Last weekend I and my girlfriend were watching movie "Room in Rome". It is basically a lesbian romantic movie. When those two beautiful ladies spoke about their pasts it hit me really hard. I realised that I would never have the opportunity to live my whole life as a female. Even if I decided to transition I would never be able to experience childhood, adolescence ... and with it all joys and sorrows of a woman. And I cried in a way I had not cry for a really long time. No wonder my girlfriend was surprised and I had to explain. Surprisingly, I think she understood that there is immitigable pain in realising that there is a whole another life I would like to experience, "a life merely glimpsed", as one blogger named it.

After that experience I tried to think about any positives of being transgender, because I believe that for all the sadness we have to endure there is a potential for something positive. I also browsed the Net, because I thought there had to be someone who thought about the same issues and I've found really nice and positive text which I want to share with you:

http://www.transsexual.org/cherish.html

I hope you'll like it.

So what do you think? What are the advantages of being transgendered?



Poly

Wow beautiful 

Your new avatar and the article

X

Gives us hope

Julie

I have always had a saying " out of the ashes, good things can grow" . meaning: through our disasters and problems, new life, new experiences that we may not have had otherwise, tend to pop up and take root.

If you ever watched a forest fire, how it devastates the land and reduces it to ashes, those same ashes from the former life of trees and plants, feed the new growth, the cycle of life is complete.


In our lives and experiences , the same can apply, if we let it. otherwise, the ground is infertile and sterile. we need to plant those same seeds that will take root and grow into something beautiful. we cannot change what has happened, but we CAN affect what will happen to us.

its all down to a matter of perspective.

Change the angle, you change the picture.

For me, I have often wondered, if I wasn't abused as a child, whom or what kind of person would I be today? would I be a rude , crude and abusive male? living up to all the Male steriotypes? would I have taken for granted that everything is being handed to me, because its a patriarchal society? foregoing all that, I have made the choice... an active choice to give into the femininity and the beauty that goes with it. albeit internal and external.

I feel, that with that, comes an understanding of others, and not least of all, compassion for others and their plight. I do still maintain strength of will, when needed, to prevent my kindness being taken as weakness..

Nice pondering!
I'd say that the advantage of not being born female is that we get to bypass, menstruation!
We get to watch our bodies grow from clunky guys to more delicate women.
Born women, dont know the magic they have everyday, because it just happens. We however are attune to our appearance, walk, movements, attitude, gestures, and voice, every minute we are en femme.
Its maddening but amazing too.
I love it
Bobbi

I'm of the opinion that life is what you make of it.  I think this is true for both transgender and cisgender individuals.

Sorry, but im thinking I would rather not feel this way.

No amount of pretty clothes, makeup and shoes are worth the pain and suffering of never being happy in your own body.

I had typed out three paragraphs of crying out my pessimism, decided it was too depressing, and deleted it. I need to think about the positives.

I, too, if given the choice, would have bypassed the pain.  But my son, whom we adopted from a third world country, asked me recently why it was that so many foreign born people were so successful, despite the advantages that the native born, native English speakers have.  I told him that because he came from a different perspective, he could see things that others could not, that he saw opportunity where others simply saw normal, and failed to appreciate it.  I think perhaps being trans gives us this same outside perspective advantage on being female, albeit at a great cost.  I have noticed that so many women have all that I ever really wanted, yet they count it as nothing, as normal, of little or no value.  Thanks for sharing "Cherish".  While I do not agree with all of it, there is much food for thought there.

After reading, re-reading, and reading again the article you linked us, I do feel a bit better about myself. I need to look at my curse as more of a gift, and rise above the hate filled bigoted upbringing most of us had to endure WHILE enduring our inner confusions. I remember clearly when I was four years old... I was at my female cousins house, and she was taking a nap. I was bored, and decided to play with her dolls. My mother noticed and stomped towards me to snatch them out of my hands and said "dolls are for girls, and you are a boy." She then sent me outside with a foam football. I was a bit confused and saddened but I left the ball behind and proceeded to pick flowers instead ^_^

The duality of my nature definitely has broadened my perspective on numerous things.  I love being able to see and understand better from both sides.  I mean, I was usually pretty good at figuring things out and analyzing people.  Figuring what makes them tick and why some do what they choose to do.  But it's a bit different now, it's not from outside analysis, its from internal perspective.  I guess to me it feels like research, everything is theoretical, until it has been tested, and retested, and the same results occur.   So until you have that first hand experience, everything is just a best educated guess.  I have no idea if that even makes sense.  

Anyways, thank you Poly for the wonderful post!  It does open my eyes a bit more and helps me to appreciate the duality of my nature.