[Samantha Rogers]

Spanky, I am with you...but only to a point. At 6'3" I never expect to move in public and not set off all manner of alarms among vanilla people. But there are events and social gatherings where "girls" are expected and welcomed. There are, depending upon your location, support groups that hold meetings and events that are low pressure and often not open to the public, and where every girl can feel comfortable. These are great for learning makeup tricks and style tips as well as just for companionship with people who "get it". Then, when you are ready, there are the big regional events, such as Keystone in PA, or Southern Comfort in Atlanta, where an entire hotel is safe ground. And sure...there are some utterly amazing women at these events, but there are always going to be some who, bless their hearts, will make you feel like Raquel Welch. LOL...ha, did I just date myself, or what?
My point is, that it is a really good and healthy thing to find a way to share this side of ourselves. Online boards are so great, and make things so much better for everyone, but they can only go so far. Sigh...
This is the year that Sammie is walking through that door...personally, I am tired of hiding, and I dont know how many years I have left.
I expect to be quite a sight at six six or more in heels, but WTF, you know...?
Wish me luck, honey!

[spanky (aka Lola)]

Oh, I am not sure how much luck you will need. You'll shine, I am sure.

[Samantha Rogers]

Well... thanks, really...but it isn't really about how I or any of us look. I think, rather, it is about trying to feed how we feel. You know? It can be such a lonely place we all inhabit... I feel so bad when I think of all the girls ... hiding in some solitary existence, trying to feed a need in some secluded room somewhere, afraid and all alone. It makes me cry, really, when I realize how very many of us there are. It doesnt have to be that way. I just believe it doesn't.
Hugs, honey.

[Misty lynn]

Ok sam question what is a gid

[myboobs]

Spanky, I am with you...but only to a point. At 6'3" I never expect to move in public and not set off all manner of alarms among vanilla people. But there are events and social gatherings where "girls" are expected and welcomed. There are, depending upon your location, support groups that hold meetings and events that are low pressure and often not open to the public, and where every girl can feel comfortable. These are great for learning makeup tricks and style tips as well as just for companionship with people who "get it". Then, when you are ready, there are the big regional events, such as Keystone in PA, or Southern Comfort in Atlanta, where an entire hotel is safe ground. And sure...there are some utterly amazing women at these events, but there are always going to be some who, bless their hearts, will make you feel like Raquel Welch. LOL...ha, did I just date myself, or what?
My point is, that it is a really good and healthy thing to find a way to share this side of ourselves. Online boards are so great, and make things so much better for everyone, but they can only go so far. Sigh...
This is the year that Sammie is walking through that door...personally, I am tired of hiding, and I dont know how many years I have left.
I expect to be quite a sight at six six or more in heels, but WTF, you know...?
Wish me luck, honey!

feck me sammie !! the way you look the height wodnt mean a toss you look gorge in ya parade

[Samantha Rogers]

Ah, Gender Identity Dysphoria. Clara has a thread in the FAQ section that offers a concise definition. I would guess it applies to many though not all of the bio males that find their way here. I would highly recommend the essay by Dr Anne Vitale on this matter.

[Samantha Rogers]

Spanky, I am with you...but only to a point. At 6'3" I never expect to move in public and not set off all manner of alarms among vanilla people. But there are events and social gatherings where "girls" are expected and welcomed. There are, depending upon your location, support groups that hold meetings and events that are low pressure and often not open to the public, and where every girl can feel comfortable. These are great for learning makeup tricks and style tips as well as just for companionship with people who "get it". Then, when you are ready, there are the big regional events, such as Keystone in PA, or Southern Comfort in Atlanta, where an entire hotel is safe ground. And sure...there are some utterly amazing women at these events, but there are always going to be some who, bless their hearts, will make you feel like Raquel Welch. LOL...ha, did I just date myself, or what?
My point is, that it is a really good and healthy thing to find a way to share this side of ourselves. Online boards are so great, and make things so much better for everyone, but they can only go so far. Sigh...
This is the year that Sammie is walking through that door...personally, I am tired of hiding, and I dont know how many years I have left.
I expect to be quite a sight at six six or more in heels, but WTF, you know...?
Wish me luck, honey!

feck me sammie !! the way you look the height wodnt mean a toss you look gorge in ya parade

Tee hee, thank you, MB. There, did I take the compliment gracefully enough this time, Rascal?

[AnnieBL]

Samantha,

I think Vanity is probably the wrong word and I too agree with Clara.

For me it is about achieving a feminine appearance which matches how I feel. The trouble this is hard to achieve to a standard which satisfies the longing. I look in the mirror and think "what do you think you are doing"....but it has no effect.

As yet another "60 something" I can be honest and not expect to become a beautiful supermodel, just try the best I can to have a body that synchronises with my being. I too, when I was much younger, passed well if only the internet had existed and society had been a bit different in my earlier years I believe my life would have been rather different!

Emilee

Ah, yes, "youth is wasted on the young"...who was it that said that? I think life might have been very different for many of us older girls had the resources and attitudes of today been present back when we still had the assets to take advantage. Vanity was the wrong word...it relates to self image. But there is a relationship, I think.
If we have a GID when we are young and fresh faced, it is easier to step out of the shower facing a trim young body without triggering as strong or adverse reaction on the femme side of things as we get when the refection begins to age into an obviously older, graying, perhaps droopy or paunchy...male.
Combine that growing anxiety with a knowledge that time may be running low, and with, hopefully, some resources from a career, and also with any kids now heading out on their own...you have a perfect storm for brewing up gender crisis.
Don't you?

As usual Sammie you say it so well, and you too Emilee. If only I hjad known what I know now, and lived in today's world... But I didn't, so I have to live with what I have now, which isn't all bad (thanks in part tom my friends here - hugs all round )

Sayings on the lines of youth being too good a thing to be wasted on the young have been variously attributed, with George Bernard Shaw leading the, but Mark Twain and Oscar wilde close behind pack. Surprise, it seems to be something that the young seem to have difficulty in understanding.

[myboobs]

Spanky, I am with you...but only to a point. At 6'3" I never expect to move in public and not set off all manner of alarms among vanilla people. But there are events and social gatherings where "girls" are expected and welcomed. There are, depending upon your location, support groups that hold meetings and events that are low pressure and often not open to the public, and where every girl can feel comfortable. These are great for learning makeup tricks and style tips as well as just for companionship with people who "get it". Then, when you are ready, there are the big regional events, such as Keystone in PA, or Southern Comfort in Atlanta, where an entire hotel is safe ground. And sure...there are some utterly amazing women at these events, but there are always going to be some who, bless their hearts, will make you feel like Raquel Welch. LOL...ha, did I just date myself, or what?
My point is, that it is a really good and healthy thing to find a way to share this side of ourselves. Online boards are so great, and make things so much better for everyone, but they can only go so far. Sigh...
This is the year that Sammie is walking through that door...personally, I am tired of hiding, and I dont know how many years I have left.
I expect to be quite a sight at six six or more in heels, but WTF, you know...?
Wish me luck, honey!

feck me sammie !! the way you look the height wodnt mean a toss you look gorge in ya parade

Tee hee, thank you, MB. There, did I take the compliment gracefully enough this time, Rascal?

U did :p

[Misty lynn]

Thanks sammie i will check that out on claras posts