im not trying to spoil anything but trying to relate to the topic,
my experience of other transexuals and GIC clinics, is that there are lots of people that claim that they pass well, or that they have female this or that. I think they live in dream world, and normally have little or, no real life experience of being a woman.
When i say real life experience i mean things like standing up and talking in front of groups of people who do not know you, or applying for a job as a woman and passing in that interview as a woman. Building relationships with people as a woman and interacting with society as a woman.
Conversly, Going into a bar, and being called a woman is bloody easy. If you think you pass because you've done that, i'd be very sceptical. I always pass in bars. Its because nobody is paying you any attention. Likewise, walking through town is easy. Nobody looks at you and if they do, they're not going to call you a man anyway, why would they care?
I've met people who claim that they pass 100% and look like women, when in reality they look like men with awful dress sense. They are not in touch with reality and it makes me really sad for them. Whenever i go into the GIC clinics, i see what is essentially a group of men in dresses. Some look more male than others, but all look male to me. Some look really feminine facially, but never female facially. The whole picture, once the body is added is completely that of a man. Others have a great body but a mans face.
I don't believe anything i hear or see from people claiming to pass on the internet. Its due to my real life experience telling me otherwise. If someone convinces me in reality, then i accept it. Otherwise, im sceptical. Maybe some of you are the 0,0001% lucky ones, but i have to trust what my eyes tell me in reality, not what people say on random anonymous internet forums.
I've yet to meet a genuinely passable transexual in a GIC clinic. I've probably met around 50 in my time.
In fact the last time i went in, there was a genetic woman sitting next to me who whispered to her husband 'the're all men aren't they!'.
dont get me wrong, im not saying im any better.. i've been 'hit on' by men on several occasions. I don't assume that this means i pass as a woman, just that on certain occasions, people may confuse me for a woman, based on my hairstyle and clothes. It always makes me scared of opening my mouth. My pass rate drops from nearly 100% to nearly 0% when i open my mouth.
As a teacher I've stood up in front of classes and been addressed as he, or him by half the class and she and her by the other half. Everytime i get called he or him, its like a knife sticking in my back, but i can't escape the way i am. I don't think i do badly for a transexual, in fact, quite the opposite, so i view with lots of suspicion when i see people saying that they pass so well.
Transitioning is not perfect. You can put on a skirt, and they'll call you a woman, but think you're a man. You can put on androgenous clothes and they'll call you a man but wonder if your a woman.
my experience is that women tend to accept me alot more than men. Non-white males are normally easier to convince than white males. The most difficult group to convince is younger white males aged 25-40. I suspect its because they are the ones who are looking most intensely for a prospective mate.
I think alot of transexuals who do not pass hide from their trueselves and take pictures of themselves where they may by accident look female, and hide out in comfortable places like this. I think its counterproductive for the transexual community because it makes us assume most pass, when in fact 99.9% do not.
Its such a difficult change from one sex to another, and i think living in denial about your strengths and weaknesses is the most difficult thing of all. I wake up one day and see a pretty woman, and the next day i see a hideous freak. Nothing changed over night, its just my perception of myself on different days.
sorry everyone but im just saying what i've seen.