Quote from: Janes Groove on August 08, 2017, 01:28:07 PM
I've heard this argument before, but I believe it is based on a false premise. Yes there are cisgender people who reject us but in my experience there are just as many who accept us. The only way to gauge it is to actually go out and live it. Outside the closet. A lot of minorities deal with this and have done so for time immemorial. And one thing they all have in common is they derive profound support from those of their/our kind.
As both a PoC and a transman, I have begun to see this society I live in from a somewhat different perspective.
Here in America in 2017, I've had to come to terms with the fact that there are certain things I must do in order to continue living safely and not become a statistic.
For some reason, more African-American men seem to be targeted by the police and are being shot. I don't know if this has always happened and body cams simply show that it happens, or if its more frequent. But finally living as my authentic self has forced me to be even MORE aware of what I do in society.
It saddens me that some of the things I used to take for granted, such as smiling at children playing, can now be seen as a threat. So I am learning to externally smile a bit less as a man. But no one can stop me from smiling on the inside, which is what I'm learning to do.
There are other things, both positive as well as negative that I am learning about living life as a man of color. As my therapist loves to say, "its a process" of learning what's accepted in order for me to remain safe in this society.
Having the support of my fellow trans-community does wonders not only for me to learn simple things like "how to properly go to the bathroom as a man," but even little things like the difference in the way a woman walks vs a man.
Others that have gone before me are now helping me teach those that come behind me how to be a man. I still have a long way to go before I too become the man that I should have been born as, but its great to have other transgender friends to cheer me along the way.
Would I go back to my former, dissatisfied self in order to be able to "live life more safely?"
Not in a million years.
Ryuichi
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