A Short Story: "cis"

[Guest Austen]

I wrote a piece for Bilerico about coming-out day. It turned out to be a pretty awesome little short story.

Funny how the therapist drains the words right out of you.

All the way here the words echoed in your head, over and over, like some long-lost mantra from a battlefield. But here, sitting on the comfy couch across from Kerri, the words drain out of you. It isn't the way Kerri looks -- she's an expert at hiding her Adam's Apple with a scarf, and her voice, while deep, has a certain lovable quality to it -- and it isn't even the calm, inviting rainbows plastered over her office. No. It's the words you want to speak. They're silly words and you know this. Nonetheless, you have to try.

trans1.png"You're looking dapper today." She points to your polo shirt, your khaki slacks, the boots meticulously picked from boutiques for androgyny. It's all your mother would budge to allow you those shoes, let alone the khakis and the shirt. It took an hour to convince her that "all the pre-girls are doing it now" before she'd step out of the sundress aisle long enough to pick out a respectable outfit. Kerri acknowledges this victory for about five seconds before leaning forward. "Though you'll probably have to dump it once you go full-time. It wouldn't accent your figure at all."

"About that."

"Problems with transition?" Kerri said. She smiled. "Honey, transition is something we all do. It's just the way we are: boys become girls, girls become boys. You have an older brother now, right? You've seen it before. No surprises there."

There's a pause. You square your shoulders, put on your man-face, and look Kerri in the eye. "I think I'm a boy," you say, and Kerri is speechless.

(read more at http://www.bilerico.com/2009/10/a_coming_out_story_cis.php )

[Guest Zabrak]

Wow.

[Guest angie]

That was a very nice short story of finding yourself.

And it really made me smile.

Hopefully young sir,you aren't a man of few words

as so many of your brothers seem to be.lol

Angie

[Guest Austen]

*laughs* Actually, it's ma'am; I was writing the story as a thought experiment about a world where transition is seen as a rite of passage, not an exception to the rule. XD

That was a very nice short story of finding yourself.

And it really made me smile.

Hopefully young sir,you aren't a man of few words

as so many of your brothers seem to be.lol

Angie

[Sally]

A wonderful story, worthy of Rod Serling!

The reversal of rolls is so complete and well thought out that it is a great way to show cisgendered what the feeling of alienation really is.

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest AnnieB]

So is this like a role reversal world where everyone is trans and the main character is an oddball who wants to stay the gender he is?

Imaginary and touching!

[Guest Ryles_D]

That's kind of weir. If you expect the people with penises to grow into girls, wouldn't you treat them like such all their lives? It reinforces the idea that transition is what makes a woman a woman, as if pre-op or non-ops aren't "actually" their gender or don't deserve to be treated as such.

I get the point, but I don't really like the execution.