When Girls Graduate as Guys

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
When Girls Graduate as Guys
47
Thu, 05-24-2007 - 1:46pm

What else can you do while gulping down 2 bottles of 4 fl oz of cough & cold medicine from Friday to Tuesday’s night? Who catches a cold in May? What else can I do since I’m sick of sleeping? I caught up on reading newspapers I’ve been neglecting. The Boston Globe magazine has a title “When Girls graduate as Guys” caught my attention.
Written by Adrian Brune, oh, this is from 4.8.2007 edition.

The article covers a dilemma women’s colleges are facing. The debate?

-Is it still a women’s college when some students who were females as freshmen are males by graduation day?
-If transmen are graduating from women’s colleges, is it fair/right/legal to forbid males born from attending women’s colleges?
-If women’s colleges are there to encourage/provide knowledge and skills on empowerment/to be the best you can be as a woman and some of their students don’t want to be women, does that defeats the purpose of being at a women’s college?

Comments by some of the transgenders are interesting too. I understand transgenders are people who feel they are not born with a body they feel uncomfortable with (to put it mildly). They were biological women but they wanted more to be men. One of the transmen said “I cried the day after I woke up and found my breasts gone.”…”with each stage, I feel like I’ve been losing my lesbian identity and that’s hard to give up.” What he said got me wondering. If transgenders have been struggling to realize their desires to be men, do they really have a lesbian identity? Is the lesbian identity automatically granted just because they were born as female, like their applications to women’s colleges goes through the pipelines because they’re of the female sex? Will we ship a toaster without questions when a transgender who was biological male complete the sex change and attracted to women? (wouldn’t offering a new car instead of a toaster be a better recruiting kit?)

FYI: Transgender can legally change the sex on their license in Massachusetts.

Unfortunately, no website was provided in the article so I can’t link it with my post for anyone interested in reading the article. The author is a freelance writer for The Hartford Courant and addy is magazine@globe.com if you want to request a copy.

One more question, since I am asking do you view me as having transphobia? The debate is on some of the schools websites and the article quoted a reply to a question "let the transphobia debate begin again." That reply got me wondering if I will be view that way too. *smile*

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-04-2004
Fri, 06-01-2007 - 6:37am

Thank you... that's exactly the attitude that makes this such a welcoming community...


*hugs*

Sometimes
Sometimes
I see much more than's good for me
The first thing that's on my mind
The last place I look each time


~
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-15-2004
Fri, 06-01-2007 - 7:36am

Awwwww, you are so cute! LOL!! I knew that when I came here, I would meet such wonderful ladies. I'm very proud to be a friend of yours. Awwwww!

{{{{{{{{{{Halo}}}}}}}}}}

Sebastian




Edited 6/1/2007 2:03 pm ET by igentleheart

 


Hugs,


Sebastian


 


http://www.facebook.com/sebastianbruce

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-29-2004
Sat, 06-02-2007 - 3:38pm
Group hug, awwwwww (((((((((((((((Nelle and Sabastian)))))))))))))))))))

hugs


halo

hugs

halo

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-04-2004
Sat, 06-02-2007 - 10:12pm

Hug accepted and... *returned*

Sometimes
Sometimes
I see much more than's good for me
The first thing that's on my mind
The last place I look each time


~
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Tue, 06-26-2007 - 1:58pm

Sorry to let your reply go so long without a response. Just been a very busy month with out of town visitors and nursing a pain from a breakup. After many deep belly breathings, my emotions and head are in order now. Let see if I can give clear answers to your questions. *smile*

Q:>>>I have some questions for you, how do you throw away your identity? How do you throw away what you really are? <<<

Throwing away my identity? In a way I did do that Seb. My identity to my family and school friends was of a shy girl expecting to married and successfully juggling family and business. That identity, to some, died when they view me as a lesbian. I viewed it as evolution of me. My identity evolved with another layer of rich colors. I am still someone learning to practice compassion.

Q:>>How do you know inside that you are a woman? How do you know that you, yourself, aren't a man, also?<<

I know I’m not a man because I never thought of being one. When someone asked me why do I love women; is it because I want to be a man? I felt anger within me but I reply with a negative answer and reassure them I love being a woman through and through, in my full glorious form and levels. To some men I know very well, I would add. I love women the same reasons you love your women. They are glorious, wonderful, sensitive, compassionate human beings I feel connected with.

Q:>>Let me add on to your confusion, lol! Let's say I'm out somewhere and another transman identifies himself to me and we fall in love, what does that make me then? A gay man.<<

A person in love. *smile*

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Tue, 06-26-2007 - 2:00pm
two cents is still richer than no sense. *smile*
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Tue, 06-26-2007 - 2:02pm
Hey you! *L*
Long time no see. I thought you left us since I haven't seen your posts.
I'll have to mull over your posts a few days before replying. Maybe I won't need to reply but just think of what you wrote. *smile* I'm glad you were able to read the article. *grin*
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-04-2004
Tue, 06-26-2007 - 6:25pm

I know I’m not a man because I never thought of being one. When someone asked me why do I love women; is it because I want to be a man? I felt anger within me but I reply with a negative answer and reassure them I love being a woman through and through, in my full glorious form and levels. To some men I know very well, I would add. I love women the same reasons you love your women. They are glorious, wonderful, sensitive, compassionate human beings I feel connected with.


J Michael Bailey tried to assert

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-04-2004
Tue, 06-26-2007 - 6:27pm

rofl, I'm not holding your feet to a fire/response, so no worries.


Go have a beer. It's better than making your head hurt. I'll join ya. ;-)

Sometimes
Sometimes
I see much more than's good for me
The first thing that's on my mind
The last place I look each time


~
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-15-2004
Tue, 06-26-2007 - 9:55pm

Hey eastie, I can understand that you got busy. After you left, school started for me and I got busy also. When I asked you those questions, I get the same questions thrown at me by unenlightened persons, or should I say, people that are trying to understand why someone choses to be themselves, and not how everyone wants them to be. But, to be an enlightened person, you must first ask questions.

Since I've started school, my instructors recognize me and relate to me as a male. I smile everytime someone calls me sir, even though I haven't changed my name legally just yet, they still address me by my feminine name. (For me it's an issue of keeping the confusion down).

Everyone is going to ask me why I feel and believe I'm a man. I know in my heart that I am a man and I'm content with that. The reason why I asked you those questions, was to sort of 'nicely' give you a taste of what it's like to be in my shoes for a moment, not comfortable, is it? ;)

Anyway, it was nice "seeing" you again.

Hugs,

Sebastian




Edited 6/26/2007 10:02 pm ET by igentleheart

 


Hugs,


Sebastian


 


http://www.facebook.com/sebastianbruce