A podcast about gender, identity, orientation, and all the life that happens around them! George is an FtM transgender man, Jess is his pansexual genderqueer wife; they talk parenting, work, and such.
Episodes
Jun 6, 2015
Jun 6, 2015
39 min
Government employment has its ups and downs. We discuss our experiences working in the public sector, the fun situations we find ourselves in with colleagues, and Jess' elementary-school closet. No, not the closet she was in as an elementary student, but the one she finds herself in as an elementary teacher. But now that school is out, transfer time is in, and she's hoping for another chance at moving into middle or high school.
May 30, 2015
May 30, 2015
31 min
Jess thinks in words, George thinks in pictures. That sometimes makes it difficult to communicate when the words are needed to share the pictures and ideas in his head. As George's body continues to change, and his place in our world continues to settle into the "man camp", he considers how and when to best express the unique viewpoint that his experiences with HRT, with the changes testosterone has brought, with masculinity and femininity, and with emigrating from the "woman camp" have provided.
May 23, 2015
May 23, 2015
31 min
Parenting is hard. There's no tutorial level, and difficulty settings are subject to change at random. One minute your kid is your trusty sidekick with tons of charisma points, and the next they're on a boss-fight level tantrum. One of ours is particularly difficult, by no fault of his own, and so we have started to hunt down a strategy guide or walkthrough.
May 16, 2015
May 16, 2015
32 min
Jess and George are fairly rational people. We prefer to use our brains whenever possible, but we are sharing our lives with other people who have clear limits to their sense of reason. Whether it's George's mom, entitled-genius Child#3, developmentally-delayed Child#2, or autistic-teenager Child#1, we often have to be the logical ones on behalf of those in our care.
May 9, 2015
May 9, 2015
9 min
George's body has changed a lot over two years on testosterone. In this "extra" episode, we detailed some specific measurements and how T has affected them. We pulled this content from the main "second man-iversary" episode because it only interests a segment of our listeners, so we didn't want to bore the majority of you, but we wanted to have this information available for those who find it interesting or pertinent to their own experience.
May 9, 2015
May 9, 2015
33 min
At George's second anniversary of HRT, we review how the past two years have gone, his medical transition process, and how he feels about the experience.
May 2, 2015
May 2, 2015
36 min
Continuing last week's discussion of Christianity and the LGBTQIA+ community, we talk about how our friends' lives changed as they moved in and out of religious employment, government employment, and the private sector. They could see the effect of their religious views and their love for the queer community in the way they fit (or didn't) into each step of their respective and collective journeys.
Apr 25, 2015
Apr 25, 2015
38 min
George's friend and his wife, the ones who lead the bible study we've mentioned, join us for another guest episode! We discuss their initial experiences at the intersection of religion and respect for the LGBTQIA+ community, and how they moved from a place of supporting "ex-gay" ministries to being genuinely supportive and loving toward the queer community.
Apr 18, 2015
Apr 18, 2015
33 min
Transition literally means a change from one thing to another. Prior to transition, we were perceived as our assigned gender, and until we begin transitioning we have to cope with a less-than-ideal circumstance and state of being. How we cope is unique to each individual, and how long we choose to adapt to our assigned gender is also variable. George's experience of adapting and his methods of adaptation to his assigned gender were effective for him... until they weren't.
Apr 11, 2015
Apr 11, 2015
30 min
When Child#2's special needs require a school meeting, it's naturally a little stressful. When we find out that Child Protection has gotten involved with him, it's a lot stressful. When we're a queer family facing these things, with relatively little experience so far with bigotry or discrimination, things might not be what they seem.
Apr 4, 2015
Apr 4, 2015
32 min
During transition, the way others see us changes. This often changes the way they interact with us, although not in ways we would have expected. Sometimes the changes aren't even things others realize they're doing, but we who have seen the interactions from both presentations can spot the differences.
Mar 28, 2015
Mar 28, 2015
32 min
"Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved." George has had a really sh*tty day. Literally. Thankfully, between having the right hormones and the benefit of being culturally expected to behave as he is naturally inclined to do, he is able to manage things fairly well.
Mar 21, 2015
Mar 21, 2015
29 min
Genitals are a touchy subject in most of western culture, and no less so for most of the transgender community. We follow up previous discussions of George's "junk", and jump into Jess' "junk" also. Figuratively, of course. Frank discussion of lower dysphoria, sex, and genderqueer identity follow as we let the conversation follow our thoughts.
Mar 14, 2015
Mar 14, 2015
34 min
We love hearing from you, our listener friends. We do our best to respond to questions and feedback as quickly as possible, and while that may take us a few days sometimes, we are always glad to see what you think and to satisfy your curiosity. After we respond personally, we sometimes realize that your question is one that may be shared by other listeners, or we feel that it starts a worthwhile discussion, and so we compile them into an episode.
Mar 7, 2015
Mar 7, 2015
32 min
Child#2 is by far our most special and most needy of our special needs children. So when the school decides that he may not qualify for all of his special education services, we might have a problem on our hands. We try to find the bright side, or at least the bright spots, when we can, and it makes the problem closer to manageable. For now.
Feb 28, 2015
Feb 28, 2015
35 min
We are both people of faith, but only Jess is a person of religion. We've discussed before how our respective faith backgrounds overlap and how we adapt to a mixed-faith marriage, but now Jess has invited the whole queer Jesus gang to our house. George would probably have an issue with this, if it weren't his best friend and said friend's wife in charge of the group.
Feb 21, 2015
Feb 21, 2015
38 min
When a person transitions, they often find themselves becoming more aware of their status in the world, more aware of themselves, and more aware of others' awareness of them. From the gym to the job to the front porch, this week George discusses how his self-awareness has been affected by his transition experience.
Feb 14, 2015
Feb 14, 2015
21 min
Pronouns are important, especially within the transgender community. Misgendering can be a horrible insult to someone who's had to struggle for the right to use the word that fits. So when Jess is so linguistically-confused and gender-challenged that he can't even get her own pronouns right, let alone everyone else's, they might just have to forgo the use of gendered pronouns for a while.
Feb 7, 2015
Feb 7, 2015
25 min
Holy podcasts, TransMan! One hundred episodes? Wow!
Jan 31, 2015
Jan 31, 2015
36 min
During transition, making the change from one gender's sociocultural expectations to another can be a challenge, especially when someone has trained themself to ignore those differences. For George, and many other FtMs, things like how to groom one's newly sprouted facial hair and how to behave in the bathroom can be learning experiences., and a variety of problem-solving skills can be helpful in navigating the new experiences and expectations. For us, this month's learning experience has been at the gym, as George figures out how to bench press.
Jan 24, 2015
Jan 24, 2015
37 min
When two kids go away for holiday break, the "leftover" child is even more special-needy than usual. Between dialing 911 from the kids club, dive-bombing George's new model train with GI-Joes, running wild with classmates at the museum, and just generally being a developmentally delayed seven-going-on-three-year-old, we had our hands full.
Jan 17, 2015
Jan 17, 2015
30 min
Jan 10, 2015
Jan 10, 2015
33 min
In the second part of our conversation with George's cousin, we discuss marriage and family life as queers in the suburbs, and how different it is from the earlier history mentioned last week.
Jan 3, 2015
Jan 3, 2015
43 min
George's cousin came to visit, and we talked them into sitting down with us by a microphone for our first guest episode. As an AFAB, genderqueer, jewish, former pornographer, they fit right in with our crazy family!
Dec 27, 2014
Dec 27, 2014
31 min
Between birthdays and holidays, this year's schedule is full of opportunities for social awkwardness, gender-y and otherwise, and it has been all sorts of fun. Reviewing these events gives us an opportunity to discuss how George's introversion affects his social anxiety and how it has changed over the years, resulting from both experience and from transition.
Dec 20, 2014
Dec 20, 2014
28 min
Like Jack Sprat and wife, we often end up on opposite sides of a meal, task, or situation. George eats the fatty parts of the bacon, Jess eats the lean. George builds things, Jess sews things. George cleans, Jess cooks. While this is just a function of our respective experience and aptitudes, it often ends up seeming terribly heteronormative.
Dec 13, 2014
Dec 13, 2014
33 min
George seems to have developed a twin. Or maybe he has recently become some other guy's twin. Either way, his colleagues at work have mistaken him for one of his colleagues more than once. This mistaken identity has made George examine and become more aware of his own masculinity as he "sizes up" other guys and reevaluates his self-perception.
Dec 6, 2014
Dec 6, 2014
26 min
It's been said that "the only good dog stories are naughty dog stories". Unless there's a problem to solve, there's no story. The story isn't generally amusing while you're actually solving the problem, but the worst problems make for the best stories afterward.
You can hear and download the entire (accidentally-simmish) theme song at transpantastic.podbean.com/mf/web/ugf7y2/TPT-ThemeMusic.mp3.
Nov 29, 2014
Nov 29, 2014
30 min
George's mom has gone to visit his sister for the holidays, and we are thankful for the lessened obligation. Even so, the responsibility is never far away, no matter how long the plane ride took.
Nov 22, 2014
Nov 22, 2014
28 min
Transitioning later in life has both advantages and drawbacks. After one and a half years of medical transition, and almost two years since deciding to do so, George and Jess reflect on life as it is and how it has changed. Waiting until middle-age has made the process easier by far than it would've been at a younger age, but George still would've done it long ago if he'd known how beneficial it would've been. From muscles and facial hair to social and cultural shifts, things are different, and it's a good thing.
Nov 15, 2014
Nov 15, 2014
35 min
A few weeks back, you may have seen a link to a casting call on our social media. We thought about this project that MTV is considering, and decided we are not the ideal candidate family. Although many trans-parented families might have some similarities, the extents to which our unique differences present themselves are a little extreme even for us at times, and certainly doesn't need to be on camera. Besides, then who would do this podcast?!
Casting Call for Transgender Parents: http://remotecontrol.mtv.com/casting-call-for-parents/
Casting Call for Children of Transgender Parents: http://remotecontrol.mtv.com/casting-calls/casting-call-for-kids/
Nov 8, 2014
Nov 8, 2014
33 min
Between parenting our kids and parenting George's mom, we finally exhausted our reserves of responsibility, so we ran away from home. It's a very good thing to be able to get away, even if George is still recovering from minor surgery and even if the responsibilities do try to follow us!
Nov 1, 2014
Nov 1, 2014
37 min
At George's one-year checkup after his top surgery, the surgeon and he decided that there were a few spots that were less than ideal, so they scheduled revisions. George was ready for fixing the way his chest looked, but he wasn't ready for all the other things involved with that process!
Oct 25, 2014
Oct 25, 2014
36 min
Lately all of our responsibilities have had us feeling a little overwhelmed, so we decided to let loose a little bit in hopes of relieving a little of that stress.
Oct 18, 2014
Oct 18, 2014
27 min
Jess has mentioned before that she has become frustrated with managing small people at work. It's her job as a teacher to do so, but it has become increasingly clear that her talents and temperament are best suited to a secondary or post-secondary position. As she searches for a better job, the issue of how to discuss her family life and how to be a good queer role model for her students have been a topic of discussion for the two of us, and we have discussed the question of how "out" to be on George's behalf now, before she makes any statements regarding his trans status to her new staff or students.
Oct 11, 2014
Oct 11, 2014
29 min
Child#2 has been participating in boy scouts for a few months now, and while Jess still has reservations about their history with the LGBT community, George has been all about getting him involved with positive opportunities for male socialization.
Oct 4, 2014
Oct 4, 2014
33 min
Doctor visits can be stressful. George's semi-annual endocrinologist visit is coming up, and that means blood work, and between that and all the other visits he's been taking his mom or his rear-end to, he's developed a case of "White Coat Syndrome".
Sep 27, 2014
Sep 27, 2014
35 min
A new school year for our kids means new meetings and conferences with teachers for us, and with their special needs it's always an experience. As our children adjust to the schedules and routines, we adjust to the behaviour struggles that often accompany such transitions.
Sep 20, 2014
Sep 20, 2014
35 min
The adult voices in the old Peanuts cartoons were all played by a muted trombone. We often feel like when we're talking to our kids, they seem to hear that same "Wanh-wah, wa-wa-WANH-wa" sound, hearing that we are speaking but not really listening or being fully aware of what's being said. Of course, that sometimes happens with adults too, whether it's between ourselves or with the nice officials at the Social Security office.
The current policy for change of gender on Social Security records is at https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110212200, and you can find specific information about exactly how those policies affect transgender individuals and how to effectively use the procedures listed there at http://www.transequality.org/Resources/SSAResource_June2013.pdf.
Sep 13, 2014
Sep 13, 2014
30 min
While George finishes up the issues regarding his rear end, and the various interactions with doctors that we began discussing a few weeks ago, he can't help but find himself disappointed in the way his body responds to surgery and invasive medical procedures. This can occasionally become a dysphoria trigger, as he deals with just how unattainable and impractical any lower surgery would be.
Sep 6, 2014
Sep 6, 2014
29 min
When situations and circumstances become too much to deal with, or when we find that we are not dealing well with our situation, one way to get help coping is in therapy. Many trans folk seek therapy as part of the "Standards Of Care", an old model for medical transition, but it's good for much more than that.
Aug 30, 2014
Aug 30, 2014
34 min
Sometimes things get misplaced. While we endeavour to find lost items promptly, it often happens that the hunt for missing objects is preempted by our busy lives. Back-to-school has made our lives busier than usual, so the to-do list has gotten completely shuffled and lost-and-found hasn't been a priority.
Aug 23, 2014
Aug 23, 2014
37 min
More questions have been asked, so more answers are being recorded for your enjoyment, enlightenment, or timepassment. From the term "PrincessMan" to our favorite fandoms, from pod-stats to voice lessons, from Maryland to Kazakhstan, we've covered the topics you've asked about in today's episode.
Aug 16, 2014
Aug 16, 2014
33 min
Every once in a while, we have a problem that won't go away until we talk about it in a podcast episode. We've come to call this phenomenon "microphone magic". This time the problem is health-related, prompting a few visits to new doctors and the anxiety that can induce in trans folk.
Aug 9, 2014
Aug 9, 2014
42 min
From the moment a newborn emerges and the doctor takes note of their genitals, any child born into most western cultures is assigned a set of expections and cultural norms we refer to as "gender". It takes only a little experience to realize that the majority of these expectations are nonsense.
Aug 2, 2014
Aug 2, 2014
35 min
George's transition has made him clearly male in appearance, and this affects everything from his health to his social interactions. Jess is generally happy to support him in each situation, even when her own queerness gets lost in the shuffle. When hiking or exercising, when dealing with his mom, or when dealing with strangers in public, there are new experiences for both of us to explore.
Jul 26, 2014
Jul 26, 2014
22 min
There are four mammalian creatures in our house under four feet (~120cm) tall, two short hominids and two large canines. We have committed to be responsible for these living beings (and a tall homonid too), and this fact has given us both enjoyment and stress, both frustration and joy.
Jul 19, 2014
Jul 19, 2014
33 min
Jul 12, 2014
Jul 12, 2014
34 min
George's mom is old. As both her body and her brain have aged, she still seems, at least in our experience, to be fairly sharp. Why, then, do some of her doctors seem to think she has dementia? The answer might have to do with George's transition.
Jul 5, 2014
Jul 5, 2014
37 min
Because, episode sixty-nine, what else could we do?