Dina’s Diner 2/8/21

WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF THIS PLACE

. . .or maybe not. At least that was the thought I had after reading an article on the BuzzFeedNews.com website. Headlined Six Transpeople Talk about Their Pandemic Bodies, the article appeared on January 19, 2021.

The subheading for the item read, “In a way, the pandemic has been a very, very small positive to me, as it has allowed me to just reflect on myself and come to terms with my identity.” One of the trans subjects told the interviewer that when she was transitioning (pre-pandemic) she spent a lot of time inside because going out in public was challenging. “. . .you’re just exhausted by carrying yourself through a world that was not made for you. That ends up translating to spending a lot of time inside.”

Nonbinary Alex.

So now that many of us are forced to spend more time indoors, some of the trans subjects BuzzFeed spoke to were making something positive from the experience. Alex, a twenty year old nonbinary person said, “I’ve noticed that I have felt less pressure to present myself as feminine. Because I’m at home, I can justify wearing clothing that is more gender-neutral or “masculine” in nature. I suppose the pressure of feeling like I have to present myself a certain way in public because of my assigned gender at birth has been lifted. I don’t really care anymore about what gender I appear to be. I’m just living as me and I’m fine with that.” Fanfi, another young nonbinary person, echoed that sentiment. “The quarantine worked for me as a chrysalis stage: I kept myself still, but so much was happening inside me from this lack of movement. For the first time, I asked myself what I wanted to be without the eyes of others upon me.” Ilde, a thirty-five year old trans person said, “The pandemic created conditions for me to be away from contact with (and more importantly the eyes of) most people, [especially] cis people. I had ideal conditions for taking on appearance changes that would otherwise seem drastic, and the space and time to puzzle out my feelings about and understanding of my gender.”

The article cited: “Dulcinea Pitagora, an NYC-based psychotherapist and sex therapist, suggested that for people working from home, “there might be more of a willingness to take risks in terms of gender presentation and expression when interacting with others from the safety of our own space, knowing there’s always an option to turn off the screen at any time if we don’t feel safe.””

So it is interesting to think of NOT going out and presenting as your true gender as being a liberating experience. The pandemic is giving some trans people a chance to discover themselves without as much concern for other people’s expectations while working on themselves. Alex and Ilde above mentioned in their interviews how nerve-wracking it could be to go out in public and deal with all the uncertainty if not outright hostility on top of all the internal issues they were dealing with. So “home, pandemic home” may not be such a bad place after all.

A SOLUTION IN SEARCH OF A PROBLEM

I saw a report about the Texas Legislature’s proposal to restrict trans athlete’s participation in sports based on their sex at birth. The article appeared in the Texas Tribune on January 30, 2021 under the headline Texas Republicans Want to Keep Transgender Women Out of Women’s School Sports Teams.

Trans athlete Andraya Yearwood.

The article detailed the efforts by Republican legislators to keep trans women from participating in women’s scholastic sports. First of all, I thought it was interesting that the focus was to prevent trans women (once known as male-to-female) from competing in girls events with little attention given to the other side of the coin where trans men (once known as female-to-male) might participate in boys sports. It dovetails with the “bathroom bills” mania of a few years ago where the focus was to keep “boys/men” from entering girls/women’s bathrooms under “false pretenses.”

So, let’s go back a few years ago when the “bathroom bills” began to circulate in some states. As far as I know, no state went all the way through with the restrictions because there was such a backlash against them. Now we are a few years down the road and my question is: have there been any instances of “guys” sneaking into girls restrooms to create voyeuristic havoc? None that I heard of. So the hysteria was just that. Hysteria.

Admittedly, there might be a concern at first thought about bigger, stronger biological boys competing head-to-head with biological girls. As reported here recently (based on quoted data), women’s performance levels in some sports is significantly less than men or boys. But the concerns raised by the parties in favor of the restrictions implies that biologically male athletes will flood women’s sports under false pretenses for some competitive advantage. The proponents of the new proposals in Texas, Utah, and Connecticut are purporting to protect women’s sports rather than punishing trans athletes. Do they really think high school age boys or collegiate level male athletes will “change” gender just so they can compete against females and supposedly dominate the sport? How many trans athletes are we talking about? Might some individual review of facts be more appropriate than a broad brush law to sort out the issues if they arise?

I think there is a type of person who just wants to stomp anyone or group with whom they have some visceral disagreement. The segregationists of the ’50s and ’60s, the male chauvinists of the ’70s, the AIDS deniers of the ’80s, the anti-trans people of the 2000s. Fortunately, the march of time and human progression triumphs over time. But, oh, what a pain in the ass they are until they get overrun by societal progress.

SKATING THROUGH LIFE

I came across an article about ice skater Amber Glenn on the OutSports.com website. The headline Out Figure Skater Amber Glenn Wins Silver appeared on the site January 24, 2021.

Amber Glenn

The article covered Amber’s second place finish at the senior nationals competition on January 15, 2021. The article reported, “After missing the triple axel in the short program on the 14th and landing in 5th place, The Dallas Voice [an LGBTQ news site] reports Glenn, 21, roared back in the free skate with two triple-triple combinations. Unfortunately, despite winning silver, Glenn did not make the U.S. world team but was named first alternate.”

Amber Glenn came out as bisexual/pansexual in December 2019 as a twenty year old. The original article about her coming out stated: “While there are many out male figure skaters, a woman coming out as LGBTQ is still a rarity. According to the website, Glenn was out to those in the sport she was closest to, but felt now was the time to step out to fans. “The fear of not being accepted is a huge struggle for me,” she told Dallas Voice. “Being perceived as ‘just a phase’ or ‘indecisive’ is a common thing for bisexual/pansexual women. I don’t want to shove my sexuality in people’s faces, but I also don’t want to hide who I am.””

Although Amber is not trans, her story struck a chord with me. I guess if there is one sport crossdressers may wish they could excel in it would be figure skating. What other sport requires the female participants to wear sheer tights or flesh-colored fishnets paired below rhinestone-bedazzled leotards? Vamping — I mean skating — solo in front of an auditorium full of people admiring your beauty and grace? Yes, it’s figure skating for me, no doubt about it.

If only I knew how to ice skate.

BLACK LOLITAS

A Lolita

As I’ve mentioned many times, suggestions in my Pinterest.com feed often turn up gold for the Diner. It was a few months ago when I saw some pins featuring African-American Lolitas. Lolitas in this context (as opposed to the nymphet context) are the young ladies who dress in elaborate “Little Bo Peep” outfits.

The point of interest here being that Lolitas are predominantly white or Asian and I was unaware of a black Lolita community. There is one, however, and there are quite a few pictured and profiled on some of the websites focused on black Lolitas. A couple of years ago, I wrote about “Brolitas” who are guys who crossdress in Lolita outfits. I didn’t see any black Brolitas in the photos online but there is something about the Lolita finery that makes it difficult to discern a well turned out Brolita from a genetic female Lolita. They are that sweet.

The above discussion is a subset of another topic of interest to me, namely the relative dearth of black crossdressers in any context. It seems they are vastly under-represented in the crossdressing universe. One can only speculate that socio-economic issues are the primary reason behind the lower participation rate.

More’s the pity because we can use all the beauty we can squeeze out of this world. If it comes in the form of a black woman (or fella) dressed in Lolita finery like the beauty shown here, so much the better.

TRENDING CUTELY

Another Pinterest feed discovery was a series of “pins” by or about the Trends and Tolstoy blogger Celina Colby.

Yeah, I never heard of the Trends and Tolstoy blog before either. But I immediately was digging Celina’s quirky fashion choices she showcases on her TandT blogsite, Facebook and Twitter. She describes herself as “a born-and-bred New England bibliophile living in Boston. I have a great love for Russian novels, chai lattes, art museums, and shoes. I strongly believe that a girl can be both intellectual and fashionable.”

Celina Colby

As you can see, Celina is not your typical young female fashion blogger or influencer. And that is her charm. Her fashion sense manages to be showy and understated at the same time. She looks like someone who would be seen in art museums, touring out of the way travel spots, or browsing in bookstores – all of which she does as part of her separate freelance journalism career.

As a crossdresser I can appreciate and envy how varied women’s fashions are compared to men’s. To wander through Celina’s photos is to see a cornucopia of elegant, casual, sporty, and professional outfits she puts together. Celina makes vintage-y combos work; or mixing textures; or in one instance copying Leo Tolstoy’s own peasant-phase fashion for a shoot inside a library. If a guy said, “I’m going to dress like Edgar Allan Poe today” people would look at him like he was a nut. But women can get away with it.

Okay, so maybe I have a little crush on Celina Colby. But wouldn’t it be fun to have a partner who said, “Let’s go to some whacky art exhibit, grab some lattes at a local coffeehouse, and wear interesting outfits while we’re doing it.” Yes it would. You know it, too.

Tags: crossdressing, drag, featured, opinion, Transgender

Category: Transgender Fun & Entertainment, Transgender Opinion