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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Trans Widows Escape Committee 3: Rise of the Trans Widows

942 replies

TinselAngel · 18/08/2019 18:28

Less than two years have passed since the first TWEC thread and now its time for a third.

This is a support area for women who are, or have been, in unhappy relationships with male partners who are transitioning, or exploring their "gender identity"

If you are in that position-

  1. You are not alone
  2. It is not a situation that you should be expected to tolerate, let alone celebrate.
  3. There is always a way out, if you want it. The thread is called Escape Committee for that reason

Remember: women talking to each other is a powerful weapon!

Regulars- do post here to get the thread going.

Lurkers- now would be a great time to de-lurk.

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testing987654321 · 28/08/2019 18:50

I was away dancing at the weekend. There was a man dressed as a woman (no idea how he identifies). Interestingly he wore makeup the whole weekend despite the heat (not a decision the women made).

The interesting bit was that he danced with women the whole weekend but always in the "woman's" position. Normally if two women dance together they tend to swap places now and then.

I know nothing about him beyond what I observed but it made me think of this thread as it felt like a real performance of trying to be a woman that displaced actual women. I think it would be much better for him to learn to be comfortable as he is, not performing all the time.

Anyway, if his female partner isn't happy I hope she finds this thread sometime.

socialworker222 · 28/08/2019 22:50

testing that's so well-observed and interesting. It seems their credibility is so precarious that they have to out-'women' women. My ex (not only dances now, funnily enough but) is always over-made up. (There are interesting MN threads about how people think they 'pass' because no'one appears to notice, when in fact middle aged transitioners really don't fool anyone but women are far too polite, or uninterested, or repelled/alarmed to show a reaction). It is a sad sign of how delusional and self-focused these men can be.

ItsOnAmericasTorturedBrow · 29/08/2019 08:21

My ex immediately took up flamenco dancing and bought all the gear (which he wore when he wasn't even at lessons inc flowers on his head). He went on to perform with an all women flamenco dance group. It looked utterly ridiculous - in his heels he would be around 6'3" with size 11 feet and great long skinny arms and legs, towering over the women who were a foot shorter and curvy. He must have believed he passed. Then he gave up very suddenly for some reason.

TinselAngel · 29/08/2019 11:28

I probably shouldn't laugh, but we have to take our laughs where we can on this thread.

The flamenco dancing is hilarious. Grin

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testing987654321 · 29/08/2019 14:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TinselAngel · 29/08/2019 15:54

childrenoftransitioners.org/2019/08/09/on-the-pressure-to-pretend-that-its-all-ok/

This is great. I don't know if it's the person who visited this thread a while back.

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testing987654321 · 29/08/2019 16:00

It does seem really similar. It's such a bizarre thing.

testing987654321 · 29/08/2019 16:12

By "bizarre thing" I mean expecting your children to support your delusions and getting angry when they don't do it perfectly.

It's not how being a parent should work.

ItsOnAmericasTorturedBrow · 29/08/2019 16:56

Yes a judge had to order my ex to let our daughter call him Daddy and to refer to himself as Daddy with her. He said "Daddy" or "Father" are transphobic. The judge and courts disagreed.

Tyrotoxicity · 29/08/2019 17:38

ItsOn that's made me really cross on your daughter's behalf. Did it never occur to him that his daughter's psychological welfare might be just a tiny bit more important than his own desire for validation?

It's rule one of parenting, isn't it? Kids' needs come before parents' wants.

socialworker222 · 29/08/2019 21:49

Tyro that's the nub of it. Take away the supposed reason, and it's the utter selfishness that leaves me angry after several years. I have come across very few women who treat their children with such disregard, insensitivity and as of less importance than themselves. And WTF is going on with flamenco? My ex posts celebratory pics of his poses on social media!

QuinnMovesOn · 30/08/2019 04:37

The ChildrenOfTransitioners posts are really good, if very painful to read.

TinselAngel · 30/08/2019 08:56

New post, which is so great Thanks

childrenoftransitioners.org/2019/08/29/the-invisible-mother/

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BoudiccaMarley · 30/08/2019 09:33

Hi Angel!

No sooner said than done... I left the AGP douchebro who I had a kid with 17yr ago. Long distance courtship London/Scotland ensured I saw no red flags, and I understand bc of unresolved trauma, I'm shit at picking partners.

Took me 2yr from the first time I found his clothing/kit. Fuck that forever.

Joisanofthedales · 30/08/2019 09:43

The invisible mother article made me well up. Love and total respect to all the mothers on this thread. You are not invisible to us.
back to lurking

TinselAngel · 30/08/2019 10:06

Hi BoudiccaMarley, welcome and do stick around. I like the cut of your jib.

Having all of our stories in this place is a great resource.

You're the second trans widow I've made contact with on Spinster and it's only been going five minutes!

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LangCleg · 30/08/2019 10:39

Just intruding for a second to say hi to BoudiccaMarley and welcome to Mumsnet!

(We usually leave the women here to discuss among themselves, so I'm not ignoring you!)

Tyrotoxicity · 30/08/2019 12:20

Welcome Boudicca, and may I say I am loving the mental image your username is giving me. Fierce angry woman on a chariot with spiky wheels and great big speakers blaring out reggae. That'd shit the Romans right up. Grin

And I am glad you've realised unresolved trauma leads to terrible choices of partner. I wish I'd done the same years ago. In fact I wish I'd learnt that one is supposed to choose a partner instead of just saying "oh, okay then" when someone shows an interest. I distinctly remember, the first time I properly met the ex, thinking "okay, don't actually fancy him, but, like, arranged marriages and shit can work and there don't appear to be any other options on the not-dying-alone front, so let's give it a go and see how it works out cos it'd be really fucking rude and ungrateful not to."

Oh, how I wish I had run a bloody mile!

Other moments that would have had me running a mile if I'd had healthy boundaries instead of having being, y'know, repeatedly traumatised for two decades include: the time he said the things he was looking for in a partner were basically the ability to cook and a readiness to perform fellatio; the way he turned into a horrible racist tory whenever his dad's around; the weird codependent relationship with his previous ex (still ongoing); and the whole inability to actually live like a grown up, with personal hygiene and a job and life goals and so on.

And then I tried, so very hard, to be totally cool with the ladies' knickers things - which meant he opened up and talked about the fetish, which left me less and less comfortable, and it's only fairly recently I've come to accept this discomfort was rooted in the cognitive dissonance of trying to believe he loved me while being repeatedly confronted with the evidence that I was nothing but a prop for his sexual fantasies.

Sorry, that was a bit of a ramble. It's Friday, it's therapy day, my brain's a bit all over the place.

QuinnMovesOn · 30/08/2019 15:07

BoudiccaMarley, welcome to the sisterhood none of us wanted to be in. Smile

CandyLeBonBon · 30/08/2019 15:50

Omg @Tyrotoxicity - I'm not a trans widow but I regularly read the threads in here and have so much admiration for you all. You comment about the 'oh well, you'll do because at least I won't die alone' is so very true and even though I'm not a trans widow that resonates so much with me and the shit relationship choices I've made. I just wanted to delurk to say Thankyou for articulating this.

I'll go back to lurking again, but wanted to pop out and wish you all the strength in the world Thanks

Catmint · 30/08/2019 16:21

Delurking to offer my respect to you trans widows and others affected.

Also, harking back to points earlier in the thread. I have had EMDR, my psychotherapist tried it experimentally with me for anxiety disorder. It was transformative. I hope this info helps someone.

TinselAngel · 30/08/2019 17:48

I'd learnt that one is supposed to choose a partner instead of just saying "oh, okay then" when someone shows an interest.

Tyro, this is brilliant, and I have only recently realised this another failed relationship Dow the line! Grin

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ItsOnAmericasTorturedBrow · 30/08/2019 21:57

Yes Tyro that's it - I had a emotionally abusive childhood with 2 narc parents and all my adult romantic relationships have been abusive. I didn't know I deserved better.

Tyrotoxicity · 30/08/2019 23:25

I'm glad my words are resonating - at least one good thing comes from them spewing forth non-stop!

Tonight I managed a real-world conversation about the pushing at sexual boundaries and how it makes me feel and how earlier trauma affects all this. It's good, because it's one small step further on the path to mentally distancing myself from ex (which needs to happen; we are still too enmeshed and it does not do me any favours long term).

So that's two positive things in one day. I'm calling it a win.

TinselAngel · 31/08/2019 00:00

You're on fire Tyro, I think we should put you on our shoulders and carry you around in celebration.

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