Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Naturally Brained Woman

Natured or Nurtured?
I have written about the “nature or nurture question” here before, that is, whether we are born transgender (the nature argument) or our upbringing and environment causes us to be transgender (the nurture argument).

I am not a doctor, although I play a nurse on occasion, so I have no professional credentials to support my opinion. But I subscribe to the nature argument because that’s how I see my life playing out so far.

From the get-go, I was a feminine being. The fact that I had a male body did not dissuade me from being feminine, often to my detriment. Male peers derided and bullied me, while I socialized better with females  not because they considered me dating material, but because I was just like one of the girls.

With regards to the transgender Wachowski sisters, an interesting article “There May Be a Biological Reason the Wachowski Siblings Are Both Transgendered,” supports the nature argument. One point that the article mentions is that the brains of transwomen resemble the brains of cisgender women, while the brains of transmen resemble the brains of cisgender men.

My mother was my role model, so that seems to support the nurture argument, However, was my mother my role model because my father was an absentee parent or because it was normal for a feminine soul to follow in the footsteps of her female parent? (A side note: My sister was viewing some photos she took a few days ago and remarked how very much I resembled my mother in the photos. I was in boy mode in the photos.)

We’ll probably never know for sure what made us trans. Perhaps it is a combination of nature and nurture.


Source: Venus
Wearing Venus


Kay, Yvonne, and Julie
Kay, Yvonne, and Julie attending the 1986 Chicago Be-All.

7 comments:

  1. A third possibility is you need both the natural predisposition and environmental factors--in other words many people have absent fathers, but only if there is an inborn predisposition will you identify with your mother.

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  2. how i would love to go out and about on everyday business in straightsville wearing a wig in the style of the femulator on the right in the the 80's photo (in fact, also in the rest of what she's wearing - other than the glasses ha ha). but sadly if i were to do so today, i would probably attract more adverse attention than were i naked!

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  3. My psychologist subscribe to the theory that we are 50-50 when it comes to our
    psychological health.

    I tend to believe it also. That's why there are so many different types of transgender
    persons. Some may have just a little of the nature but a lot of the feminine nature
    or vice-versa

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  4. I would suggest it is a mix of both as well. Females are actively encouraged and socially rewarded for being outwardly feminine, yet many of them have little to no interest in wearing a skirt except to meet social expectations as in weddings or galas. Males are actively discouraged from feminine accoutrements and are socially punished if they dare indulge, yet there is nothing I enjoy more than wearing the most feminine attire I can get my hands on. I’ve known since I was 4 years old that I would rather be pretty. I am me, you cannot quantify what makes that so.

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  5. Miss RaquelMarch 24, 2022

    The femulator on the left is Kay Gould, who had some name recognition in the 1980s as the author of a column in the TV newspaper, The Tapestry. This was before the Internet changed everything in the trans community. Kay wrote about her travels around the country as a trans person. I remember the column as pretty interesting for the time. Kay traveled en-femme on commercial air lines. No ID was required in those days, as long as you weren't packing a gun or knife, you would clear the security checkpoint. She seemed to go everywhere and write about it. Trans meetings, dates, fetish/SM parties, etc. It was great fun. I met Kay in 1991 at a party at an apartment she had in Washington, DC and at a few fabulous and memorable fetish parties. She was one my inspirations to get out of the closet and enjoy being a woman.

    Unfortunately, shortly after I met her, she withdrew from the scene as her trans life was an extra-curricular activity she hid from her wife and children. It's an understatement to say the least, that were not pleased. Kay passed away a few years ago, but some more info on her can be found here.

    http://www.rhondasescape.com/2017/08/kay-gould-escape-pioneer.html

    Stana, Where did you get the picture? I have fond memories of meeting Kay but no pictures or additional information about her.

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    Replies
    1. The image came from Ms. Bob Davis’ transgender archive: https://lltransarchive.org

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  6. Miss RaquelMarch 24, 2022

    Thank you Stana. Fun to read about t-life 36 years ago.

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