TRANScend GENDER

Because this is a new venture, and because many of my fellow contributors (to say nothing of potential readers) probably don’t know me, I thought I’d post an introduction. So without further ado…

Howdy. I’m Christianne. My user name says that I’m “Dunyazad,” but you can’t trust user names.  Dunyazad was the younger sister of Scheherezade, the storyteller of the Arabian Nights. I picked the name for use online many years ago when I had a computer named Scheherezade, and I wanted to use a name that related. Plus, Dunyazad is agreeably exotic, but I don’t use it in real life. In real life, I’m “Chris,” a “Christopher” in my youth, formerly a “Christine,” and currently “Christianne,” or “Christi,” or “Chris,” or even “C.” Playing with appellations is one of the fun parts of being T. And thanks, Mom and Dad, for giving me a name with a gender-neutral diminutive. That’s handy, because when I get around to a legal name change, neither of my brothers will have to grope around for a new name to call me when we have dinner at the holidays. I find that “Christianne” is agreeably exotic, too. There are a lot of Chris’s and Christines and Kristens, but not many Christiannes at all. I like that. 

So, yes, I’m a transsexual, which is something I’m finally comfortable with. Oh, it’s not like I didn’t know from an early age. I DID know from an early age, but knowledge and comfort are two different things. I’ve been “in transition,” as the saying goes, for about a year and a half (which is how long I’ve been enduring electrolysis). I’ve been seeing a therapist for nine months. I’ve been on hormones for five months. For the most part, things are going swimmingly, though I doubt that I’ll transition to living full time in my gender of choice for another year at least. The physical things–the beard removal, in particular–need to be done before then. I couldn’t imagine doing electro with my beard from hell, all the while trying to live full time. Ain’t gonna happen. Nope. In spite of that, I think I clean up pretty well. Here’s what I look like: 

And here’s another photo out in public and with different hair. 

That’s the fabulous Laura Carrillo standing next to me. She’s a partner in crime over at the other blogging collective in which I’m participating.  

Based on the tenor of the posts that have already surfaced here, I suspect that I’m going to be the class clown. It’s not that I don’t write deep “think” pieces–I do–but I have such a sunny disposition and such a stable temperament that you probably won’t see any real angst from me. I’ve mercifully escaped a lot of the troubles encountered by my fellow travelers. I have a good job, a nice house, a wonderful life partner who knows about and supports what I’m doing. I have great friends, a dog, a cat, and none of them care about what I’m doing. I have it good, and I don’t foresee any of it changing much. And I have no illusions about just how friggin lucky I am, either. You may see political and moral outrage from me (I’m looking at YOU, Human Rights Campaign), you may see a jaundiced view of what Mark Twain called “The Damned Human Race,” you will undoubtedly see bemused comedy (and perhaps all of these things at once). You will certainly see me commenting on the image of transgenderism in mass media, a subject in which I have more than a passing interest. But not angst. 

Finally, a word of thanks to Lori, who invited me to participate in this mad tilt at the windmill. One day soon, I’ll meet you in the flesh, methinks.

Namaste.

Filed under: Introduction, Transgender | Tagged: introductions |