A cute friend cut my hair on Sunday. By the time I walked in to the salon where she works professionally I felt like a shaggy, desperate wolf creature thing that would wake up in pillow puddles of grease. I'm starting to understand why it might be that testosterone dominant (e.g. cisgender men) individuals have seemingly adapted over time to have shorter hair cuts in general - is it a social norm, or is it the grease? Or both? By the end of one day without putting any product into my hair I can run my hand through it and it will stick up like a little Mohawk. When I used to be able to shower once a week, now I HAVE to shower once a day, and it takes a tremendous amount of effort to resist washing my hair.
Fortunate for me, my friend has taken it upon herself to schedule my hair cutting appointments. I've never been the type to keep up on hair cuts. Basically, I'd get a hair cut somehow, then time would go by as I'd get hairier and more shaggy, I'd start to grumble about it, and eventually someone, somewhere, somehow, had enough and it would get cut off. Anyway, my friend is excited to continue cutting my hair as I transition, particularly about the potential future of facial hair. I'd only noticed those few whiskers but, once my "faux burns" were lifted up, she pointed out that there was a bit more hair under there than before - little side burn hairs!
Having ANY facial hair growth within just the first two weeks is pretty exciting to me (according to Hudson's FTM Resource Guide: 'It may take several years, for example, for a beard to fully grow in, even though the first signs of facial hair might begin on the upper lip or chin during the first few months of treatment.'). She took a picture to photo document than showed it to me - yep, more hair. And more acne, too. Wee! The photo is a little blurry, but you can kind of see some action going on there:
(ignore the distracting, gaping hole in my ear lobe)
Then she buzzed it off and got to snipping and chopping away until I became the handsome, clean cut beast that I am sitting here, typing this today.
It really is swell having someone who's really excited about and supportive of my transition cutting my hair. It's also fun because she can notice and point things out that I wouldn't immediately notice otherwise. For example, she pointed out in some kind of foreign hair cut lingo that I didn't entirely comprehend that, essentially, my hair felt different and that the hair over my ear was easier to cut. I think she said more than that (something about men and women's hair in general), but, like I said, it was in some kind of incomprehensible hair cut jabble.
Proposition 8 Dust
In other news, I was reminded over the weekend by a friend of mines experience just how much dust Proposition 8 has kicked up and how the discrimination perpetuated by certain other religions, primarily the LDS church, has such a negative impact on so many individuals and their families. Ever since Proposition 8 it seems as though a lot of LDS people have banded together and are feeling even more defensive than ever about the nonsensical discrimination espoused by their church. With my friend, it started with her brother telling her that an atheist can't celebrate Christmas and then led into emotionally abusing her for being a homosexual, telling her he didn't want his children "exposed" to that or to have it brought into his home, that he's disappointed in her, that she's selfish, that she wouldn't ever see her family again in the afterlife due to her lifestyle, that he doesn't want to give her a present because she's not "celebrating christ's birth", so on and so forth.
It was awful to see how much this was tearing her up - that no matter how loving, sharing, giving, and blatantly kind and ethical she is, there's this underlying discrimination and irrational hostility towards her by someone so close, charged by the belief that it's her fault, her choice, and, therefore, that kind of treatment is justified. It's hard to imagine the damage this kind of dynamic has caused for so many people and their families - how many individual's self-esteems have been ripped apart. Or how it must feel to be that LDS person, being told that this individual they love is sinful and wrong. It becomes clear how bad it is just by how many GLBT homeless youth there are in Utah, or how our GLBT suicide rates are some of the highest in the nation. It's so unfortunate, unnecessary, and sad. But it will get better. The LDS church was one of the worst when it came to discriminating against interracial marriage and relationships, but, as the world progresses around them, they're eventually forced into socially evolving with the tide.
As someone who was raised in an atheist family, I was always taught that Christmas was a holiday about family and sharing, or about the people you love, or about whatever you want it to be, depending on your circumstances. About loving one another, giving and receiving to demonstrate that. Spending time with loved ones and watching crap like A Christmas Story. My extended family, many of whom are also atheist, even go caroling because it makes people smile (some people, anyway. I'd dim my lights and hide). Even Richard Dawkins, one of the more famous atheists, once said
Anyway, ahem, back on track. End scene. My next injection day is December 25th. How convenient! My dad is going to help me with the injection, seeing as it's going to be my first self-injection and he's well versed in giving the family kitty's their shots. Poor family kitties.
Fortunate for me, my friend has taken it upon herself to schedule my hair cutting appointments. I've never been the type to keep up on hair cuts. Basically, I'd get a hair cut somehow, then time would go by as I'd get hairier and more shaggy, I'd start to grumble about it, and eventually someone, somewhere, somehow, had enough and it would get cut off. Anyway, my friend is excited to continue cutting my hair as I transition, particularly about the potential future of facial hair. I'd only noticed those few whiskers but, once my "faux burns" were lifted up, she pointed out that there was a bit more hair under there than before - little side burn hairs!
Having ANY facial hair growth within just the first two weeks is pretty exciting to me (according to Hudson's FTM Resource Guide: 'It may take several years, for example, for a beard to fully grow in, even though the first signs of facial hair might begin on the upper lip or chin during the first few months of treatment.'). She took a picture to photo document than showed it to me - yep, more hair. And more acne, too. Wee! The photo is a little blurry, but you can kind of see some action going on there:
(ignore the distracting, gaping hole in my ear lobe)
Then she buzzed it off and got to snipping and chopping away until I became the handsome, clean cut beast that I am sitting here, typing this today.
It really is swell having someone who's really excited about and supportive of my transition cutting my hair. It's also fun because she can notice and point things out that I wouldn't immediately notice otherwise. For example, she pointed out in some kind of foreign hair cut lingo that I didn't entirely comprehend that, essentially, my hair felt different and that the hair over my ear was easier to cut. I think she said more than that (something about men and women's hair in general), but, like I said, it was in some kind of incomprehensible hair cut jabble.
Proposition 8 Dust
In other news, I was reminded over the weekend by a friend of mines experience just how much dust Proposition 8 has kicked up and how the discrimination perpetuated by certain other religions, primarily the LDS church, has such a negative impact on so many individuals and their families. Ever since Proposition 8 it seems as though a lot of LDS people have banded together and are feeling even more defensive than ever about the nonsensical discrimination espoused by their church. With my friend, it started with her brother telling her that an atheist can't celebrate Christmas and then led into emotionally abusing her for being a homosexual, telling her he didn't want his children "exposed" to that or to have it brought into his home, that he's disappointed in her, that she's selfish, that she wouldn't ever see her family again in the afterlife due to her lifestyle, that he doesn't want to give her a present because she's not "celebrating christ's birth", so on and so forth.
It was awful to see how much this was tearing her up - that no matter how loving, sharing, giving, and blatantly kind and ethical she is, there's this underlying discrimination and irrational hostility towards her by someone so close, charged by the belief that it's her fault, her choice, and, therefore, that kind of treatment is justified. It's hard to imagine the damage this kind of dynamic has caused for so many people and their families - how many individual's self-esteems have been ripped apart. Or how it must feel to be that LDS person, being told that this individual they love is sinful and wrong. It becomes clear how bad it is just by how many GLBT homeless youth there are in Utah, or how our GLBT suicide rates are some of the highest in the nation. It's so unfortunate, unnecessary, and sad. But it will get better. The LDS church was one of the worst when it came to discriminating against interracial marriage and relationships, but, as the world progresses around them, they're eventually forced into socially evolving with the tide.
As someone who was raised in an atheist family, I was always taught that Christmas was a holiday about family and sharing, or about the people you love, or about whatever you want it to be, depending on your circumstances. About loving one another, giving and receiving to demonstrate that. Spending time with loved ones and watching crap like A Christmas Story. My extended family, many of whom are also atheist, even go caroling because it makes people smile (some people, anyway. I'd dim my lights and hide). Even Richard Dawkins, one of the more famous atheists, once said
”...[Christmas] has long since ceased to be a religious festival. I participate for family reasons, with a reluctance that owes more to aesthetics than atheistics… So divorced has Christmas become from religion that I find no necessity to bother with euphemisms such as ‘happy holiday season.’ Understanding full well that the phrase retains zero religious significance, I unhesitatingly wish everyone a Merry Christmas.”It's tragic that some people are so conflicted, so filled with the hate pounded into their heads, that they let that fester and translate into abusing loved ones and end up missing out on what could have been.
Anyway, ahem, back on track. End scene. My next injection day is December 25th. How convenient! My dad is going to help me with the injection, seeing as it's going to be my first self-injection and he's well versed in giving the family kitty's their shots. Poor family kitties.
I hope your friends brother makes as big a deal when one of his children eats a ham and cheese sandwich on a Friday, or cleans up their room on a Sunday.
ReplyDeleteHah! No kidding! Hmm, for some reason I'm doubting he does.
ReplyDelete