Well... a day on the chatroom just shows how ignorant and hopeless it is.

[punkypink (imported)]

Even on the Eunuch Archive chatroom, just there for a day, and the number of people who like to ask "are you a woman or ts" is disheartening.

It's officially time to give up hope, it shows just how deep the ignorance and discrimination against trans people runs.

[Caith721 (imported)]

My wife seems to think my goal is to show off and upset people. I asked her if she got her breast implants for others? No. To show off? No. Then why? "For my self, etc..." I then informed her my femininity is for ME, and other people's ignorance is their own issue. I'm not here to provoke them, I just want to be myself.

[punkypink (imported)]

People just come to bother me because they're out for a cheap thrill. I remember why I stopped going there, but if im getting the sort of approaches i expect from a heterosexist, cisgenderist, sex chat room from the eunuch archives, i think really, theres no hope left for the future of humanity.

Out of curiousity, if your feminity is for you, why are you advertising your orchiectomy date on your signature?

[ArcadiaGrim (imported)]

Just a thought that people might be asking not so much to classify or judge but rather to understand your journey so they might know how to relate to you.

[justjustin (imported)]

surely there's a big difference between women born girls, and women born boys. Perfectly nmatural to be curious, I would have thought.

[Caith721 (imported)]

Out of curiousity, if your feminity is for you, why are you advertising your orchiectomy date on your signature?

Because it's a defining point in my life, and defines me as a eunuch, no longer fully male.

[Mac (imported)]

People just come to bother me because they're out for a cheap thrill. I remember why I stopped going there, but if im getting the sort of approaches i expect from a heterosexist, cisgenderist, sex chat room from the eunuch archives, i think really, theres no hope left for the future of humanity.

Out of curiousity, if your feminity is for you, why are you advertising your orchiectomy date on your signature?

I both admire and envy you for being able to make the transition. I have been unable to find a way to get my wife's support.

[punkypink (imported)]

Just a thought that people might be asking not so much to classify or judge but rather to understand your j

ourney so they might know how to relate to you.

surely there's a big difference between women born girls, and women born bo

ys. Perfectly nmatural to be curious, I would have thought.

Oh it isnt curiousity. They phrase it this way "are you a REAL woman"? The implication being that ts women aren't women. Pretty disheartening. Then again I suppose the people in the chatroom are mostly there for a cheap thrill.

[genderless (imported)]

Well, I still have fantasy or for real that a gal or nice looking TS have the honors to remove my junk:)

[Richard_Less (imported)]

I haven't been on the chat so I can't really say, but I might suspect it's a bit of genuine curiosity for the sake of understanding as ArcadiaGrim and JustJustin suggest, and a bit of callus self indulgence as you've experienced PunkyPink.

In my own life experience I've experienced both types of inquiry. I'm not transgendered, but I do have an obvious physical... shall we say characteristic. I've been asked countless times if I was born that way or if I was in an accident - as bluntly as that. Now this was before bulletin boards, let alone e-mail, chats, and online social networking so I had the benefit of observing the inquisitor's body language (and physical maturity) which really helps put their question into context. Online you really can't tell except by the nature and context of the rest of their written interaction with you and others - and even then one could be wrong.

I would think that if a person put some thought into my physical appearance they could correctly deduce it was the way I was born, thereby rendering their question pointless, and somewhat offensive. Other's you could tell (by body language, age, etc.) that they were really quite genuine and uncertain. While that can still be offensive and perhaps inappropriate, it's at least a bit more acceptable than those who ask for the sake of asking. When it's particularly young children, the kind who do not yet know of tack and are very open and direct about everything, I still cringe when asked, but for them I will answer without reservation.

For myself, if I ever feel such a question develop I think about why I want to ask such a question and would I like to be asked it (or the equivalent) and then, tactfully and respectfully ask, or keep it to myself.

In summary, PunkyPink, I hope you don't truly give up on humanity. I think there is a general decency among people, but it can be easily overshadowed by the thoughtless, ignorant, and arrogant.