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By Rebecca, May 22, 2009 4:07 pm

Five hundred dollars, apparently.

I just got back from the Daley Center, where I filed my name change paperwork. This sets the ball rolling for a hearing with a judge in July. He’ll (hopefully) say, “Sounds good!” and, at that point, my name will legally be changed. He’ll also give me the magical sheet of paper that I can use to update all my other documents – drivers license, birth certificate, bank account, insurance, etc, etc, etc.

The process was actually pretty helpful, and was made much easier by the use of Illinois Legal Aid’s website. They have a fancy-shmancy setup where you can enter your info and it’ll spit out the filled-out documents to take to the county clerk. The whole process took about an hour, and much of that was waiting in line or going from office to office.

The only shitty thing was they denied my request to waive the filing fees. Which brings me to the previously mentioned five hundred dollars: about three-fifty for the filing itself and another one-fifty for the legally-required publication notifying the world at large (well, anyone who reads the Illinois Law Journal) of my intent to change my name. There’ll also be additional (much smaller) costs to receive a new birth certificate, drivers license, etc, etc.

Continue reading 'What’s in a name?'»

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By Rebecca, May 21, 2009 6:22 pm

First, this highly informative video on what the legalization of gay marriage would do to America:

Perhaps even more important, here’s a list of   7 WTF Military Weapons You Won’t Believe They Actually Built. With such technological feats as the corckscrew tank, the Nazi jetcopter, and more. Ridiculous!

-R

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By Rebecca, May 18, 2009 9:11 pm

I linked to some information at Lynn Conway’s page in a recent comment and wanted to take a moment to talk about her site. She’s in the EE/CS department at University of Michigan and has gathered a lot of information in an effort to “illuminate and normalize the issues of gender identity and the processes of gender transition.”  I have no doubts about her good intentions, and she has succeeded in compiling a very useful resource that comes up on Google when searching for a number of trans-related topics.

But… (and you knew there had to be a ‘but’ coming…)

Continue reading 'Going Stealth'»

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By Rebecca, May 17, 2009 8:12 pm

Some random thoughts for this beautiful Sunday evening…

First, I was at the beach today for a friend’s picnic birthday party and, when nature called, went to the disgusting port-a-pottys.  The Surgery has been occupying my mind lately but, all sorts of deep and philosophical body-image and personhood discussion aside, peeing standing up rocks. Those port-a-pottys were absolutely inhuman in their filth and I could barely manage to stand in them for the thirty seconds it took to pee. Had I needed to sit down, I would have held it (like the cis girl who did try to use ‘em and instantly gave up upon opening the door).

Second, I had another round of laser on my legs this weekend (and need to go back because they only booked me for an hour when I said it would take an hour and a half…grrrrr…).  The woman performing the laser, who I’ve known since I started going to this place four or five years ago, is really nice and we were chatting about this and that. She obviously knows I’m trans, since I’ve been going there since before I started transitioning, and has been really sweet about it. Well, yesterday she also had someone in training in the room, and we were all chatting. One of the two women was complimenting me on my skin, and I said something about how estrogen helps it. The woman-in-training said, “Oh, are you on birth control?” Score one for passing! (I said, very simply, “No, I’m trans and am on lots of hormones,” and she responded, “Oh, ok.”)

Continue reading 'Peeing standing up, passing, and more!'»

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By Rebecca, May 14, 2009 6:02 pm

I haven’t posted about dreams in a while, but it’s been interesting seeing how my dreams have changed over the course of thr transition. I always used to hope I’d wake up with dreams of being a girl (not to mention of waking up as a girl…) but never really felt horribly gendered in my dreams. More recently, I’ve definitely had dreams about transitioning, being outed, and so on.

Last night, I dreamt I was in the hospital, recovering after having undergone SRS.

Continue reading 'Dreams of Surgery'»

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By Rebecca, May 13, 2009 10:45 pm

I recently came across Garfunkel and Oates and have to share them with you. They’re two actresses in LA (one of them was on the last little bit of Scrubs as Ted’s girlfriend) and they posted a bunch of songs and movies and are just amazingly hilarious (not to mention amazingly adorable!). Enjoy!

Me, You and Steve from Erika Lindhome on Vimeo.

They have so many more absolutely friggin’ hilarious songs and videos (and even more on YouTube!) that you should check out right now!

-R

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By Rebecca, May 12, 2009 11:19 pm

I’ve mentioned Daisy’s blog Dear Diaspora before, because it’s been a really interesting read. Her most recent post, Abortion, Execution, And The Moral Weight Of Fetuses, discusses a situation brought up over on Feministe:

Anyway, we last week we got the news that Orobator [a British woman in jail in Laos on drug charges] will not be executed due to the fact that she is pregnant. Obviously the fetus’ life is more important than the grown woman’s, as the fetus is “innocent” and the woman may or may not be guilty of committing a crime.

Daisy’s post is about the morality of the death penalty and of abortion, and the specifics of Orobator’s situation, and she asks some difficult questions:

Several questions are looming here, firstly: is capital punishment ethical? If one thinks execution for drug smuggling is a reasonable punishment, than the fetus’ innocence is in fact paramount here — not because fetuses are more important than women, but because one believes execution is an appropriate consequence for a given a crime, and, therefore, not an appropriate consequence for someone who is innocent.

On the other hand, if the death penalty is unethical — either for this particular charge or for all crimes — the fetus’ innocence is immaterial, since the execution is already wrong, whether a person is guilty or not. At the same time, the fetus’ existence may be relevant, since it may make the execution even more wrong, depending on whether it is ethical to kill fetuses.

Which brings us to our next question: is it ethical to kill a fetus? Is a fetus a life with any moral weight? Do we have an obligation to consider fetuses and their well-being?

As usual, Daisy answers her own questions with well-reasoned writing, and I definitely encourage you to go check it out.

-R

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By Rebecca, May 11, 2009 8:23 pm

I was listening to some This American Life on my iPod today while driving and came across Living the Dream. This American Life is no stranger of stories about trans people, and the first act in Living the Dream is about trans girls in LA. (Another interesting episode, though not without its detractors, is Testosterone, which is about said hormone and has one act about a trans man and his experiences.) One of the girls in Living the Dream mentions Ariel, from The Little Mermaid, and how Ariel meant a lot to her (and other trans girls) as a metaphor for transitioning. And that got me thinking…

Does Ariel worry about passing?

Continue reading 'Does Ariel Worry About Passing?'»

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By Rebecca, May 8, 2009 11:47 pm

So I’m currently trying to watch the Itty Bitty Titty Committee, and its gotten me thinking about trans inclusion in spaces identified as ‘for women.’ (I say “trying to watch it” because the DVD is giving me trouble, not because it’s a particularly bad movie.) (Although I haven’t gotten far enough into it to say it’s a particularly good movie either.)

Anyway.

Questions of trans inclusion generally involves how (or whether) to include trans men and/or trans women in women-only spaces. The “womyn-born-womyn” policy of the Michigan Women’s Music Festival is a well-known example of this debate. (I’m going to table a larger question of trans inclusion for some, whether or not to include trans people in the queer community in the first place,  as it would take me too far off-topic…)

So what does this debate have to do with The L Word and the Itty Bitty Titty Committee?

Both involve characters who are trans men, but accepted and included in women’s spaces. Both are (almost) entirely devoid of characters who are trans women.

Continue reading 'The L Word, Itty Bitty Titties, and Trans Men'»

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By Rebecca, May 7, 2009 2:56 pm

I’ve been posing that question to a number of different people, and here are some of the responses I’ve received. (Disclaimer: The ‘poling’ I’ve been doing, if you can even call it that, is not in any way scientific. I did not ask for demographic information, and this anecdotal collection was self-selected from people who do read trans fiction to begin with.)

- I never had the courage to come out & someone else forcing me will probably always be just a fantasy.

- There is no sexual stimulation in reading these stories(for me) & the sexually explicit ones are sometimes a turn off. I think, for me, it is just good reading about subjects that are near & dear to me.

- [Trans fiction] stories help me have an imaginary life like I really want.

- I do not think that I am alone to have those stories with us when we have gone to bed. I just hope that they have been as inspirational to others as they have been to me.

And, of course, the seven ‘E’s:

1. Explore – reading to find new ideas or expressions, to help figure out where one is on the gender continuum.

2. Experience – to share the thoughts and feelings others have about themselves.

3. Expand – to widen one’s horizons about the various lifestyles and choices.

4. Erotic – to engage in a sexual experience which may result in another E – Ejaculate.

5. Escape – to lose oneself in the fantasy of others when there is no chance of it happening in real life.

6. Evolve – to help oneself move forward toward a real life goal.

7. Excuse – to let someone else take charge – to not be responsible for your actions.

How about you, gentle reader? Why do you read trans fiction? (Or write it? Or don’t read it? Or any other thoughts on the subject?)

As a reminder, I’m collecting my thoughts on, and links to, trans fiction here. Enjoy!

-R