Being Transgendered - A personal View
	I have a feeling that this bit of the site is going to be a work in progress so come back and visit for updates once in a while! Its my place for getting serious about what makes us TV's what we are and I'd like to hope its somewhere that other girls who have the same needs can come to and get some insights from some old tart who's been around for a while! Hope against hope, I'd also like it to be something that helps non-transgendered people understand a little about what makes transvestites like me tick and to realise that we are real people and not just nasty perverts. Whoever you are though, if you feel you can add to what I say, disagree with it or whatever, please Email me but be prepared to be constructive!
	The phrase 'Transgendered' refers to the whole community of people who were born in one gender but aspire in some way to the characteristics of its opposite. As a TV, I can only speak for what it means to be TV even though, since late 2005, I've been out and about in the TG community and have met Transvestites, Transexuals, and Drag Queens and I have friends in all areas of that Community. There's a huge difference between what drives a TV and a TS, although many TS girls start out by cross-dressing before accepting their true natures and starting the transition from male to female. I'm a TV with no need or desire to transition, and I'm happy to be a 'Part Time Girl'. So what is it about the Feminine that attracts us? Remember firstly that all of us start out as female in the womb. Its only later in the foetus' development that it develops male characteristics, if at all. There is evidence to suggest that hormonal changes in the mother may affect the foetus and give a predisposition for the development of transgenderism in later life. It must be said though that the evidence is far from clear or conclusive.  I'm personally more interested in the psychology of the Transgendered (although in a purely amateur way). Psychologist & psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, believed that both men and women carry within them the seeds of the opposite gender. No man is entirely male and no woman entirely female. That part of us that sits outside the gender that we were born with Jung called the Anima or Animus. Jung felt that in order to be well balanced individuals  all men have to come to terms with their Anima  Some men have a strong female side or in Jung's terms the Anima is strong.  This has absolutely nothing to do with sexual orientation by the way. A woman with a strong Animus is not destined to be a lesbian, but she may well exhibit certain masculine mental qualities such as assertiveness. I suspect that women are getting rather better in the modern world at coming to terms with and  accepting their Animus than men do their femininity!  However, I strongly believe that those of us who are transgendered actively embrace our Anima, the Feminine that lies within us.  Let me stress one thing though. I AM a man and I'm far from uncomfortable in that role even though I've never been particularly 'macho'. I'd even go as far as to say that I've never, even as a child, particularly identified myself as 'A Man' or 'A Boy'. But I have a male body, male hormones, and male sexuality (more of that later), even though my personality profile (MORE Jung!) is quite strong on traits that are traditionally seen as 'feminine' such as Empathy, and Intuition. Some TVs become deeply insecure about that male/female divide within themselves and can get very hung up on not being 'feminine' enough. When it comes down to it though, we are all different and we all have to find out the common ground that exists between our masculine and feminine sides. Its a question of achieving balance......... (More) Back Home