Blogger, Vanessa L. Pinto
Accepting the Face You See in the Mirror: One Trans Man's Story
Posted: 12/07/2012 6:00 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vanessa-pinto/transgender-transitioning_b_2237502.htmlBeing comfortable in your own skin, is what most of us strive for at some point, in my opinion. For each person, being confident and secure with who they are on the inside as well as externally, is somewhat of an eternal struggle. For many people, what they see when they look in the mirror is a huge deciding factor on how they feel about themselves. Having said that, imagine if every time you looked in a mirror, what you saw reflected back at you did not represent who you feel you are on the inside?
I wake up everyday as a woman and I feel that I am a woman, inside and out. But, what if I felt like I was a man -- and I am not talking sexual preference; what if male was the gender I identified with? What would anyone's life be like, if every time you looked in the mirror, you did not connect, recognize or feel an association with what or who was staring back at you? Transgender people have a number of difficulties for a variety of reasons. They are victims of discrimination, harassment, fear-based hate and often, the victims of crime.
I recently attended the Good Vibrations Sex Summit. One of the speakers, Yoseñio Lewis was sharing on a panel about "Sexual Health and Pharmaceuticals." He made some thought provoking statements, about how the pills that help us live longer, at times can alter our quality of life. As I listened to Lewis explain why he felt this way, I was floored when he identified himself as a trans man. His statement was followed by: "It's OK, you can pick your jaw up off the floor now."
