Trans Panels

I was on a transgender panel both yesterday and today. Yesterday's panel was at UC Berkeley, and was with the same FemSex class I worked with last semester...with the same person I met during Berkeley's performance of the Vagina Monologues last year. This year, I actually knew a transgender woman at UC Berkeley who was interested in being on the panel, so, Tiffany joined myself and three FTM's to round out the panel. We actually had a very diverse group this year. I think everyone on the panel had transitioned inside the past few years, and we represented a huge spectrum....but didn't even come close to representing everyone out there. We simply represented ourselves. I was also the oldest one on the panel. It's good to see such a youthful presence...especially on the campus.

The panel went well, and I was able to use some of my CUAV training and photos for the panel. There were also a few new questions I hadn't heard, and a few new answers from some of the guys. It was great to have such diversity as the five of us interacted with the class for two full hours.

Afterward, I grabbed a quick bite to eat with a few friends on campus before watching the V-Day performances of the Vagina Monologues. This was actually their dress rehearsal where they invite some of the faculty and grad students on campus, as well as anyone special associated with the performance. Knowing a few people from the show definitely helped secure a spot to watch this year's performance. This was also the first time Tiffany saw the Vagina Monologues. I told her I watched/participated last year...with it being my little initiation into vaginahood.

Today, I was at the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality for another transgender panel. The call actually went to CUAV who forwarded the transgender request to myself and another individual who recently attended the public speaking training. Supposedly, IASHS is the only graduate school in the US approved to train sexologists.

Alexander and myself chatted with the graduate students for an hour and a half. We covered the multiple aspects of transition, the gender binary, and our general existence. We also had a number of questions from the therapist aspect. Most of the students were mature individuals who were likely therapist who had been practicing for quite a while. Their questions were a little more thought provoking on average than what I have had in the past, and a lot of them were seeking suggestions in general on how to better work with transgender clients.

I think one of the more intriguing conversations was the topic of sex reassignment surgery. One man asked if I was pleased with the results, and I mentioned that I could use a few tweaks. After describing the procedure involved with SRS, I told them that I didn't have too much sensation inside the vagina, and what I did have wasn't pleasurable yet. Most of my sensation comes from the clitoris and a little from the labia. So, I was a little disappointed with the pleasurable sensation in the vagina. A few of them laughed and said that most women didn't have sensation in or around the vagina, and that a lot of women weren't able to reach orgasm with simple vaginal penetration. I did mention that I was able to reach orgasm on my own, though.

Afterward, a man named Nick asked me if I had been able to pick out the shape of my vagina. He also handed me a book with pictures of vaginas and asked if I was able to show the surgeon photos of what I was looking for before SRS. I told him that I bought a few porn magazines and happily went thru them with my surgeon. (I also noticed that Donna Rose had a book of vagina pictures at her place...but I didn't see it until after my SRS.) Interestingly enough, he told me that he was the photographer of the book I was then thumbing thru. I found a picture of what my vagina basically looks like and pointed it out to him and another. I asked if the subject had a labiaplasty since she didn't have large labia, but he said that she hadn't...and that it was just the way hers looked. We also discussed the aspects and limits to working with the tissue at hand and the aesthetics one might like in their own vagina, as well as the dynamics of plastic surgeons creating things in the image they know. I joked with him that we (other TS who went to Dr. Meltzer) all had the same vagina as his wife, and that my nose was the same as my facial surgeon'’s daughter. Before Alexander and I left, though, Nick graciously offered me a free autographed copy of his book, Petals. Anyway, if you get a chance or need a book of vagina pictures you might like to compare, you might visit www.nickkarras.com.