Reading this article made me curious;how are you ladies and gentlemen treated differently by the people in your lives since transitioning?

Which article, could you please post the link?

http://jezebel.com/5651400/my-gender-transition-means-im-suddenly-mr-fix+it

it is funny that when the guys transition they suddenly are given all this knowledge they never had before.  They now know cars, computers, wiring, plumbing and a host of other things they never did,

But when we ladies transition, we seem to have dropped in not only IQ, but in knowledge.  Regardless of what we have done in the past, we lose the knowledge.

I guess it comes down to the fact that we are accepted into society's gender views.  Maybe we should quietly accept it with a smile.  And then surprise them all with the knowledge we really have.

Quote from: Janet Lynn on October 01, 2010, 02:47:29 PM
But when we ladies transition, we seem to have dropped in not only IQ, but in knowledge.  Regardless of what we have done in the past, we lose the knowledge.

Wait... transitioning from male to female lowers IQ?!! O_o

Quote from: Janet Lynn on October 01, 2010, 02:47:29 PM
it is funny that when the guys transition they suddenly are given all this knowledge they never had before.  They now know cars, computers, wiring, plumbing and a host of other things they never did,

But when we ladies transition, we seem to have dropped in not only IQ, but in knowledge.

Yeah, it's ridiculous. I got into talks about playing soccer, and soccer is HUGE in Germany, it's the national sport here. And I don't even know the basic rules. And I'm almost not interested at all in it. I watch the finales in the international champinships If at all, and that's once in four years. If people were more aware that transmen exist, it would really be a give-away. Ouch.

Just to tell you that it's not automatically easy the other way around. My last job was with guys who talked either about computers, cars, soccer games or their national service in the military. I'm not interested into anything relating to soccer, computers, cars, and I never served in the army.

They even had soccer balls in the office which they kicked around to each other, and this had a kind ouf bounding effect. I suck at kicking balls, always sucked  at it and hate it, but I am great at climbing. Well I tried to kick the balls back, but it did not work, which ashamed me somehow. I could not contribute to any of the topics/bonding activities and felt like an outsider in that office. Oh, sometimes they talked about their kids as well. I don't have kids and don't want any so I could not contribute to this as well. Well I did not fit in, felt awkward there, made mistakes, and finally got thrown out. They were okay people, but I just couldn't bind to them.

About cars - well I have a strong driving phobia, not kidding. So strong I did not drive any car in the last 14 years. Plus, for me cars are just engines driving you from A to B, that's a cultural thing as I come from a culture where cars are just useful engines, not status symbols.

(Not that it was any better before in female mode for me. My colleague talked to me about clothes, hairdo, makeup and stuff and I was like "". She had been a hairdresser before. She suggested to me how to hide away my large shoulders (NONONO never gonna hide them away) and how to show my breasts better (NONONO, the flatter these beasts are, the better ist is) etc. However, she gave me useful suggestion about which colors suit me.)

And my male colleagues were like WTF??? Why does this guy not know anything about these topics?

Maybe I'm just too much of a nerd to get any of either sexes' preoccupations, or at least, the preoccupations of  some of the people of these sexes.... But it's not easy to blend in if you don't know the basics.

I used to be a fix-it person.  A friend said something, indicating that I probably wasn't as handy as before.  I told him: "I had my nuts cut off.  I didn't get a lobotomy."

But what I love is that I am no longer expected to know everything about fixing stuff.  I can do some things, but just because I know which end of a screwdriver to hold doesn't mean I can or am willing to fix everything.  And sometimes I choose to just bat my eyelashes at them and say they need to find a man.

- Kate

I was one of those "Mr. fix it" types also... LOL... I've noticed that guys don't take well to advice given from someone they perceive as female

So as to not sound like I'm telling them what to do I play question and answer with them until they think they've figured it out themselves

Quote from: K8 on October 01, 2010, 07:48:42 PM
I used to be a fix-it person.  A friend said something, indicating that I probably wasn't as handy as before.  I told him: "I had my nuts cut off.  I didn't get a lobotomy."

I thought that was the same

*runs away and hides* 

Quote from: Ayaname on October 01, 2010, 03:03:33 PM
Wait... transitioning from male to female lowers IQ?!! O_o

No! We don't lose the knowledge, we are just treated as if we are stupid all the time.

I know that I have not lost my ability to program computers, website design, development, network setup and all that Jazz. If anything, I have gotten faster, stronger and more efficient at it.

The article does touch on quite a few of the stereotypes that have been around for years and just the fears that one gender has while another does not.  I think many including myself can relate.  As an attractive guy I was expected to court, date, and score even though I had no interest in dating at all.  My family and even some friends asked me to help them fix things, lift objects, and so forth all the time once again even though I had no knowledge on some of the subjects.  When I walked out at night the thought of rape never even occurred to me and if anything I always thought that if someone came my way they better shoot first because I'd fight before giving in.  Also the classic of never expecting to cry at all as a guy it isn't manly so thus you sucked it up or you'd be made miserable by even your own friends.  And heck, you better dive in on staring at that girls butt or your friends are going to start diving straight into the gay jokes which will soon be taken seriously.

I still have not ditched a few of those gender habits yet.  Since I am between it all I often will still stare down someone who looks at me the wrong way.  Though not as often as I used to do.  Then I have also failed to pick up on several so called girly habits of such as fashion, lotions, knowing how to style hair, whatever.

In the end I still play my videogames and fit in little with the other side as well.  A great many can relate to that and to the article as well.  Gender stereotypes blow and those who keep them are dragging the world down.

Perhaps it is different for me because I grew up closer to my target gender than some. I think it just never occurred to me that I would be expected to be any different, and so I've never changed.

In childhood I always was a bit of a fixit, and indeed I actively used this ability to win over those who objected to my androgynous behaviour and appearance and as I have aged nothing has changed.

In the past when I used to go to various high powered meetings Alison sometimes used to come as my PA. On one occasion afterward she was chuckling about something and when I asked her what had tickled her she said "I was just tickled at the way that you manage to be BOTH a woman, and an Alpha Male at the same time, and nobody bats an eyelid!" Apparently after the meeting in the networking I had been doing the Alpha male thing squaring up, walking and talking and working the room with the big beasts. To me it just seemed normal. 

I've always been called on to fix things.
Hubby too would poke me to fix things.

All I've noticed is that since my voice dropped, people are a little less likely to say no to my offer of help.
I mean, I tell my mom last year that I can help her with her laptop, and she just, doesn't get around to it.
I tell her just the other day, and I've got the machine in my hands within an hour.

I am an Electrical Engineer and Programmer and I am Ms Fix-It for a major company here in the US.
I did find out AFTER I transitioned, that I like to build cars. THAT was really hard for the guys at the workshops to grok (understand). But after seeing my work are really supportive 

One guy in the talking group scoffed at me . Another just laughed and told him to shut up. "You'll get beat by a girl man..." The others just agreed.  A true compliment.

Hehehe...To them I am just a car girl and a good one at that! One of my best freinds is consistantly, the fastest woman in Canada on the Drag Strip, and she's a GG!

If your good at some thing, do it. A skillset does not have a gender.

Personally I am prepared to endure a lot of gender prejudice to never do DIY again....ever!

I was confused reading the thread topic, till I clicked on the link. Shouldnt this be in the FTM board?