When you dare to be yourself, you feel much better, I particularly like this sentence and I have very often used it on this site or on my social networks. The meaning is very explicit and speaks to me, and to many other readers of these lines, I think.

For people who are transgender, transvestite, genderfluid, non-binary or simply do not conform to the usual type expected by society, being yourself is often far from obvious. And being yourself, dressing, behaving, being recognized as you wish, whether for a few moments or to start a new stage in your life is very often a trigger that allows you to get better, for the life or for a few hours.

This is why the meaning of this sentence is so important to me.
Being able to be yourself, daring to be yourself is so precious for everyone.

Self-acceptance and the expression of one's gender, one's identity, one's character are elements that must be cultivated and protected, but we must not lose sight of another element, oh so important too, which is acceptance of others and their differences.

I want to write a few words to share my point of view on the subject because I see, too often, on social networks in particular, far too much intolerance...

I don't want to give moral lessons, I'm not here for that and maybe not necessarily the best placed for that either, but by dint of reading messages here and there, opinions that tend to divide, to to separate, to discriminate… I want to convey a word of tolerance, at best acceptance, at worst ignorance.

I am not talking here about society's intolerance against transgender, transvestite, genderfluid people… but about the intolerance that can exist between the different expressions and interpretations of femininity and the (supposed) right or wrong way of femininity. live.

We are all different even if the backgrounds and feelings can come together.
We all have our fears, our doubts, our limits, our desires, our feelings, our possibilities.
Transition paths, transitions are different.
The ways of living, apprehending and experiencing femininity are different.
Tastes, clothing styles, lifestyles are different.
Sexual attractions and desires are different.

And obviously, not everything can please everyone, we can't please everyone and not everything can please us and that's normal.

However, there is one thing we can do is simply accept this state of affairs, avoid thinking that our truth is the absolute truth and ignore the things that we do not like if we do not appreciate them.

You don't like people who make such a choice in their transition? You don't like this way of feminizing yourself? It's your absolute right but if the people who make those choices you don't like are better off that way and don't hurt anyone, let them live, move on, live the way you like, share your way of life if you wish but leave in peace those who have chosen a different life.

I find that we see far too often this bias which pushes to criticize others to assert oneself, it is fortunately not the most common, but when it happens it tends to be very visible and necessarily hurtful , unnecessarily, for the persons concerned.

We all want, I think, a more tolerant society and that starts with working on ourselves, self-acceptance and acceptance of others. If something does not please us but does not prevent us from living, we should, I think, think twice before criticizing and excluding and therefore hurting others.

Speech is silver and silence is gold it seems, it is often true in this case. Except, I would say, in the case where it concerns people close to you, in which case the sudden silence does not act as benevolent ignorance but turns into a deafening silence of incomprehension and exclusion.

Dialogue and open-mindedness are precious allies, which must be cultivated and worked on tirelessly.

When you dare to be yourself, you are much better off, yes, even more so when you accept that others are different...

Take care.

Maud

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