Back to School
Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:50 am
At last month's KB meeting, one of the members mentioned that she was trying to recruit participants for an on-going program at UNCC. One of the sociology professors there conducts a class on human sexuality. Over the course of the semester, he has guest speakers and other visitors in the classroom to illustrate various topics. For seventeen years, members of Kappa Beta have participated in these classes, and the current class was tonight.
At the beginning of the class, the professor did a brief talk about sexual characteristics and gender roles, and how sometimes biology and psychology interfere with one another. He gave a brief rundown of various terms and definitions relating to aspects of transgenderism, then handed the floor over to us.
Four of us came to the class: Pamela, an older TG who has been gradually transitioning over a period of years, Stephanie Marie and myself (crossdressers) and Jennifer, who is post-op. We each got to stand up and say a little about ourselves, then the floor was opened for questions from students.
When my time to speak came up, I just stood up, introduced myself and gave the Cliff's Notes version of my history. I'll tell you, that little improvised presentation about myself was the longest I've stood in front of any group and talked about myself openly, especially among non-TG folk.
The Q & A session was the most fun. I got to hear stuff about my friends I didn't know before, and even managed to learn a little about myself. Some of the questions were standard TG FAQ stuff: "Are you gay?" and so on, but most were of the intelligent, sometimes thought-provoking variety. A lot of the questions were directed at Jen, but the rest of us fielded a good number each, and it was interesting to hear all the different perspectives on things.
I'm definitely looking forward to next semester.
At the beginning of the class, the professor did a brief talk about sexual characteristics and gender roles, and how sometimes biology and psychology interfere with one another. He gave a brief rundown of various terms and definitions relating to aspects of transgenderism, then handed the floor over to us.
Four of us came to the class: Pamela, an older TG who has been gradually transitioning over a period of years, Stephanie Marie and myself (crossdressers) and Jennifer, who is post-op. We each got to stand up and say a little about ourselves, then the floor was opened for questions from students.
When my time to speak came up, I just stood up, introduced myself and gave the Cliff's Notes version of my history. I'll tell you, that little improvised presentation about myself was the longest I've stood in front of any group and talked about myself openly, especially among non-TG folk.
The Q & A session was the most fun. I got to hear stuff about my friends I didn't know before, and even managed to learn a little about myself. Some of the questions were standard TG FAQ stuff: "Are you gay?" and so on, but most were of the intelligent, sometimes thought-provoking variety. A lot of the questions were directed at Jen, but the rest of us fielded a good number each, and it was interesting to hear all the different perspectives on things.
I'm definitely looking forward to next semester.
