esmegrey: (Default)
One of the big questions that face many a transgender person, is their name. And this is something I've been thinking about a lot lately, thanks to my previous post.

I have never, ever, picked a name for myself other than the one I was given at birth. I will have dalliances with names, but soon flit to the next shiny thing.

As should be patently obvious, "Kaylee" is not my real name, nor is it anywhere close to my birth name. I picked it because of a mood at the time six years ago when I made this page, and I've kept it for this, and it fits here, but it's still not "me". I don't think I would ever introduce myself in public as Kaylee, nor would I ever legally change my name to it. Or I might. Hence my issue. Well, hence today's issue. I have many issues. I have whole trade paperbacks...

The difficult part is, I do not have a name that easily flips to a more feminine gender, like a James, or a Pat, or a Michael, etc etc etc.

And much like my gender, my name was also something I didn't like when I was younger, and through my teens, for wholly different reasons. But once I learned what the name meant, I realised I had grown into the meaning, and the name genuinely suits me, I feel.

I also never knew what my parents might have named me if I had been born a girl, so I don't even have that option.

There IS a variant on my name that some people have used for me, but...I absolutely hate it. Well, HATE is a strong word. I would maybe not mind it so much if there weren't other things it was associated with I didn't care for.

So I sit here wondering who I am, while also knowing who I am, while still not knowing who I am! And that all actually makes sense to me.

So many questions.

I've been sitting around a lot lately questioning myself that if - and it remains a big if! - if I did transition, what would my name be? And I have a few options in my head, but there's always that doubtful part of me that says nono, those are just your latest obsessions, give it a week and something new will catch your eye.
esmegrey: (Default)
Hi everyone!

I say to...no one in particular, because I don't think a single other person has ever read a single post of mine, and that's half my fault, and I am more than okay with that.

Ahem!

I've said on this page many a times how I over time became okay with the face in the mirror, and while the gender I was assigned at birth did not match the gender I felt inside, I accepted things I could not change. I know it CAN be changed, but I felt that any results applied to me would still be disappointing. Whee, low self esteem is fun, kids!

And lately...

Okay.

I am still okay with the person in the mirror. He's still a cool guy, and I love being me, on some levels.

But...I've been seeing more and more, people going through amazing changes, at various points in their life, that have given that female part of myself start to reawaken more. An issue I thought was a settle question has come up out of the depths of my mind, and the question no longer feels as settled now.

I don't know what this means, I don't know what I'll do, but also, do not worry for me. Because I know such questions can be difficult, and while these old feelings might trouble some people, for me I feel good about it. It is good to take a moment every now and then and do some self reflection.

Maybe, just maybe, I might do something I never thought I would do. Or not. But I feel more confident about things if I did, and I see more roads open to me than before. And that's always a good thing.

Kaylee
Feeling more herself than she has in a long time
Maybe later I'll get into more details on the whys of all this.
esmegrey: Me at my laptop. (I'm blogging!)
Sigh. If anyone is actually reading these words (Please let me know!) I apologise for the oh, FIVE YEAR GAP between posts! I have so many other places I post, I so easily forget this place, even when I'm at my darkest and need to vent. I recently remembered and found myself back here, and miss the Kaylee side of myself. I have a lot of facets to myself but (All together now!) that is a post for another day.

For now though, I want to get back to my thoughts on, as the subject says, writing. Part one just below was my thoughts on other people's tg writing, and my lamenting the state of tg fiction in this day and age. I'm sad to report that the situation hasn't changed much in five years, as far as I've seen. I've found more captions here and there, and on DeviantArt, but it still seems like more of a chore these days.

Part two of my thoughts on writing, I turn my gaze inwards and want to talk about my own writings.

I've alluded to being a writer before, and I have written a few bits of tg fiction. Or more accurately, bits of fiction with tg in them. Sometimes its little in jokes to amuse me, or nods to my tg friends. More often than not, it's some sort of story with a tg element in them as a major plot. I don't really quite fit my stuff into the Fictionmania mold. It's less "here's a story about a guy who turns into a girl and how he reacts!" and more about "Oh, and by the way, while the world is ending, this guy also has the ability to turn into a girl!" I'd liken it more to writing something like Mantra, the ollld Ultraverse comicbook. And I'm probably dating myself by mentioning the Ultraverse...

But really, this is splitting a very fine hair. Ultimately though, I try NOT to write a lot of tg, outside of little jokes that make me smile. I don't want to get stuck in a rut where I become 'a tg writer'. I don't want people to hear "Oh, Kaylee has a new story in the works! I wonder what sort of girl she;'s going to turn the main guy into this time!" I want tg stories in my toolbox, but I don't want it to define me. Which is part of why I tend to have it as elements, and not the entirety, and its also why no one has probably ever heard of me in the tg fiction areas.

I am far more interested, at the moment, in developing a fantasy series, and getting back to some of my other fictional universes. I'll always give a nod to my tg roots, but in my writing, that's not what I want to define me. Honestly, I want my life to be undefinable in all things.

I like to keep people guessing. I probably had more coherent thoughts to say about this five years ago, but like I said, I really want to get back to this slightly more regularly. It's hard because this part of my life, is entirely segregated from everything else I do, where I talk about everything else, so trying to think of what I can post here is tough. And then I'm scatterbrained. The first person to make a blonde joke will get a knuckle sandwich!

K
I'll try and post before the next Presidential election!
esmegrey: Me at my laptop. (I'm blogging!)
Hello interwebs!

It's been awhile since your lovely lady of laziness has had something to say. I'm still pondering what balance I want to strike here, what other things to talk about...I mean, there's only so many hours in a day you can talk TG.

I didn't want to post anything on April Fools', since that could go horribly wrong, and then just never got around to anything of import or interest.

But there is a two part topic I can hit up for now, writing. Let me start off with other people writing, and get back to me later.

One of the things that really got me into TG, or through the doldrums back in the day, was Fictionmania. I imagine most folks in the land of transgender interests have heard of Fictionmania, and probably once frequented the site.

I used to love it. I used to go there all the time. I loved a lot of the stories that were posted, and the captioned images, and it was a nice place to visit to get new ideas, and stuff like that.

But somewhere along the way...something changed. There have always been many sides of TG. As I've said, I'm more into the fantasy elements of it all. Some people like the crossdressing side of things. Some people like scifi over magic. FM *used* to cover ALL bases, in a pretty equal measure, but definitely leaning towards the fantastical element. Series like Spells 'R' Us, the Medallion of Zulo, etc.

A few years ago though, I really began noticing most of the stories there became more and more about sissification and dom/sub pairings. Now, that's all well and good for what it is, and if you like that, as I keep saying, hey that's fine! But it just became, and I recognize the irony of saying this, so damned dominant on the site. There was still the occasional posting of stuff more to my tastes, but it became so few, so far between...I don't think I've even been by the site in the past year or two, and only then to peek around the corner.

My final straw was coming across a story that was literally nothing more than someone's brief autobiography about their own sissification. There was some other element that I can't really recall after all these years, and I don't want to say the wrong thing. I felt uncomfortable even looking at the synopsis, and realized the entire page of new submissions was pretty damned similar, so I started to lessen my visits, and eventually stopped almost entirely.

It was such a shame to see that shift happen, and in some ways, it's kinda indicative of the genre in general. Every time I try and slip into a new TG community, invariably the first question is if I'm dominant or submissive...and THAT is a post for another day.

Things change, things shift, and people move on. If it fills a niche that people want, and clearly it does if it's become such a HUGE part of things, I can't really complain too much. Well, I *can* but if that's the way the wind has shifted...sigh. Makes me long for the older days of 2001. It is just such a bummer to have the thing shift so far from what I, personally would like to see, but it seems I am in the minority.

I know there are still TG fantasy/scifi/etc writers out there, but that side of things has really become increasingly difficult to find, and the effort just isn't as worth it anymore. I'd love to hear suggestions of a more varied, well maintained source for TG fiction.

K
And look, new userpic!
esmegrey: (Default)
I think I may as well kick things off with my thoughts on gender, as they pertain to myself, at the very least.

I am not your typical transgender person, as my interest in the subject has mostly become just that; interest. Although in other ways, I am pretty typical.

I realized early on that I was different, like many do I suppose, and was fascinated with womens clothing, so there was a period where I dabbled with crossdressing. Eventually, I kinda looked in the mirror, and came around to thinking that this was just not doing anything for me.

Now, I have NOTHING against people who do crossdress, and who get some fulfillment out of it. If that works for you, oh my god, that is AMAZING. But, it just wasn't for me. On top of that, the prospect of becoming a TG person via hormones and surgery never really felt like an option either. Again, if that works for you other folks out there, these are my thumbs, and they are up for you!

But for me...not so much. It's hard to really say why, but part of it is feeling that it's just another layer of crossdressing, and I always felt the results would never, ever be all that great for me, since the starting point wasn't much to write home about either. Especially at the time period when this was really hitting me, I just wasn't all that much aware of the situation, and the processes itself were still a ways away (as far as I knew) from being all that great. I didn't want to be a guy in drag, or look like one, that was just so overtly NOT female...

And so, over time, I came to live with who and what I was, and accept it, so my interests drifted towards fantasy. I love roleplay, I love playing out the changes with friends, and I love the opportunity that the online world gives of at least living as I want to live in some circles. It gives me release to sometimes be changed from who I am into whom I want to be, but even there...that is a post for another day.

But yeah, I found my way to get through things, and I do not begrudge or look down on anyone who has found THEIR way, no matter how similar or different it may be. The face looking back from the mirror may not be the face I want, but how many people can REALLY say it is, 100%? But it is a face I can live with. If I must.

So, that's me and my history with gender, in a very large nutshell. I'm sure I've left out details, but I'm pretty sure I've alienated or offended everyone enough for one day. :)

Take care!

K

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