Anais S

I have some mixed feelings. This is thr closest personal experience of trans expieences (this one is transgender) I have had. I was born female and love being a woman. I have transgender friends who were born male but identify as female. I could argue the same that they may not know the struggle of a woman, had privileges I will never have having lived as a man or that they cannot have a true understanding of women's rights. Honestly though, I think they may be more woman than I am and have had to face harder battles than I ever having becoming who they are today. The path my friends chose is not an easy one. Nor is Rachel's. Another part of me feels that societal lines are blurred a lot in life; saying your married when really you aren't, claiming a different gender, race, class, socioeconomic background; whatever knowing it's bs. If we wanna get real most of what people post on social media is based on how they want to identify rather than their reality (see your page). I am not sure that she believes it is bs though. I remember lying to my boyfriend in high school, I told him my dad was a doctor because I was embarrassed that we weren't rich; I knew this was B.S.. I'm sharing this because at some point you too have probably blurred some lines. Its okay to think about it but be honest with yourself when you answer. At some point I believe we have all been uncomfortable with ourselves in some way. That is a part of being human. I had mixed emotions about this documentary but I thought it was well done and I could hear that the struggles were true to everyone. It opened my mind some. None of us are but we're not all wrong either. This woman has chosen a hard path and while she was not honest about her race or origin initially, I believe that she tried to do good and truly identifies as a Black woman. She may not have lived her life from the black perspective but she has experienced disparity, has been treated badly, has been harrassed and so have her kids. What I took was that whatever pain she is going through now it doesnt compare to the pain from her childhood, in general people choose the path of least pain and resistance. She has not. I challenge you to not just dig your feet in and allow emotions to take over but try understanding with some compassion first. Mostly I hope that there is some healing for all, especially her son's are okay and her sister Esther.