Badges
I’m a transvestite from Norfolk. What are you?
Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be another blog entry about TV/TS/TG “labels”, I think that’s more or less been done to death. In fact let’s use a different word. Rather than talking about labels let’s talk about badges.
I’m interested in the cultural groups that people ascribe themselves to when they think about “what am I”. You choose the badges that apply to you and use them when asked “where are you from” or “why do you do that” or “what are you into”.
In many ways these badges provide a sense of belonging and purpose. I cross-dress because I’m a transvestite. I love open countryside because I’m from Norfolk. I can wear those badges with pride, and feel a sense of community with others who wear the badge too.
Plus, those two badges aren’t mutually exclusive. I can wear both because one of them is about location and one of them is about gender and sexuality. But it seems that many people wear more than one badge from each category.
Take the “where do you come from” badge. This might seem quite straightforward – you can only be born in one place – but for some people it seems quite fluid. Jane’s ability to change tribal roots to suit different situations always impresses and amuses me. She uses her three-quarters-Irish parentage to explain why she needs another glass of wine. A Northern upbringing is apparently responsible for her being a lot less sensitive to the cold than I am, me being a nesh Southerner and all. Of course she conveniently forgets that she was born in London, unless the conversation requires her to proudly boast of her Cockney heritage!
This brings me in a roundabout kind of way to the point I’m trying to make. What’s the minimum you have to do to get to wear the badge of membership? In particular, the transvestite badge that I and a lot of my friends wear.
Charlotte asked recently whether someone who was unwilling or unable to dress could be a “non-practicing transvestite”. I caught Siobhan the other day apologising for not posting more tranny-related stuff in her blog, as if her status as a tranny blogger would lapse if she didn’t mention frocks once a week. I do it too. If I haven’t posted a picture of Becky to my blog for a month or so I begin to feel like a bit of a fraud.
Which got me thinking what does constitute the minimum set of behaviours or characteristics that entitles someone to call themselves part of tranny culture?
When you start to think about it, it’s very hard to pin down. The simple answer is “you have to dress up like a woman”. Yes but, how often? How long can you go without dressing before your transvestite membership lapses? What about all the guys out there who’ve never worn more than bra and panties, or a bit of makeup, but still feel like a transvestite? And what about all the men who dress fully like women but don’t identify as transvestite at all?
The more I thought about it the more I realised there isn’t a minimum set of behaviours that entitles you to call yourself a transvestite, because there’s no one thing that identifies and is common to all of the transvestites I know.
Let me modify that. Theirs is one thing that entitles you to call yourself a transvestite: calling yourself a transvestite. If you’re willing to wear the badge then you should be allowed to wear it. You’re just as entitled to it as I am.
Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be another blog entry about TV/TS/TG “labels”, I think that’s more or less been done to death. In fact let’s use a different word. Rather than talking about labels let’s talk about badges.
I’m interested in the cultural groups that people ascribe themselves to when they think about “what am I”. You choose the badges that apply to you and use them when asked “where are you from” or “why do you do that” or “what are you into”.
In many ways these badges provide a sense of belonging and purpose. I cross-dress because I’m a transvestite. I love open countryside because I’m from Norfolk. I can wear those badges with pride, and feel a sense of community with others who wear the badge too.
Plus, those two badges aren’t mutually exclusive. I can wear both because one of them is about location and one of them is about gender and sexuality. But it seems that many people wear more than one badge from each category.
Take the “where do you come from” badge. This might seem quite straightforward – you can only be born in one place – but for some people it seems quite fluid. Jane’s ability to change tribal roots to suit different situations always impresses and amuses me. She uses her three-quarters-Irish parentage to explain why she needs another glass of wine. A Northern upbringing is apparently responsible for her being a lot less sensitive to the cold than I am, me being a nesh Southerner and all. Of course she conveniently forgets that she was born in London, unless the conversation requires her to proudly boast of her Cockney heritage!
This brings me in a roundabout kind of way to the point I’m trying to make. What’s the minimum you have to do to get to wear the badge of membership? In particular, the transvestite badge that I and a lot of my friends wear.
Charlotte asked recently whether someone who was unwilling or unable to dress could be a “non-practicing transvestite”. I caught Siobhan the other day apologising for not posting more tranny-related stuff in her blog, as if her status as a tranny blogger would lapse if she didn’t mention frocks once a week. I do it too. If I haven’t posted a picture of Becky to my blog for a month or so I begin to feel like a bit of a fraud.
Which got me thinking what does constitute the minimum set of behaviours or characteristics that entitles someone to call themselves part of tranny culture?
When you start to think about it, it’s very hard to pin down. The simple answer is “you have to dress up like a woman”. Yes but, how often? How long can you go without dressing before your transvestite membership lapses? What about all the guys out there who’ve never worn more than bra and panties, or a bit of makeup, but still feel like a transvestite? And what about all the men who dress fully like women but don’t identify as transvestite at all?
The more I thought about it the more I realised there isn’t a minimum set of behaviours that entitles you to call yourself a transvestite, because there’s no one thing that identifies and is common to all of the transvestites I know.
Let me modify that. Theirs is one thing that entitles you to call yourself a transvestite: calling yourself a transvestite. If you’re willing to wear the badge then you should be allowed to wear it. You’re just as entitled to it as I am.
Labels: jane, transvestism
I was born in North London. That counts.
I tend to agree. But it also made me wonder about trannie behaviour. Does the fact that we're all part of the tranniesphere actually influence our behavior as trannies?
That is, if we'd had no internet access, would we have developed in a significantly different direction? Or by wearing the label, are we buying into a certain set of preconditions?
Ive gone through the tacky glitzy tranny look, to Goth, to elegant and now I dress mostly androgynous unless Im going somewhere that I need to dress up more for. It suits me in that I can dress all the time and just need to vary the amount of femme I add to the mix.
Ive noticed a lot more Trannys here (NZ) doing the same.
Avere Buon Natale e felice un Nuovo Anno.
Have a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year.
xoxo
But the question you posed by asking "How long can you go without dressing before your transvestite membership lapses?" is really a quite fascinating one!
If one has not 'dressed up' for the last year, maybe 2, does her TV license expire?
Definitely evokes some deep thought. Thanks!
And Merry Christmas!
If you’re willing to wear the badge...
That about says it for me. Now if you happen to live in a locale where it's cool and the in thing to be a tranny, then please send me a postcard.
Otherwise, I think we all go through the things we go through before coming to terms, calling a spade a spade, and moving on about our business of dressing like girls... ;)
Oh, and Merry Christmas!
Now that I've let my parents in on the whole thing they're working that way. I've been there for a while now and I'm getting annoyed that they can't just up and accept it. Which is dumb. All I need to do is look back an remember what a hard time I had.....
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