At first I was going to put my age down in days ( over twenty one THOUSAND!) - that hurt to see.
Then I thought - how about decades...... Almost 6 . Still hurt.
Century's ..... don't even go there. Don't like the word.
Now that this little game took the wind out of my sails...
58 years.
If their was a site of younger CD's/Tg's/Ts's I would gladly leave this forum and never come back. The only "chip" that's getting heavy is the dread of seeing what new insults members have here for me because I don't think like them.
Personally I think the lack of younger members is they don'/can't relate here or are just weirded out.I can say this though, I'm not the only one looking to leave here.
Last edited by ReineD; 05-26-2011 at 05:34 PM. Reason: Editing the religious/MAC/Other thread comments out.
Wow, I would have to say that most do not look their age in the photos. Very good genetics and great makeup skills work wonders. I am 51 and most days feel 21. 21 because I love my scotch and, non US mass produced, beer. I came to the conclusion a month after I joined this forum that most of us were over 40. Children leaving the nest would explain most of the boomer's here. I remember watching about Woodstock, the first landing on the moon, Vietnam, and the assassination of John and Bobby. Holy s**t I feel old now, feeling my age. Time to go watch some Sci-Fi, TTFN.
Danielle
Not to worry, I am a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, and love both MS/PC and Apple/MAC. There are very opinionated people who are on all 3 sides of the computer wars, PC/MAC/Linux (Unix doesn't count as a MAC is BSD - Unix underpinnings with a cool GUI). I would guess you really did hit a nerve but don't take it to heart. Most everyone here is quite nice. When they give advice you must realize that advice = experience. Experience, and advice, comes from stepping on your own toes, realizing what you did, and learning from that faux pas.
If you feel the need to go elsewhere then that is your choice. Personally I am very glad to have grown up in the era I did. High school is quite a bit different, now, than it was in the 70's. The only advice I can give you - us older farts saw the world from rose colored glasses compared to what the younger generations see now. Lightning fast communications, cell phones, portable digital video cameras, PCs/MACs, satellite coverage in real time for news, I can see where all of the world events for the past 10 - 15 years can get depressing. Of course what you see now has been happening for centuries, just better weapons now. War for religion, resources, hatred, politics, it's all nothing new. Just ask those of us who remember the "Cold War", Cuba, and nuclear missiles. It's the same s**t, different generation. If you do stay, I hope you find that not everyone is so opinionated where we can't learn something new. I would bet you have better makeup advice than I do and better fashion sense too. I am still learning new things every day. I hope to learn a thing or two from our younger members, TTFN.
Danielle
Last edited by ReineD; 05-26-2011 at 05:13 PM. Reason: Merging consecutive posts. Please don't post separately when responding to several people.
Welcome to 2012, only 11 months until the "Mayan" calendar ends, oh my!
[SIZE="2"]“The Answer to the Great Question Of.....Life, the Universe and Everything.....(is) Forty-two.”[/SIZE]
Douglas Adams (British comic Writer, 1952-2001)
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
& , TTFN
Danielle Patricia
Just turned 35. I still get carded for lottery tickets :S
38 this year...you would never think it though...guess i am lucky like that...
I'm 50. But if you ask, I never said it. After all, a lady never tells!
I've been at it for 38 years. I don't feel like an "old fart", I work every day, and I too am a certified network engineer. I have a cell phone, a very speedy computer, flush toilets, and the whole works. I think that for the most part, the miscommunication between the older and the younger crossdressers is fabricated by the younger ones simply because they want to hang on to some kind of personal angst that older folks "just don't understand". Spare me. Just because you're younger than some of us doesn't mean we don't have the same cares, problems, hurdles, or whatever. Young folks always think they're cooler than older folks, ignoring the fact that we invented cool long before they were even born. We get panged because we grew up in an era before the internet. But just remember: we invented the internet. And cell phones. And electric music. And the list goes on.
Some members here could do well to drop the high horse and remember that we're all in this together.
Last edited by TGMarla; 05-25-2011 at 07:14 PM.
Any money found in the laundry is MINE!
"This is no social crisis....this is me having fun!"
www.flickr.com/photos/tgmarla/
50 act like 40. No still act the same like I was in high school.
i am 57 will be 58 in a few months..
now i have enjoyed dressing most of my life.. but as i got older i found i got were being seen dressed didn't upset me like it did when i was younger. I was always afraid of what someone would say or think, now that i am older it makes me mad that i didn't realize earlier that it really doesn't matter what others think. I missed out on a lot of dressing and going out due to that frame of mind. Is that why most of us here are older???
This was one secret I thought I would keep, after all, it's not polite to ask a girl her age you know.....BUT, since everyone else is confessing, I'm a young 58, and getting younger!!!!
Dang! You made me remember that I'm going to the big 60 next month
Keely
One of the Reds
54 years by the revolution around the sun, but 28 thru my eyes.
Integrity is not a random event. It is ones' goal for a lifetime
Margo Paulse