Do you feel you just adapt?

[(Sara)]

What a world we live in, of such variety, contrasts and choices. There is so much difference in everything, categories with sub-categories of which have sub-categories and so on. This connects with how I express myself, from one day to the next changes dramatically. That is the beauty of nature and I love to see it in others, in animals and in the environment.

But... I feel that maybe I adapt myself to my male life as that has been all I am allowed to follow. When I feel I must be manly I simply submit to it, without that pressure I wonder what I'd be. The real me, the me I don't share to anyone but my girlfriend is pretty happy being a girl, in fact really happy. Without societal pressure to conform, I would probably live as the real me publicly, rather than repress myself.


So, do you feel you live your public life just adapting to what is required?
And, if were to remove societal pressure (or even be able to resist it) would you even be who you are today?

[Ilsa]

Ah, to be a Chameleon

[Caden Lane]

Its the yin to my yang. Its yet another facet of who I am like scuba or cave diving or my writing. Like everything else in my life, it partially defines me. It has certainly played a part in sculpting my life, its done its own damage. But I would not change who I am or who I've become by wishing it away. Its made me a better man, father, Lover, and person.

[Rachael Leigh]

Sara, yes if it was more acceptable to blend my wardrobe I most defiantly do it. I mean Ive been doing a bit anyway when I'm out en drab and Ive got to where I don't care if someone thinks what I've got on is womens.
So I would prob do makeup more often wear a skirt more often.
It's just how I feel.
When in full drab I feel ok too but always wish I had something much more fasionable

[Kate Simmons]

My own ideal situation would be to be a shape shifter with a TARDIS.

[kimdl93]

Yeah, my whole life has been an act of adapting to expectations.

[Marcelle]

Hi Sara,

I think we all have to adapt to some degree (unless you are living full time "en femme") in our male persona. However, I find that as I accept Isha more into my life, boy me is less willing to adapt to being what society expects a man to be. There is balance, the trick is to find it . . . still looking myself.

Hugs

Isha

[Beverley Sims]

Societal pressure is what has kept me suppressed most of my life.

[Katey888]

I think that societal pressure does it for all of us... Wouldn't we all be different, more liberated more relaxed without it?

However, it's worth remembering that societal pressure is also responsible for keeping some of the bad aspects of society in check... And where the heck would we all be if that wasn't the case..?

Life's far from Utopian - much more Faustian, in my experience - full of compromise... at least we have our moments of girly reality.

Katey x

[robindee36]

Those of us who live a dual existence eventually find a balance that accommodates both the male and female aspects of our personality. The yin-yang analogy is quite appropriate.

If you look closely neither is exclusive. Yin has a little yang in it and yang, likewise, has a bit of yin. This is a balance of duality without exclusivity. Seems a perfect descriptor for the closeted or PT dresser don't you think???

Hugs, Robin

[Lynn Marie]

I've been fortunate to have been able to excel at a number of mainly male pursuits. I've always enjoyed the company of other men with similar abilities and talents. The self-deprecating humor, the teasing, and the respect of peers is great fun for me. I'm not a hunter or fisherman, I rarely pay any attention to sports other than the ones I'm active in myself, and I don't act particularly macho. Still, among my peers, I'm well respected. I have no need to adapt!

Many of my peers would have to do some adapting, though, if they knew I was also a pretty talented crossdresser! LOL

[Stephanie Julianna]

Definitely my male self has tried to adapt to what is expected of me as a male. The times I grew up in, the 50's and 60's, would not have allowed any other approach. However, interestingly enough, as I have matured, my female persona has risen more to the top. It is almost more appreciated by others as I get older, especially in my career as a Registered Nurse. You can be feminine without being swishy. People I work with would be surprised at all that I have revealed on this site but after some reflection I think that they would probably scratch their heads and say, "How did I not see that?" and then think, "I think he would make a great girl." Atleast that's what I would hope.
The second part of your question is a bit more loaded. If I could obliterate any memory of my married life with my wife and the incredible memories of growing up with my kids and grandchildren, and if I was growing up in this time and place with the options that transgendered people have today, the outcome would be different. I would have SRS. But, knowing what I know and loving who I do now, I would never give that up to live as a woman. I'll have to save that possibility for my next life. (I believe in multiple lives.)