[Veronica]

Thanks for the commiserations Emma You are welcome to appropriate ‘interactions’ (it covers a multitude of sins without being explicit about any of the possibilities). On the other hand I would like to appropriate your criteria; Col Joye and Billy Thorpe will indeed sort the veal from the adults.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Hi All,

First of all, thanks to Emma for posting this topic. It’s something we should all be thankful for. Second, there’s category of male that I have run into a couple of times, and can be real nuisance. It’s hard to find a suitable label, so I’ll describe the behaviour. They are young guys, very needy, who swear undying love after one meeting or interaction, and are completely unable to satisfactorily explain their attraction to older gurls such as myself. The first time it happened I was flattered but cautious, and justifiably so; no physical danger, just remorseless neediness and faux regard. Anyone else had similar experiences?

Veronica

[Veronica]

Sounds like my kind of person. What a pleasure to hear someone say it out loud (although more and more people appear to be reaching the same conclusion)

Veronica

[Veronica]

Me too; I think the trans focused ‘zines, blogs and other media miss this market (of which I am definitely a member) entirely. The aged get a more coverage in the mainstream media but they treat ‘the aged’ as a homogeneous group, and we ain’t.

V x x

[Veronica]

Hi Sara,

Just finished binge-watching every episode and enjoyed it thoroughly. I realise that the employment of a female (albeit androgynous) actor in a trans woman role will be a concern to many, but this is the most subtle weaving of transgender issues into everyday life I have ever seen

Veronica

[Veronica]

Ditto to that, and my wife still helps with makeup if she has time

Veronica

[Veronica]

Thanks for the heads up Caroline. Hope you are keeping well

Veronica

[Veronica]

I agree that there is no longer any stable concept of perfect femininity. There are a wide range of female sub-cultures, each of which is characterised by different modes of dress, movement and intensity of make-up (ranging from full-on to none at all). Even within these sub-cultures there are subtle differences between the intensity of the secondary sex characteristics (e.g. the kind of flat sandal, or the degree of attention paid the things like toe cleavage). This is in addition to any variation in individual styles that emerge in different situations (like when women are ‘on the hunt’; they don’t all wear heels and short skirts any more). Likewise, I believe there are wide differences between tg sub-cultures, and this is as it should be

V x x

[Veronica]

Excellent response Liz, and this doesn’t just apply to oneself. Too often I see transgender people restricting virtual friends or potential tangible friends/lovers to those with “credible/passable female appearance”. In my albeit limited experience the best virtual and tangible friends I’ve met from the transgender community have been real, thoughtful human beings, some of whom neither can, nor wish, to be a real girl/feminine/passable etc. It’s character that counts in the end.

V x x

[Veronica]

Morning All,

Shoes are one fetish I certainly share. The first impact was observing women wearing stiletto heels when I was still very young; bam, instant impact. When I was growing up there was a period when mules were all the rage and they amplified the impact (and I notice they have the same effect on others when I wear them). I’ve amassed a fairly large collection over the years and I recently had a clean out. It was embarrassing to find there were several pairs I had only ever worn once or twice; thank goodness for ebay.

V x x

[Veronica]

Hi All,

This has been a really nuanced discussion (and it’s a pity that the mass media finds it impossible to move beyond the dichotomy of heterosexual-homosexual). I’ve always had fantasies about women and men, and although my sexuality is definitely biased toward hetero physical and emotional relationships, I’ve had extremely ‘colourful’ fantasies about guys when dressed. A couple of years ago I met a guy who is a really nice person and ‘stepped over the line’ with him (I know, I know. not a particularly good metaphor). The results were more than satisfying (albeit less satisfying than the afterglow that applies when I am with a woman) and we have been in a loose, but relatively long-term relationship since then. So, like most correspondents I agree that sexuality is as fluid as gender itself, and we need to stand firm against the continuing pressure to force us all into what is a false binary.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Hi all,

My name (Veronica) was chosen because Veronica Lake was a major childhood crush (even though she was actually out of movies by the time I became aware of her magic). And then….I saw “This Gun for Hire”. Oh my. That did it.

[Veronica]

Years ago I worked on an executive planning body with 8 engineers (I was classified as a social scientist). When I was asked for an example of the kind of work social scientists do, I mentioned the research into the incidence of transgender identification and behaviour among various professions. A long period of silence followed V xx

[Veronica]

Getting more girls/gurls into STEM is a seriously good idea anyway Sara

V x x

[Veronica]

While I’m not an engineer myself, I am aware that the incidence of transgender behaviour amongst engineers and IT types is disproportionate. I’m speculating that the relationship between the interests we are discussing and transgender is not a universal one; i.e. it’s not all points on the transgender dimension that are correlated with these interests, but it’s something to do with the “fluidity” of gender, and the fluidity of ideas. Speculative fiction and cosmology/astronomy is about crossing boundaries, flowing across them, and so are transgender interests and behaviour.

V x x

PS Liz; one of the reasons I moved to the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne is that there is less light pollution, so even my woossy telescope can pick up Jupiter and Saturn quite easily