Jan 13, 2009

Petra's Tuesday Traipse - Volume 5

Crossdressing is interesting. And not just figuring out how to walk in heels or fastening the clasp on a back zip cocktail dress. Of course, being able to do those things, and a thousand other graceful indicators of femininity is a form of accomplishment. And accomplished people, whether CD or TG (or any other place on the spectrum) tend to accomplish much in diverse, and sometimes surprising arenas. Many excel at the whole writing thingy.

Recently I have been lucky enough to stumble into the online lairs of a handful of Crossdressers and other gender gifted individuals who have really captured my attention. These are personal journals that manage to get past surface issues, and explore with style, sensitivity, insight and wit some of the more profound aspects of life for people who share our enthusiasms.

The sites in today’s Tuesday Traipse stand out for honesty and quality. They manage to not get too preachy or self-obsessed along the way. Additionally, the authors do not ever lose sight of the magical, electrical qualities of the transformations that we are drawn too. Moreover, and finally, these are sites that stand out for nice finishes, or for great execution of the technical tactics that make it possible to find beautiful roses amongst the myriad thorns of the web.

So here are a handful of blogs I would encourage you to visit.

Lets start today with the fabulously named
Femulate. Anyone serious about writing has creating a new word on their “bucket list”. Well hats off Staci. Femulate is a peach. Beyond this creative flourish, Femulate is easy on the eye. The layout is clean, text stands out from background well and the site refreshes daily with really nice, aspirational imagery of beautiful, confident and yes, fully dressed women. Women who I invariably want to femulate.

Content on the site runs the gamut from the very whimsical to deeply contentious and political. Regardless of how serious the issue of the day is though, it never drowns out the essential enthusiasm for life and enjoyment that Staci clearly has a death grip on. It will take you just 2 minutes a day to get a piece of that for yourself. Go. Now.

When you have more than 2 minutes to spare, may I suggest the somewhat more demanding blog of
Tricia Dale. This is stuff to curl up on the couch with. Leave enough time for your nails to dry. Prepare to spend some quality time. Those of you with a background in English Lit will recognize the epic, serial storytelling of Thomas Hardy. Those of you who pinched your big sisters Enid Blyton books will be similarly comforted.

If you are musically inclined too however, marvel at the remarkably well executed device employed by our 3rd person heroine to provide narrative structure. Chapter names are borrowed from a vast and diverse collection of beautiful songs, songs that express ineffably feminine perspectives. Complete with lyrics no less. Go. When you have more time.

Jillian Page comes from another school of authorship altogether. Jillian is an actual journalist. Not a frustrated amateur. She was thinking and writing for a living long before Jillian was broadly introduced to the world as, well… as Jillian. If you want to see the world through the eyes of a professional who happens to be gender transitioning, this is the place to go.

American gals may take a moment or 2 to get used to seeing the letter “u” following the letter “o” more than Webster would like. Once past that, Jillian’s dispatches are bigger than bite size, and dense with personal observations that are just drenched with experience, both authorial and personal. Jillian is in full M2F transition mode. She is creating an essential piece of social archaeology in real time here. Don’t miss an issue. Go. Subscribe to her
feed.

And as much as I enjoy my visits to these 3 blogs, I cannot imagine how many terrific sites and insights I am missing. The more I look around the more I realize you cannot swing a purse around here without hitting a clever blogette. If you know one (or if you are that girl), drop a line, or leave a comment here on this post. I’d love to know what I am missing.

4 comments:

Stana said...

Thank you for the very kind words, Petra.

Anonymous said...

Wow, Petra. I am truly touched by your words. And you are a beautiful writer! Thanks so much. I'm linking to your blog from both my blogs.

Cheers and love
Jillian Page

Anonymous said...

Hi Petra and wow, thanks very much. I'm glad you are enjoying the blog as much as I am writing it. All girls should blog, it keeps their femininty alive whatever their current circumstance.

Its also right what you say at the end. I wan't aware of your blog and there must be so much out there to help us all.

Love the way your blog is laid out and thought about. I shall link too and lets hope others join us,

Hugs,

Trish xx

Lori D said...

Nice blog! I just found it today. I, too, enjoy finding interesting and fun trans blogs. Heck, I even put together one called T-Central ( http://t-central.blogspot.com ) just to help me keep them all together! Keep up the great work!

 
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