National Geographic magazine
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2016 12:31 pm
The cover story of the January issue of National Geographic magazine is on transgenderism and how diverse a group of people the label covers.
Skirt Cafe is an on-line community dedicated to exploring, promoting and advocating skirts and kilts as a fashion choice for men. We do this in the context of men's fashion freedom --- an expansion of choices beyond those commonly available for men to inc
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[0]- Note two items I put in italics, "being pierced, wearing pants", regarding his remark on women (or girls), I found this somewhat in error as obviously, piercings are nothing new to the female gender and they've been wearing "pants" (trousers) for decades now, with entire clothing lines dedicated to female trousers.... not to beat that dead horse again, but still the comment didn't make sense to me.National Geographic -Rethinking Gender- January 2017 page 69 wrote:Vilain alienates some transgender activist by saying that not every child's "I wish I were a girl" needs to be encouraged. But he insist that he's trying to think beyond gender stereotypes. "I am trying to advocate a wide variety of gender expression," he wrote in a late-night email provoked by our phone conversation, "which can go from boys or men having long hair, loving dance and opera, wearing dresses if they want to, loving men, none of which is 'making them girls'-- or from girls shaving their heads, being pierced, wearing pants, loving physics, loving women, none of which makes them boys' " [0]
It's real, trendy, sensational, and sells magazines, that's for sure.crfriend wrote:I remain unconvinced that the entire notion of trans-* is anywhere near as prevalent as some media types would have us believe...
My view is different. I recognise the phenomenon as real, although regard it in that light -- a phenomenon.dillon wrote:I think it's a real and under-reported phenomenon, and that there are many who feel it but never entertained the notion, simply from the standpoint of practicality. Some men reach a crisis apex in their middle ages when it becomes a do or die situation.
How does one winnow out the ones who truly are dysphporic from those who are pretending because it's the latest "in" thing? I'm not dismissing this, but with the saturation-coverage it's getting today it's easy to trigger hypochondria.The fact is, if we can identify and support transgendered kids, then some of their sex characteristic development can be chemically arrested to allow proper assessment over time.
That goes without saying, however I still suspect the notion is not as common as the media would have us believe, nor as prevalent as the far right ranters might like to think. The problem is is that it sells. Also, getting hard numbers is quite difficult.I look on the attention being given to TG issues in kids as a positive, and hope the bigots and naysayers will lose this debate. It is social evolution, in that we are using our God-given intellect, finally, in acts of good and not of social repression, or pseudo-religious malice, or thoughtless, garden-variety negativism.
They are referring to it as GCS or Gender Confirmation Surgery now. I also agree with your views.dillon wrote:The term GRS nominally means Gender Reassignment Surgery, but I think that is a poor name for it. It should be called Gender Reconciliation Surgery,
After the fact - one can always write the Editor and in following issue(s) the reply maybe printed with one viewpoint from our affinity organization !moonshadow wrote:You know, I was just thinking, had we had known NatGeo was going to publish an issue on gender this January, we should have reached out to them. There have been some interesting threads on this board on that very topic, and while many of us resist any trans label like the plague, like it or not, trans-issues and the discrimination that comes with it, generally has effected all of us in some way or another, even if it's a minor way.
I mean, really, how many of us can say with certainty that we've NEVER had the slightest issue with a social situation involving one our our skirts because, "skirts are for women only"?
Is it? Really?r.m.anderson wrote:Wearing cross dressing (skirted) clothing is closely related with the sexual spectrum !
I've encountered a few who consider it a clear indication of homosexuality (mostly hard-core Southern Baptists). That you are dressing to appear as a woman in order to attract a man (another homosexual). The cognitive dissonance of appearing as a woman to attract a man who likes men apparently does not bother some people. Apparently the thought process is:crfriend wrote:Is it? Really?r.m.anderson wrote:Wearing cross dressing (skirted) clothing is closely related with the sexual spectrum !
Universally?
According to Cross-Dressing, Sex and Gender, by Vern L. Bullough and Bonnie Bullough:Boys like boy things. Girls like girl things. All boys like boy things. All girls like girl things. Boys that like girl things (?!) must want to be girls. Boys that like girl things must like boys.
Additional studies:(1) The number of cross-dressers who are strictly heterosexual range from 72% to 97%.
(2) The number of cross-dressers who are exclusively gay range from 3% to 9%.
(3) Bisexual cross-dressers in the US make up 28% of the cross-dressing population.
(4) The number of cross-dressers who are married range from 78% to 88%.
The Bulloughs had some interesting numbers:A 1995 Special Monograph, revised in 2014, sponsored by the European Medical Journal shows that one in ten men regularly wears feminine clothing and cross-dressers live longer, healthier lives than other men. But many wives and girlfriends don’t know their man’s undercover secrets. Dr. Coleman is of the opinion that the 1 in 10 figure is rising quite rapidly and that cross-dressing is currently one of the fastest growing social phenomena in the western world.
The pendulum swings...how much pushback it gets and how far it goes to the other extreme is likely impossible to predict.77% of cross-dressers simply like the feeling of the material and 48% say it helps them relax and deal with stress. While 69% fear exposure, only 16% experience negative social impact, such as loss of job or relationship; and only 4% had legal problems. 74% have a female partner who knows, approves (43%) and helps them choose clothing (37%).
The incidence of homosexual experience among transvestites (1 in 5) is slightly lower than the incidence of any homosexual experience among non-transvestite heterosexuals (usually regarded as 1 in 3). The incidence of genuine homosexuality and bisexuality among transvestites is considerably less than 1 in 5 and probably close to the normal figure for non-transvestite males of between 5% and 10%.