I'm watching a show about transgendered people.
Men who feel like they're women trapped in masculine shell, and vice versa.
There's one man, who, before he got the courage up to make the change, to become a woman, was a very masculine man. Had facial hair, did traditionally masculine things like construction work, welding and so on. He even had 4 kids.
Then, at the age of 46, he decided that he couldn't live the lie anymore and undertook the process to turn his body into the feminine form he felt he really should be.
Watching him in a store trying to find appropriate clothing to wear for his first trip out in public as a woman....it was saddening but heartwarming at the same time. Saddening because he so desperately wanted to appear as 'normal' a woman as he could be, and he had not a clue where to start. I felt like I was watching my little sister trying on dresses and shoes.
It was heartwaring to see the look on his face when he came out of the dressing room in full chick gear....he looked so damn proud of himself, so happy and confident that he COULD pass as a woman...it was almost an affirmation for him. This was the first time he had allowed anyone to see him in women's clothes; all of his dressing up to that point had been at his home, alone. It was really a wonderful thing to behold.
I used to think that people who were transgendered were simply confused. Being female, and happily female, myself....I have no idea what it must be like to feel like you're trapped in a body that betrays who you feel you really are. The older I get, though....the more I feel like I want to live and let live, and to even go beyond that. I'd like someday to have the opportunity to help a person transitioning from male to female, to show them how to dress for their body shape, how to apply eyeliner and mascara and how to choose accessories.
I think that doing such a thing would be a great opportunity....and a learning experience, a lesson in tolerance for me.