Perception of Womankind

Devi thank you so much for this beautiful and thoughtful contribution! The title "Shades of Pink" is perfect for the context of your article. While pink is often thought to represent femininity, it can also be perceived as a blend of the color of love (red) and the color of light (white). In other words, Pink = Light + Love... what a glorious framework for the celebration of transgender expression. Your article conveys a sense of inner peace and emotional balance, which is what we all are striving for.

I really appreciate your use of the term "shades of..." as it seems among the transgendered community, there are no absolutes. The transgender umbrella includes a broad spectrum, with individuals representing every point. Many will even move from one shade to another as they evolve along their journey. Where the typical inclination has been to try and apply hard-and-fast labels to explain individual TG behavior (CD/TV/TS), your "shades" approach is all inclusive and gives recognition to the dynamic nature of the trans community. "Shades" corresponds so well with the message of your article because you are identifying the fluidity and progression of your own transgender expression. Among the beautiful transgendered ones, no two shades are exactly the same.

Those among the TG community have many commonalities, yet the differences are even greater. You do an excellent job of identifying the main areas of difference being the shades of origin, self-acceptance, motivation, expression, and contentment. Everyone within the community has a different perspective, or shade, within these areas. It is fascinating to think of the diversity that exists within these common realms.

I think you hone in on a very profound truth with this statement:"I believe that individual self acceptance follows when one genuinely treats the gender they are expressing as equal to their biological one. If a man sees the feminine as the 'weaker' or any other similar pejorative, his own en femme expression would reflect that, and affect 'his' ability to accept 'her'."

I think you hit the nail on the head Devi. In my opinion, the primary reason M2F transgenderism is considered "unnatural" by society at large is the deeply ingrained belief that women are inferior to men. Women wanting to be more like men seems readily understood and accepted, given men's "superior" status in the eyes of prevalent religion and culture. A woman wanting to be more man-like is considered a natural aspiration to greatness. Whereas, a man wanting to be more woman-like is perceived as weakness or perversion.

I think a man's perception of women this is the singlemost important determinant of his level of comfort and pride in his transgender experience. Those who perceive woman as equal will not experience the same level of guilt and shame in expressing femininity, whereas a man with ingrained beliefs that women are inferior will fight against his feminine tendencies, perhaps even to the point of loathing and/or abusing his femme self. No man can be blamed for this internal struggle, as this gender disparity has existed within the human race since the dawn of time it seems.

For those transgendered people who feel this guilt, shame, self-hatred, the healing can begin with looking deeply into ones own individual perception of womankind. How one feels about his inner woman will be a direct reflection of how he feels about the female gender at large.

One of the quotes we have on GenderEvolve elucidates perfectly this very point..."A man will treat a woman almost exactly the way he treats his own interior feminine. In fact, he hasn't the ability to see a woman, objectively speaking, until he has made some kind of peace with his interior woman." Robert Johnson

Again, thank you so much Devi for contributing this uplifting and enlightening article. I very much enjoyed experiencing a glimpse of your particular shade, and think you are truly brilliant!

Originally posted in response to: http://genderevolve.blogspot.com/2005/12/shades-of-pink.html