"Do you feel 'trapped' in the wrong Cliche?"

I have never thought: I want to be a woman.  That makes no sense to me.  I know what I am.  I have always thought: I want to be a comedian.  That makes sense to me.  Because, like I said, I know who I am.

Over the years, one of my pet-peeves has been that question that everyone has heard: "Did you always feel like a woman 'trapped' in a man's body?"

Nope.

Never.

Not once.

There were a lot of things I did want, growing up.  Understanding and love were at the top of my list.

I was born Trans.

Because of ignorance and fear, I was educated and culturized as a male.  But, I've always known Who and What I was.  And, I quickly learned that if I was going to survive, I'd have to be very guarded about that.  My struggle was not being Trans.  My struggle was, and is, living in a world that is woefully uneducated, and too often hateful and violent. 

The fact that I've survived this long is not a comment on my tenacity (I wish).  It's pure dumb luck.

But, I'm here.

And, sometimes, I get cranky.

"Are you a man who wanted to be a woman?", and "Do you feel trapped in the wrong body?" are what the ignorant, and the media, use as their 'go to' cliché to describe a life that hasn't begun to be understood.

It 'wrankles my niggets!'

Because, besides being woefully inadequate and completely wrong-headed, it shows that our knowledge of science and sex-education in this country is beyond pitiful. 

And, if that isn't bad enough, it is an explanation that has been thrust upon us, often by people who claim to only want to help.

It's insulting.  It's a two-dimensional representation of the three-dimensional life.  Mostly, though, it's a short-cut for those who stopped thinking long ago.

No, I never thought to myself, "I want to be a woman". 

I've lived my life surviving, and discovering what it means to be Trans in the world in which I live.  I've learned a great deal.  Seen a lot.  Experienced so many interesting things.  All of which informs my comedy.

That is Who I am.

I know that this is a long answer to what seems, on it's surface, to be a simple question.  But, I think the conversation needs to change.  Old definitions, out-moded and trans-phobic 'assessments and diagnosis' need to say 'Bye, bye, now!"

I've only ever wanted to be a comedian.

My 'gender-identity', my 'sexuality' and my sense of myself has never waivered.  But, my faith in humanity often has (like a noodle in a wind-storm).

You said, yourself, that you already knew the answer.

But, you just had to ask.

Here's hoping that doesn't answer your question.