Note: You may have noticed that two previous posts (Fatigue At The Beginning And The End and Stories of Men And Women) were in italics. That is not a silly post-modern affectation. Rather, as you may have figured, they're parts of a work of fiction I started writing before my transition and have returned to. This post is also, for the moment, part of that work
On this block, even in this day and age, most women become mothers, sometimes by choice but usually by circumstance. Some become wives--many more, I believe, than ever would have chosen such a fate. I always wonder whether I'd end up like them had I been born female. Would I've had a child--like the one I once was? Would I've wished him--given him--that long garden of childhood people always seem to remember--which is to say wish--having? For that matter, what would I make of having a boy--or girl? That is to ask: What would I have done if I'd had a child who didn't fall between his or her own nature and what teachers, priests, government authorities and other adults expect?
Long before I knew I could undergo the transition I'll soon culminate, I swore I'd never have children. It's one of two resolutions--getting away from this block was the other--that I've ever stuck to. I knew, even then, I couldn't justify bringing anyone into this world to face he same kinds of conflicts I had, or anything like them. Not that I regret them now: the struggle and frustrations have turned me into a person who's embarked on, I believe, the most exciting, excruciating and enerving experience one can have other than giving birth to another human being. Since I'll never be able to do that (barring a sudden advance in medical technology) even after I've completed my transformation, I'll never know for sure. But, as I said, I still have no wish to bring the needs of another mouth, the longings of another pair of eyes or the rupture of another skin into being.
I still can only wonder how many mothers--including my own--actually chose the role born from their children...and the role by which they're always identified.
If you're a woman and you don't give birth to, or raise, children, then the world--most men, anyway--will fix at least one of these labels on you: bitch, whore, dyke. In this scheme, a woman can be a bitch and a whore, but any actual or perceived lesbianism overrides everything else: Men profess more hatred, which is to say more fascination, for the other two.
I wonder where I'll fit in that scheme. Ultimately, it doesn't matter, in a way, because I won't have any more to do with men than I have to. Hopefully, I'll never have to turn tricks again, but I know better than to say "never again." What I hope, at least now, that I'll never have to be of use to anybody ever again, for any reason or in any way--whether for their real needs or their fantasies. Then, whatever I become will be all right
On this block, even in this day and age, most women become mothers, sometimes by choice but usually by circumstance. Some become wives--many more, I believe, than ever would have chosen such a fate. I always wonder whether I'd end up like them had I been born female. Would I've had a child--like the one I once was? Would I've wished him--given him--that long garden of childhood people always seem to remember--which is to say wish--having? For that matter, what would I make of having a boy--or girl? That is to ask: What would I have done if I'd had a child who didn't fall between his or her own nature and what teachers, priests, government authorities and other adults expect?
Long before I knew I could undergo the transition I'll soon culminate, I swore I'd never have children. It's one of two resolutions--getting away from this block was the other--that I've ever stuck to. I knew, even then, I couldn't justify bringing anyone into this world to face he same kinds of conflicts I had, or anything like them. Not that I regret them now: the struggle and frustrations have turned me into a person who's embarked on, I believe, the most exciting, excruciating and enerving experience one can have other than giving birth to another human being. Since I'll never be able to do that (barring a sudden advance in medical technology) even after I've completed my transformation, I'll never know for sure. But, as I said, I still have no wish to bring the needs of another mouth, the longings of another pair of eyes or the rupture of another skin into being.
I still can only wonder how many mothers--including my own--actually chose the role born from their children...and the role by which they're always identified.
If you're a woman and you don't give birth to, or raise, children, then the world--most men, anyway--will fix at least one of these labels on you: bitch, whore, dyke. In this scheme, a woman can be a bitch and a whore, but any actual or perceived lesbianism overrides everything else: Men profess more hatred, which is to say more fascination, for the other two.
I wonder where I'll fit in that scheme. Ultimately, it doesn't matter, in a way, because I won't have any more to do with men than I have to. Hopefully, I'll never have to turn tricks again, but I know better than to say "never again." What I hope, at least now, that I'll never have to be of use to anybody ever again, for any reason or in any way--whether for their real needs or their fantasies. Then, whatever I become will be all right
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