I was laughing at the memory of the pain and confusion within whose vortex I was being torn apart.
You have have mentioned confusion here and a number of other times... But what were you confused about?
I ask because I never felt confused.
I knew what i wanted and felt i needed, and I knew some do make it, but I also knew the the odds were very much against me. I felt plenty of fear. If you knew how I grew up you would know why trying for what seems impossible, giving up control and trusting things would work out is extremely difficult for me (childhood situation that had nothing to do with being TS but left deep emotional scars and stunted normal social development- well that and being TS on top of it), and caused me to develop a strong sense of responsibility. Leaps of faith were not part of who I was or am....
When i was transitioning was back in the time when the TG moment was just rising and activists were arguing that passing was not necessary and stealth harmful. I never bought into into it and still don't... As I mentioned I was active on the net in T spaces back to the mid 90's (and lurked earlier) so lot's of people in the community knew of me.
When i had my FFS with Dr. O in 1999 while I was recuperating Davies in SF, Gwen Ann Smith (who was there with someone else who was having a consult with Dr. O) came up to visit me while she was waiting ... If you don't know who she is she has been an activist for a long time and is the founder of the "transgender Day of Remembrance" ... And we argued about her positions for an hour.
I was never confused about what I wanted but had good reason to doubt it was possible.
I was torn apart by the conflict between what i wanted, love and responsibility, and what seemed possible for me...
It seemed to me that a basic prerequisite for what was possible for me in the now trans aware world would depend on being able to at least passing reliably to strangers on looks all the time. Without that it seemed to me drastic changes would likely have resulted in poverty and two lives being destroyed ... and still being read and seen as "other"...
To me passing means passing regardless of how dressed (or not), put together or not... No one is put together all the time and if you have to thing about putting oneself together to PASS (not just look good) one is always just passing and not just
being socially.
I never got there, even with FFS and now even with 23+ years on HRT...
This morning early (because it was supposed to be a very hot humid day) I drove to where I work. No one was there at 7:45Am on a Sunday morning of course!... It is next to an office park that has a very nice 2.8 mile jogging path that I power walk (and time myself) every day for exercise.
When i got back there after teh walk, a cop was there... For some reason the burgler alarm went off. As I walked up to him he said "Sir, do you work here"... At that point he had only seen me... I had not spoken a word etc... I was waring pink shorts, a loose T-shirt , sneakers and cap (to keep teh sun out of my eyes)... I was all sweaty and my hair a mess from the walk.
I replied "That's Mam and yes I do"... I let him into the building and we looked around... and he dressed me as Sir again... I decided best not to say anything more.
As I said I have a very unfortunate build/frame for aTS, and HRT did very little for me outside of improving my skin and decreasing muscle mass a bit... But fat redistribution into typical female patterns never happened.
I was never confused about what I wanted, but I needed SOME indication it was possible for
ME in this day and age. I did all I knew how to, but I always got enough feedback from strangers to know I could never count on being able to take passing for granted... and without that trying to be stealth is pointless IMO.
There comes a point in time after one one has done all one can that one has to face with reality and play out the hand they have been dealt the best they can, trying to limit the damage to oneself and those one cares about.
To be honest if I had gotten to that point of passibility I'm not sure what i would have done... It would have been a even more difficult decision that transitioning or having SRS or FFS or other things I did..
As to why I think it would have been more difficult than for most, I would need to share some private things that are not my place to talk about.
In any case to this day I am not confused about what i wanted, and how much it meant to me... But I am a survivor, so i don't blindly walk off cliffs, and I live up to my responsibilities.
So what were you confused about?
-Karen