Mon Jun 04, 2012 at 07:18 AM PDT
Essay on Becoming a Woman
by julimyers
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/04/1097220/-Essay-on-Becoming-a-WomanA few days ago, I received a private Facebook message from a dear friend. It began, "I got to see my vagina today. For the very first time, my vagina. I know you know how significant that is and I only wish the same for you and soon. It will change your life."
My friend, Natasha, sent this from her hospital room in Montreal, where she is recuperating from the most significant surgery anyone like us (her and me) can ever undergo: gender affirmation surgery. We are transgender, which, for those few of you who might not know, is the phenomenon where the gender identity which is programmed into the brain of a fetus does not coincide with the physical sex into which that fetus develops. To make a million long stories short, it is inarguably one of the most painful birth defects imaginable, largely because it's the only one I know of where the person suffering from it has to fight tooth and nail to make people understand that it's real.
