What are you wearing today?

[Jackie C.]

1 hour ago, Emily Michele said:

You’ve been unbending yourself from limits in other more difficult areas, why keep this particular restraint in yourself?

 

Because my belly area looks SUPER gross from when I was heavy. Massive self-confidence issues revolving around the stretch marks and the loose skin. No midriff baring shirts for me.

 

Self-conscious about my pigeon breast too. I do NOT look good in anything low cut. Maybe a nice, conservative v-neck, but I'm never going to be showing off my "cleavage" so long as I've got an outie.

 

Super stoked that you can wear stuff like that, but my body image problems won't let me. I don't even like to show off my bare legs. There's gross scarring from a water-retention problem brought on by the drugs my egg donor had been poisoning me with since I was twelve. I can wear shorts casually, but there's a disconnect when I wear something that's intended to draw attention to my bare legs.

 

I guess it comes down to, in my head, I still look like a potato. I had two older guys hitting on me today. Don't even get me started on that. I still don't see myself that way... and even if I did, I wouldn't want to be attracting guys. Ew.

 

Hugs!

[Aggie1]

6 hours ago, Maddee said:

Sorry im not more positive.  And for my lack of effort with hair and makeup

I’m actually jealous! You look fantastic!

 

good solid advice from Jackie and TeriAnne about doing something nice for yourself, doesn’t have to be extravagant, sometimes something small can be even more effective. Just a subtle little reminder to yourself that you are awesome!!!! 
 

I joined a PFLAG group in the area back in January and although they only meet once a month via zoom it’s a point of connection and there are people there I know I could pick up the phone snd talk to if I ever needed to. Same thing with a pacific NW’ gender alliance group that meets every week. It helps me stay grounded knowing I’m not the only one with doubts and fears.

 

and then of course there’s this wonderful little TP playground where we all  clamber over the slides and merry go rounds every day!

 

there’s only one accessory that’s missing from your outfit in that picture. A big bright SMILE!

 

 

[Aggie1]

2 hours ago, Emily Michele said:

I just turned 47 years old, and as my mama says, “you are only as old as you feel.” Are you really too old, or do you just think you are too old? 

I’m almost 67 and I feel like 47!! I don’t have your personality though  (makes a pouting face!)

 

You look great though!

[Ivy]

2 hours ago, AgnesBardsie said:

I’m almost 67 and I feel like 47!!

I’m 71 and feel like a teenager half the time.  
  I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.  

 

(Of course the old body reminds me of all those years sometimes)

[Emily Michele]

My apologies @Jackie C., I didn’t mean to upset. I was simply referring to chronological  and mental age, nothing else. 
The takeaway is that we have all come far  in our individual journeys, we are all strong and beautiful in different ways, and we should do what makes us happy and healthy. We have been held back in our lives and our strengths have helped us in our journeys. I feel we should focus on our strengths more than we do our fears and shortcomings. 
 

we are all amazing. 
 

hugs!!

[Jackie C.]

1 hour ago, Emily Michele said:

My apologies @Jackie C., I didn’t mean to upset. I was simply referring to chronological  and mental age, nothing else. 
The takeaway is that we have all come far  in our individual journeys, we are all strong and beautiful in different ways, and we should do what makes us happy and healthy. We have been held back in our lives and our strengths have helped us in our journeys. I feel we should focus on our strengths more than we do our fears and shortcomings. 
 

we are all amazing. 
 

hugs!!

 

Oh no, I'm not upset at all. Just saying that I'm kinda messed up and my fashion choices represent that. My self confidence is much better and you can hide a LOT with clever clothing choices. For example, I look amazing in leggings. I've got a neck like a swan, so high-neck fashions really flatter me. My arms look fantastic, so I show those off when I can. Etc...

 

Hugs!

[Bri2020]

The consignment shop had a monster 3 day sidewalk sale so I've been working my little tush off.  Here's some pics of my crew of fashion consultants over the last 3 days.  A lot of girls were coming in looking for HS dance outfits (I think homecoming) which got me thinking about the fact I never had my Prom/HC as Bri so after the last day I bought this dress as a kinda joke as my "prom dress". Part of it was just to see if I could even get into it and the other was to see if I could rock it lol. I was a bit of effort but I squeezed into it and yes, I rocked it. lol

[Guest]

Not the best picture, but this is what I wore today while racing cyclecross with the 50+ Women’s category. 

[Jackie C.]

13 hours ago, Bri2020 said:

I was a bit of effort but I squeezed into it and yes, I rocked it.

 

Nice! I've got a bit of the same thing going on for this Halloween. I was thinking, "Hey! I never got to go as a witch!" So this year...

 

8 hours ago, Erica Gabriel said:

Not the best picture, but this is what I wore today while racing cyclecross with the 50+ Women’s category.

 

OK, sure, but did you place? Your calves look pretty good in my opinion so...

 

Hugs!

[Guest]

@Jackie C.i was dead last. My fitness isn’t great and these ladies are fast. 

[Jackie C.]

1 hour ago, Erica Gabriel said:

@Jackie C.i was dead last. My fitness isn’t great and these ladies are fast. 

 

Then you must train harder for your next event! Rar!

 

Hugs!

[Teri Anne]

I just turned 69 in Sept and don't feel like it most of the time but there are times where I realize I can't do things like I did in the past. LOL

I am all for wearing what makes you feel pretty.

I went to the last Knob Creek Machine gun shoot yesterday and walked my butt off so maybe lost a few more lbs (I sure hope so)

Had a great time with freedom loving Americans.

What might be  interesting to some here  there were trans people there me included and being trans was a non issue .

I spoke to a Mom and her fully transitioned  trans son who was about 19 years old.

He had just complete a shooting competition called the jungle walk and came in third place out of 40 people.

I have competed in that and its hard trust me.

My whole point is many trans people feel the world is against them and that conservative people hate them for existing and this is proof when you believe in freedom it means freedom to be who you want to be and gender is included.

I  shared that with the Mom and she said she was amazed how nice everybody was. Her son told me all he ever wanted was to be treated as the boy he is and his dream had come true.

I have been going to these shoots as my female self since 2000 and I have never had anyone say one word and have been treated like any other woman there.

Just to wrap this up don't believe what you hear and see on the news because they are trying to make trans people feel like second class citizens. I for one am not a second class citizen and will not be treated like one.

Off my podium now LOLOL.

 

 

 

[Teri Anne]

I need to correct  where I the trans son said  all he ever wanted was to be treated like the boy he is.

[Aggie1]

1 hour ago, Teri Anne said:

Had a great time with freedom loving Americans.

What might be  interesting to some here  there were trans people there me included and being trans was a non issue .

Sounds like a classic definition of Happiness as defined in the Declaration! Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Jefferson got it from Locke who said the foundation of liberty is the pursuit of happiness. Locke probably got it from Aristotle, Socrates and Plato who talked a lot about Eudemonia.

 

Suffice to say if people subscribe to the constitution and the principles enshrined in it as the foundation of how we govern ourselves, and understand freedom in this context, they’re on pretty solid ground.

[Aggie1]

1 hour ago, AgnesBardsie said:

they’re on pretty solid ground.

Which is not to say that there haven’t been some really serious problems with issues like race relations, women’s rights, etc, which took an extraordinary long time to correct through the amendment process. 
 

just saying that there are some good bones there if they’re read and interpreted carefully and conscientiously. 

[Teri Anne]

Mainly I am tired of the press pushing the narrative that conservative people hate trans people because they don't.

Its like if the press keep saying the lie eventually people will believe  the lie.

[Ivy]

1 hour ago, Teri Anne said:

Mainly I am tired of the press pushing the narrative that conservative people hate trans people because they don't.

I live in a conservative area and have had no problems with my neighbors.

I suspect that a lot of the controversy is the result of a few (mainly politicians) stirring up trouble.  Still, these anti-trans laws are real enough, and worrisome.

[Deanna Celia M]

1 hour ago, Teri Anne said:

Mainly I am tired of the press pushing the narrative that conservative people hate trans people because they don't.

Its like if the press keep saying the lie eventually people will believe  the lie.

It depends on your experience. I have seen trans people shunned and ostracized in my wife's conservative family because they were "wrong," "against God," and "sick." There was never any question of their family members who did this to them learning or accepting anything about their situation or trans-ness. They could either not be trans or they could, literally and figuratively, go to Hell.

One of these trans people had done so so much for an ailing elderly family member when no one else in the area would help. This didn't matter because she wasn't identifying as male or using her deadname, so they still despised her.  

 

One of the reasons I'm so scared about coming out. 

 

Not saying all conservatives are this way but... It's not just the media. There are people who use church or traditional values as an excuse to hate on trans people.

But then TERFs are liberals so it's not just conservatives against trans people, either.

[Aggie1]

1 hour ago, Teri Anne said:

Mainly I am tired of the press pushing the narrative that conservative people hate trans people because they don't.

Its like if the press keep saying the lie eventually people will believe  the lie.

Yeah well they are the unelected fourth branch of government so there is that. Conservative doesn’t equate one to one with fundamental evangelical which the media often times conflates. It’s a lot easier to sell a story if you create a villain. 
 

I read a book by Eric Hoffer, True Believer, a couple months ago in which he analyzed the rise and fall of mass movements. 
 

He talks about 5 kinds of people impacted by mass movements. Conservatives, Skeptics, Liberals, Radicals, and Reactionaries.

 

Here’s how the book separates them.

 

Conservatives doubt the present can be bettered and tries to shape the future in the image of the present. They go to the past for reassurance about the present. 

 

Skeptics view of the present is summed up with the verse “there is no new thing under the sun.” 

 

Liberals sees the present as the offspring of the past and constantly growing to an improved future.

 

All three cherish the present and don’t take kindly to self sacrifice.

 

Radicals and Reactionaries loathe the present and are hospitable to the idea of self sacrifice. 

 

Radicals believe in perfectibility of human nature and through soul forming a new and unprecedented society can be formed.

 

Reactionaries believe there is no good in mankind and a stable and healthy society must me patterned off the proven past. The future is a glorious restoration rather than an unprecedented innovation.

 

Some of the folks who label themselves as Conservative might actually be Reactionaries by this definition. 
 

The press has a tendency to use this sort of confusion to classify all conservatives as dangerous reactionaries.

[Ivy]

1 hour ago, Deanna Celia M said:

or they could, literally and figuratively, go to Hell

Well, this has been said about me, but not to my face.  I avoid those people when possible.

I think when people actually get to know a transperson it's harder for them to hate us for no other reason than that.  But there's probably still some hardcore haters.

[Deanna Celia M]

1 hour ago, AgnesBardsie said:

The press has a tendency to use this sort of confusion to classify all conservatives as dangerous reactionaries.

The more liberal slanted media will do this. And the conservative slanted media will classify all liberals as radical leftists no matter how centrist they actually are.

There are really looney tunes people on both sides that can bring in good ratings/views and get fear votes for the opposite party so... Those crazies are emphasized.

Look I'm a registered Democrat and I get fear-mongering fund-raising emails and mailers all the time. My wife is Republican and she gets alarmist stuff from that party all the time also, I see it come in. They both do this. 

Lately it's like:

Democratic party mailer: "WARNING: REPUBLICAN CONSPIRACY NUTJOB!"

Republican party mailer: "WARNING: DEMOCRAT COMMUNIST RADICAL LEFTIST!"

 

[Aggie1]

1 hour ago, Deanna Celia M said:

They both do this. 

Spot on!

[Ivy]

1 hour ago, Deanna Celia M said:

bring in good ratings/views and get fear votes

Yup

1 hour ago, Deanna Celia M said:

They both do this. 

And yuppers 

[Teri Anne]

Both sides are guilty thats for sure.

I don't  believe much of anything a politician  says these days.

One thing is for sure if they are looking for your vote they will lie and tell you what they think you want to hear.

[Jackie C.]

Hey, just a reminder from management. If you want to have this discussion, great, but move it to politics please. This thread is about looking awesome while wearing pretty clothes. Please and thank you!

 

Hugs!