Lots of Colour Photos and Special Features Anastasia
In this issue: • Your Wig Guide • Rebecca Root • Lure of the Mature Woman • Harmony & TV Scotland • Tights vs Stockings Rose’s TV Repartee 81
SPRING 2016
£10
WIN:
Silicone breast forms retailing at £498 with The Breast Form Store
81
EDITORIAL
In this issue 24
February 2016
editing the magazine. But Bella can no longer continue to do this as she explains below.
Cover Girl
f you have flicked through the magazine before Ireading this (as I expect most readers will), you will
Cathy Heart.
8
26 32
7 8 10 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 38
50 Regular Features: 4 What’s On 5 UK Guidelines 6 News 12 Girl Talk Friya 14 Media Watch Katie Nail Design 16
Leanne Scott
REPARTEE 81
36 Tiffany’s Titbits
Tiffany Tuesday 42 London Calling Tanya-Dawn Hughes 48 Fashion Feature Tasi Zuriack Readers’ Letters 59 60 Readers’ Ads
44 47 50 52 54 57
The Future of Repartee
Martine Rose
The last printed Repartee and a new free website.
Harmony Weekend 2015
Martine Rose
Report and photos from the annual Scarborough weekend.
Miss TV Scotland 2015
Loraine Walker
Report and photos from the 17th annual TV Scotland weekend.
Your Wig Guide Expert wig advice from the team at Hair by MissTresses.
Mysterious Girl
Bella Jay
News on the winner of Miss Sparkle 2015.
Boy Meets Girl
Bella Jay
Exclusive interview with Rebecca Root, star of the BBC2 sitcom.
Suzy Fleur Words and photos from a 40 something cross-dresser.
Tights vs Stockings: Part One, Tights
Nina Jay
Nina shows us some of her collection of tights, her stockings will follow in the next issue.
More from Charlie
see that the big news is the page ‘The Future of Repartee’ (page 7). All is explained on that page so there is no need to repeat it here but I will say that I am very excited about the new developments. Of course I’m sad that the next issue of Repartee will be the last printed copy but we have to move with the times and I see the move to an online publication only as a very positive move. We are presently developing a brand new website which will replace the present one in June. I don’t wish to say too much about it at present but it will offer a whole host more than the present site including all (well nearly all) the usual Repartee content absolutely free! We will be able to do this because there will no longer be the hefty printing bills and ever-rising postage costs of distributing a printed mag. Of course there will still be some costs involved in providing the web site which will hopefully largely be covered by advertising and donations from our site visitors. Being retired, I will be able to freely devote my time to maintaining the web-site and will not be expecting to make any personal income from the site. This is why ‘Repartee’ is coming back to me. Of course I created Repartee back in 1989 and developed the magazine into the great success it became during the 90’s, but for many years now I have taken a back seat whilst Bella Jay has been
Charlie Craggs
BELLA’S Bit
Charlie continues her diary.
Rites of Passage
Cathy Heart
The stages or hurdles on ones path through trans life.
Anastasia
Bella Jay
Bella in conversation with Ukrainian t-girl, Anastasia.
Anastasia Kristel Domani A selection of photos from the glamorous Anastasia.
Martine’s Story
Martine Rose
The third instalment of Martine’s life story: Starting Rose’s House and launching Repartee.
Just Another Day
Angela Booth
What a fantastic day for a cross-dresser!
Finding Your Voice
Peggy King
Advice from a professional voice coach.
The Lure of the Mature Woman
Carol Scott
The pleasures of dressing like a stylish older-woman.
Return to Cotton City for Sparkle 2015 Jamie Pearl Australian Jamie on returning to Manchester and life in OZ.
Becoming a Woman
Lisa Saphora
What does it take to be a woman?
Half Century Girl The third part of Louisa’s ‘dressing’ experiences.
Louisa
A
s Martine points out the switch from print to digital is something positive, although I know there will be many of you who will perhaps not agree and will miss the traditional printed magazine. However, this is not a decision we have taken lightly or purely on a whim, but more just the way of the world in the 21st Century. Repartee has always been about offering support, information and entertainment to as many people as possible. The move to digital will allow us to offer this to a far wider range of people, which surely must be our top priority. Of course, after some 27 years in print, there is an element of sadness and this is doubly the case for me personally. Not only will I be stepping down as editor after the next issue (there will be no magazine to edit anyway!) but I am, to all intense and purposes, leaving Rose’s too, after 17 years working with Martine. Working at Rose’s has been such an amazing, certainly life-changing, experience and I am eternally grateful to Martine for giving me such a wonderful opportunity. However, as well as being great fun, Rose’s and Repartee have always
The other big news, well for me anyway, is that I will be having my GRS (gender reassignment surgery) in March. This may surprise some as I have always declared myself to be a transvestite rather than a transsexual but I have been living full-time as a woman since I had facial and breast surgery in 2007. As such I have been completely accepted as female by everyone and I have been very happy living as a woman. To me having the GRS just completes the process. I’m not concerned about what label is put on me but I simply say that I am trans-gendered. The surgery is scheduled for 3rd March at the Spire Methley Park Hospital near Leeds. Finally I’ll write as usual about the events coming up that I am organising. First is the Rose’s@WGW (Whitby Goth Weekend) event next April. All places were filled some time ago and we have our largest group to date In the last Repartee I was also promoting the Goth Weekend that normally happens at the end of October, the weekend before our Harmony Weekend in nearby Scarborough. I even planned arrangements for doing the two events combined. But the goth weekend organisers seem to have come unstuck with their plans as another group has got in first and booked the facilities in Whitby for the Halloween weekend. As I write the WGW organisers have still not announced any dates for their autumn weekend but it is widely expected to be the first weekend in November, the same as our Harmony Weekend in Scarborough. This means I cannot organise a combined 10 day long event but I will arrange that our usual coach trip on the Sunday will be to Whitby assuming the WGW will actually be that same weekend. Martine
been a job and have been my full-time employment. Sadly the printed magazine no longer provides a reasonable income and therefore I have to look in a new direction in order to earn a living. I very much hope to still be involved with the new website, perhaps as a regular contributor or writer and I will do everything I can to support Martine and ensure the success of the new Repartee. At this stage though I am unsure of exactly how things will work out so can’t say for certain what involvement, if any, I will have in the future. I plan to write more in the next issue on my time with Rose’s and the current changes in the trans scene. So, this really is the final call for material for the printed magazine. If you have always wanted to appear on the pages of Repartee, but never quite got round to it. Or perhaps had something published in the past and always meant to do so again. The next month or so is really your final chance. I have some material already for the last issue so the sooner you can submit something the more chance you have to be included. Issue 82 will be a special souvenir issue too so please do send in any material sooner rather than later. Bella Jay
– the World’s Leading TV Magazine for men who love to wear feminine clothes – and for women who love them . . . . In Repartee we encourage the view that transvestism is something positive to be enjoyed rather than treated as a shameful problem. We try to present a good balanced view of all aspects of ‘dressing’ and without being pornographic, adopt a down-to-earth, open-minded approach to cross-dressing and ‘dressing up’ generally. Repartee was created by Martine Rose in 1989 as the magazine for the newly formed Rose’s Club. Because of its original lively approach to transvestism, Repartee grew rapidly into what is generally regarded as the leading magazine for cross-dressers in UK (if not, the world!).
Martine Rose has been living full time as Martine for several years. She set up Rose’s House in Sheffield in 1979 to provide comprehensive help and social facilities – this was in the days long before ‘dressing services’ have become almost commonplace. It was the success of this venture that led to the founding of Rose’s as a membership group and the introduction of Repartee magazine ten years later. From being an early Rose’s member, Bella Jay has gradually taken on more roles in the running of Rose’s over the years as Rose’s and Repartee have grown. Bella became a partner in 1998 and is now the editor of Repartee magazine itself. Repartee is published by Rose’s Publications for
Rose’s, PO Box 186, Barnsley S73 0YT, UK Tel/fax: 01226 754252 Email: roses@repartee.tv Web: http://www.repartee.tv REPARTEE 81
EVENTS GUIDE Special events only are listed on this page. Please see our GuideLines page opposite for regular socials.
What's on?
UK Guidelines
February 2016
National
Thurs 4 - Mon 8 - Le Big ‘Un 2014 Northern Concord weekend, Chesterfield. www.northernconcord.org.uk or PO Box 258, Manchester M60 1LN with sae please.
2016
March 2016
Calendar M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 February 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 March 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 April 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 May 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 June 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 July 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 August 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 M T W T F S S Calendar Girl: Suzy Fleur
Thurs 3 - Sun 6 Kay’s 1920s Weekend, Harrogate. Kay West 01582 416213 Email kay.west.online@gmail.com Fri 18 - Mon 21: Transliving Spring Eastbourne Weekend. Book online at www.transliving.co.uk or by phone: 01268 583761
April 2016 Fri 8 - Sun 10: Cumbria Trans walking weekend, Ambleside. Contact Joan Devereaux [Rose 2107] email: trans.lakes.nights@googlemail.com Thu 21 - Sun 24: TV Extravaganza Weekend, Bournemouth. Danielle [Rose512] or email: Ddan282739@aol.com Thu 21 - Mon 25: Rose’s@WGW Whitby Goth Weekend. www.repartee.tv/index.php/events/ whitby-goth-weekend.htm
July 2016 Fri 8 - Sun 10: Sparkle, The National Transgender Celebration, Canal Street, Manchester. www.sparkle.org.uk
September 2016 Fri 9 - Sun 11: Goodwood Revival https://grrc. goodwood.com/section/goodwood-revival Sun 11 - Wed 14 Northern Concord Summer mid-week Break, Chesterfield. www.northernconcord.org.uk To Be Confirmed: TV Bridal Weekend, Bournemouth. Danielle [Rose512] or email: Ddan282739@aol.com
October 2016 Fri 14 - Mon 27: Transliving Autumn Eastbourne Weekend. Book online at www.transliving.co.uk or by phone: 01268 583761 Fri 21 - Sun 23: Hide & Sleek Miss TV Scotland Weekend. Edinburgh. www.misstvscotland.co.uk or phone 01592 891344 (see advert page 13).
November 2016
WayOut Club Hosted by Vicky Lee since 1993 Unique trans entertainment, 2 DJs This is a nightclub not a sex club EVERY Saturday - 9pm to 3/4am
Thurs 3 - Mon 7: Rose’s Harmony Weekend, Scarborough (see advert right) Fri 18 - Sun 20 The 25th Janett Scott’s Weekend Break for Ladies + 50 years Anniversary of the Beaumont Society Celebration, Rotherham. Janett Scott JScott5426@aol.com or 01582 732936 www.beaumontsociety.org.uk
Entry B4 11pm £7 for femme & tranz – £12 for all after 11pm
At The Minories or Mary Jane’s, Both in Minories, London EC3N Information: 07778 157 290
www.thewayoutclub.com
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Please note: The Halloween Whitby Goth
Weekend event combined with our November Harmony Weekend that we announced in the last Repartee will not be taking place owing to a change of the dates for the WGW (see editorial). However we will be having an outing by coach to Whitby from our Harmony Weekend (see right)
Rose’s 01226 754252 (10am-4pm) PO Box 186 Barnsley, S73 0YT roses@repartee.tv http://www.repartee.tv The Gender Trust 0845 231 0505 Beaumont Society 01582 412220 27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3XX http://beaumontsociety.org.uk Beaumont Trust 07000 287878 (7-11 Tues & Thurs) BM Charity, London WC1N 3XX http://beaumontsociety.org.uk Gems for TSs 07000 790 347 (before 10pm) BM Gemtrust, London WC1N 3XX TransLiving International 01268 583761 PO Box 3, Basildon, Essex SS14 1PT Police – Report Hate Crime www.report-it.org.uk
London, Herts etc.
Scarborough Thursday 3rd – Monday 7th Nov. (Thursday and Sunday nights optional) “I found everyone very friendly and welcoming. I would go as far as to say, the most friendly of all the various venues I have attended so far.” Kelly
Friday ‘Glamorous Nights’ Party Fashion Show Saturday ‘Miss Rose of the Year’ Parade Disco Friday & Saturday nights Second quiet bar away from disco Saturday Quiz Trade stands and makeovers Sunday outing to Whitby Goth Event + other happenings to be announced Total inclusive costs (per person sharing): Friday & Saturday (2 nights): £134 Extra Thursday & Sunday nights: £58 each Single supplement: £10 per night Details and booking form from (SAE please):
Martine Rose, 306 Stoneyford Road, Sutton in Ashfield, Notts. NG17 2DX Book online: www.repartee.tv/index.php/
events/harmony-weekend
Croydon 2nd Sat 07801 414887 Watford 1st Sun 07971 501402, Sally Luton 3rd Sat 07956 242558 Shirley Keel or 07716 204877 Jackie Proctor [Rose 4638]. Kings Cross 2nd Sun 07484 249 800 Helen.
South East Folkestone: Les Sheks c/o Lacies, 127 Dover Rd, Folkstone CT20 1NL 01303 220373 (7-10 Mon (TVs), Wed (TSs)) 1st Fri
East Norwich: Oasis 1st Fri & 3rd Sat Huntingdon 4th Sat 07956 242558 Shirley Brentwood, Essex: The Ultimate Celebration Monthly on a Friday 07709 162 682 www.transliving.co.uk/parties.htm Boston Bells 2nd Fri – Belinda belinda.wood99@btinternet.com
South Brighton Every Wed 01273 550578 Joyce Brighton Every Tuesday TG Support Group www.clareproject.org.uk Southampton: Mayflower Club www.mayflowersociety.org.uk Totton – Disco 3rd Thur 07786 226635 Southampton 2nd Sunday 07513 912704 Southampton: Chrysalis 1st & 3rd Fri www.chrysalis-gii.co.uk 02380 397900 Bournemouth: Cameo susan24150@hotmail.com Kiss-n-Makeup 2nd Sat michmo@live.com Overton (Nr Basingstoke): 1st Wed 7.30-10.30 thamesvalleytg@yahoo.co.uk Reading: 3rd Wed @ Fox & Hounds 3rd Wed thamesvalley_tg_whodine@yahoo.co.uk Portsmouth: 2nd ThursAnnette 07849 072862 Lyndhurst: Last Wed 7.30-11.30 Community Cent. eleanor52roberts@yahoo.co.uk Thanet (Kent): Freedom Club 2nd Fri. Julie 01843 582655
South West Bristol: Crossroads 4th Sat www.bristol-crossroads.org.uk laurencd@blueyonder.co.uk Lauren and Lesley on 07935 276 752 Exeter 2nd Fri Nicky 01398 371142 or (m) 0772 487 9570 nickynacks@btinternet.com Exeter: South West Girls www.southwestgirls.co.uk North Devon: Shout! Gay/lesbian/TG weekly 07005 938909 www.shoutlgbt.org.uk Cornwall TG Self-Help Group, for TV/TS etc. 01209 843880 Crystal [104]
REGULAR SOCIALS Midlands Birmingham: Outskirts 1st & 3rd Mon. Debbie [Rose 2803] www.outskirtstg.co.uk Derby: Transcend 07599 235214 www.transcend.moonfruit.com Derby: Reflections 2nd & 4th Monday www.reflections.moonfruit.com Coventry: Sanctuary 1st Wed. 07766 456218 Telford: Gender-Matters 0844 8700178 www.gender-matters.org.uk Leicester: Chameleon Group, Fosse Community Centre, Mantle Road. jehaynes45@tiscali.co.uk 1st Sat 07704 732232 Jessica [Rose 4567] http://www.leicesterchameleonsgroup.sm4 Nottingham: Chameleon 4th Thurs 07896 133461 (8.00-11 Thur) Kettering 2nd Wednesday 07779 490173 Verina [Rose 3282]
North East Sheffield: Les Femmes 4th Fri. Dempseys Bar,1 Hereford St 07926 578251 Robyn http://groups.msn.com/lefemmes Hull: Tranz-Yorks last Friday Vauxhall Tavern admin@trans-yorks.org.uk
North West Manchester: Northern Concord PO Box 258, Manchester M60 1LN http://northernconcord.org.uk Manchester: Manchester Concord Every Wed http://manchesterconcord.org.uk Manchester TV/TS Helpline 0161 235 8005 (7-10 Weds & Thurs) Manchester TransForum 4th Sat. Afternoon 07500 741955 or jennyannebuk@yahoo.co.uk Blackpool: Renaissance 2nd & 4th Tue (accom available) 01253 314747 Lynda Collins. http://www.renaissanceblackpool.org.uk Birkenhead: Trans-Sister Tuesdays transsisters@yahoo.co.uk Barrow: Trans Lakes Nights various 07952 278760 (eves) trans.lakes.nights@googlemail.com Liverpool: Spirit-Level TG Support 1st & 3rd Mon. At Armistead Centre. http://www.spirit-level.org.uk
Wales N Wales: Unique 01745 337144 Elen Heart [Rose 4000] 3rd Thurs www.uniquetg.org.uk
Scotland Strathclyde: CrossLynx TV/TS Group 2nd Wed CrossLynx, c/o SGLS, PO Box 38, Glasgow G2 2QF 0141 8470787 (7.30-9.30 Mondays) Aberdeen: Grampian Gender Group 07050 562175 (Mon+Wed 7-9pm) Gillian 3rd Sat afternoon Edinburgh Friend: Louisa 07512 565963 Monday to Thursday 8 – 11 pm. Stirlingshire Support Group, Buchlyvie Last Sat 0780 8564626 Kira Dunblane: Central Scotland TG 2nd Saturday 01738 446584, Katie. Kate485@btinternet.com
Northern Ireland Belfast Butterfly Club 028 9267 3720 (8-10 Weds) 1st & 3rd Tues PO Box 210, Belfast, N Ireland, BT1 1BG
Key to Guide Membership Group Helpline Information Line (...) Times/days when phone manned. Times are pm unless stated otherwise. If a name is included within the parentheses this is whom to ask for. Address for Info (actual addresses of venues are not listed here) Email address Website URL Social evenings – meeting days: eg ‘2nd Fri’ are the days of meetings each month. Rose’s Local Organiser Rose’s members are welcome at all meetings listed here – even those which are not primarily for Rose’s. Please keep us informed of any additions, corrections and changes so that we can keep these GuideLines as up to date as possible.
Rose’s online http://www.repartee.tv Our new recently revamped website has info about Rose’s and Repartee magazine with the latest news of Rose’s events, hot links, etc. Also shop on-line for our magazines and subscriptions, using the fully secure credit card facilities via Paypal.
http://rosesforum.tv Our own TG forum with many members, a chat room and photo galleries
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NEWS NEWS Win £498 Breast Forms
London Meeting
Repartee has teamed up with The Breast Form Store (www.thebreastformstore.co.uk) to offer one very lucky reader the chance to win a pair of luxurious, attachable silicone breast forms retailing at £498! All you have to do is correctly answer one simple question and then you will be entered into a draw to win the prize. Entry is by email or post and full details of the competition and this amazing prize can be found on page 65.
Long-time Rose’s member, Helen Elliott [Rose 1994], who is the London Organiser for the Beaumont Society, recently got in touch to remind people of the monthly meeting she organises in London. It takes place on the second Sunday of the month and although a Beaumont meeting, it is open to all. It’s held in a private spacious room at ‘London Friend’ and there is a back room which is available for changing. Most do arrive ‘dressed’, but it is up to you, however you feel comfortable. This event is great for first-timers as the room is private, the evening is informal and just a place to come and have a chat. Of course, it can be daunting going into a room full of strangers, so ask for Helen or Jo and they will introduce you to some of the others. If there is something you want to discuss in private Helen is always happy to find a quiet corner and try to help. If you want music and dancing you are in the wrong place and Helen does ask that you are “decently dressed”. The evening is very informal although guest speakers or makeup demonstrations, etc. are arranged when possible. Usually about 12 to 15 people attend and wives and partners are very welcome too. There is normally free parking on Caledonian Road and King’s Cross station is about 8 to 10 minutes’ walk. There is a small admission charge, currently £2 (to cover the rent) and tea and coffee are available. London Friend is at 86 Caledonian Road, King’s Cross, London N1 9DN. For more info. please call Helen on 07484 249 800.
South-West Newsletter November 2015 saw the launch of a new newsletter aimed at providing information and support to trans girls in the south-west of England. The newsletter has been started by Jadey Clarkson who told us: “My aim is to build a support group for trans girls. In the south-west, we are very spread out. A lot of girls don’t know where to go or whom to contact. Many just sit in their bedrooms, ‘dressed’, but with nowhere to go. In Barnstaple and north Devon there is nothing: I’d love to get a regular meeting group going there. So it’s about, building active numbers down here. With numbers we can do really fun things: organise excursions, secure deals with suppliers of make-up and products to help with ‘dressing’ and the like. I have many, many ideas and of course discretion is maintained, always.”
Neon Moon’s British design and manufacturing of its comfortable bras and comfortable knickers means that all women’s bodies are taken into account – where every woman’s body creates the shape of the garment and not the other way around. This means Neon Moon is inclusive to transgender women who require stretch and comfort in their underwear. Find out more at www.neonmoon.co and join the conversation with the hashtag: #IAmNeonMoon.
New Cosmetics Brand I guess it’s the dream of many women to launch their own high-end cosmetics brand, so how amazing when it’s actually done by a trans woman! Holly Stevens has been ‘dressing’ since six years old and is now harnessing her love of make-up alongside her own entrepreneurial spirit to launch a stunning new cosmetic collection at: www.hollystevenscosmetics.com
REPARTEE 81
We are moving into the digital age. People are reading printed magazines much less these days, not just Repartee, but other magazines, newspapers, books and printed material generally. We feel the time has come to move forward to really embrace what the latest technology can offer. Yes, Repartee is already available online but what we will be offering after we go completely online will be rather different. On the present repartee.tv website our magazine has been available for a while but it is a copy of the printed magazine with exactly the same look and page layout. This does not really work very well for online reading especially for the smaller screen devices like mobile phones which many people use for accessing web-based content these days. We are going to launch a new revamped version of our website this summer which will present the Repartee magazine content in a much more web-friendly manner that is fully responsive* for whatever device you will be using. There is a selection of features from back issues of Repartee which are presented in this way on our present site but on the new site ALL NEW content will be done this way from next June. And what’s more, it will be all FREE!
What our new online Repartee will offer: All the usual Repartee content will be FREE!
You won’t have to wait four months for new material We’ll aim to have new content available weekly
All content will be specially formatted and fully responsive* for easy reading online on all devices
All articles can be rated and commented upon More photos and videos can be included New ‘Facebook-like’ Members’ area
Search other members to contact / date / meet
*Responsive is the technical term for web content that adapts to the device being used.
But why stop the printed magazine?
The cosmetics collection has something for everyone, with many products formulated with certain hair colours and skin tones in mind. There are vibrant pink lipsticks that look fabulous on blondes and rich brown eye-shadow palettes which accentuate any brunette’s best features, and professional contouring kits for all skin and hair types.
Walking Weekend The newsletter lists events, meetings, etc. in Plymouth, Exeter and Cornwall, together with car-share offers and requests to help you get out and about together. Jadey is also planning trips from the south-west to Pink Punters, London, Blackpool and Sparkle. So get in touch, get involved and get out and have some fun! If you want to subscribe to the mailing list or you have news of events or activities that could be included in the newsletter then please get in touch with Jadey via email at jadeyclarkson@gmail.com
This is the penultimate edition of Repartee! Issue number 82 which will be coming out at the beginning of June will be the last of the printed magazines. But it will not be the end of Repartee – only the printed magazine. Repartee will continue as an online publication only. And most important; it will be FREE!
Why?
Neon Moon Lingerie Neon Moon is a feminist lingerie brand which promotes body positivity in a very inclusive way. In November 2015 they launched a campaign ‘I Am Neon Moon’ to fight against transphobia, body shaming and negative perceptions of the female body. Debuting nationwide, #IAmNeonMoon showcases inclusivity for all by featuring a transgender woman, a naturally-born woman and a woman of colour in non-retouched photos, highlighting that all women are beautiful women.
The Future of Repartee
This year will be the third for the Trans Lakes walking weekend at Ambleside. The weekend is centred on the opportunity to enjoy some spectacular Lake District scenery, guided by experienced local walkers, but also includes a relaxed social side with meals and evenings in good company. The event takes place from Friday 8th to Sunday 10th of April 2016. If you are interested in attending then please contact Joan Devereaux [Rose 2107] for further details (only 12 places are available so don’t delay!). Email: trans.lakes.nights@googlemail.com
With so much material freely available on the internet these days, it is becoming increasingly less viable to produce a printed publication, especially a relatively low-circulation magazine like Repartee. Why pay £10 for a magazine that only comes out every 4 months when you can find plenty to read on the internet for free immediately? We are aware that many people do not like reading much text online and prefer to have something they can actually hold and keep. There are still many people who have not embraced the computer age but nearly everyone has a smartphone these days and we are particularly making sure our online magazine will be easily readable on such devices. However, the main reason we are ceasing publication of the printed magazine is because Bella Jay, who has been editing it as a full-time job for several years now, is unable to continue with this very demanding work. Martine, who semi-retired from the production of the magazine some time ago, is now stepping forward to take on the main task of running the new website, possibly with the assistance of Bella. This is why the new site will be called Rose’s Repartee to reflect the fact that Repartee is coming back to Martine.
Back Issues
If you really wish to have printed copies of Repartee after we cease publication, you can always buy back issues. We still have a stock of most of our back issues which will be available for sale until the stock runs out. Most of the content of all our magazines is not time-specific and is as relevant today as when it was first published.
The new Rose’s Members’ area This will be a major new feature of the new website which will be rather like Facebook but specifically tailored for members of our community. Like Facebook you can make friends with other members, follow others, post photos and videos, form groups, etc. Everything you do in the members’ area will be only viewable by other members by default but you will be able to set any individual item (post, photo, profile, etc.) so that it can be seen by only you, only friends, members, or everyone (which will include non-members). Members can create a profile about themselves where you’ll be able to give details about your interests, and if you want to contact/meet others, you can indicate what you are looking for. The search facility will enable members to find like-minded friends and make contact.
There’ll be an App for that
We also intend to create Android and iPhone apps to give you access to the full site including the Members’ Area.
The Final (printed) Repartee
The very last printed copy of Repartee (Issue 82) which is scheduled to be published early June will be a special souvenir issue to commemorate Repartee’s 27 years of publication. There is likely to be a great demand so please reserve your copy early (if your subscription expires) to avoid disappointment.
Repartee lead the way with a high quality TG magazine in the 1980’s which has been much copied since. Now Rose’s will be leading the way again by fully moving into the digital age! REPARTEE 81
EVENT REPORT
Harmony weekend Rose’s
Scarborough, November 2015
Miss Rose Parade 2015 Above: some of the contestants for the Miss Rose of the Year Parade. Left: The winner was Suzanne (centre), runner-up Jenni (left), and the best costume was Sara (right)
Marion from Norway bout half our guests arrived on the Thursday A for a quiet evening at our hotel and Friday daytime
Jasmine as a daffodil taking a stroll along the Scarborough sea-front. Martine didn’t want to balance a book on top of this hair!
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mooching around the shops in Scarborough. As I walked along the seafront I saw what looked like a giant daffodil coming towards me! Of course it had to be Jasmine who habitually wears the most amazing outfits and is certainly not afraid to go out in public wearing them. I was heading for the Spa Pavilion where I had been told there was a gorgeous display of costumes that were made by the people who do the costumes for Strictly Come Dancing. They were fabulous and so were the prices but I did buy in their sale a nice pair of evening shoes that actually fitted me. Friday evening was the real start of the weekend with an 80’s theme party. Tiffany organised an impromptu ‘Highest Heel’ competition which involved walking a short obstacle course and measurements of the contestants’ heel height (less platform height). I was persuaded to participate and actually would have won on the basis of heel height but was disqualified because I failed to balance a book on my head for one leg of the course. I was wearing a ‘big-hair’ wig and no way was I going to put a book on the top of that! During Saturday, M&Co, who had a trade stand, organised a fashion show for us. Volunteer models
were fitted with their outfits during the morning and the show itself took place mid-afternoon. The costumes were really nice and being at affordable prices, some of the models bought what they had been given to model, wearing them later during the weekend. Also during Saturday we had the traditional group photo on the terrace (thankfully the earlier rain had stopped) and Christine did her usual quiz (I’m hopeless at quizzes!). The Miss Rose of the Year Parade was the highlight of the evening. The number of contestants was a bit down this time and one or two who said they were going to take part failed to show up. When presenting the prizes to the winners (see photo opposite) I forgot all about the winner’s sash! But when I realised my gaff, having taken so much trouble to make it, I had the embarrassment of having to chase after the winner to present the sash to her later! On Sunday we had a coach trip to Sewerby Hall in nearby Bridlington. The cold, wet, windy weather meant we were unable to see much of the grounds and gardens but the Hall itself which had recently been restored was very worth the trip. We all thought is was an extremely enjoyable outing despite the weather. Martine Rose
The Models line up for the Fashion Show by M&Co
Jasmine with her motorised loo! Yes really! And right with her tail that really wags!
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Saturday Evening and the Pageant
EVENT REPORT he weekend of 23 to 25 October 2015 was our 17 Miss TV T Scotland Weekend, and I’m very pleased to say that once again all rd
th
th
EVENT REPORT Sophie
those attending had a fabulous and very successful weekend. We decided, for the Friday evening, to host a ‘Ladies Night at the Races’ – held at Tess Tickles Racecourse and everyone got off to a flying start with champagne and strawberries on arrival. After a sumptuous hot buffet we got down to the serious business of horse racing! Odds were offered on: the Boudoir gold cup, the Adam ‘n’ Eve championship stakes, the Makeover Rooms’ hurdles and Gallas gals gallop. Prizes were awarded for best horse and best jockey names, best outfit (x2) and best hat, but the most fun part of the evening was the view of the jockeys’ lined-up waiting to start! See the photo below for proof! For 2016 we are having a spooky Halloween theme which should give some great opportunities for some fun outfits and some amazing make-up. I hope to see some of you in October! Loraine Walker, weekend organiser www.misstvscotland.co.uk Victoria and Fiona
The two pageant winners
Loraine Walker who has been organising this weekend for the last 17 years!
“Taking part in the Ms Hide and Sleek competition was a magic experience. It was very nerve wracking but every girl’s fantasy to be judged on the effort she has made with hair, make-up, outfit and deportment – just like being a real woman! Winning was one of the best days of my life. The event was professionally organised and over a period of two days, I met lots of lovely people.” Ms Hide and Sleek 2015 – Paula Middleton, London
Miss TV Scotland 2015 www.misstvscotland.co.uk
Francis wins Best Hat 10
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Stevie
“What a fabulous well organised event! Delicious food, fun entertainment and lovely hotel staff. I was attending to provide makeovers for various girls. Only having one Miss TV Scotland entrant, I decided to enter myself and was very glad I did and over the moon to be crowned Miss TV Scotland 2015 for The Makeover Rooms. This is such a friendly, highly recommended weekend.” Miss TV Scotland 2015 – Julie Gordon, The Makeover Rooms, Liverpool
Suzanne wins joint Best Outfit
Stevie wins joint Best Outfit
DJ Gladys
The Miss TV Scotland contestants REPARTEE 81
11
WOMEN’S EDITORIAL
Girl TALK By Friya
If any other wives, partners, daughters, etc. would like to contribute material or get in touch with Friya then please write to Rose’s or email Friya direct: info.transversity@gmail.com
SOULmates These are real ladies who are willing to be contacted by other ladies involved with transvestism who wish to speak to someone similar. Sheffield: Helen 01142 400720
THESE NUMBERS ARE STRICTLY FOR GENETIC FEMALES ONLY. Do not call one of these numbers if you are a TV/TS (or any male) who simply wants to talk to an understanding woman. If this service is abused we may lose the help offered by these good ladies and the numbers may be withdrawn.
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Just being nosy: Why do we need to know what a person’s gender status is? These days asking the question feels more and more to me like idle curiosity. There will never be, in my humble opinion, enough options for the range of human gender diversity, just like there will never be enough for human sexual preferences. Taking into account that self-perception and perception by others of gender is not just about what is between someone’s legs: What one person feels is ‘pre-op transsexual’, for example, could be another person’s ‘cross-dresser’. (As an aside, yes there is a difference between ‘sex’ and ‘gender’, but it seems much of society doesn’t understand this difference and therefore gender is ‘wrapped up in’ sex.) In a society that has trouble distinguishing cross-dresser from transvestite from drag queen, how the heck can we/they legitimately begin to box someone up according to what we feel their gender is? Why should it matter? Perhaps it may matter if one is thinking of having a relationship or sex or procreating with that person … perhaps it may matter if one is thinking of traditional marriage versus civil ceremony … perhaps it may matter when having gender reassignment surgery. There seem to be very few circumstances where it actually does make a difference. I know I said it feels like idle curiosity, but actually it feels like more than that. It feels like an invasion of privacy. It feels like changes need to be made. Urinals in toilets need to be replaced with stalls, and toilets in general need to be available
for everyone. There should be nothing that one does in the main area of a toilet that needs to be hidden from another person. I expect some of you are baulking at my over-simplification, after all, we are a multi-cultural society and some cultures say men and women cannot mix during certain activities. For example, I believe Muslim women usually have their own exercise classes without the presence of men, for reasons of culture and/or religion. Who, therefore, decides how female a person is, whether a person is female enough to join their class? Do they assess genitalia at the door? Do they ask the person how they identify? I assume not. I assume that a person’s gender only becomes ‘an issue’ if others in the class decide it is an issue, if they feel that person is sufficiently different – somehow ‘not normal’. Ending Gender: I caught an interesting YouTube talk by Scott Turner Schofield called ‘Ending Gender’. Well worth a watch if you’re not familiar with Scott or his work. Scott is an actor, most recently acclaimed as the first openly transgender actor to play a major role in American TV series The Bold and the Beautiful. Here, however, Scott gives a presentation at a TED workshop on letting go of our expectations of people to be one way or another when it comes to gender. Allowing them to express and celebrate themselves, to be beautiful just as they are, and not to use a label that imposes a set of limitations upon them. Scott raises fundamental questions about how our society operates and the importance placed upon gender. Scott posits that on the one hand, gender seems to be important and contentious (those of you who have followed the ‘which bathroom’ debates in the States will know what I mean), but on the other hand gender is disregarded now in so many situations – fewer US government institutions now ask for information on gender. He wonders what it would be like for gender to become completely unimportant except to the individual in question. And on the spectrum of sex/gender/sexuality he acknowledges that there is no ‘normal’ and ‘other’: everyone in fact, being a unique individual, falls under ‘other’ such that ‘other’ is normal. Free-er: For myself, I identify as a cis-gendered female (a natural-born woman) who occasionally wishes to dress in men’s clothing and fantasises about having a penis (and using it) – and therefore can present at certain times as gender-queer. And I am bisexual but with a penchant for my own darling cross-dressing boyfriend/wife. This is my label for myself. Would I want someone else using it? No. Especially not if it means I am unable to express myself in society and am discriminated against as ‘other’. Do I consider myself to be ‘normal’? No. And frankly I don’t want to be ‘normal’ because normal for me represents closed-mindedness, control and conformity. I love that I am free-thinking and unconventional. I don’t want to be a ‘Miss’ or a ‘female’ or ‘bisexual’. I am just a person (a phrase used often by ‘her indoors’, Giselle). I am just Friya … Free-er … a state I sincerely wish was an option for everyone and which I yearn to see in my lifetime. However I’m not holding my breath. I will leave you with a quote from Carl R. Rogers (founder of Person-Centred Counselling) … “What I am is good enough if I would only be it openly.” Friya
s MisTV Scotland WeeKend “… the best weekend on the TG calender …”
Featuring:
Miss TV Scotland and Miss Hide and Sleek Competitions Friday, Halloween Horror Spooktacular A Very Friendly Event
“What a fabulous well organised event! Delicious food, fun entertainment and lovely hotel staff.” Miss TV Scotland 2015.
21st to 23rd October 2016 Cost £210 pp sharing a room (2014 price held!) Price includes two nights Dinner with B&B and all entertainment Held in friendly and welcoming Fife hotel (20 minutes north of Edinburgh)
Never Be en Before?
Book in 2
016 and you’ll be glad you did!
To book call Loraine at Hide & Sleek Designs on 01592 891344 or visit the website:
www.misstvscotland.co.uk
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Labels: Pretty much every day at my normal ‘working for a living’ job (rather than my self-employed work which happens to be a labour of love) I’m faced with recording people’s gender status: either on Equal Opportunities monitoring forms, or on our Customer Records Management system. Many of you will be familiar with either or both. I used to not give this a thought in my younger years – this designation of gender or sex: ‘Male’ or ‘Female’ – but of late it’s been on my mind, to a point that having to record a binary either/or grates on me. For a long time it’s grated on me that ‘Male’ is often put on forms before ‘Female’, like ‘Mr’ before ‘Mrs’, ‘Miss’ or ‘Ms’, but now I find myself being ever more choosy about what I am comfortable with when it comes to labelling people for the purposes of formal record keeping. It’s easier in the flesh, I suppose. In the flesh I don’t have to overtly categorize people. If I want to refer to someone verbally I can simply use their name. I don’t need to mention their gender. I don’t need to mention their marital status either, for that matter. I don’t need to necessarily pick a ‘he’ or ‘she’ pronoun; I can use their name (providing of course I know it) or the more neutral and suitably vague ‘they’. If I’m face-to-face with a person, I can treat them as just that: a person. I can choose whether to relate to them as a female or a male or somewhere in between depending upon the way they look, are dressed, or how they behave … or indeed how they request me to. On a form, it’s different. A form is stark ‘black and white’. It allows for no in-betweens. Even if it’s a pretty advanced form that moves beyond ‘Male’ and ‘Female’ labels, and looks to be more ‘modern’ or ‘progressive’ (such a lot of terms in quote marks here!) there’s still maybe only a couple of boxes: perhaps ‘Transgender’ or ‘Transsexual’. These days I ask myself more and more often, two questions: “Are those options enough?” and, perhaps more importantly, “Why do we need to ask this question at all?”
R
Bournemouth, Michelle: 01202 426233
Reflecting the views of Wives and Partners
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13
MEDIA Watch
by Katie R.
Media Watch has been assiduously observing the stars these past few months ...
Katie R
Please send any interesting or amusing articles and cuttings to the Rose’s PO Box address, FAO Katie R.
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EVENT REPORT hat is the theatrical and film review stars. It T came as an unwelcome surprise that after its
USA success the long-awaited Kinky Boots musical only got a two star rating from the Daily Telegraph critic, with the title, “Getting off on the wrong foot.” (16/9/15). Musicals are not always a success and such a review didn’t bode well. However, the Daily Mail (16/9/15) restored faith in Kinky Boots future. Four stars and, “Verve and vim by the bootful!” The Metro (16/9/15) was equally enthusiastic, “the sky’s the limit for Cyndi Lauper’s kinky-kick-ass show,” and bestowed another four stars. Best of all a BBC Radio Two Sunday evening programme was interrupted in early November to announce that at the Evening Standard Musical Awards, Kinky Boots had been named Best Musical, in the Radio Two Audience category. A good future for the musical? – well, extra performances at the Adelphi Theatre were added for Christmas. The full five stars, however, goes to The Rocky Horror Show at the Playhouse Theatre. “Rocky Horror roars thrillingly back to life” (Daily Telegraph 17/9/15). Richard O’Brien has come back to the show to play the part of the narrator for the first time in more than twenty years. The reviewer says it took ages to be persuaded that the Rocky Horror Show was his cup of tea but has become a serious devotee. Let’s hope he becomes a devotee of Kinky Boots, too. The long gestation film, The Danish Girl, only had three stars from the Daily Mail film critic. (7/9/15). “A pretty woman … but, Eddie (Redmayne) as Elmer Wegener leaves us cold … A worthy film but emotionally undercharged.” In New York Benedict Cumberbatch’s role as ‘All’ in Zoolander 2 has offended the political correctness police. (Daily Mail 23/11/15). In this film he plays a transgender super-model, a sendup of the vanity and idiocy of the fashion world. There are calls for a boycott of the film on the grounds that it is transphobic. The veteran actress Dame Eileen Atkins says in The Stage, “cross-dressing actors are a real drag. Men are overburdened with roles and it is unfair of them to take female roles.” She cites Mark Rylance playing Olivia in Twelfth Night at the Globe, Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra, and David Suchet as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Ernest. Dame Eileen doesn’t want to see middle-aged men playing young girls, but has no objection to young boys playing feminine roles as was the tradition in Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre. There have certainly been genderrole swaps in the other direction. Maxine Peake as Hamlet, Kathryn Hunter as Richard III, and the fool, in King Lear. (Daily Telegraph (20/10/15). A photograph in the Daily Telegraph (16/11/15) shows Cate Blanchett as a homeless man in the film, Manifesto. With straggly hair, a beard and moustache, she is totally convincing. Within limits it is a virtue to see the funny side of situation and be able to take a joke against ones-self. So, were the transgender vigilantes right when they condemned a worthwhile charitable event? “Cross-dressing charity fun run is a hate crime.” (Sunday Telegraph 23/8/15). A charity run that invited men to dress up as women is being investigated by police after a transgender charity claimed that the dress code constituted a hate crime. ‘The Dames on the Run’ race was to raise funds for a children’s hospice. Chrysalis transsexual support group said the event was dehumanising. “We get enough confusion with the
word ‘transgender’ which mixes us up with transvestites. This race pokes fun at cross-dressers and by association, reducing us to objects of ridicule.” A spokesman for the hospice charity has sent a letter of apology saying, ‘Dames on the Run’ “was conceived as a fun event drawing on the much loved pantomime characters”. New contributor, Emma [Rose 4365] sent an amusing cutting from the Wolverhampton Express and Star. “Walk is a shoe thing … Dozens of men and women slipped into high heels and walked a mile in the West Park to raise awareness of domestic abuse.” The event was organised by HAVEN which offers support for victims of domestic violence. This was another worthwhile event with no objections, although many of the men were wearing dresses. One area of transgenderism that is absolutely off-limits to any sort of levity is that concerning children. As often as not newspaper stories picture these children as being happy with their gender identity. However, some of the more serious headlines highlight, in many cases, a different story. “The day my four year old son told me he was a girl” (Stella 15/11/15). “Knowing you were born the wrong sex, even when you are so young you don’t know what sex or gender means, can be so powerful that suppressing it can lead to suicide or self-harming.” “What do you do when your grandson says he wants to be a girl? … The first problem involved dealing with prejudice – my own” (Daily Telegraph 27/8/15). “Transgender children’s books breaking a taboo” heads a column in the New York Times. (7/7/15). More writers and publishers have started tackling the subject not just with memoirs and self-help guides tailored to transgender youth, but through novels aimed at a broad readership. Several of the movement’s debut authors have published books drawn on their own experiences. Last year a transgender teenager named Jazz Jennings published, ‘I am Jazz’, an illustrated co-authored book. At this gloomy time of the year one cheers the spirit with thoughts of Sparkle(ing) in the sunshine, a cool drink to hand. So, what’s your tipple? “Worlds first sex-change beer is made from hops which are naturally prone to change sex.” (Daily Telegraph 5/11/15). Traditionally only female hop plants are used in brewing. Profits from Brew-Dogs non-binary, No-Label, beer will go to a group called Queerest of the Queer which works to support LGBT people. They, in turn, fund a variety of charities supporting young people with gender identity issues. This generosity has not been approved by some who feel it is demeaning a serious matter. There are many mile posts in life. Very significant ones are those that start the next decade. There is just such, not far below the horizon for me and there is much left to do. My next Media Watch will, therefore, be my farewell one, although circumstances have now made that inevitable anyway. Until then many thanks to this editions contributors: Danielle Daniels [Rose 512], Emma [Rose 4365], Andrea Bluerose [Rose 4446], Susie Longfrocks [Rose 4257], Angela [Rose 4784], Rebecca le Jupon [Rose 5088] and Amanda Rose [Rose 5095]. Katie R. [Rose 4271]
REGULAR FEATURE
If in Doubt ... CHEAT!
my opinion that no outfit is truly finished without beautiful nails. IInt’sprevious articles we have covered methods of painting your nails
to look their best (and also adding a little hand-painted nail art). However, even for someone who is well practiced at painting nails, when a product comes along which will save you time and effort – you take notice! With nail art popularity on the rise we’ve seen many great products flooding the market, so here are 5 fantastic ideas to help you on your way to amazing nails:
Decals
These are usually known as ‘water decals’ and are pre-made pictures which offer a great, super-quick and really easy to use, way of decorating your nails. They come in lots of sizes and shapes so you should certainly be able to find a pattern that suits you; they are widely available on the internet and also in some high street shops. Some websites even offer a service where they can put your chosen image onto readymade decals for you. To apply a decal you simply paint your nails the chosen colour, cut out the image you wish to use and soak it in a small amount of water for a few seconds. Then you lightly press it onto your nail, lift the backing paper away and you will be left with a beautifully decorated nail!
Sometimes, and for many reasons, painting nails is just not an option … or maybe you simply just don’t like doing it. The last two options will save you having to use polish at all!
Nail Wraps/Stickers
These are made from printed paper and are a great way of decorating your nails. They are available in plain colours as well as decorated, and even some amazing metallic colours. They are also available in a great range of widths and lengths. These wraps are widely available on the high street as well as online (again some companies offer a service where you can design your own). They can also have a relatively long life, sometimes lasting for a few weeks, but can be removed whenever you need to. To use: Apply a base coat to make the nail as smooth as possible and to aid the application of the wrap. Then select a wrap that will best fit your finger and gently press it onto your nail. Any excess wrap can be trimmed down with nail scissors and the end of the wrap can be neatened up using a nail file. It’s always best to use a top-coat over the wrap to hold it securely. Again they can be a little tricky at first but are very easy to get the hang of. Most wraps will have instructions and diagrams on the packaging, but if you are still unsure have another look online at the video tutorials.
Vinyl Templates
These pre cut shapes are a great way of creating some mega-quick nail art. They usually come on small paper sheets and are made from very thin laser cut vinyl. They can be applied to blank or pre-painted nails and come in an incredible range of shapes. They can be as simple as a straight line to help you archive the perfect French manicure, right up to full nail patterns. These sheets are only usually available online, but recently I have noticed them creeping into some independent retailers. To apply, simply peel off your desired shape, stick it to your nail and paint over the pattern with nail polish. While the nail polish is still wet gently remove the template and your shape should be left with nice crisp edges.
Stamping Plates
This is a great product for super-quick, and often very detailed nail art. Stamping plates are small metal plates which have been engraved with images; some plates have small individual images and some multiple large patterns. The image is transferred using rubber stamps which are available in many sizes and shapes. Normal nail polishes do not often have a strong enough pigment to be used with stamping plates so special stamping polishes have been developed. They are a lot thicker than normal polish and allow the colour to remain strong. They can be a little expensive, but they do last a very long time as only a small amount is needed. To use, put a small amount of stamping polish on the metal plate just above your desired image. Then, using a plastic card (this is where your unused store cards can be handy!) drag the polish over the image and immediately use your rubber stamp to ‘pick up’ the image. You then lightly press the stamp onto your nail and you should be left with a perfect replica of your chosen pattern. For a beginner this process can be a little tricky, but there are lots of fantastic help pages and video tutorials on the internet.
False nails
If the other options seem a bit more complicated or time consuming than you’d like, then you are most probably best sticking to full cover false nails. Again, they are available on the high street and online, in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, lengths, colours and patterns. They really are a great and instant way of getting beautiful nails. To use, make sure your natural nail is very clean and dry, choose the adhesive of your choice, press on your nails and you’re done. See my article in Repartee 78, ‘False Nails: Tips and Tricks …’ for more help and advice. Leanne
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Water decals, vinyl templates, stamping plates and stampet. 16
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SPECIAL FEATURE
Guide
Your Wig Top tips from the Hair By MissTresses team! Our expert advice on styling, hair care and choosing your perfect style. You may have met us at Sparkle, the Harmony Weekend or Pink Punters! We decided to collaborate with our favourite magazine, Repartee, to bring you some of our best wig advice! Enjoy x
SPECIAL FEATURE
Washing Your Wig Ideally the best way to wash your wig is in lukewarm water with a very mild baby shampoo or specially manufactured wig shampoo and conditioner. Gently swish the wig in the solution of shampoo and water. Do not rub the wig harshly. Refill the basin and rinse your wig in conditioner and cold water. Finally, rinse through with lukewarm water and allow to dry naturally. Don’t stretch the wig during washing or drying. Also, try not to over wash your wig as this will dry it out. Only wash when it needs freshening up!
Styling Your Wig
Wig Construction
Here’s a quick guide to styling your wig in seconds! First, put on your wig, making sure that the tabs by the ears are level. Then take a specially designed wig brush and brush in downward strokes to ensure that the hair is sitting smoothly. If your wig has a fringe, a great way to make sure it is sitting in the right place (and not in your eyes!) is to take a brush and curl the fringe in towards your forehead, then set with hairspray. Tools we recommend: Wig brush, conditioning spray, hairspray.
Standard Cap
Lace Front
Mono Top
This is the most common type of wig. Machine made in a stretch fabric with hair sewn on to individual fabric wefted strips. The cap is adjustable at the nape of the neck via stretch bands which can be tightened if needed. These wigs are a standard size, designed to fit most heads and will stretch to 23.5” circumference. Our standard cap ranges between £20-60.
Lace front wigs are designed to re-create the appearance of a natural hairline. The front section of the wig is made with transparent lace on to which the hair fibre is hand tied. The excess lace on the forehead is trimmed once you have fitted the wig, leaving you with a natural-looking hairline. Your make-up can then be applied over the lace giving you an incredibly natural Finish. Our lace fronts range between £60-150
Mono Top wigs have a large section of the cap where hair is inserted into a skin-like base. The hair can then be brushed or parted forward, backwards or sideways as required and has a natural appearance of hair growing from the wearer’s head. Hours of craftmanship go into making mono tops and the results are amazing. Check out our website for our mono top range. Our mono tops range between £180-250.
Storing Your Wig Ideally, the best way to store your wig would be on a wig stand. Keeping your wig upright will really help to keep the style intact and prevent any tangling. However, we understand that wigs can’t always be kept out so the next best thing would be to keep your wigs in the bag they come in and store them flat.
Nina and Sandra
Always make sure that, after wearing, you brush your wig before storing it away.
Billie’s Top Tips: “To prevent dryness and tangling (especially in longer wigs) I recommend using a conditioning spray. We stock one by Pro Styles which is great for keeping your Tresses silky smooth!
Our Top Styles For Feminising The Face
To feminise the face as much as possible I think wigs with a soft fringe, that come in around the jaw-line, are perfect – such as our Goldie, Katherine or Jess. Anyone who’s had a fitting with me before has probably been made to try on one of those styles! They are definitely my go-to wigs!”
John’s Top Tip:
We always recommend choosing a wig that matches your natural hair colour, this will ensure that your wig matches your skin tone, eyebrows and eye colour. This all helps to give you the most natural finish possible! (John has worked at Hair By MissTresses for 6 years. He handles your on-line orders and also does wig fitting.)
(Billie has worked at Hair By MissTresses for 2 years. She manages all of the social media and does wig fitting.)
Hey! I’m Billie
Come and visit us for a wig fitting! We understand that sometimes buying a wig online can be difficult. This is why we are happy to offer a wig-fitting service to our customers. Based in a private Oxfordshire location, we offer a fitting service Mondays to Saturdays, by appointment only. This gives you a chance to come in, try on different styles and get a good idea of what suits you. This is especially beneficial to those who haven’t had that much experience with wearing wigs yet. Alix (John’s favourite wig!) Goldie 18
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Jen
Katherine
Esther
To book yours call us on 0844 678 019
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19
SPECIAL FEATURE
Mysterious Girl ome of you may have been S wondering who won Miss Sparkle
2015. There were no photos in the last Repartee because when we approached the Sparkle organisers they were unable to supply any. There is nothing on the Sparkle website (at the time of writing) to say who won, so it was all something of a mystery. Luckily, Nina Jay was able to help as she had been chatting on-line with Miss Sparkle 2015 and put us in touch. I did also search the web and found the one photo (bottom left) of Miss Sparkle on stage just after the winners were announced. So I can now reveal that Miss Sparkle 2015 was Charlotte Robinson, a Yorkshire lass, now living and working in Birmingham. Charlotte sent us a couple photos that had been taken by Dee Selecta (www. deeselecta.co.uk) as part of her prize package (below and far left). She wasn’t able to give us an interview in time for this issue, but hopefully will do in the next Repartee. So I guess some of the mystery still remains until next time ‌ Bella Jay
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21
BOY MEETS GIRL
SPECIAL FEATURE
Bella Jay talks to Rebecca Root
BJ: I saw a comment on-line after the first episode from someone complaining that the show wasn’t written by a trans person. Do you think that showed and did you have to put anything right yourself? RR: There were one or two things which I did suggest might be rewritten. Some outdated terminology and I remember one line from the original script about Judy visiting a psychiatrist and making out that being trans was a mental condition that needed ‘curing’. That sat very uncomfortably with me so I asked them to change that and they just took it straight out. They were always very open to my input and my suggestions and there was never any suggestion that the writer (a gay male) didn’t have the core trans issues at heart. He did write it principally as a love story and the fact that it is between a trans woman and a naturally-born male is really almost academic.
oy Meets Girl was a six-episode sitcom broadcast on BBC2 last B September (2015). Hopefully, many of you will have seen it: after all, it
was the first mainstream UK sitcom to have a transgendered character in a lead role and perhaps more importantly, to have that part actually played by a trans person (Rebecca Root). It’s also the first show in the UK to feature romance (and sex scenes) between a trans actress in a trans role and a man. If you missed it then watch out for any repeat or perhaps even a second series! The show comes as the result of a BBC talent search, the Trans Comedy Award, offering comedy writers up to £5000 for scripts with positive portrayals of transgendered characters. The BBC received 320 script entries, with the winner being Boy Meets Girl (then titled Love) by Elliott Kerrigan. A pilot episode was shown at the BBC’s Salford Sitcom Showcase in March 2014 and following that the show was commissioned. After the pilot episode aired, The Independent compared Boy Meets Girl to Gavin & Stacey, an award-winning BBC comedy from 2007–2010, a comparison the BBC had said they were looking to make. On the topic of having a trans woman character played by a trans woman, Paris Lees wrote in The Guardian “About bloody time”. For anyone who missed it, Boy Meets Girl tells the story of the developing relationship between 26-year-old Leo (Harry Hepple) and 40-year-old Judy (Rebecca Root). The show opens with a first line from Judy: “I need to tell you something, I was born with a penis.” No beating about the bush. It is quickly made evident that she is trans, something she describes as “like being born in a prison, never having a release date.” The couple meet by chance in a bar with a relationship quickly developing. Both sets of parents are also involved, with Leo’s domineering mother being worried that he is dating an older woman … little does she imagine the full story (one of the main comedy angles, of course). The show is amusing and especially interesting to watch from a trans perspective. Rebecca Root plays the role of Judy extremely well and has received much praise from within our community. We decided it was time to find out a little more about this leading lady and also have a chat with her too. Rebecca grew up in Surrey, a second child, with a sister either side. However, she realised early on that she didn’t really fit in. “I knew from the very earliest age, from the moment I had any kind of understanding of gender, that I wasn’t a boy,” she says. She struggled on through teenage years not really knowing who she was and caught in a time when there was little support or information on trans issues readily available. It wasn’t until the age of 33 that she finally told her parents that she could no longer go on living as a man. Her family has been hugely supportive and she transitioned from the male role in 2003 and had her gender reassignment surgery at Charing Cross Hospital, London, two years later.
Rebecca Root Bella Jay: Your early life sounds very similar to that of many of our readers, pre-internet and before trans issues were really discussed in public. Do you feel a little envious of youngsters today with so much more information and support available on-line and in person? Rebecca Root: There is, of course, far greater proliferation of information on the internet today and the greater openness of society encourages conversations. But it took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do and what I could do and it may still have taken me that time to make that final step. I certainly think that if you are someone seeking an early transition it is much easier in 2015 than it was back in the early 1980s. BJ: You are, of course, in the public eye now as Judy, but I understand that to date you have really made your living from voice coaching and teaching. Can you tell us a little about that? RR: I work at a drama school called East 15 in London and also have a private practice offering voice coaching. I think that it’s interesting that before Boy Meets Girl came a long my public profile was always based on my reputation as a voice teacher and that’s how most people knew me. I suppose I have quite a high profile in the voice world and some people from there have actually been surprised to find out that I act as well. My private practice is, I would say, 98% working with trans people, whereas my academic work at drama school is with drama students, people who are training to be actors. I work on accents, voice projection and clarity of speech and try to build skills in creating emotion and connecting to an audience through words.
The opening scene of Boy Meets Girl 22
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BJ: Moving on specifically to Boy Meets Girl: Sophie Clarke-Jervoise, the executive producer, stated “we always knew we had to get a trans actress – I don’t think we auditioned anyone who wasn’t trans for the role. It just didn’t feel right.” How did they choose you for the part? RR: I auditioned for the very first incarnation of the project, which was a rehearsed reading back in 2013 and that was for producers and commissioners at the BBC. When the production company (Tiger Aspect) was asked to make the pilot they again auditioned me and I know they also looked at other people to make sure they had the right person for the role. So we did the pilot and then when the BBC commissioned the series they said we want the cast as is.
BJ: People talk about you “playing the part of a trans-woman” which of course is who you are everyday, so was it hard to remember to be Judy and not yourself? RR: That’s a good question. When you’re acting you always draw on your own personal experience, that’s what makes a performance feel authentic because you get a sense of depth of character with what the actor herself brings to the part. (I should say that I use the word ‘actor’ to mean male or female actor.) Judy is a character who shares some similarities with me, but I am very different to Judy. She has got much more ‘hutzpah’ than I do. She is really out there, she goes on dates, she’s not afraid of telling people how it is. I’m a lot shyer than Judy is and I don’t date. BJ: Did you feel uncomfortable knowing that things were being done for humour, which in real life could be somewhat uncomfortable for trans people – for example Leo’s comment that you had a “firm handshake”? RR: It’s funny that you mention that example because a lot of people have picked up on that handshake and made comments on-line. I never saw that as derogatory because Leo, although incredibly naïve, is also very honest and he just says things how he finds them. He is only remarking on the fact that Judy has a good handshake, not hinting that it’s some way masculine or referring to anything trans. I met Shirley Maclaine once when I was younger. I shook her hand and told her how much I enjoyed her work. And she has the most incredible handshake, so firm, so strong and so full of charisma and charm. There was never any question of her being trans and I will remember that handshake to my dying day and that was over 20 years ago. People have seen Leo’s comment in a negative light, but I honestly don’t think that was the intention of the writers. BJ: I assume you see this as your ‘big break’ but do you feel at all disappointed that you are playing a trans-woman and not just a woman? RR: As an actor you often find that you are asked to play parts that resonate with you. I mean, to use a really crass example, Arnold Schwarzenegger, at the height of his career was known as being a well-built individual with a ‘tough-guy’ image. Now I don’t know if he is tough in real life, but most of his parts were playing ‘tough-guys’ because that was his ‘thing’. Now if my ‘thing’ is that I play trans-people, well OK. At the same time I have played natural-female parts and it doesn’t bother me if my ‘bigbreak’ does come from playing a trans person. As an actor you always wonder if you will get that career-defining role that is kinda going to make or break your career and I think Judy is that part for me. She is a great part, she is adorable and I love playing her and want to play her for another five series! It’s a joy playing that character and I think it would be churlish of me to deny that she’s had such an impact on me. BJ: I know that when some people transition they don’t want to be thought of as trans but simply to blend in and live as the gender they should have been – which is perhaps easier to maintain in a low-profile ‘ordinary’ life – but harder if you are more in the public eye. Are you happy with being openly trans? RR: To be honest I get looked at in the street anyway, whether that’s because I’m tall, or striking to look at, or because people immediately think I’m trans, I have no idea. But people do look at me a lot. I’ve never stopped and asked somebody why they are looking at me. Perhaps now they do recognize me from the telly, but I really don’t know. It doesn’t bother me because over the years I have got used to it. When I first transitioned people would often say that they never realized that I was trans and I felt like I was in my own safe little bubble, until someone would come along and call me ‘sir’ or make some other comment that would burst my little bubble. So what I did was I turned it around and now assume that everybody thinks I am trans and that is a lot easier for me
to deal with. I don’t have to worry about ‘passing’ as everyone knows I am trans and therefore I am insulated from that burstbubble moment. I’m 12/13 years post-transition and I’m very comfortable in my own skin. If I am now ‘famous’ to add into the mix then that is something else I will need to contend with as the weeks and months go by. Although so far noone has really said anything or stopped me in the street to say they saw me on TV. BJ: Of course it is a groundbreaking moment, for the first time having a leading trans character on mainstream TV and for that part to actually be played by a trans woman. But do you think that it will actually make any difference to our community and acceptance of us? RR: Yes, I think it will, actually. I’ve had some incredible messages via social media, people saying that watching my show gave them the confidence to ‘come out’ to their mum and dad or their wife/partner or at work. People have told me they feel so much better about themselves because they see their lives reflected on TV. I have said it before, but I must commend the BBC in really backing the show, in putting it on BBC2 and not just burying it somewhere on the digital platform. They are really saying that this is a show that deserves to be seen on mainstream TV and I think it’s brilliant because they are, at last, reflecting British society. They have woken up to the fact that a large group within our society is trans, or somewhere on the non-gender conforming spectrum and I think it does, and will continue, to make a difference. BJ: What I do love is the fact that young trans people can now see an openly trans actress with a lead role on mainstream TV and start to think to themselves that they can be successful too in whatever lifepath they choose to follow. But I do wonder how many of the viewers (around 1.5 million for the first episode) were in some way trans or had trans friends or knew trans people, etc. I don’t really buy into the “chance to educate the masses” concept. What do you think? RR: I have to disagree with you about the wider impact of the show. For example, one friend told me that she had heard two women in a queue talking about the show and saying how much they had enjoyed it as a romantic comedy. Someone else told me that they were at their grandparents’ house and they were watching the show. I had another great message from someone who just came across the programme whilst ‘channel surfing’ and after watching the opening credits just got drawn in. This chap was ex-forces, a rugby player, etc. and said that if we could reach out to someone like him then we must be doing something right. Now I know these are only a few examples, but I really think people are seeing it as a romantic comedy (a romcom) first. Yes, it features a trans person at its heart but it isn’t a trans comedy it’s a romantic comedy, a love story. Of course it’s still early days and we need to see how it develops over the next four episodes and if the audience sticks with us, but I would like to think that you’ll be pleasantly surprised. BJ: By the time this is being read it will be 2016, so can you tell us about anywhere else our readers may be able to look out for you next year. RR: I have a small part in The Danish Girl, (about Lili Elbe, one of the first-known recipients of gender reassignment surgery) which is scheduled for release in the UK in January 2016. It is a really small part, blink and you miss me, but it’s a nice scene with Eddie Redmayne. It’s a beautiful film and a very moving story and I do hope people from our community will enjoy that. We are also hoping against hope that Boy Meets Girl will get a second series. If that does happen (and we have heard nothing either way so far) I suppose it would be filming around January/February and out in early autumn. So we are keeping our fingers crossed! REPARTEE 81
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PERSONAL FEATURE Suzy, a 40-something cross-dresser living in Bath, England. I Ihaveambeen ‘dressing’ since my teenage years, but I can’t dress as much
as I would like these days so I try to visit Sophie’s dressing service (www. sophies.co.uk) as often as possible. I am really excited to be featured in Repartee and this is my story. I first became aware that I was interested in cross-dressing when I was at primary school. I distinctly remember reading a kids’ comic book in which a couple of boys had to escape from the Germans during WW2. One of the boys had to dress as a girl and I remember thinking that I wished it was me! At secondary school I was so envious of the girls in their skirts and wanted to wear a dress. I even tried making my own skirts from old sheets! I once ordered some lovely pink lingerie from a catalogue which had to be hidden under the floor-boards of my bedroom! However, I only really started ‘dressing’ properly in the 1990s when I moved into my own flat. Initially my attempts were very amateurish but I did build up a huge collection of dresses and started visiting dressing services. I also submitted pictures to the Beaumont Society magazine and was very excited when one was published. I still never had the nerve to meet other TVs and I only occasionally used to go out ‘dressed’ at night when I walked along the local canal. Probably not the most sensible thing to do! I did respond to an advert in the Beaumont Society magazine when an anthropologist was asking to interview TVs. I went to meet her and it was wonderful to have an open talk about my cross-dressing. The study was later published as a book called ‘Unzipping Gender’ by Charlotte Suthrell. It’s a great read for anyone interested in transvestites and if you do ever get hold of it my interview is under the name of Anthony. Eventually I ended up going into a long-term relationship with a partner who really didn’t approve. However, as we all know, ‘dressing’ is like a corked bottle and it has to come out! I was really excited to discover Sophie’s in my home town of Bath and in April last year (2014) I had my first appointment with Juliette. I have since visited four times and you can see some of the results in the pictures published here. I am not sure how things will end up, but I do know that this is part of my life. I even got my first tattoo in June which is a purple butterfly and which to me is a visible symbol of being a transvestite (see photo below). I am happy with being a TV and see it as a positive thing in life. My partner comes from a traditional Catholic background and is aware that I ‘dress’, but chooses to not see me as Suzy. She certainly does not want me ‘dressing’ in the house while she is there. As you can imagine when she is away the first thing that comes down is the suitcase from the loft! I will keep it secret from my son and even if I split up with my partner in the future I will probably not tell my son. I once met another TV at a dressing service but generally my contacts have just been via email. I do enjoy talking to people on-line and here is an admission for you. As I have got older I have found myself more and more attracted to other TVs. I think a fantasy for me is to go to Thailand and meet with a Ladyboy. I am not attracted to men but there is something so exciting about good-looking TVs and I do wonder what it would be like to have a relationship with one. I guess that makes me bisexual, although I have not done anything about it!
Photography and make-up by Juliette www.sophies.co.uk
Suzy Fleur, Bath Email: suzyfleur@yahoo.co.uk Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/people/130072546@N05/
Suzy Fleur Suzy’s new butterfly tattoo 24
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PERSONAL FEATURE
Nina’s hosiery photo-shoot – Part One:
TIGHTS Tights vs Stockings Part One
Photos by Keith Quinn www.fantasyphotoshoots.biz nyone who read Repartee 79 will no doubt A remember my article on knickers, in which I men-
tioned doing a photo-shoot wearing a few of my many pairs of fancy tights. I adore tights and have so many and rarely get a chance to show any of them off. In the end I actually decided to do a tights and stockings photo-shoot instead as I have loads of sexy stockings as well. As it turned out there were far too many nice photographs for one feature so I’ve decided to split them in half. As some people like tights and others prefer stockings I wanted to be able to show both. As you can see it’s all about tights this issue (yes, they are all tights, even the ones that look like stockings) and I’m saving my sexy stocking photos for part two in the next issue of Repartee. What can I say about tights other than, like knickers, I can’t stop buying them and love the amazing and endlessly different designs that are available. Most of all I love wearing them and the way they make my legs look and feel so sexy, especially with a nice pair of high heels on as well. By the way, a couple of the pairs of tights here were bought in an amazing shop in Paris that just sold tights and stockings and I had to be dragged out kicking and screaming before I wasted all my holiday spending money in there. I wish Bristol had a shop like that! Then again there are plenty of online hosiery shops so I never struggle to find new styles of tights to buy. Nina Jay 26
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No Pain No Gain! by Charlie Craggs
Photos by Bobby Cray a rainy Thursday afternoon and I’ve just got home from a delightIfult’sthree hour session of full-body laser hair removal, oh the joy of
being trans! If you’ve read my previous column you’ll know that laser isn’t exactly my favourite thing, I find the pain almost unbearable, especially on the face. I don’t know whether it’s something to do with the fact that I’m very, very pale with very, very dark hair. Or whether it’s to do with the type of laser my technician uses, but whatever the reason, laser is one of my least favourite things in the whole world! Before getting laser I asked a few of my trans girlfriends how they found it pain-wise to get an idea of what I’d be letting myself in for. Most of them compared the sensation to that of a rubber band flicking you … and now having experienced it for myself I’d agree with them … If that rubber band was made of metal and was dipped in fire. Girl, let me tell you I have broken bones, I’ve had my heart broken and I’ve broken my i-phone screen, but nothing hurt more than that first laser session! However, there is hope ladies, in my recent sessions I’ve found the pain much more bearable, I guess because over the course of the treatment, as the hair gets weaker and less dense, it becomes less painful, so now I can almost fall asleep 28
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while certain areas of my body are being done. However, having said that, other areas like the face still hurt like hell when they’re being ‘zapped’. Although I’ve discovered ways of coping with the pain and I wanted to share these with you, because I wish someone would have shared them with me when I was starting out with laser. So here are my top ten tips for all you fools putting yourself through an insane amount of pain … correction – paying to put yourself through an insane amount of pain! 1. First and foremost, be nice to your laser technician – trust me, they will do a better job and won’t skimp on areas. Also be nice in general in the days running up to your session, karma can be a b*tch and I ain’t taking any chances honey. 2. The technique I find most effective for dealing with the pain is praying; the repetition of saying the same words over and over helps me get into a meditative state. If you’re not religious pray to Prada, chant for Chanel or seek solace in Saint Laurent. Imagine how good that Versace skirt is gonna feel on your smooth legs. 3. I also find tapping/pinching/biting my hand helpful to counteract the pain of the laser and distract my brain from the painful area. I’d probably advise tapping though, because after 3 hours of pinching and biting you might not have much hand left. I also find humming really helps but there are some areas (you know what I’m talking about) where humming don’t cut it and you just have to scream. I find that screaming does help sometimes but it’s always embarrassing to show my face in reception after the whole room (and street) has heard me. 4. Bring a vision board. The only way to get through the pain is to remind yourself what you’re doing it for, to think of the bigger picture. So I bring a picture of Carmen Carrera with me. Love you Carmen! 5. You can apply numbing creams like EMLA before your session, but you usually need to apply the cream about an hour before your session which is a bit of a nuisance because you can’t do much else while you’re covered in cream and to be honest I didn’t find it very helpful – it may numb the skin slightly, but the laser is effecting the hair follicle not the skin, so there’s really not much point in my opinion. You also have to make sure you totally remove the cream before you begin the session because it can burn your skin if it comes into contact with the laser. 6. You can alternatively take painkillers before your session, be careful though, I took two of my nana’s co-dydramol before my first session but didn’t read that you have to take them with food and ended up blacking out in the street on my way home … oops. 7. In my personal opinion a Malibu and pineapple (or 3) is a much more effective and less dangerous method of pain relief. 8. If the pain is too much, especially when you’re booked in for a long session like me – ask to take a couple of minutes break between areas. I asked for a break in the middle of my first session because I could feel I was gonna cry and crying naked in front of a stranger is never a good look hun. 9. Stock up on aloe vera gel to lather yourself up with after your sessions, it soothes the skin and is good for burns. It can be pricey so buy it in bulk when it’s on offer during the ‘penny sale’ at Holland & Barrett (you’re welcome). 10. Also have a bunch of your favourite treats in for when you get home from your appointment and make sure you haven’t got any other plans that day because you’re gonna be all red and sore. Get into bed with your treats and a box set and have yourself a duvet day. I hope these few tips help you and I hope you get the smooth legs, face or …*other area* of your dreams and if they do help you, pass them on/send me a fruit basket!
REGULAR FEATURE Bella Jay about me. Thank you to the beautiful Bella Jay for giving me the amazing opportunity and finally thank you to all of you who have read my columns over the past year and reached out to me and sent me the most lovely messages! Your support has meant so much to me and I’ve loved being part of the TV Repartee family this past year and although I won’t be writing for the magazine anymore we will
still all be sisters! If you want to stay in touch and keep up to date with my campaign and my transition then please find me on Twitter or Instagram @charlie_craggs and on facebook.com/nailtransphobia. Stay fabulous ladies! Charlie Craggs, London
As I’m signing off this column I’m getting a bit emotional because this is sadly going to be my last one for TV Repartee, exactly a year after I wrote my first piece for the magazine about my Nail Transphobia campaign! After making it onto the Independent’s prestigious annual Rainbow List of the 101 most influential LGBTI people in the UK (40 th place woop, woop!) for my work with Nail Transphobia, I’ve been overwhelmed with the amount of opportunities I’ve been offered. I’ve been doing a campaign event almost every week for the last couple of months and juggling all of that with my day job, as editor of Pigeons & Peacocks magazine, leaves no time for doing things like writing this column or for a social life, haha. Before I leave I wanted to take a moment to say thank you. Thank you to TV Repartee’s fabulous nail columnist Leanne, who told the wonderful REPARTEE 81
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REGULAR FEATURE or ‘score’ less than 100 points on my scales. Questions we often ask ourselves: where do I get off this journey of mine, where is the exit ramp and when will I know if I have reached my destination, my final resting point? By these questions, I mean where do we get to jump off this predefined road that takes us forever forward on our journey through our T-life. On our journey from early curiosity about female clothing, teen perplexion about whether what we were doing dressing as a girl was right or wrong, finally, in many cases, into adult realisation. The rationalisation that we have a ‘special gift’ of being able to observe the genders from both sides – and a gift that not many others on this planet do have. As I said, it seems to me we are all essentially the same when it comes to experiences we have along our journey. The names and places may change, but the series of events which populate the lives of most Tgirls can be neatly grouped together, examined and studied – with the conclusion being that we all go through similar ‘rites of passage’ to get to be a ‘fully-fledged’ T-person (whatever that really means!). So, let me explain more fully what I mean by rites of passage.
Well, the first step is the progression we all seem to take wearing female clothing items and getting our ‘look’ right and is generally as follows:
The second part of the rites involves a number of ‘firsts’ all of us T’s go through when developing the persona which will live with us for the rest of our lives; such as:
• Typically, we begin by wearing only one or two items of female • Getting caught in the throes of dressing up in a skirt or dress or clothing (bra and panties probably). worse, perhaps, just some scanty underwear, maybe by your a sister or a relative. Shock, horror, what on earth are • Moving on to being fully made up, bewigged and accessorised, via mother, you doing? the (often very amusing or embarrassing when viewed retrospectively) initial attempts to look sexy in our fetching mini-skirts and • Plucking up the courage to use make-up, making 100% sure you were unlikely to be disturbed, and were completely astounded at high-topped boots, or maybe some skimpy, seductive night wear. effects. The radical difference which a bit (or lot) of foundation • Through to the final presentation of our ‘regular’ lady about town the powder, some eye colouring, blusher and lipstick could make to a image where we are simply trying to blend in with other women. male face. • Being fully cross-dressed for the very first time, that is totally dressed • • • •
Rites of Passage oving on … developing … passing stages or hurdles along the M way of one’s progress, knowingly or unknowingly … experiencing
in female attire, make-up and the magical wig to adorn your pretty face. My … oh my, what a revelation: just who is that girl/woman looking back at me from the mirror? Someone else, possibly another T-person, sees the beautiful woman lurking inside your male shell. The thrill of knowing someone else was like you too. Finding out that there may, after all, be others blessed with your abilities to transform yourself into a female. Sneaking out and walking around the back garden or to your car (even if you didn’t drive anywhere) and then quickly dashing back indoors, fearful of being spotted. Ten minutes later, shaking with fear, you did it again, and again … Sneaking out, but this time jumping into your car and actually driving somewhere, anywhere, probably with no purpose, no intent, just driving. Quite why you never worked out, but ‘she’ had control of your brain and mind, so how could you possibly resist? Finally … finally after so much to-do, going out to the local shopping centre or other public place, actually getting out of your car and, trembling all over with a mixture of latent fear and intense excitement, walking around fully cross-dressed, mingling with members of the public as if it was the most natural thing in the world. I could keep going but I think you get the general drift. The minor details of our rites of passage may vary, the actual occurrences may differ but, by and large, we all simply have to go through them – even if it’s just to see what is on the other side. So … keep moving forward, keep on with the adventure, and get through your rites of passage. It’s a journey to behold! Cathy Heart, Thailand email: cathyh70@hotmail.com
challenges en-route.
What on earth’s Cathy on about? You might well ask. Well, as I’ve often said, and have frequently committed to print, I do believe that we T-people are all on the same pathway, roadway … indeed, perhaps being on railway tracks is the best description. Still, describe it as you will: we are on a one-way, pre-ordained journey. Some start early and move slowly on their journey, others start later in life and, maybe with a view to their mortality, zip along frantically. Some T-people are happy to occasionally, partially or fully, cross-dress, whilst others simply have to go the full transition route. Therefore, to me (rightly or wrongly), being trans is really a question of degrees or akin to being on some form of graduated scale. I like to think of T-people as being on one of two imaginary scales, i.e. 0-180 degrees or 1-100 points. As most of us know, it’s impossible to compartmentalise T-people simply because we are all so different in outlook, style, views, likes and dislikes, whether we prefer to stay at home or go out when ‘dressed’, live alone or with wives, spouses or partners, tell others or not and so on. In short, we defy definition. But one thing is for sure: we are certainly not homogeneous … hence my views about us being on a scale! With that established, let’s turn to two burning questions for many of us – certainly for those who have not quite reached 180 degrees 30
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SPECIAL FEATURE
Anastasia
During 2015 the Ukraine was often featured on our news channels and in our newspapers. The annexation of Crimea by Russia, the shooting down of a passenger plane and the continued fighting between the Ukrainian army and Russianbacked rebels has all made the headlines. But do we stop to think about what everyday life must be like and in particular the life and opportunities for trans people in such a country? Around the middle of last year we were contacted by Anastasia Kristel Domani, a Ukrainian trans woman, and we are delighted to share with you some of her photos and our discussion of trans life in her country.
Bella Jay: When did you first start to dress as a woman in public? Anastasia: It was step by step, at first. I started to dress up at home and I really enjoyed myself and after sometime, from about 2005, I started to go out as a girl. It felt really great at such moments: I felt myself! At the beginning I wanted to attract attention to myself with my chic clothes and then with time I started to wear just really comfortable but classy things. I can say for sure that going out for the first time is the most important moment to any trans person! After that, he or she really starts to live a new life of his/her evolution. For three years I lived as a civil wife to a western businessman who worked in Kiev. I was his beloved girlfriend, wife, etc. It felt so great being out in public with him, in the shops, theatres, fitness centres … But when he went back home and I had to stay in Kiev, I had to change my style and could not go out as a girl as often as before. The presence of somebody who supports you in your transformation is very, very important … I still always present myself as a lady. I am a rather popular business lady, president of the foundation we are all in and a model for stockings and lingerie too. BJ: Are there any support groups or phone help-lines in Ukraine for trans people? A: In Ukraine there are a few organisations which deal with LGBT. An organisation which will deal exclusively with the transgendered does not exist so far. Sometimes at our unofficial meetings we invite representatives of these organisations to talk to us. There is a phone number for Gay Allianz of Ukraine, but most cross-dressers, transsexuals, etc. prefer to meet privately with each other, keeping a low profile. 32
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SPECIAL FEATURE BJ: We hear much on our TV news channels about the anti LGBT laws and views of people in Russia. Are things any better in Ukraine? A: Sadly the attitude in Ukrainian society is almost the same as in Russia. Our society is not ready to understand and tolerate the problems of the LGBT community. Even more, right wing organisations actively make an obstacle to LGBT public events, meetings, etc. Trans people have a lot of problems in finding jobs, changing documents, etc. It is impossible to get a bank card with a female name if your passport defines you as a male. In general people like us are considered to be sexual perverts. Very few people understand that this is somebody’s inner self. This is a female inside the male body from a very young age and a person cannot escape from that. We have a desire to transform ourselves into the girl we would be all the time and it does not matter whether somebody’s wife or girlfriend is totally against it. In public life if a man goes shopping to try female clothing or shoes he will be considered to be pervert. Society does not accept such things in Ukraine. Therefore most TGs in Ukraine have to shop using the internet. Only in big cities among the young people is there more of a clear understanding of such problems and their attitude is at least neutral. In Ukraine there are no public figures in politics or big business who would openly declare themselves as TG. At best, a gay and ‘travesti’ actress can appear on television in various shows or interviews. I think things will only change with time to educate society and hope that with a new young generation the situation will start to change. The most important thing is for information, complaints, education and pressure from European human rights organisations and political bodies. Even connecting the liberalisation of visa policy in relation to Ukraine with new civilized laws regarding the LGBT community. BJ: I understand that like many of us you have a real passion for tights (pantyhose) and stockings. Can you tell us a little more about this? A: It came from my early childhood. I really think that the sexiest parts of any girl are her stockings or pantyhose. I am pretty sure that soon it will become part of the male wardrobe as well! As to my addiction to that part of the wardrobe: all my life I have been looking for the shops that sell them, at first classic style. Later I started to explore more exotic colours and styles. I have hundreds and hundreds of pairs of stockings and pantyhose. Every trip I make abroad involves exploring the shops and finding something new in this area. I have a dream to organize the first museum of stockings and pantyhose! A few years ago I decided to start my own line of pantyhose and stockings: to have my own brand. So far it is only on request, with a small quantity, but I hope that with time more people will know about our brand. We produce them in Italy and Poland, then design and make the packaging here in Ukraine. In 2014 we started the first information portal, “The world of stockings and pantyhose from Anastasia” (www.anastasia-domani.com.ua), where we publish news, information and other interesting items on the topic. And of course I wear this part of my wardrobe every day! I think that this is the most feminine part of our wardrobe and for a TG this is a very important aspect in feeling herself as a real girl. Then it just takes a few final touches: nice shoes, classy dress and you are ready for the day! Of course, when we have trans parties I bring quite a lot of different pairs of stockings with me and then it is a difficult choice to decide what to wear! BJ: Over the last ten years you have been helping trans people, by providing photo-shoots, trips out, parties etc. Is this a business, what we might call a ‘dressing service’? Is it very popular?
A: When I can I do organise trans parties. We have a meeting in a rented flat, spend time there, sometimes 2-3 days and work on our make-up and our transformation. We cook, socialise, take some photos and sometimes visit gay clubs. Mostly we have such parties from September until spring time. On average we have 20-40 girls attending during such parties. We always have a couple of image experts who help with makeup, clothing, etc. I have my personal experts Shanty and Natali Silenko, who help me to create my style. However, a ‘dressing service’ for TGs as a service is only just beginning here. As far as I know it is only from 2015 that such a service started to be advertised on the internet in Ukraine, although I do not have experience of using their services at all. In Russia these things are more popular. They have a wider range of services, starting from make-up, shopping, even trips abroad as TG ladies. In Ukraine TG people try to do everything for themselves and often in secret. For example, when buying pantyhose in the shops they would often explain that they are buying for their girlfriend or sister. Things like wigs and silicone breasts they usually buy on US or Chinese internet sites and they do make-up according to their personal skills and test. So, I would say that parties are important as an educational tool as well.
the South East of Ukraine. Also TG girls from South East of Ukraine cannot visit our parties in Kiev. It is dangerous, requires special documentation and is also very expensive. The situation in Kiev is also very difficult: a lot of my friends have lost their jobs and barely survive now. In such a situation to buy new things for your wardrobe or new make-up or to visit a beauty studio are now almost impossible luxuries. The legal situation with TG and calls of duty to the army are also a very very difficult issue for us. The criminal situation in the country, with illegal weapons from the South East and a huge quantity of people with war-related psychological traumas is very dangerous too. We hope to get through this time, peaceful life will eventually come to our country … always there is a hope … We also hope that Ukraine will eventually become part of the European Union. Then we will be able to travel to European countries without visas and I hope to organize a TG party in one of the E.U. countries and to bring some Ukrainian TG girls with me!
BJ: Is there an LGBT scene in Ukraine, with clubs and bars you can visit and be openly trans? A: There are approximately 4/5 clubs in Kiev, which mostly gays and lesbians patronise. We visit such clubs during our coming-outs, especially when they have travesti shows which are very popular with the LGBT community in Ukraine. These clubs are located downtown and for safety reasons we use a taxi to come to the club or going out from there. Kiev is the capital of Ukraine, but in other Ukrainian cities I would say, there could be one or two other clubs. For any TG coming out and socialising with others is one of the most important things, proof for himself/herself, of their real identity. It is easier for the trans woman, with natural hair, breasts, feminine face and voice to adjust herself to the environment. For a cross-dresser or transvestite going out can be a real challenge: they have a lot more worry regarding their appearance and behaviour. BJ: What are your personal goals and ambitions in helping and supporting trans people within Ukraine? A: At first I just wanted to go out, to do regular photo sessions, etc. Then I started to read about TG people’s problems. I realized that in our TG community almost all activity was virtual, there were no real meetings and almost no social life within the community. So I decided to organize small parties for the community, where TG people could socialise in reality, share their ideas, thoughts, etc. Slowly it attracted people from other cities like Lviv, Kharkiv and Lugansk, and representatives of LGBT organisations started to take part as well. I am satisfied with feedback from my guests. I feel that they really like to attend, especially when they can check the results of their transformations with photo and video coverage at our parties. I am planning to expand this activity and to invite more and more people from LGBT organisations. I hope to eventually get support from European organisations which work with LGBT communities. Any help in such difficult times (of dramatic change in Ukraine) would be greatly appreciated. Of course we try our best to be financially independent, but right now is a time when any help will be of great importance. Through my parties I would like to establish active communications between people of the TG community of Ukraine, to give Ukrainian TGs chances to open their real identity more easily. I would also like to draw the attention of state and public organizations within Ukraine and other European countries to the problems of the TG community in Ukraine. I would like to establish connections to similar TG organisations in other countries and to hear about their problems and the ways, if any, they solve them. That is why I want to visit the 6th European TG Council in Italy in June 2016. BJ: Does the current unstable situation with Russia worry you and give concern for your future and that of Ukraine? A: There is such an unstable situation in our country, both political and economic, which worries so many people in Ukraine. I know that some of my friends have lost their businesses due to the situation in
Web: https://www.facebook.com/anastasiya.domani E-mail: nastya-nylon@yandex.ua
More photos over the page …
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Anastasia Kristel Domani
Web: https://www.facebook.com/anastasiya.domani E-mail: nastya-nylon@yandex.ua
REGULAR FEATURE tile vomit), unfortunately this quote is also a fairly sensible way to cope with loss in life. It works thus: straight after you empty your innards of everything you ate from the last two days, you can straighten up, wipe your chin clean, and mumble “Yeah okay” … then we shuffle off taking our misery to where we can find normal people who enjoy a good old gripe and grumble! The Way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing – Walt Disney Ooh Walt how butch of you! I have heard from a great many t-girls of my generation that it took years of tears and inner struggle before they could even accept themselves as being different, never mind asking anyone else to accept them. Only then through sharing and socialising with others of like-mind could we find a route to realise who we were and wanted to be in life. The road is not easy for anyone, but it is rewarding for us all now that what we are is becoming more acceptable in society. There will always be tears and struggle, but that is life and we can clap ourselves on the back as we all contributed to doing something!
Repartee ... no more! Who said that? Not me, not even the Proclaimers, but the word is out! Did Sherlock say “Elementary, my dear Watson” or Rick say “Play it again Sam”, no, they did not! Nevertheless sadly we are on the penultimate issue of Repartee Magazine! God save the queens and all who sail in her! I have been writing about t-girl life for many years, probably too many years. The person I was at the start … the feelings, needs, emotions, desires … no longer exists. The same is true of you and Repartee Magazine. Life moves on and all of us with it. This is no bad thing; it is as it should be. Not because we have arrived at Nancy Nirvana but because life is a journey and the reward is in the travelling, and girl have we travelled! What we have left is a wealth of experience and laughter and a few tears. What I wonder would be a fitting epitaph? I have considered a few quotes below. All those moments will be lost … like tears in rain – Roy Batty. Ah … just how hunky cute and poignant was Rutger Hauer as the doomed replicant in Blade Runner? Fortunately there are loads of photos, thoughts and events well documented in the pages of Repartee, to remind us of who we were, what we got up to and where we’ve been. Besides who wants to dwell over tears in rain, look what it’s doing to our mascara! Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened – Dr Seuss As a quote this is revoltingly, gnawingly, gag-making (pass the sick bag as we projec36
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were no tomorrow was fine for a night out, but was hell over a long weekend! Giggling girlie alcho-pops and dancing in heels until dawn was brilliant fun at the time but hangover upon hangover did nothing for ones girlish looks and sparkle! We learned! Be yourself. Everyone else is taken – Oscar Wilde Now this quote is on the ball – fun cheeky and rather helpful. Not only was Oscar divinely gay, he was outrageously waspishly witty with it! On asked at Customs if he had anything to declare, seemingly he announced, “only my genius!” He had such a way with words he could talk himself out of, and into, many things. Not an easy act to follow, he definitely had bags of panache, verve and style! I have seen many emulators but rarely anyone in his league, in or out of, a frock! The bon mots from the tranny world are terribly lame in comparison: My wife accused me of being a transvestite … so I packed her things and left!
Imagination is more important than knowledge – Albert Einstein Oh yeah? Did you tease Marilyn Munro between the sheets with that one Albert? I agree, not one of us would ever have dared to go out ‘dressed’ unless driven by the ability to imagine we could be who we ached to be. Sometimes that imagination blinded us to the realities of how we may really have looked, but having a belief in ourselves got us out the door and once out, there was no putting the Genie back in the bottle. The nice thing about Albert is that for an uber-science-geek, he was amazingly grounded and had a good sense of humour: Two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.
You only live once, but it you do it right, once is enough – Mae West Mae West has many raunchy and pithy quotes attributed to her: “I used to be Snow White, but I drifted”. As mottos for life, they are not ideal, but they are fun: “Between two evils I always pick the one I never tried before”. Most of her quotes could be accurately applied to trans girls: “Good sex is like good bridge. If you don’t have a good partner, you’d better have a good hand!” Nearly all of them are eminently quotable by us en-femme: “Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” And some are especially appropriate: “If a little is great and a lot is better, then way too much is just about right”! The even better news is there are oodles of Mae West quotes and she dressed way OTT, like a “proto-drag queen”! Political Correctness is tyranny with manners – Charlton Heston Charlton fair blotted his copybook with his “cold dead hands” quote in support of the American gun lobby. Personally I have no problem with Americans having bare arms but I much prefer the smarter approach taken by Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino. I can sort of see Charlton’s point when people get far more hung up on words than on deeds and the “sound-bite politically correct spin” of modern politics is abused in a pernicious and malicious way. However there surely must be a reasonable compromise, as respect surely starts with using respectful terminology about those of differing lifestyles.
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal – Henry Ford Actually I thought this was the mantra of the England soccer squad! But gosh we know about obstacles – otherwise known as high heels in tight skirts, long hair in mouth, smudged lippy, laddered tights and squeezing of boy-bits into teensy-weensy bikinis! I remember many occasions when my feet ached after traipsing around town in the highest of heels. Also the sheer impossibility of going for a tinkle when dressed in a Cinderella ball gown! But for sure no t-girl worth her salt ever fretted over the impracticalities of dressing absolutely and outrageously enfemme. If it looked good in the mirror … wear it, dare it and bare it, and to hell with the consequences! Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever – Mahatma Ghandi Not sure I totally understand the incredible Mr Ghandi here, but I think I know what he meant. Very soon I realised that living as if there
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent – Eleanor Roosevelt Eleanor Roosevelt, how could one fail but to respect her? The Simon & Garfunkel tune Mrs Robinson was actually originally to be ‘Mrs Roosevelt’ until Paul Simon was short of a song for the movie The Graduate. She was a clever compassionate and capable woman, renowned for human rights achievements and her feminist and anti-racial stances. She was a niece of President Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt and married her distant cousin President Franklin ‘FDR’ Roosevelt. That she exercised her remarkable social conscience, was no beauty (in her own estimation), had a spell in a sanatorium and an alleged lesbian relationship with the heroic Amelia Earhart, and to my mind greatly enhances her remarkable qualities. So I think her quote carries considerable validity and weight and can apply to trans just as much as any other or oppressed person. In the trans context I would interpret her quote as: you must respect yourself first in order to command the respect of others.
God couldn’t be everywhere – so he created mothers – Jewish Proverb This is such a delicious piece of homespun schmaltz, which is near universally true, that I slip it in here as a get out of jail free card should you ever forget Mothers Day! To err is human, to arr is pirate! – Whitby Many Repartee regulars meet at Rose’s Whitby Goth Weekends. These enable Rose’s t-girls to enjoy being out and about first hand. I have been many times and still find new places to explore along with meeting old, and making new, friends, both Roses, Goths, Pirates and locals. My last visit, with Tracy and Amanda, we stayed beyond the official weekend and got to meet up with local musicians and were invited to perform at some of the venues. The delightful thing about our lifestyle if you take it far enough, you find the different strands of your life coming together and your inner t-girl is freed to become the real you. I have often erred, but I haven’t arr’d near enough! “Avast behind, swab the poop deck and splice the main-brace!”
Tiff at Whitby Goth Weekend
You can have anything you want in life, if you dress for it – Edith Head Edith Head was a Hollywood costume designer in its heyday. She won a record eight Oscars, from the movies, The Heiress up to, The Sting. Fabulously she also designed all of Grace Kelly’s gorgeous dresses in Hitchcock’s Rear Window.
Tiff with Tracy (in George mode) So her advice holds good for all of us. No matter our gender, age or physique, if you dress the part you can pull it off! It helps to have oodles of money and your own dress designer, but remember whilst money talks, style doesn’t have to! Fashion fades, only style remains the same – Coco Chanel Coco gives hope to us all. The LBD woman sure knew a thing or two about style. I think one of her best quotes for us is: Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and remove one accessory! You can’t fool me, there ain’t no sanity clause! – Chico Marx This quote is perhaps most apt for my little slice of Repartee Magazine. Would the last girl to leave the asylum, please turn off the lights and close the door. Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore. Tiffany Tuesday [Rose 2084] REPARTEE 81
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Martine’s Story With my house I wanted to provide the sorts of facilities that I would have welcomed whilst I was coming to terms with my own transvestism. Besides regular social evenings, I wanted to cater for those ‘closet’ cross-dressers who would be far too nervous to go to a group meeting and would have difficulties ‘dressing’ at home. I would allow private visits at any time, by appointment, providing visitors the opportunity to dress in complete privacy, somewhere to store their femme stuff, a pool of clothes and wigs for those who did not have their own and even accommodation. For the more self-assured T-girls who wanted something more fun than the boring monthly meetings I would have regular parties. I was not aware of any one else offering such a comprehensive facility. There were no makeover and dressing services in those days.
With my house I wanted to provide the sort of facilities that I would have welcomed whilst I was coming to terms with my own transvestism.
Martine at the first Beaumont Society Weekend In Scarborough in 1982, which preceded the Harmony Weekend.
Part 3:
I set up Rose’s House in Sheffield and 10 years later launch Repartee magazine.
An early promotional handout for ‘Rose’s House’ 38
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n 1979 I bought a house in Sheffield. Having Ispent the last few years living in a caravan near Bedford, I had searched for a cheap town house in need of renovation (because that was all I could afford). I wanted a place that would give me privacy so I could safely indulge in my cross-dressing and far enough away from close family that they would not be likely to drop in unannounced. I had not told any family members about my cross-dressing at that time but I needn’t have worried on that score because when I did tell my mother and sister only a year later, they took it extremely well. I chose Sheffield because I particularly wanted a town with a large catchment area for potential customers as I had in mind setting up some sort of help service for our community. Over the previous few years I had developed a much greater self-acceptance of my own cross-dressing to such an extent that I wanted to try to help others. I’d joined the Beaumont Society before coming to Sheffield and attended a couple of their events. After I’d moved to Sheffield I regularly attended the Beaumont meetings in Leeds. When the then Regional Officer heard about my plans I think she felt I was a bit of an upstart trying to compete with the Beaumont Society but this was not my intention at all. I saw what I was proposing to do as part of the service provided by the BS.
But, first, the run-down house I had acquired needed a huge amount of work. When I say run-down I mean semi-derelict. It had defective lead plumbing, condemned electrics and a nonworking loo at the bottom of the garden! At first I had to fetch water in a jerry can from the local garage, cook on a camping stove and use a chemical toilet! Besides these basics, the building work required included replacing sagging rotten floors and a new staircase. I did this all myself over several years with help from Janet from Derby whom I met at a BS meeting in Leeds. We became very good friends and she would spend several days at a time helping me with the building work. We’d have frequent ‘dress-up’ and photo sessions. I called my enterprise ‘Rose’s’ and I started holding monthly social evenings at my ‘Rose’s House’ in mid-1980. At first they were held in an un-restored downstairs room with temporary wall coverings but despite the rough conditions, right from the start I had good attendances. I publicised what I was offering wherever I could: the contact and TV magazines that were around at the time, adverts in Exchange & Mart, talks I gave to the Samaritans and Sheffield University, etc. I set up my phone as a helpline fairly early on and found I would be getting about two or three calls a day (the BS did not have a helpline at that time). Although not a trained counsellor I know I helped a lot of troubled trans persons through talking with them. I was frequently the first person they had ever spoken to about their cross-dressing and many told me afterwards that they were on the point of suicide before talking to me. Janet and I regularly went to parties held by Brenda in her home in Leicester and in February 1981 we went to our first drag ball at the Porchester Hall in London. We really enjoyed it and went to most of them every few months thereafter for several years. I really enjoyed making costumes for these balls and even won first prize for my Devil Woman outfit for a Saints and Sinners Ball in 1982 and second prize for a Christmas Ball the same year. (I made all my outfits shown here).
PERSONAL FEATURE 1982 was a particularly good year as that summer I finally completed the refurbishment of the large attic room in my house. This was where all future Rose’s parties and monthly social evenings were held. I had only held one party in the house before then because of lack of space but when the attic room was ready I held about six or seven each season for several years. They were extremely popular and we would have guests coming from all over the country. I was not aware of any other parties like them in the UK because by then the Leicester parties had long since stopped. All the parties had a theme and I really enjoyed making outfits for them, many of them rather ‘over-the-top’ as I was told that my outfits were a draw for many coming to the parties. A rumour spread amongst people who never attended them that the parties were rather sleazy (which I think was believed by many in the Beaumont Society). The rumour probably arose because of the occasional photo of a wife who regularly attended the parties wearing rather revealing outfits. But there was certainly nothing sexual about the parties: just good respectable fun! I remained very active within the Beaumont Society and in 1983 joined the Executive Committee by becoming membership secretary and later event organiser. I campaigned to drop the infamous Clause 2 of the constitution that prohibited homosexuals from joining the society. I was not at all gay myself but I felt the clause to be bad and knew that many members were not honest about their sexuality when they joined the society. I am not at all good at speaking out at Executive Committee meetings so my campaigning was mostly through my written submissions to the committee members and the Beaumont Bulletin for members. The clause was eventually dropped though I do not claim it was all due to me. The Society had previously held their annual dinners in London (I attended one or two), but in 1982 they decided to move them around the regions starting with a function in Scarborough which I attended. The event came back to Scarborough again in 1985 and 1987. In January 1988, at another venue close to Scarborough, I represented the BS along with a few others, at a conference organised by the Londonbased TV/TS Group (since defunct). The aim of the conference was to promote closer co-operation and goodwill between the various groups that existed at that time because for several years there had been some antagonism particularly by the TV/TS Group towards the Beaumont Society. The conference was a success and I was subsequently appointed to liaise on behalf of the BS with Janett Scott who was then a prominent member of the TV/TS Group. I was appointed because I also had long campaigned for a better relationship between our organisations. That formal co-operation soon fizzled out, though.
The Devil Woman outfit that won first prize for Martine at a ‘Saints and Sinners’ Porchester Hall Drag Ball, April 1982. Martine made the complete outfit including the bootees. Below: On stage at the Saints & Sinners Ball for the presentation of the prize by Ron Storme (second from right). Norma (kneeling) was the ‘Saint’ accompanying ‘Devel Woman’ Martine.
Janet and Martine having a dress-up and photo session in the house. I was trying on a ‘Green Witch’ outfit that I had made for a later Ball. REPARTEE 81
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The Development of Repartee over the years
1989
Launched with A5 size photocopied pages
1993
Increased to A4 format with US distribution
2000
Full-colour throughout with digital printing 40
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PERSONAL FEATURE However, what I thought best about the conference was the great social atmosphere amongst all the participants especially in the evenings after all the talk was over. I wanted to keep this alive and as I was then events organiser for the BS, I organised what I called a ‘Harmony Weekend’ with the aim of bringing members of all groups together again. It didn’t really work out that way as it attracted predominantly Beaumont members. But it was the first event I organised for the BS and became an annual event. When I subsequently left the BS I just carried on organising these weekends on my own behalf and they are now regarded as Rose’s events which continue to this day. In 1988, I was elected as vice-president of the Beaumont Society. I was writing a regular column in the Beaumont Bulletin which by then had progressed from the earlier typewritten duplicated pages to being printed. But I believed there was still room for improvement and tried to introduce graphic design to my pages. I had previously presented radical proposals for improving the Bulletin upon joining the executive committee in 1983 but they had been rejected. Now as vice-president I tried again and even offered to produce the magazine that I proposed for the BS but it was rejected again. I think this was a great shame because for many members the Bulletin was all they got from the BS and I believed a much better presented magazine would attract more members. At that time there were a few American magazines available in sex shops but they were very fetishistic and rather pornographic and a couple of British magazines which seemed to consist mainly of erotic fantasies and photos of readers displaying their knickers! I felt there was a real need for a good magazine for our community that was pitched somewhere between the extremes of what was commercially available and the ultra-respectable publications that were restricted to membership of a group. Ever since I first started Rose’s House it had always been at the back of my mind that I would produce my own magazine one day and (with the advances of technology during the 80’s, particularly home computing) by the end of the decade I really felt I could realise my dream. So if the BS would not listen to my proposals for a better magazine and the reasons why one was needed, I would do it myself. But I thought it best to resign from the BS because I thought it would be regarded as a conflict of interests. The success of Rose’s House had proved me correct in knowing what our community needed. It was doing extremely well, so well in fact that I began to look for larger premises as our social events were so packed. After a party you could hardly move without stepping on bodies which had ‘kipped’ down for the night all over the place! With the prospect of moving to larger premises and plans to produce a magazine, I initially tried forming a committee to help run an expanded Rose’s. The
committee comprised several of the regulars to Rose’s House who had become close friends, but I soon abandoned the committee as it just wasn’t working. I’m not a committee person and worked far better on my own without having to wait for approval for everything I did. It was far too stifling. Far from sharing the workload I found it generated a lot of unnecessary extra work and slowed me down. I’m a firm believer that in a situation like we had, a benevolent dictatorship works far better than a committee! At the same time the purchase of the premises I had in mind fell through. In retrospect, thankfully, as I wouldn’t have been able to cope with the move to new premises at the same time as launch a magazine. Also I had a new love in my life! Cathy had been coming to my parties with her TV boyfriend for a few years but I never had much contact with her apart from a few polite words. But she loved the tranny scene so much that when she split with her boyfriend she still came to my parties on her own and at one of them decided to seduce me. I was a very willing victim and we soon got together, with her moving in with me in the summer of 1989. All this was whilst my plans for a magazine proceeded and the first issue of Repartee appeared in September 1989, exactly 10 years after acquiring Rose’s House. I had to keep costs down so it was all produced by myself using a photo-copier to print the inside pages. It was a bit before desktop publishing was available for home computers but I wrote a basic program on my Acorn computer which allowed me to produce justified text (that’s the right side of columns in a straight line) on my daisy-wheel printer. Also I wanted to have lots of photos included right from the start and in order to get them to be copied successfully the photos had to be ‘screened’ (that’s given a dot-pattern like in old newsprint). I had acquired equipment to do that. It was then all cut and paste (literally – not like you do on computers these days!). I got a batch of covers printed on card when I took a short printing course at a local community print-shop. I printed enough which I hoped would last me several issues and I would just overprint the actual issue with my photo-copier. Also I had colour right from the start by sticking onto the cover colour laser prints from Staples. To keep costs down I had 100 copies printed with 8 photos per A4 sheet. With one photo per magazine I hoped it would keep me going for 8 issues. I thought 100 copies of my magazine was all I could expect for my first issue but I soon had to do a reprint and the colour prints on the cover were exhausted after only a few issues. Subsequently, over the years, I sold many times the original target number as back issues (without the stuck-on colour photo) until I stopped producing them because of the effort involved. For issue number 5 (it was being produced quarterly then) the magazine had grown to attract a distributor who could get Repartee
into shops throughout the UK. I used a professional printer for a new full-colour cover and also had the black and white content pages printed. This continued through to number 15 when we got an American distributor which gave us a huge increase in circulation. They required the magazine to become A4 format and we had to move to a larger printer but we still assembled the pages, stitched (stapled) and trimmed the magazines ourselves (Cathy, Michelle [a lodger] and myself). I didn’t get the magazine fully finished by the printer until a few issues after that when the US distributor significantly increased his quota. It was at about the time of Repartee increasing in size (early 1993) that we at last moved into new larger premises. After the magazine had become established we started looking again for a property and there were several near-misses where we thought we had something suitable but they fell through. What we did finally get was a huge exworking men’s club in Sheffield which again was much in need of renovation. It turned out to be a huge mistake, though, because with all the pressures of producing the magazine I simply did not have the time to do much to the property. I was being far too ambitious and it was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. Over a period of a few years at the old place and the new, Cathy and I appeared on several television shows. The first was in 1992 when we appeared on the James Whale Show on Yorkshire Television. He had a reputation of being tough on his guests but he was good with us and I think it went down well. Thereafter I appeared on several shows, sometimes with Cathy and later by myself. We appeared on the ITV Morning Show and I was on the Kilroy show a few times (but didn’t really get to speak). We were both on an Esther Rantzen show and Esther talked with me afterwards with the result that I later appeared on one of her shows in my male mode on the subject of shyness. I split with Cathy in 1994. The reasons were complex but with the pressure of work in producing Repartee I felt I could no longer cope with Cathy’s on-going psychotic problems. Outsiders would be totally unaware that there were these problems and I had done my best to try to help Cathy (she had said I’d helped her more than any
Cathy
psychiatrist had ever done). Cathy was very upset at first when I told her we could not carry on but we remained friends for a while until, for reasons I could not understand, she suddenly turned very much against me. I really wish we could have remained friends and had we done so I think quite possibly we might have got back together again eventually. I have no idea what happened to her but would love to meet her again. In 1997 I finally managed to sell the ex-working men’s club after a few years’ trying and moved to a bungalow not too far away. At last I had somewhere decent to live. We’d had a few parties and social evenings at the club but they were not like they were in the ‘good old days’ at the original Rose’s House. In the bungalow I didn’t have any of the old Rose’s House facilities, as the magazine had completely taken over my life. The pressure of work was tremendous as I had no help and the intervals between issues of the magazine were slipping to as much as five months. But in spite of this, sales of the magazine were at their peak and it was doing extremely well. This was when Bella Jay fortunately stepped in. She’d taken over what was previously the Rose’s shopping service a few years earlier and called it Blue Moon. In 1998 Bella and I entered into a business partnership and Bella took over the administrative side of running the magazine and Rose’s membership. I had gradually increased the number of colour pages in Repartee over the years but moving to having it digitally printed in Finland with Issue 34 (April 2000) made it cost-effective to go full colour throughout. Preparing the magazine for the printer was also very much easier than the old process as we could just send a computer file rather than produce hard copy. A few issues later we greatly enhanced the magazine by employing a graphic designer (Debs) to give the magazine a makeover and produce some of the pages for us. Bella Jay was also taking on more and more of the editorial work with the magazine as well as continuing the administration of Rose’s, eventually taking over full editorship. Now I just give the mag a final onceover before sending it to the printers. As my workload gradually diminished I was able to try to get something of a life back. I had been alone and lonely much of my life and I desperately wanted some companionship. I tried one or two postal dating agencies (before online dating came to the fore) with limited success. Most dates didn’t get anywhere but one relationship around the turn of the century did last about a year. I even took an IQ test and succeeded in joining Mensa with the hope of meeting someone of a higher intellect but again I did not get far and after a while let my membership drop. I remain very much alone to this day and I still dream of meeting a woman who might be interested in meeting me. Martine Rose Cathy and Martine at a Creatures in Next time: Krystina, the Night party - November 1989 Pontefract and beyond REPARTEE 81
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LONDON CALLING The regular column by Tanya Dawn Hughes …
The Long Goodbye … who picked on me many years ago have a similar mind-set. The vile terrorists sought to justify themselves by calling Paris the centre of vice and sex and prostitution, so the people enjoying themselves were the sinners. This is pretty similar to what the youths who beat me up were screaming. What kind of medieval world do these people live in? The T community has made huge strides forward in the past couple of decades, but as I also wrote previously, we are now more visible. In a simple, possibly trivial, way we can say we will prove we will not be intimidated by continuing to enjoy the things we like, which includes nightclubs. And Paris. Vive Le France!
Down Memory Lane
Knightsbridge, outside Jimmy Choos ou’ll know from Martine and Bella Jay’s editorial that the next issue Y will be Repartee Magazie’s last. This is sad, but as it happens coin-
Looking back I’ve penned some 12,000 words for Repartee and it has been enjoyable (and flattering) to be able to put my vapid thoughts and experiences down on paper. There have been many memories that I’ve been happy to share and some that I decided not to expand on in any great detail. In the last category I have said a little about my health, but the truth is things could have been much better and illness has dominated my life for the last four years. But after numerous fits and starts I am much better so I guess now is the time to fill in a few of the blanks. Not so much an ‘oh poor me’ tale but rather a cautionary tale about what we expect of the medical profession. As readers might know I sustained an injury (a broken elbow) which I was firmly told was “unreconstructible”. So I had a metal joint put in but that turned nasty after it was rejected by my immune system. The consequences of that (and the side-effects of drugs I was missprescribed to treat the symptoms) really jiggered my health and it has, to be honest, all been nightmarish. But I’m better now thanks to a brilliant London hospital who listened. Thank you Guy’s. And this is my point. If you get ill and the treatment doesn’t work, don’t accept it – be the squeaky wheel and speak out. I think the NHS is a brilliant institution, but with increased demand and the cash crisis that many hospitals are going through, you owe it to yourself to ensure your care is what it should be. The other thing I have said a little about (but not the whole story) is the vile troll hate attacks I was subjected to a few years back. No, I’m not going to go over that again, but I will say a little more about GIRES (Gender Identity Research & Education Society) which – even though this isn’t their primary focus – at the time was of enormous practical help to me in terms of legal advice, and supportive and patient in encouraging me to go to the police. Please check out GIRES at www.gires.org.uk GIRES does a fantastic job in meeting the demands that come with increased awareness of gender issues (medical referrals for example are increasing 20% per annum and are almost 300% up over the past 10 years). I think GIRES deserves greater support and I’ve decided to help a little. All this coincides with a sort of internal audit of where I am and where I’m going, so although I’m not retiring or hanging up my heels, I am going to slim down my absurdly huge wardrobe. So I will be holding a charity auction on behalf of GIRES in April. As we go to press it seems likely that the venue will be the Rivoli Ballroom (where Magic Theatre is hosted) in South London on Saturday the 23rd April. Check for confirmation on Facebook. If you want a listing of all the garments (100’s of gowns and frocks including new stock
REGULAR FEATURE
from my shop) then drop me an email at tanyadawnuk@yahoo.co.uk and I’ll send you a spreadsheet. Many items will be sold without reserve and remember all profits will go to this deserving cause.
Definitely Not Retiring … Feeling so much better I’ve had a whale of a time lately. I did photoshoots in Glasgow and London with some super excursions to Club AC’s Vampire Ball, Luxury & Lust and Magic Theatre (of course). Then I had a sensational stay in Knightsbridge trolling around the high-end stores with supper on the Terrace Bar at the famous Harvey Nichols flagship store. So cool – then onto a West End show ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ at the Duchess Theatre, which was a scream. I have to say the strolling up and down Sloane Street and its stores and going to the theatre with my friend was especially lovely – I got the look just right, so I didn’t scare the horses or get ‘read’ or embarrass anyone tripping in 5” heels … It has been known! A selection of photos are here and a huge thank you to my dear friends Ebolix, Grimly, Joanna and Sergio and to the lovely staff at Fosters Wigs in Streatham for more divine wigs from my Strictly Glamour range … Onwards and upwards … Tanya Dawn Hughes, London
On the Terrace Bar at Harvey Nichols
cides with my decision to call it a day for my column too. So this was intended to be my penultimate London Calling and now definitely is! I must say a huge thank you to Martine for the opportunity to rattle on and Bella Jay for putting up with my ‘last minute’ deadline-defying contributions, and to the readers who waded through my stream-ofconsciousness meanderings. Thank you for bearing with me and I’m especially grateful to those people who took the time to write.
Paris This column is (nominally at least) centred on London, but I’m using this opportunity to say something about our ‘twin’ across the channel. I lived in Paris for a while and have had some lovely times there – it is a unique, wonderful City, full of vitality and human spirit. But I also have an abiding ugly memory as a lifetime ago I was beaten up on my way to an audition at Le Carrousel (see Repartee 67 page 30). I make no apologies for linking this with the recent terrible massacre because I suspect the people behind this outrage and those thugs 42
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Getting ready for Luxury & Lace
At the Magic Theatre: Charlotte Phoenix, Tanya and Josh Parsons. Photo by Ricky Dixon
Email: tanyadawnuk@yahoo.co.uk www.facebook.com/TanyaDawnHughes www.flickr.com/people/tanyadawnhughes New website: www.strictly-glamour.com www.facebook.com/StrictlyGlamour Fosters Wigs: www.facebook.com/pages/Fosters-Wigs/1418832675013172
Glasgow photo-shoot, September 2015 REPARTEE 81
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PERSONAL FEATURE
PERSONAL FEATURE n the evening before, I had been out for a O meal with a couple of neighbours. It was a bit of
JUST ANOTHER DAY As it was my day off I had arranged to drive my Mum to a town a few miles from where we live. We would do a bit of shopping and have lunch there.
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a dash as I was working in the day and I wasn’t going to go out in my work clothes. I got made up and changed fairly quickly. I chose a nice chequered dress, stockings and a pair of flat shoes. It was a bit chilly so I wore a full slip under the dress and one of my favourite ‘boyfriend’ cardigans over the top. One of the neighbours drove us to a restaurant that we hadn’t been to for a while and had undergone a makeover since we last visited. The waitress was one who had served us before. “Hello, ladies it’s good to see you again” was her friendly welcome. She looked after us well. The restaurant was busy but we sat and chatted and enjoyed the evening. The next morning I got up, showered and had a bit of breakfast while reading the usual doom and gloom in the newspaper. I then chose what I would wear. I am certainly not a girl who just wears what is at hand. I like to think about where I am going and choose accordingly. If it is a favourite dress I would wear different shoes or cardigan to change the look. My wardrobe is ever-changing and as something new comes in then something old has to go. Well, that’s the theory anyway! Why do that? Otherwise I’d have to get a bigger wardrobe. I chose what I was going to wear: a floral tunic dress, leggings, ‘boyfriend’ cardigan and ankle boots. That done it was time to moisturise and get the make-up done. This is where I am fairly catholic. I have a routine that takes about ten minutes and is good for daytime: some foundation, a bit of blusher, brows, eyes and lips. I get dressed, add jewellery and check my hair. That day we were shopping so I ditched the handbag and used a larger bag. It still has those essentials: a bit of make-up, hairbrush, purse, phone, umbrella and other ancillary items that always seem to be there. I drove over to Mum’s and had a cup of tea and a natter. I did a quick clean of the house and checked things, as Mum is elderly. All done, we set off. As we got out of the door one of her neighbours was walking to their car. Mum had a quick word and I waved hello as I got into the car to start it up. The drive was quite uneventful and I parked in a car park right in the town centre. It was a slow walk, looking at the shops as we went along. The town was quite busy. Mum likes the charity shops and we have a browse. A few years ago I used to get quite a bit from charity shops but now I can enjoy buying in the mainstream shops. This town is a bit more upmarket than where I live and my eyes were drawn to a very nice pair of boots in one charity shop. Taking a closer look I realised that they were Italian leather and appeared almost unworn. I tried them on and they fitted. I have very slim legs and it was as if they had been made for me. I looked at the price tag and at £8 they were quickly purchased. A few more shops were browsed and then it was lunch time. Mum likes more traditional food so Wetherspoons was chosen over the myriad of nice eateries the town offered. It was one of those places where you order at the bar and have to have your table number. Off to the bar and the girl behind the bar greets me with a chirpy “Good afternoon madam, what’s your table number?” Oops I forgot to look. I apolo-
were the same style but with differing patterns. I tried them on and they both fitted and looked really nice. Dilemma! Which one? Well what does a girl do? I bought both of them. I also felt good about being a size 12! Then it was time to move on to food shopping at Sainsbury’s. As we were quite a way from the supermarket I left Mum sitting in the sun while I walked back to get the car and pick her up on the way. We parked in the supermarket car park and as I got out of the car a chap in a tabard asked if “Lady would like car cleaned?” I politely declined as lady had car cleaned by similar-sounding chaps in a hand wash a couple of days earlier. I wandered off and did my shopping and Mum hers, meeting again at the exit. Whilst doing my shopping there was an announcement that all the ‘Tu’ clothes were 25% off. Suddenly my trolley headed off to the clothes department with me helplessly being dragged along behind! I couldn’t imagine there would be anything I liked … but I must have a poor imagination as another dress and warm autumn cardigan soon appeared in the trolley. I went through the checkout and then headed back to the car with mum. We drove to the car park exit, but the barrier stayed put! I had a queue of cars behind me and ‘daggers’ coming my way. I tried again, but to no avail. I had to get out and find the attendant. I was clinging to receipts. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. “It happens all the time, madam”. He opened the machine and the barrier lifted. So it was off home for a nice cuppa. I had to try on the dress from Sainsbury’s and it was a lovely fit. It was a nice day out. I was a few pounds lighter but thankfully it was the end of the month, so I could put a few pounds back on! It was just another day for a woman. But what a fantastic day for a cross-dresser! Angela Booth, Sussex [Rose 3523]
gised and dashed off to get it, returning to make the order and get the drinks. Other people were engrossed in their eating and a few casually glanced up as I passed by. It’s quite busy but soon a lad came along with the food. “Hello ladies who is having the pasta?” We sat eating and chatting. A young lad got up from a table just up from us and was saying his goodbyes to his mum as he put on his jacket. As he did so an identity card fell from a pocket unnoticed by him and those at the table. He began to move off so I quickly left my table and scooped the card up, telling him what he had missed. I was rewarded with a nice “thank you” and a smile from the family as I returned to my food and they carried on. After I had finished I popped to the ladies’ and freshened up the make-up to go back to the shopping. It was then off to a nice department store where I have found some very nice clothes in the past and where it is rare for me to leave without buying something. I keep saying that I should resist! I went through the shop and went to my temptation zone. They have rails that are from a group of designers who make some contemporary designer clothes. A lot are for the younger generation, but still designs I like. They are also priced at a third of the cost that places like White Stuff and Phase Eight charge for very similar designs. The range is by Izabel and hanging on the rails was their autumn collection. As hard as I tried I could not resist a couple of tunic dresses. I had a look and sized-up the 14’s. They looked a little big and the 12’s seemed more my size. I took them and headed for the changing rooms. The lady looked after my bags while I went in. Both dresses REPARTEE 81
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Finding Your would like to ask you a question. Let us think about meeting two Ipeople. The first looks gorgeous but has a dreadful voice and the other
is plain but has a beautiful voice. Ask anyone whom they would rather spend time with and they will invariably choose the latter. The voice reflects the person. A few years ago a colleague of mine came out as a trans-woman and during the three years that we worked closely together I helped him with his transition. We spent time as ‘girls’ shopping, dressing, entertaining, travelling and learning how to converse. As a voice coach I was particularly fascinated with the change of pitch and vocal variety when speaking as a woman as opposed to speaking as a man. Your female voice should sound natural and feel right for you so you can communicate with confidence. We all spend a lot of time concentrating on our appearance and posture and how we are viewed by others, but do we give our voice the same amount of attention? Our voices tell others who we are, what we are thinking and how we are feeling. Without sounding natural it would be nearly impossible to make connections with people. We very rarely take time to train and look after our voices. Our voice is a tool, which we can train and it is an amazing instrument. We all take it for granted that we can speak and be understood. Sometimes you are lucky and that is great. Let us think what type of voice we enjoy listening to. Is it engaging, with a comfortable pitch and tone and with good use of vocabulary? This is a voice we all aspire to have. Since then I have coached a number of trans-gender clients. We arrange four weekly one-to-one hour-long sessions with plenty of practice in between. The initial session is getting to know each other so that we are comfortable with each other. Initially I ask the client to read aloud in the voice they think is right for them and then begin to work on them, finding the right pitch and helping to teach them to listen to themselves by reading aloud. It is important to sound more feminine by finding the right combination of speech and voice features. While pitch is not the only vocal feature to achieve a more feminine voice, it is the most crucial. Generally, female voices are of a higher register and to find the pitch suited to you, you need to hum up the scale, in doh-ray-me fashion, until you feel vocal strain, then go back down until there is no vocal effort. During the following three sessions we spend a lot of time conversing on different ideas, images and stories. We explore together how women converse and develop new vocabulary. Women talk in longer sentences and expect a response. For example, the female will say “it is raining” with an upward inflection at the end and not with a downward inflection as a statement. Usually the female listener will respond with more information and lead the conversation on. e.g. “that reminds me, I have left my washing out, etc.” We talk in circles. Women have more active and interactive listening skills by engaging in the conversation, nodding, having good eye contact and contribute by showing understanding, interest and shared experiences. It is easier to keep a conversation flowing. Use of more descriptive language and vocabulary is essential. A fun exercise to help develop vocabulary is for the client to choose a painting and describe it to the listener who has not seen the painting. Before tackling any voice work, it is very important to relax the body and work on practising breathing exercises. Tension anywhere in the body does affect the voice. I would suggest the following exercises:
VOICE By Peggy King
loosely by your sides. Shrug your shoulders up towards your ears and hold tightly for a slow count of 1 – 5. Drop the shoulders, register the sense of release and then repeat the sequence twice more. Circle the shoulders slowly backwards and then circle them the other way – each 3 times. Stretch your arms above your head for a moment – feel the lengthening through your spine. Shake your hands, your forearms and then your whole arms – in front and then to the sides of your body. Exercise 5: Find your ‘feminine’ pitch by counting up from your typical masculine pitch, one at a time. Go up until you feel vocal strain then go back down one note so that there is no vocal effort. When you feel comfortable stay humming on that pitch, then hum beginning with:- mmmmm-ah; mmmmm-ay; mmmmm-ee; mmmmm-aw; mmmmm-oo; mmmmm-aw; mmmmmm-ah … Hum to a count of 3 then follow with the above vowels opening the mouth wide. It is fun to compile a short list of words and phrases beginning with ‘m’ and practice whenever you can. Finding the right pitch does take some time. Exercise 6: Read aloud. Begin with the book you are reading and using all vocal variety – pitch, pace, volume and modulation – bring out the meaning and use as much descriptive language you can. Another exercise is to describe a picture or painting to someone who hasn’t seen it. You will have to describe it as fully as possible, again using a variety of language skills and new vocabulary. Finding opportunities to use your feminine voice in conversational situations will be helpful in polishing the skill. One of my client’s issues was managing his telephone banking when using his female account. We worked on this and he was able to report back that it was successful. If this is a subject you would like to explore please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I am based near Northampton. Peggy King Email: peggy.voiceandmore@gmail.com Telephone: 077894 36551
Exercise 1: Sit quietly, eyes closed and focus. Breathe in through the mouth and out through the nose for six times. With your hands on your belly button, feel the air filling the lungs. Then exhale slowly and make sure you let all your breath out. Then breathe in and feel the ribs expand. Repeat five times. Exercise 2: Speak the months of the year on a single breath. Whisper them first then voice them and feel the difference. Exercise 3: Humming is extremely important and brings the voice forward and helps exercise breath control. Sit up straight at the front of the chair. Exhale. Inhale and relax the belly muscles. When you slowly exhale make a hum sound. Keep that humming sound as long as possible. Then relax. Practice for 2 to 3 minutes. Exercise 4: Tension is most often found in the shoulders. Stand in a neutral position with head and neck well aligned. Let your arms hang REPARTEE 81
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FASHION FEATURE
Fashion for the Maturing Woman reading a fashion blog for Ithewas 40-plus woman and the blogger
By Tasi Zuriack
was talking about Brenda Blethyn who stars in a British detective series, Vera. DCI Vera Stanhope is a solitary, obsessed, caustic, brilliant investigator, and a bit dishevelled; think female Columbo. The blogger went on to discuss the brilliant way in which the studio displayed this dishevelled woman in a fashionable way and it got me to thinking about the challenges we have in remaining fashionable as we grow older. Not always an easy task for those of us that cross-dress as the sags of the male body don’t exactly match those of our female companions. Middle-aged women don’t need to look frumpy and our looks don’t have to scream “middle aged,” either. Women of any age can look pulled together, sexy, and professional. Fashion for women over 40 has come a long way. It’s all about incorporating select trends into a wardrobe that you’ve carefully created and using items that fit you so well they seem to have been made with your body in mind. With that in mind, here are some tips to help you achieve the look of a chic and stylish older lady. And believe it or not, it’s far easier to blend in as a mature woman than trying to be a hot chick. Stay age appropriate Women of all ages like to feel pretty and feminine, so there’s no need to drastically limit your style because of your age. Most women beyond their 20s should probably skip the tiny miniskirts and cropped tops, but you don’t have to wear unflattering skirt lengths or shapeless shirts simply because you think you’re ‘too old’ to wear certain styles. No muumuus for you. Staying age appropriate when it comes to fashion for middle-aged women means wearing clothing that fits, flatters, and reflects your unique sense of style. And yes, you can wear revealing clothing if it’s done in the right proportion. And you can wear current trends too by learning to pair them with more timeless pieces. For example, the ‘fringe look’ which you can read about here: http://www.tgforum.com/wordpress/index.php/fringe-fashion/ Go for the minimalist look Less is more when it comes to fashion for women over 40. Choose pieces that have fewer embellishments and cleaner lines, you’ll be able to get more wear out of them. Pair them with more (trendy) things and accessorize with your favourite jewellery pieces. They’ll also make your look more polished than some of the busier pieces out there.
Brenda Blethyn playing DCI Vera Stanhope
Why not visit: www.sisterhouse.net and www.fashionabletgwoman.com 48
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Choose timeless classics There’s a way to incorporate trends into fashion for middle-aged women, but it takes having some staple, well-tailored classic pieces in your wardrobe. Keeping your trendy picks grounded in a sea of simple styles will keep you from falling into the trap of looking as if you’re trying to dress younger than you are.
Figure Flattering Tips Become a master of disguise by learning how to camouflage those problem areas such as sagging, wrinkling skin (especially on the arms and neck) or protruding abdomens. Some tips to create figure flattering looks include: Two-piece outfits with jackets that fall just below the hip line work wonders at concealing that area. Tops worn out instead of tucked in may be more flattering than those with fitted waists or belts. The best overall colours for middle-aged women are the tried and tested fashion staples: black, white or navy. Grays or neutrals may cause you to look pale or drawn. But don’t be put off by colour. Consider the many beautiful jewel tones that complement your skin colour. Accessories such as shawls, stoles or shrugs work double-duty by providing a little extra warmth while concealing the arms. While scarves, turtlenecks or mock turtlenecks are just the trick for covering up that jowl and neckline area. Check out the many possible looks on our Sister House Pinterest boards: https://www.pinterest.com/tasidevil/
FASHION FEATURE And as you age, remember age is just a number. Many of the most beautiful women in the world are over 50: http://www.shebudgets. com/lifestyle/entertainment/30-celebrity-women-who-have-aged-gracefully/ 17856#k4p9TVJFQ9xgtQJP.99.
3. If you absolutely crave colour, buy classic red. It always looks in style and brightens mature skin like a dash of blush. Read my latest piece on the ‘Iconic Red Dress’: http://www.tgforum.com/wordpress/index. php/the-iconic-red-dress-sexy-and-alluring-for-all-seasons/ 4. Update your eye glasses, whether they are prescription or just reading glasses. Changing the style and or colour of your eye glass frames can instantly update your look and give you some added flare. 5. Update your make-up. As our skin changes, so does our need to change the way we do our make-up. I recently changed my lipstick colours and it made a world of difference in achieving a more youthful look. 6. Get your eyebrows shaped. Learning how to shape, changing the shape or dusting a small amount of coloured powder on your eyebrows can completely change your face. See my article here: ‘Eyebrows Do Make a Difference’: http://sisterhouse.net/blog/do-eyebrows-make-a-difference/
Carmen Dell’Orefice And while we’re all just hoping we live a life of longevity, one supermodel is giving everyone a run for their money. Carmen Dell’Orefice, 82, is featured in New You magazine’s spring issue, transforming simple glam with an all-black look, killer cheekbones and a fabulous wave of grey hair. I should look so good at that age! Tasi Zuriack (Mexico)
Fashion sense transcends age You can create a wardrobe and style to accommodate fashions for middle-aged women that are still fun, exciting and sexy, without looking too young or out of step with the current trends. It all boils down to finding simple, figure-flattering pieces that balance out the trendy styles you’re dying to try. Here’s another Pinterest board that demonstrates this point: https://www.pinterest.com/ ellistea/middle-aged-styleista-clothes/ More tips? 1. Pairing tops and bottoms in the same colour is a quick, fool-proof formula for style. A monochromatic look is one of the easiest ways to create style and opens up a simple piece for day or night wear by changing the accessories. 2. One slim belt is all you need to refresh structured dresses, to feminize tailored jackets and suits or to give flat-knit sweaters worn over skirts or pants a hint of shape. Read ‘All About Belts’ in the Sister House Library: http://www.sisterhouse.net/library/category/all-about/belts/?numtoshow=3&archive=yes REPARTEE 81
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PERSONAL FEATURE
PERSONAL FEATURE The older woman who can still turn heads (well mine anyway), in 3” high heels and 10 denier black tights, with a hem-line just above the knee, should be an inspiration not only to other women, who might not make the effort anymore, but to cross-dressing men like me who want to look hot and sexy, but sophisticated. Such women with taste are the gold standard to aim at and learn from. I’m a big fan of the classic wrap-dress style of one sort or another, no zips, just a pullon garment, easy to wear and move in, but you are instantly dressed smartly and looking sassy! A woman who comes to mind who always appears on television looking amazing is Kirsty Allsop. Yes, I know some of her dresses are expensive, but the principle is there. Wearing nice dresses and high heels will get you noticed and appreciated by male eyes, certainly by Phil Spencer! But ‘girls’ on a tight budget can pick up wonderful bargain wrap-dresses and maxis from the supermarkets’ clothing sections, for between £15 and £20: how good is that? Other great role-models for TVs to study on television (who are mostly in their fifties), include Ruth Langsford of ITV’s This Morning and Loose Women fame. She is always beautifully turned out in a figure-hugging dress. Then, for balance, on the BBC there’s weather girl (sorry, woman), Carol Kirkwood.
going requires work and constant effort. But the motivation that drives me on as a regular TV has not really slackened. If it ever does (or not) I’ll be able to report back in another ten years or so, but I suspect that in my head at least, not much will have changed. A fine-looking mature female passing by will always register with a mental nod of appreciation. To sum up, when I’m in male mode, I’m constantly doing ‘research’ in shops and checking out those elegant ladies. Looking to learn or be inspired by the best, ready for when I join them and become Carol again. Although, I must confess that Carol does have a tendency on occasions to veer toward the tart. More than is commonly observed in my age group! For instance, Carol has a passion for seamed nylons which is guaranteed to turn a male head around. A simple seam and you’re getting your legs and bum checked out for sure! But what a pleasure it is to walk in both the male and female worlds: trousers and brogues, nylons and heels, how lucky we are to enjoy both human genders. Surely we gain a fuller, more rounded experience of life and certainly a much better understanding of the female point of view. So, ‘girls’, select your role-model and go for it. If I can do it, anyone can. Believe me it really is just a wig away. Carol Scott, Lincolnshire [Rose 5249]
The Lure of the
MATURE Woman
s a heterosexual transvestite halfway through my seventh A decade, I’m noticing more and more that my eye is taken with
the mature charms of women of a similar age. In particular those who, like my alter-ego Carol Scott, like to present themselves smartly and well turned out, typically in a figure-hugging ‘wrap’ dress. Decades ago it was younger women who would claim my attention, but now I’m noticing interesting-looking women all over the place. Even in Waitrose and Marks & Spencer’s food hall, they might just be getting the shopping, but don’t want to be seen looking anything but their best. As I say, I’m a heterosexual tranny and I’m viewing such mature elegance from two points of view. As the still-interested male admirer, but also as the admiring and envious t-girl … where did she find that stunning dress? As I have reached that mid-point in my own seventh decade I find that my perspectives are being re-tuned to appreciate much more what the older woman has to offer or can offer if she is so minded. I certainly think I could show some ladies a thing or two about how to look desirable in latter years. It’s one thing just ‘scrubbing up’ well for a wedding or special occasion, quite another pushing a trolley full of groceries around the supermarket and still looking good. 50
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Again, a lady with a wonderful figure shown to advantage by a great dress sense. Both these ladies are not yet in their sixties, but are a huge credit to the fifty-somethings. Carol Vorderman is another older, but stunningly glamorous woman, who constantly changes her image, now appearing as an ash blonde, but another inspiration to us t-girls of a similar age. These women are of course good-looking with great figures. We are not all so blessed, but we all have something to offer and work with and we must make the best of what we have. So observe and learn from the best: that’s what I always endeavour to do when Carol’s in charge and setting the agenda.
“… Carol has a passion for seamed nylons which is guaranteed to turn a male head around.“ But I now realise, much more than ever before, that the human animal remains a sexual being well into old age. Midsixties is not really old age anymore, but the time one spends thinking about some aspect or another of sex is still, it turns out, a lot! Maybe that’s because I have a foot in both camps, the male and female worlds, and keeping the glamour thing REPARTEE 81
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Return to Cotton City –
PERSONAL FEATURE
For Sparkle 2015
y name is Jaimie Pearl and I am a sixtyM five-year-old part-time girl from Canberra,
Australia. I lived in Manchester for nearly five years in the early 1990s – in fact my second child was born there. But never did I dream that I would be returning twenty years later to attend my first Sparkle in the Park this past July! (For one thing, Jaimie wasn’t even a twinkle in my eye then). I didn’t know anyone when I arrived at Sparkle, but when I need to, I can overcome shyness and sit myself down at a table full of strangers and introduce myself. I was also fortunate enough to meet Nicole Eve my very first night and she introduced me to Nula and to Rose’s members Michelle and Joan, who told me all about how wonderfully trans-girls are doing in the Cumbria region. I had also spent some time in London before coming to Manchester and met up with some ladies whom I had been corresponding with for some time on Flickr. That was a wonderful experience and we had a great night out in the summer heat. I also enjoyed exploring all the vintage shops around the Spitalfields and Brick Lane area of London. London, of course, is a much bigger city than Melbourne, both in population and area and doesn’t have as obvious a centre as does Melbourne. As a result of this, there seems to be more of a coherent trans community in Melbourne overall (with its inevitable factions and specialty groups, of course). While having dinner in Manchester, Michelle suggested I contribute an article for inclusion in TV Repartee on my experience at Sparkle. Also write a bit about myself, the Australian trans-scene (at least the tiny little corner of it I have come to know!) and some of the trans-women I have met on my various recent travels. I was amazed at Sparkle – the variety and range of dress styles on view; many statements were visible to my eye as I viewed the display. And such variety – some blended and looked so good, while others really made a bold ‘statement’ and I learned much, just sitting there in front of Verve and watching all the girls go by! I only wished that a guide to nearby nail and eyebrow salons and beauty parlours had been included in the information pack. Though, of course, Gordon Fawcett from Liverpool was plying his nowrenowned skills non-stop from his room at The Place (of which I was a grateful beneficiary!). For the size of the city centre, I found the space of Sparkle remarkably constricted. I went off on my own one afternoon just to visit places I remembered from my time there and to see how the city had changed. Everyone seemed to be content to eat on Canal Street though of course there are lots of good eateries throughout the city. I confess I didn’t spend a lot of time in Sackville Gardens. Here in Australia we have a very transfriendly country, especially in the large cities of course, but pretty much everywhere you go. Right now, we are all watching the Australian Parliament wrestle with making a decision on how to respond to the growing 52
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By Jaimie Pearl
Melbourne is a city that I visit regularly. It has many LGBT nighttime venues, and some of these cater to speciality crowds. DT’s in Richmond is the most popular all-purpose trans-girl venue and is the now-accepted ‘first stop’ for those girls coming out in public for the first time (as it was with me!). Apart from that, Melbourne is known for its great variety of terrific restaurants and not a single one of them has been anything less than welcoming and helpful (and terrific hosts) when a group of us girls comes to have a meal (we are also good tippers!). I can’t really compare Melbourne and Manchester from a personal perspective since I was so much a stranger when I arrived at Sparkle. Although, to be honest, I found that a great many girls had come to Sparkle to meet with people they already knew and this made it difficult to ‘barge my way in’ at times and make new friends myself. So thanks once again to Nicole, Michelle, Joan and Nula who went out of their way to make me feel welcome. I was delighted to hear about what a great scene Blackpool is for trans-girls from the area and I am hoping to make that part of my itinerary for my next trip to the UK in the summer of 2016. Hope to see you all then! If TV Repartee editor; Bella Jay, will indulge me further, then I will ‘pen’ a further article reflecting my impressions on my visit to another vast continent – once more over the water – as I travel to the United States of America. It’s a huge country with a huge variety of people in dressing styles and hues that just flash before one’s eyes!
Above, left: Enjoying a meal at Sparkle with Joan, Nuala, Nicole and Michelle. This photo taken at Shine beauty salon before an evening out in Melbourne.
Jaimie Pearl, Canberra, Australia
Photo taken by Cindy Conti (Boys will be Girls) at her studio near Tower Bridge in London, shortly before Sparkle 2015.
public approval for a marriage-equality law. Canberra, the national capital, where I live, is a small place and we have a small community of trans-girls, though I conclude from what my friends at the beauty parlour tell me that there are many more girls who are not pursuing a public life here. So what I have learned is that we girls who live a public life as women are the tip of a much larger trans and cross-dressing iceberg, and that is probably true wherever we go. Like everywhere else in the world, there is always that tension between full-time
and ‘recreational’ girls, between those who have embarked on transitioning, either full or partial, and those who have not. It is not, I think, a fatal schism, but I do wonder, when Trans-people become more universally accepted and acknowledged (I feel we are nearly there!), where this sense of divide will go. Many more girls, faced with an easier road to full transitioning, may perhaps choose not to identify as ‘trans’ at all any longer, under such conditions, and I wonder where this will leave the rest of us ‘part-timers’ socially and politically.
Our table at the Seahorse 40th Anniversary Ball, Melbourne, August 2015. REPARTEE 81
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PERSONAL FEATURE At one end of the trans spectrum there is a compulsion to eradicate all vestiges of masculinity in an attempt to conform to the demands of the woman inside the head. This is a drastic step and one that doesn’t guarantee peace of mind. At conception fate dealt a hand that was missing some of the necessary cards so there is the need to adjust mentally to the realization that becoming a complete woman is imposible. This reality is of course often pointed out to the trans community by those feminists who pour scorn on our femininity. From the strictly anatomical perspective they are undeniably right, but in their bigoted dismissal of the aspirations of trans people they fail to grasp the political and psychological implications of what it means to be trans and so they do the feminist movement a great disservice. Of course, most trans people do fully accept that anatomically they are not and never will be women. But as I have already said, that doesn’t mean that we cannot feel like a woman and empathise with a woman’s lot in life. There is a deep mystery about femininity that goes way beyond the mundane limitations of anatomy. The pagan concept of woman as goddess resonates strongly with the ambiguity that many of us feel about conforming to accepted stereo types of masculinity. Humanity’s search for meaning in the all too brief experience of individual existence can be recognised in those past mythological deities who symbolised power over life and death and the promise of transformation. The goddess is a powerful symbol and it is significant that some film actresses and pop singers – our contemporary goddesses – have become gay icons. You don’t have to be female, in the strict social sense of belonging unambiguously on one side of the gender divide, in order to want to explore what the mystery of femininity means. The public profile of the trans community has been raised recently by the coming-out of people like Caitlin Jenner and the success of trans actors like Laverne Cox. This has generated much supportive comment in the more discerning sections of the press. A recent article in the Guardian suggested that gender is a performance – reflecting a comment once made by Holly Woodlawn that we are all born naked and the rest is just drag. Somebody responded to the Guardian article in an exasperated letter that questioned this idea of gender as a performance. She asked how wearing stilettos, false nails and silicone breasts could be seen as constructing a woman. In my opinion this letter served to demonstrate how some feminists can completely miss the point about what it means to be a trans woman. Of course gender is a performance – it is
BECOMING A WOMAN By Lisa Saphora woman is a social construct as much as being a biological entity. A Her natural birth gender determines the ways in which society impinges on the way she is expected to look and behave and these expectations go a long way towards making it difficult for her to become an equal in a man’s world. These very same social barriers make it uncomfortable for somebody born as a boy to have to grow up realizing that he wants to live life partially or wholly as a girl. His DNA prevents him from ever being a complete woman even if he takes the courageous decision to undergo gender reassignment surgery. This does not mean, though, that he cannot truly feel like a woman. Sure enough, biological limitations ensure that he can never experience ovulation, menstruation and pregnancy like his natural born sisters but he is able to understand sufficiently well the social construct that a woman is and can strive to attain this ideal and present as a ‘she’. The information that processes our development and determines where we are on the gender spectrum – both genetic and epigenetic – can be activated or suppressed by environmental factors as much as endocrinological ones. It is this weave of possibility that sometimes contrives to construct a personality that doesn’t wholly correspond to that suggested by our anatomy at birth. This is what is meant by the term gender dysphoria: a condition that can manifest itself in many different ways. 54
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difficult to see how the fashion and cosmetics industries could survive otherwise. Any career woman attempting to break through the socalled ‘glass ceiling’ has to put on a particular kind of performance that can combine feminine allure with masculine hardness. To be successful she has to be aware that how she uses the complexities of gender can undermine or support her ambition. Those of us who have endured our teenage years and beyond knowing that we didn’t fully fit in as boys have had to learn how to disguise our latent femininity in order to protect ourselves against disapproval or worse. In other words, we too, in a different way, put on a performance. We learn to run with our peers, assume the cloak of masculinity and treat anything girly with the disdain that was expected of us. For us, acting male was a gender performance motivated by selfpreservation and a desire not to lose respect in the masculine world. Maybe this is why we can now move easily from that experience of gender performance to situations where we can present ourselves as the woman we wish to be. So, yes – gender is a performance. But so what? If it is true that a trans woman cannot fully know what it is like to be a woman then it is certainly also true that a natural born woman cannot feel what it is like to be a trans woman. Neither truth, however, can deny the validity of exploring gender diversity through performance. Radical feminists who object to trans people expressing their personalities in ways that suit them best need to remember that we are human, like them, and we mean no disrespect. Perhaps they would serve the feminist movement better by concentrating their attention on targets more deserving of their disapproval. Being a ‘terf’ (trans exclusionary radical feminist) is just silly.
There is much diversity open to those of us who wish to emerge from the closet – even if it is only partially – to embrace this act of becoming. Turning the pages of Repartee reveals performance in all its fascinating splendour. From Charlie Craggs and her youthful journey of transition, to the meticulous efforts of older girls like myself and our founder Martine, there is a whole range of diversity. There is Nina Jay and her motorcycle adventures. There are those who explore the extravagant possibilities of Victoriana and proudly show themselves at places like the Whitby Goth Weekend. There are others who have assumed the role of barmaid and mixed with the world of fetish fantasy at the Erotica event in London. A few have even entered the more bizarre world of Steam Punk and paraded through the medieval streets around Lincoln Cathedral. Oh ... and let’s not forget those with more conventional tastes – like Nicole and Cathy who both appeared in issue 79 as fabulous-looking women. We can all be proud of representing the trans community in ways that suit our inclinations and how we see ourselves. In doing this we seek to embrace femininity in all its forms and respect what it means to become a woman. When we feel the more unpleasant aspects of our masculine-orientated world affecting our lives we can seek to counter these by turning to the woman inside. But that woman inside is not just a performance. She needs to be at one with all those women who have experienced the reality of being born a woman and not just becoming one. These are our sisters and mothers, our girlfriends and wives. If we remain sensitive to their concerns we may be lucky enough to gain their support and help them to understand the conflict between the boy and the girl that has dominated our lives. In becoming a woman – wherever that concept fits on our personal gender spectrum – we owe allegiance. Feminism and trans feminism should be one. Lisa Saphora, Cheshire [Rose 5354]
Laverne Cox
The whole experience of becoming a woman can mean different things depending on who you are. We are all unique and making generalisations about people risks missing out on properly understanding the richness of diversity. In a recent interview Laverne Cox noted – with some amazement – that she is a black transgender chick from a poor working-class family in Alabama who now graces the covers of magazines like Vanity Fair. She says that she has been picking herself apart her whole life and for years wanted highly invasive feminising surgery but couldn’t afford it. Now that she has the money to do it she doesn’t want it – she is happy with who she is. Most people believe they have never met a trans person because they think that gender is binary – you are either male or female. This belief, particularly in the West, is largely a construct of social conditioning. In other cultures – Thailand for instance or the hijra traditions in India – there is recognition of the existence of third and fourth genders. If people could just overcome their social myopia and look beneath the skin they would understand that gender is truly a spectrum of possibility and not a strait-jacket that has to constrain you from birth to death. I am glad to be trans. My life became so much richer when I overcame my self-doubt and properly started to side-step the restrictions of my birth gender and explore this process of becoming a woman. When inclination beckons and opportunity allows I am more than happy to be a woman – one who knows her place on the gender spectrum. Like Laverne Cox I am fully at ease with who I am.
“… gender is truly a spectrum of possibility and not a strait-jacket that has to constrain you …”
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Half Century Girl this following my return from Sparkle in IJulywrite 2015 after having had such a wonderful time.
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Help and support for the transgender community
I was out and about in new dresses, feeling free and expressing the trans woman inside me. However, I had also been pushing myself to the limit with work. As a landscape gardener I do a very physical job, add to that the stress of tight schedules to meet and I suppose it was inevitable that I collapsed after a mild stroke. The subject of death has been mentioned in recent issues of Repartee and I guess I had a close one there, but I cheated the grim reaper and I am recovering now. I have been through so much in my life, stood up against bigots and am now an openly trans woman: everyone knows, my work and my friends. Much of my life was ruined by anti-trans idiots. I took a lot of bigotry and harassment, but then I snapped and obliterated the bullies. I was the victim and yet I was punished, but I do feel a heavy weight of guilt in my life and the penance has been paid. I now only want to move forward and enjoy life as a trans woman. I have met many nice friends in our community and my message is simple: we all need to support each other. We are a sisterhood, a different part of society. Our need to cross-dress harms no-one and for whatever reason it brings comfort to us all. ‘Dressing’ for me brings stress relief, relaxation and contentment. It is very nice to shed the worries of life and become someone different. On the subject of death again, it is my wish that when I ‘go’, I be laid to rest with my make-up done, a nice wig, a lovely dress and high heels, so I can enter the afterlife as a woman. Now, let’s all get aboard Dr. Who’s TARDIS and travel back to January 10th 1988, my 26th birthday and a night on the town with a couple of mates. We ended up in a nightclub and I was massively impressed with one woman I saw just dancing on her own under the glitter ball. Being a tranny her clothes caught my eye straight away. She had long permed hair like the singer Cher and wore a silver silky blouse, a black shiny pencil skirt and ankle-strap high heels. She was just gorgeous and of course I loved that outfit! I’d had a lot to drink and my chat-up-line was a bit mad: “Love your outfit, suits you better than it would me!” Normally I could have expected a slap in the face for that, but she just smiled and joined me at a table for a drink. We ended up back at my place for more drinks and a meal and then she just asked me if I wanted to try her top on. It turned out that Marion was bisexual and had just known I was a cross-dresser. It was the best of both worlds for her, a man who would be a woman too. Soon I had one of my black skirts on with Marion’s silver top, which fitted well as she was a big-busted woman. I put a wig on and then she did my make-up and tried on one of my tops. We were two ladies having a drink and talking openly. A very different first date indeed and that’s how I met my wife. We just clicked straight away: it was a whirlwind romance, sex was wild and she preferred me ‘dressed’ when we made love. Soon a baby was on the way and we got married in October. My first daughter Nicole was born in February 1989 and the second, Susanne, arrived in March 1990 so we became a family of girls. My compulsion to ‘dress’ is very strong and we were a very open family. I would just wander round the flat wearing a dress after a hard day’s work, to relax. My daughters just grew up with it
and we explained to them that everyone is different and daddy just had a strong feminine side. Was it wrong to bring our daughters up this way? I believe we brought them into the modern world and gently made them aware that we are all individuals with different feelings. We taught them that there are perverts and bad people in the world and not to talk to strangers, etc. In the final part of my story I shall jump back to 1996 when my girl Susanne was snatched from the park by a couple, bundled into a car and abducted. Any parent would go nuts and it was lucky for that couple that they were soon caught and safe in police custody. Yes ladies, Louisa has been through a lot in her life. But let’s talk about happier times. Around 1990/91 I was totally free to ‘dress’ at home but had this inner need to meet others like myself. So I phoned the Edinburgh gay switchboard and was lucky enough to be put in contact with Julie who was running the Scottish TV/TS Group. We spoke on the phone and then I had the chance to attend my first meeting. I packed a holdall with all the girly items I would need. I was not afraid at all: I was excited, I really wanted this. I wore a black skirt, court shoes and tights and had borrowed one of my wife’s tops. I felt very good and looked like a business woman. It was just so wonderful to meet other trans people and identify at last. We chatted and got to know each other and I attended meetings for the next two years. There were always 12-14 regulars, some from Edinburgh and others from further afield. Eventually, sadly, council cut-backs removed the venue and the group folded. I worked very long hours and drifted apart from Marion. There were still good times, family weekend days out and a family holiday each year, but Marion was having affairs as I was hardly ever in. We divorced in 1999. I saw my daughters for the next couple of years, but have had no contact at all over the last 15 years and don’t even know where they are now. I sought solace in the Pentland hills, walking in the wilderness and enjoying the peace and quiet. Madness gripped me and I took women’s clothes and make-up with me and changed among the fir trees. I walked around a reservoir, calming down and trying to put my life back together. It was a nice day and I suddenly got the urge to go into the water and so I did, fully dressed as a woman. It was madder than the madness of King George! The reservoir is 72 feet deep, so there was no danger of hitting the bottom. My wig came off and was bobbing around like a drowned hedgehog, but I retrieved that and put it back on and it was actually a nice experience with my clothes rippling around me. I must stress that Louisa is a good swimmer and I was depressed at the time. Crazy ventures like this are certainly not recommended for beginners! However, I did come out feeling clean in my soul and ready to move on with my life. Next time, when I conclude my life story, there will be both sadness and gladness. I will jump backwards and forwards in time with a wish to finish up very positively. After such a hard life I now only wish happiness to all us trans people.
PERSONAL FEATURE
Part Three
“I have met many nice friends in our community and my message is simple: we all need to support each other.”
Louisa, Edinburgh [Rose 5286]
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READERS’ LETTERS
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REPARTEE 81
Just Like Me
Lisa Saphora responds To Joe’s letter in issue 80: Dear Joe, Thank you so much for taking the trouble to respond to my article about admirers (Repartee 79) and for entering a discussion on this issue. I echo Bella Jay’s comment that it is encouraging to have some participation from genuine admirers at last and I hope that this is something that will continue and generate a forum – both within these pages and within the trans community in general. That will help to stimulate interest and understanding between us. If you reread the first couple of paragraphs of my article I hope you will see that I did not intend to judge all admirers on the basis of some of the experiences I recounted. This would indeed be intolerant. People in the trans community should be particularly careful not to come across to others as aloof and arrogant. I personally would be horrified to be considered as such. Bella points out that admirers are perhaps even more misunderstood than the trans girls they would like to socialize with and in consequence they often have to hide their feelings for us from friends and family – just as many t-girls have to from theirs. Your letter suggests that you are a sensitive and caring person who felt somewhat hurt by what I had to say. I can appreciate the growing sense of horror and embarrassment that must have crept over you as you read further into my article. But please, Joe, don’t think that my comments were intended to censure genuine and considerate admirers like you. Trans people cannot afford to make enemies of people seeking mutual friendship and understanding. We are isolated enough for goodness’ sake without rejecting those who would be our friends. I think it is lovely that this dialogue has begun and I hope that it will now continue and that you and other genuine admirers will start to contribute your thoughts and experiences to these pages. Despite the impression my article might have given you I am approachable – I don’t bite. I am often out and about in and around trans friendly places so if you ever see me do please come and say hello. Lisa Saphora, Cheshire [Rose 5354]
Dear Bella Jay, I absolutely loved Cathy Heart’s article (Am I Trans Enough?) in the previous issue (80). It’s me she is describing to a T. Her story is very much like mine. My son having graduated and moved away, I’m spending more and more time as Amanda and pushing her further and further. I now have more female clothes than male! I’m in education and get school holidays, so I spend at least a week per holiday 24/7 en-femme. I have a great beautician who helps create Amanda: waxing, nail extensions and eye-lash extensions, brow-shaping and tinting. I regularly go away as Amanda too. I’ve had various psychological and medical tests done and had counselling! I’m high on the TG spectrum at 74-76%. I’m also retiring this academic year and plan to spend far more time as Amanda. Not sure where it’s all going! Amanda, Surrey [Rose 3296] Email: amanda.tg@outlook.com
A Question for the Activists Hi Bella, I have a question that I hope some of your readers can answer. Here in the States, we are, almost on a weekly basis, fighting about transgender rights. These include the use of locker rooms and rest rooms by everyone from transgender children to senior citizens. Could you please tell me, is the same thing happening in the UK? If it is, how are the activists there fighting for your freedom? How can activists with limited resources get their message out to the public? Just between you and me, there are times that I feel like saying, “I quit”. I don’t though. Maybe I like the challenge, or maybe I’m just crazy. I don’t know. Anyway, I am still going to keep up being a pain-in-the-butt until someone shuts me up. Jenna Satterfield, USA Email: paulsborogirl@hotmail.com
Above: Amanda Below: Lisa
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READERS’ ADS FRIENDSHIP
Lancashire: Tall, slim, mature RTV, size 14/16 with natural breasts and large nipples. Very broadminded with a widerange of interests. WLTM TV/TS, RG and males for adult fun. Would also like a TV friend to go to various events etc. Phone 07860 453998 or email: alan@alclarkie.plus.com
When replying Please remember to send us loose stamps.
New Forest: OTV Teresa [Rose 5277] single and discreet, loves wearing long elegant frocks. WLTM someone similar for nonsexual friendship. CTOA. Your photo and SAE ensures my reply. Box E1 Bournemouth: Intelligent single male, 62, at home, seeks occasional visits from a slim petite TV or TS, size 8/10, afternoons/ evenings/weekends. I’m very broadminded and will consider any scenario/fantasy that is meaningful to you (whether sexual or not). Discretion assured. No Box E2 texts please.
Bournemouth: Single girly sissy bo-peep seeks contact with a frilly sissy for genuine friendship and understanding who, like me, has the mind-set of a little girl. I enjoy playing with my teddy bears and dolls and, like all little girls, love experimenting with make-up and wearing high heels just like big girls do. My favourite colours are pink, white and powder blue. I’m blonde, slim, clean-shaven and very discreet. I’m not old enough to have a computer or mobile phone but can send and receive handBox E3 written letters.
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REPARTEE 81
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Our new website will be launched in June 2016 (see page 7) soon after our last printed magazine (Repartee 82) is published. Initially a lot of the content will be articles taken from recent printed magazines but we also wish to have a fair amount of brand new previously unpublished content. What we are looking for: More of the same: The usual sort of content that you see in the printed magazine but new original material. Fetish: We had some fetish features in Repartee awhile ago but would like more for the website. Fiction: We also had fiction in early issues of Repartee and are not averse to having a limited amount on the new site. Regular Blogs: If you would like to become one of our regular contributors to the new site like the regulars we presently have in the printed magazine, we could provide a blog spot for you which you could even edit yourself online if you wish. Videos: We can include videos anywhere on the new website; within articles or stand alone, and we can also add them to our Roses Repartee channel on YouTube. Media Watch: Katie, who does our present ‘Media watch’ page, will not be able to continue after we go online so we would welcome a volunteer to do something similar for the new website. News: We would like everyone to keep us posted of any news they hear of that might be worthy of an item on our News page. At least when we go online it will be more up to date than the news we’ve been able to include in the printed mag. Reviews & Reports: These will be welcome for any product, book, service, event, etc. Suppliers please send us any items you’d like us to review. Please start sending us all the above for our new website now (News later) so that we can have plenty of new content included ready for the launch in June. Please send your material by email to Martine at: repartee@repartee.tv
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The FINAL issue is out 1st June 2016 Thanks to all the contributors to this issue of Repartee and Andrea for proof reading.
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In this issue:
Suzy Fleur