IndigNation event: Walking out from the shadow
Four transsexuals of valor sat on the panel on Friday (August 03) at threateworks. They emerged from the sex trade successfully into fulfilling occupations. Executives, managers etc. Some have furthered their studies to degrees. Their candid stories touched my soul.
They shared about the circumstances that forced them into the trade. Survival in dire situations. Religion… where money deemed as filthy lucre cannot be used by the Muslim family. Fights. Running from the authorities. The discrimination of policemen against sisters versus born-women hookers.
Jealousy is rife among the sisters in the trade. Customers of fetish would appear in their midst. E.g. Customers who wanted them to pee into their mouths; customers who would buy their underwear or stockings at tens of dollars; customers who borrowed their clothes to cross-dress.
So human. As they spoke of the robotic act of having sex in the trade… and then the warmth of making love with someone they cherish. All are happy to leave the trade behind, seeing it as a temporary job that they have to take on. They spoke of the stigma that followed them- of people who remember their past. How they just ignore these folks. These sisters build their esteem around their competence at their occupations. A natural tendency for those rejected because they deviate from the norm (e.g. unmarried women, lesbian and gay folks etc).
One of the transsexuals did not see the need to remove the penis because the reconstructed vagina is just a hallow, likely to result in orgasmic sex privation. However, she identifies as a woman (she has natural boobs!), having taken hormones from the age of nine. Identity is not homogenous: there are sisters who preferred to be identified as “beautiful transsexuals”, instead of “women”.
The general advice for those who are contemplating sex change: you must be able to take that kind of life. Because it is not a bed of roses. Career prospects are scarce. Discrimination is rampant. Rejection from the family etc. You also need to check your body shape. If you look better as a man, be a man if you are not extremely aversive. [You don't need to change your sex to be with the gender of your preference.]
This talk is better than last year’s. Way to go, SgButterfly!
