What crossdresser hasn’t at one time or another become fascinated by women’s undergarments? Either the look of a nipped in waist contained by a tight, unyielding corset or a black lacy bra with bikini panties and thigh high hose — or just a pretty, silky slip — undergarments can provide that sexy feeling crossdressers love. Today Pauline Estelle takes a look back at the history of lingerie.
What is “normal”? We live in a world where people always want a label to use in defining themselves and others. Jaelle Tarrell finds that when it comes to the many labels that exist for those who don’t fit into generally seen categories of gender identity and sexuality, or asexuality, things can get confusing. She finds that “normal” is not necessarily normal.
New Contributor Kristina Leigh is working on a series of essays about transgender issues. Today we present her first work, including copious footnotes, titled Transgenderality: A Critique of Patriarchal Institutions. Part of her thesis is “A reinterpretation of gender is not only necessary in the postmodern age; it is inevitable. Society and its institutions will catch up with transgenderality eventually. The fraudulence of sexism and phallocentricity has already been exposed; transgenderality has been one of the critiques.”
Many of us are impacted by the virus induced lockdown. While some of us whine and moan about how we can’t get out to our favorite watering hole for a few happy hour cocktails en femme, or are bummed out that we can’t wear a flirty dress at a nightclub there are many under the transgender umbrella who are facing real tribulations as the lockdown continues. Claire Hall uses her blog today to remind us of the far reaching consequences of the effort to shutdown the virus.
Our new blogger Robben Wendy Wainer debuts today with a post on the plight of trans youth. While many in the transgender community have safe, comfortable places to live transgender youths who are rejected by their parents for expressing their preferred gender are often kicked out of the house. If they have no other options they may end up trying to support themselves selling their bodies on the street. Robben writes about what needs to be done to stop this problem.
Sometimes Dina’s Diner doesn’t have enough ingredients on hand to do any fancy entrees. On those days when things are just too busy to order more supplies Dina Amberle goes through the walk in freezer and pulls out a bit of this and some of that and pretty soon she’s got a hearty slumgullion stew simmering on the stove. Just the right thing to hit the spot. In today’s stew you will notice hints of going for realness in black trans women’s hair. You might catch the subtle flavor of Rosa from Tiktok, a dash of found drag photos from Kansas City in the early ’70s, plus more than enough curvy cosplay (Picachou with cleaveage?) and some old flavors from Dina’s youth in Philadelphia. Bon appétit!
A common truth in all people’s lives is that eventually they get older. Today Linda Jensen blogs about aging and takes a moment to look at her memories of the good times she’s had while being Linda. She offers a sort of memory test that will let you situate yourself on the transgender timeline by bringing up places, publications and online addresses which either mean something to you or don’t spark a memory. For example, how many remember Paradise in the Poconos? Take a sashay down memory lane with Linda Jensen.
Are you ready for some delicious dishes straight from the kitchen of Dina’s Diner? Today’s Specials are sure to please! First Dina serves up a 13-year-old who puts a different spin on the youth drag queen scene. This young drag queen is a cisgender girl! The next entree served with a side of laughs is devoted to playwright and actor Charles Busch. Then Dina offers a palate refresher in the form of BroadwayCon and the fans who wear fishnets. Then it’s on to two delectable desserts. One is the modern advances in beauty technology that allows J.Lo at 50 to be so hot, and the other is the way your bangs can define what kind of woman you are. Don’t miss all the tasty treats down at Dina’s Diner!
With legislation being introduced in state legislatures around the country that is aimed at taking away transgender people’s right it seems like we are in a war. Why the sudden interest in state capitals over doctor prescribed puberty blockers? What is behind bills that would jail doctors who provided care to trans patients, and with the effort to remove protections from anti-discrimination laws? Claire Hall has some thoughts on the subject.
Katherine Diaz, our correspondent in Columbia, writes today about the past and how the changes that happened then are able to benefit trans people today. She points out how drag changed from flawless female impersonation of movie stars to the flamboyant artistic creations of today’s queens. And how the phenomena of drag as an art form infiltrated the fashion world. It’s all part of a dynamic system encompassing art, fashion, gender bending and more. And Katherine has a video for you, too.
TGForum has always advocated that crossdressers should not sit around the house looking lovely and being lonely. They should get out and have fun! As our founder JoAnn Roberts often said, “Don’t dream it. Be it.” Today our Windy City correspondent Julie Slowinski writes about “passing” and gives you tips on how to pass. First tip? Forget about passing. Read on for more specifics on the subject.
Pauline Estelle writes about her Christmas holiday, Boxing Day bargains, the merits on online shopping, and more. She then looks forward to the new year and what it may bring in fashion trends to add to the wardrobes of mature ladies. And she poses a question. If you know the answer use the comment area to let her know.
Dina Amberle has cooked up a delicious stew for this wintery day. (If you’re in North America.) First she adds in a young boy who wanted to wear a dress for his school’s picture day to the stewpot. Then she sifts in some youthful drag queens, adds a touch of Christmas crossdressing (heavy on the color red) and brings out the full flavor of the stew with some drag bingo with Linda Simpson before sprinkling a dash of rock and roll stars in makeup and glitter. The stew has been simmering away in the Diner kitchen and is ready right now for consumption. Bon Appétit!
One of Claire Hall’s friends said “Performing our identities can be tiring.” That made Claire start to think. Wasn’t all of life filled with performance? Weren’t we one thing to some people and a different variation of ourselves to other people? We may all be wearing masks but in Claire’s case she has found that since she came out as her true self the mask fits.
These kids today. Why don’t they pick a gender and start playing? In today’s edition of Dina’s Diner Dina Amberle puts a cup of coffee and a slice of pie on the counter and asks that question. Non-Binary? Androgynous? What’s all that about? She then stirs in memories from a costume ball, adds some Nigerian wedding ensembles, Japanese “mundane” costumes, and finishes the dish off with an appreciation of young women in classical music who don’t dress prudishly while performing. Come on down to Dina’s Diner and get your fill!
We all, or most of us, look forward to going to some event at which we can really, as they used to say in the good old days, “put on the dog.” Why they said that we’ll never know but they said it and it meant to get glammed up and dress in high fashion for a formal occasion. Today The Occasional Woman discusses the things you shouldn’t wear to such an event. Lorraine Anderson may have strong opinions about what is attractive but she’s right about the tackiness of VPL and dresses that look like sausage skins. Read on for her critique of other attendees at a recent formal affair.
Order up a slice of pie, a cup of joe and the latest musings of the woman in charge down at Dina’s Diner, Ms. Dina Amberle. Today she whips up some frothy confections and delicious desserts with nothing more than a few news items and her particular brand of spice. She takes a Muslim trans/drag performer, an attorney who represents female victims of sexual assault while wearing six inch spike heels, adds in Japanese women who marry themselves, sprinkles it all with an appreciation of gingers, then serves it with a light blend of impressions from a corsetry convention. Prepare to be entertained and satisfied with the fare at Dina’s Diner.
Dina Amberle was in the kitchen early in the morning baking up some treats for her patrons at Dina’s Diner. Among the treats she offers today are such delectables as the gay Mexican luchador, an in-depth look at opera singers who have risked losing their voices in order to transition, the attraction of soccer socks, and how to get thigh high stockings the are a perfect fit. No matter what size you are. There are all of those delicacies and more waiting for you at Dina’s Diner. Bon appétit!
Welcome to our gender support group meeting. Please say your name and pronoun preference as we go around the circle. Sabrina Symington has drawn a cartoon that tells us all why we’re here.
Would a rose smell as sweet if it was called a transvestite, a crossdresser, or a transgender person? That’s silly of course but despite the many labels we’ve had for the transgender community all of us knew, some very early and some much later, that we needed something more than living every day in the gender assigned by our birth genitals. Pauline Estelle looks at the many labels from a crossdresser perspective and has an anser to the question, What’s in a Name?
Welcome to Dina’s Diner! Take a seat anywhere you like and we’ll get you a cup of java. Dina Amberle has cooked up another selection of delicious entrees that are sure to please any palette. First she whips up some frothy news about trans actress and model Hunter Shafer. She spices it lightly with a little touch of Nicole Maines and… heavenly. Then she stirs up some coverage of the trans scene in Puerto Rico. Muy caliente! Dina adds in a pinch of a doctor from Myanmar who decides to become a sexy model, shakes – not stirs – two ladies from the late ’60s who give her inspiration, and finishes the repast with a light desert outlining how a Brazilian gang leader tried to escape from prison disguised as his 19-year-old daughter. Don’t miss every morsel of Dina’s Diner!
Last week the ABC show What Would You Do? featured a segment with a transgender woman being harassed by another patron of a restaurant after the trans woman asked where the ladies’ room was located. The female patron doing the harassment had a young girl with her and used all the tired arguments about safety […]
Claire Hall writes about what it was like when she came out. Social media wasn’t that much of a factor for her at first. The web helped her find a support group that wasn’t too far from her home and after attending some meetings she got a few Facebook friends in the trans community. Then the government signaled that things were going to get tougher for transgender people in the USA and Claire’s friend requests jumped. And the people who have connected with her all have stories to tell. Some heartbreaking and some inspiring. So has social media been a help on her journey? Read on.
Why can’t people understand that LGBTQ people aren’t a threat? They’re people just like everyone else and they have many of the same needs that aren’t blotted out by the one thing that makes them different that the majority of humans. Today Sabrina Symington has penned another cartoon that offers commentary on the real agenda of the LGBT movement.
Are transgender people the spandrels of humanity? A spandrel is a space created in architecture by the active elements of a structure that have on purpose on their own. Spandrels occur in the space between the upper corner of a rectangular arch and its oblique brace. Dr. Dana Bevan takes the spandrel concept and applies it to transgender people. Her blog today is speculation on this subject. Read her thoughts and see if you agree that transgender people may have no purpose in the evolution of our species. Or, they might.
Dina’s Diner offer monthly specials of the latest dishes to catch Dina Amberle’s attention. She quickly checks out the recipe then tosses together a delightful repast that is sure to satisfy. Among the all natural organic ingredients she uses for today’s special we find Mr. Dan’s drag shows in Silver Lake, California, the feminized music idols who have the Communist Party in China upset, a portion of the original “tease but don’t please” girl Doris Day, a dollop of a Broadway performer hanging up her fishnets, and some spices including Melania Trump, and Damien Hurley. Get down to Dina’s Diner and take your seat in a spacious booth or sit at the counter. You’ll be glad you did.
