In today’s weekly podcast post, I present Jay Frosting’s podcast “Miss Gender,” and specifically his episode entitled “Are things getting better?” in which he discusses a woman named Ashley’s difficult transition into becoming a woman. Ashley begins by explaining how tedious and frustrating the process of waiting for gender-confirmation surgery (GCS) can be due to the fact that there is a large demand for it and additionally because there are only a handful of surgeons in the world that can reliably perform the operation. Though Ashley has already successfully gotten through reassignment surgery, she brings up the point that she cannot properly orgasm, and as such she wishes to undergo an additional operation; unfortunately for her, though, this may not happen until as late as 2017 due to popular demand. Still, Ashley’s biggest problem continues to be her failure to gain the support of her parents, who are not exactly pleased with her decision to become a transwoman. She describes the immense pain she experiences when her parents refuse to call her by her preferred name, and preferred pronoun. She even goes on to explain how her parent’s continual misuse of proper pronouns may in fact pose a threat to her safety if individuals in public who are not transgender friendly overhear the fact that she used to be a man. Similarly to other individuals who experience such complications when transitioning, this is a heartbreaking story. In a way, society is still warming up to the notion that gender reassignment surgery is a fairly regular operation these days, so it is at least somewhat understandable why not everyone would necessary be comfortable around transgendered folks. I am sure Ashley is fully aware of this reality and has accepted the unfortunate consequences of her choices; still, it is baffling that her own parents are so against her decision and I can only image how it must feel not being able to revel in the comfort and security of one’s own parents, who should be there for their children no matter what. I truly envy people like Ashley who have the confidence and self- respect to follow their hearts and live the lives they know will make them happy and best suited to take on the world.

http://www.missgender.com/