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Sh...er...He?

Started by Jillary Woolen Xσx, September 30, 2010, 10:07:46 PM

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Jillary Woolen Xσx

I have a family that for the most part is supportive and tolerant of me whether they believe in what i'm doing or not.
Although I am very open and comfortable about being transsexual and have expressed many times that i am female,
my family has a hard time with pronouns.

My father will probably never call me she. I'm ok with that because I could give a Sh*t what he calls me.
My father's mother says I'm an instrument of the devil (which is a far more interesting story maybe for another post  ;)) and i could give less of a sh*t what she thinks.
My mom is much more understanding but only refers to me as "she" in public
which i guess is better than nothing, even though it still is pretty frustrating for me that it can't be more of an all the time thing

but what really gets me is my cousins and more so my aunts & uncles who don't call me either....
they call me by my gender-ambiguous pre-legal-change nick name (Like in 3rd person) or an awkward "Sh-im" or "He-er" that they'll say
in they're breath....

Sometimes they'll even call me by my hideously male ex-full name as a joke to purposely irritate me and laugh about it

I don't feel comfortable with it at all
and they don't feel comfortable talking about it.
I even pull an awkward subject change to kill the discomfort most of the time it happens
which is pretty often...

I might have over tyoed this post and I hope i don't sound petty or whiney... but it's just something that makes me feel really dehumanized.
like no matter how much I assert my femininity it wont matter because I'm "Shim"
Ho-Hum.....
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Asfsd4214

I have similar issues with my family. My solution is to just accept it, write them off, and not worry about it.

There's nothing I can do to change their perceptions of me... they were already negative before I came out, sooo.


It does kinda suck though.
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Jillary Woolen Xσx

ugh I know :(

That's what i kind of figured is that I'm gonna have to get over it.

I feel like no Cis Person will ever understand the power of a simple pronoun :(

maybe we should just start calling them by other genders  >:-)
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pebbles

yeah I've noticed something similar some of my friends are more accepting than others my family however aren't :/

A male friend of mine hit me in the arm he dose that all the time, Another friend of mine said that he was "beating up a girl" And he begin slightly drunk asserted that I wasn't a girl and refered to me as "boy-o" it was only when he noticed that I was staring at him with a really unhappy look that he conceded instead to refer to me as a "half-girl" ugh :(

My family it's no... They refuse to call me by my female name or ever call me her in public or not. It stings and part of me looks forward to leaving. I don't call her the opposite gender however I am contemplating not responding if she gets my name wrong.
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spacial

Ashley's advice is about it really.

The more you react, the worse it will get.

You mom sounds pretty good.

Changing is a long road with a lot of problems on the way. It's a somewhat new road and many people are taking time to get use to it.

In reality, it's none of their business. But they think it is.
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Jillary Woolen Xσx

I'm so sorry Pebble's :(
that's absolutely terrible that you are treated like that
you don't deserve that.
i couldn't imagine how hurtful that would be
I don't understand how there is such a disrespect from supposedly family and friends...
it sickens me

Spacial You are absolutely right
It's non of their business but they think because they've known us before transition that they have the right to chose which between the two
when they are completely different being's.
you don't talk to an adult like a baby because you knew them before they grew up do you?
why should transition be any different?

thanks you for reading my post Gals :)
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niamh

God, I hate the issue of pronouns so much. Thank god that where I live there is no gender difference in the pronouns. Everyone, be they man or woman, is referred to by the same pronoun so that is at least something nice. However, in English is can be troublesome, especially when friends of mine refer to me by 'she' and 'her' when everyone in the group knows me but then they have to shift to 'he' and 'him' when people come who I amn't out to. Then the people who know me slip and right in front of everyone say 'she' and it's so awkward. Then even when they do say 'he' it's like my gender is invalidated. It's so sucky!
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Jillary Woolen Xσx

gaaaah Yeah it is super sucky Niamh!
Where do you live so hat there would be no pronouns?
maybe i should move there lol!
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April Dawne

I only "came out" officially a few months ago -- I mean to everyone -- so I am still working on getting people on-board with calling me she and April. Many still call me HE no matter how femininely I'm presenting, still others he me and also use my old name still -- again no matter how femininely I'm presenting. There are several however, family AND friends, who have adapted quickly and it's really nice to be she'd and called April so naturally by them.

For the most part, I don't really let it bother me much. I know it will take time for them to "make the switch" so to speak, so I am just ignoring the faux pa made by people for the time being. Others that refuse to make that change at all will just end up being ignored, either totally or just whenever they use the wrong wording.

I feel bad for those that it really bothers -- I personally am just not willing to invest the energy or time into getting upset over things that I likely will never change. They either transition with me, or get left behind.

~*Don't wanna look without seeing*~

~*Don't wanna touch without feeling*~




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Jillary Woolen Xσx

yeah i try not to let it get to me because it is something so little, but i can out about 5 or 6 years ago.
i think it is just something that has built up so much that it has become exhausting for me

I think what troubles me the most isn't the pronoun aspect but more so the feeling that my transition hasn't made any progress'
I wish it didnt bother me so much :/
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azSam

I'm sorry to hear that you're each having a pronoun problem with your families. I'm sort of the opposite, I talk to my mother frequently, she is one of my strongest advocates during this transition.

It was just before my brother's wedding, maybe a week before. I was asked to be his "best man", because really he had no one else to ask, and I love my brother. I was talking to my mother and sort of broke because it was very hard for me to continue with the wedding, after I've been working so hard to change my identity. She suddenly said, "Ok it's time."

She started calling me Sammi without me even asking her. Started using the proper pronouns, and even went out and talked to everyone else in the family on my behalf, now I everyone calls me Sam, Sammi, Samantha, with the proper pronouns.

Even with my accepting family, I tend to be afraid to move things forward with them. I am afraid that I am making them uncomfortable, which in return makes me uncomfortable. So I was reluctant to have the conversation with them. Thankfully my mom read my mind and intervened.
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Jillary Woolen Xσx

Samantha you're story made me smile!
I'm glad you have such a great mother as your strongest advocate :)

I understand how you feel about making your family uncomfortable

I imagine it must be a great to have someone on the outside speak on your behalf
especially a family member :)
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Pundit

Why don't you outright tell your cousins and other relatives that that bothers you, and that you'd appreciate it if they referred to you as she? That's a lot easier said than done, I know, unless you're an assertive person (I happen not to be, so I completely understand if you're not comfortable in being so direct). Otherwise, that sucks. There's not much you can do except take it and know deep down that you're a woman. Again, I imagine that's easier said than done. Just trying to offer some advice...

One of my best friends was a MTF transsexual. I met him online when she was 16. She didn't know of her transsexuality then. Then, when she turned 18, two years later, she told me how she felt, and I was very accepting, because I was always very accepting of gays, transsexuals, and other groups that are often frowned upon by society. I couldn't shake the habit of referring to her as heor him, however. It bothered her immensely, even though I immediately corrected myself afterward. We don't talk anymore, but even when I think about her, I still sometimes think of her as a man, or I'll say to myself, "Haha, he was so funny," when I should be thinking, "She was so funny." My point is, there's a difference between deliberately referring to someone as a male when she's female or as a female when he's male, and slipping up because you've known someone for a really long time. Is it possible that your mom and your cousins and other relatives are just slipping up? Or are they doing it deliberately?
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Vanessa_yhvh

Dealing with my family on this subject is hit/miss at best. I have started clarifying a few things that apply to most people most of the time, though, and am pretty firm.

1. They all have one calendar year from when I came out to accept me for who I am or be cut out of my life in a definitive manner. During this year, I am making myself fully available to assist in that process as best I can. I try to err on the side of leniency when I can.

2. It's my house, and my mortgage. Only my eighty-year-old mother with Alzheimer's gets a free pass on calling me by the wrong name and gender in any consistent way on my physical property. And she has been informed of the one year rule stated above, and that since she's not budging an inch, she has to start staying with my sister some so I can get time off in my own home to be treated respectfully.

3. Until such time as any given individual has made a meaningful effort to adapt to the change in circumstance, ze is not going to be introduced to co-workers, people I know socially, etc. Because if the people at the office can get with the program, others can as well.

There are some fiddling details based around these general themes, but those are the basic rules at this time. Most of them deal with special circumstances such as behavior at funerals and such, when people are already going through enough misery for one day. (For instance, at a funeral I will literally not speak to anybody who won't put their issues with my transition aside while I grieve. Had to deal with that at my best friend's funeral last week, and a bunch of people were simply ignored. One guy cornered me and was cursed for his trouble.)

Family and certain others who feel they have a privileged status can get one's goat some times. I try to strike a balance between sympathy and an insistence on the rules of engagement.
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