Do other people see me as a woman, a man or a tranny? That is the question. And you cannot just ask them. I had a discussion about this on saturday. Too much thinking about what others think about you gets paranoid. Some small things then cheer you up. This morning I felt not especially pretty as I stood side by side with a guy entering the bus. He stayed back in order to let me enter first. And he would not have done that to a tranny. Or another man. Suddenly I felt pretty.

Laura

Yeeees Sandra

That is positive thinking: If somebody stares at you, it doesn´t necessarily mean there is something wrong about you. It CAN be just the opposite .

Laura

A certain personality traits that I have always possessed has helped me greatly with this. Deep down, I don't care what others think of me. They can look at me as a man, a woman, a tranny, or a freak and it doesn't bother me, just as long as they don't try to hurt me.

However, I have enjoyed observing how people have treated me differently when they see me as a woman. The "dispassionate scientist" in me has found something interesting to study in this.

Here are a few examples:

1. There is a large store in town which sells guns and outdoor supplies. Back when I was a man, it was practically impossible to get any help from the sales people there, especially when I wanted help at the gun counter. But now that I am a woman, the sales staff seem to ask me if I need any help, even when I don't need to talk to them. Maybe they think that a man who is looking at guns knows what he is doing and they don't need to talk to him, but a woman who is looking at guns probably doesn't know what she is doing and she needs their expert help.

2. Yesterday in a Brazilian restaurant, I noticed a difference in how the waiters treat me. I went with a male friend. At this restaurant, they bring around all kinds of meat and you eat until you are stuffed. When they brought the meat around and asked if someone at the table wanted any, they directed the question towards him, but they always served me first. (The waiters are from Brazil; perhaps this is an aspect of traditional culture there.)

3. Sometimes, I get ignored when a group of men are having a conversation about something that they think women would not be interested in. (Fortunately, I am not interested in many of these "masculine" topics.)

4. On occasion, when people see me as a tranny, they don't quite know how to act around me. They are obviously trying to be polite and respectful, but they just don't know what to do, and they seem to be afraid to bring up the subject and ask me about it. (If they have the courage to bring it up, I don't mind talking about it.) These situations can be funny.

5. I find that women (even those who know that I am a tranny) naturally include me in girl-talk and girl-activities (such as trying out makeup and shopping for clothes).

I am sure I will notice other interesting cultural responses as time goes on. It would be interesting to visit other parts of the country and see how people act around me.

Heather H.