I wrote the following review for a post on Baka-Updates Manga. It is much more professional and objective. But I personally think it's less fun to read. 8D I mean, everyone loves listening to me complain, right? .....Right?
MANDATORY TRANSGENDER DISCLAIMER: If you are homophobic, or bothered by Male-To-Female transgender, you will NOT enjoy this Manga! If you are interested in transgender characters, you may have a problem with the objectification Yuki goes through, but Yuki herself is an enjoyable character! If you are unable to suspend your disbelief and accept that Yuki looks female, and must have a microscopic wee-wee to look like that in a pair of panties, you will not enjoy this manga!
Now, on to the review...
My reactions to this Manga, in order of appearance:
Interest -> General Boredom -> Loving Yuki -> Despising and Loathing Masato (Main Male Protagonist) -> Loathing the Manga because I loath Masato -> Getting everything I wanted for the ending, and reluctantly admitting No Bra wasn't as bad as I thought it was.
I read through No Bra in the course of one day, and I am reviewing it on this same day, while the whole thing is still fresh in my memory.
No Bra starts off Okay. It's all pretty typical of an ecchi manga, and I have no problem with it. It's average. Not good, not bad, but passable and worth reading.
The characters were generally two-dimensional but funny or likable. The protagonist's fat best friend is a huge sweet heart. The homeroom teacher is over-dramatic in a funny way. The main female love interest was uninteresting, but not badly so, and she did receive some character development in one of the chapters (you read that correctly, one). The best character, by far, was Yuki. While Yuki's standard behavior was purely stereotypical as the "perfect" Japanese woman, she was treated and written as a believable and fairly-realistic transgender.
The art was average. I wouldn't say it's bad, compared to what else is out there, but it's nothing special. There are a gratuitous number of panty shots, along with a good chunk of other like-minded fanservice. There are two almost-sex scenes, but no real sex, and nothing is shown explicitly. I would say, roughly speaking, the first half of the manga contained more Yuki-centric fanservice, while the second half contained more Kaori-centric fanservice. As a fan of Yuki but not Kaori, I have personally amassed thirty-or-so pages I felt worth saving to my hard drive. Take that as you will.
The writing is boringly predictable in most areas, and surprisingly twisty in some. Unfortunately, if you're reading through these reviews, you've probably already had all the twists spoiled for you. In an effort to conserve the number of spoilers, I won't be going into this topic any further.
There are several chapters, beginning some time after Chapter 16 and ending around Chapter 25, where the point-of-view protagonist is a manwhore. He uses and abuses the three women around him, and it all makes me want to STRANGLE him. I'm sure that many male readers, and less empathetic female readers, would be able to take this as standard ecchi-protagonist behavior. But, honestly? It's pretty bad. Masato is genuinely selfish to the point of cruelty, and he is such for roughly half the Manga. However, Your Mileage May Vary. You're either going to hate him, or you won't really care.
The ending spans four chapters. It does, indeed, feel rushed. With that said, the ending is sadly one of the stronger points in the writing. However, most (if not all) of the loose ends were tied up, and it does end happily (In that gooshy, sentimental, at-least-one-character grew for the better sort of way). I liked it.
The final verdict:
No Bra was not fantastic. I can't even bring myself to say No Bra was enjoyable. Even more so, I can't recommend it as something most people will want to read. But, over all, there were a few good characters, and No Bra was not as terrible as I thought it was. If you have a life, skip this, it's not worth your time. There are better things out there to read. If you have a good six hours to spare with honestly nothing better to do... why not?
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
"No Bra" Review... Part Two.
Go read the first part of the review, then read this.
[HUGE SPOILERS. AHOOOOY!]
....Okay.
.........I give up.
I'm a total woobie. And a sucker for happily-ever-afters.
No Bra ended well. With Masato realizing he was a total asshole, repenting, and working hard to help Yuki in the face of public scorn. Masato ended up happily and monogamously with Kaori. Hideki got a cute girfriend. Yuki learned to appreciate and accept herself, and live as a girl by her own power, confidently.
The ending was kind of cheesy.
But it was really happy.
And exactly what I asked for.
I'm not sure I can overlook the faults of the... entire... freaking... middle... of this manga, but it's not the worst thing I've ever read. There were some characterization parts that I really enjoyed, I just absolutely loathed the main character. When he reformed into a not-entirely-decent-but-trying-his-hardest guy... Well, my biggest complaints were solved.
I'm not sure I can say I enjoyed No Bra. Actually, there is a 1.8K review of scorn located directly below this post which claims, quite clearly, that I did not enjoy No Bra.
But I still like Yuki, Hideki, and Mizutani-sensei. I think the idealistic ending is encouraging, in it's own slightly-pathetic way. I would never tell a friend to read No Bra, but I can't say I'm hideously worse off for reading it myself.
[HUGE SPOILERS. AHOOOOY!]
....Okay.
.........I give up.
I'm a total woobie. And a sucker for happily-ever-afters.
No Bra ended well. With Masato realizing he was a total asshole, repenting, and working hard to help Yuki in the face of public scorn. Masato ended up happily and monogamously with Kaori. Hideki got a cute girfriend. Yuki learned to appreciate and accept herself, and live as a girl by her own power, confidently.
The ending was kind of cheesy.
But it was really happy.
And exactly what I asked for.
I'm not sure I can overlook the faults of the... entire... freaking... middle... of this manga, but it's not the worst thing I've ever read. There were some characterization parts that I really enjoyed, I just absolutely loathed the main character. When he reformed into a not-entirely-decent-but-trying-his-hardest guy... Well, my biggest complaints were solved.
I'm not sure I can say I enjoyed No Bra. Actually, there is a 1.8K review of scorn located directly below this post which claims, quite clearly, that I did not enjoy No Bra.
But I still like Yuki, Hideki, and Mizutani-sensei. I think the idealistic ending is encouraging, in it's own slightly-pathetic way. I would never tell a friend to read No Bra, but I can't say I'm hideously worse off for reading it myself.
"No Bra" Review
No Bra is a manga.
I'm not even sure where to begin. It's a horrible manga. It is the epitome of terrible ecchi manga.
Well, I guess I should begin by clarifying for everyone what an ecchi manga is. エッチ, otherwise romanized as etchi or ecchi, is a Japanese word that literally translates as "erotic", "lewd", or "sexy". It is used in context the same way we would use "dirty" or "naughty". Ecchi manga, while not always blatantly pornographic, is all about the fan-service. Expect panty shots, bras, boobs without bras, sexy women, sexy poses, shattered innocence, lots of making out, and generally piss-poor character development. And y'know what? I'm okay with that. That's what ecchi manga is.
But No Bra is so, so much more than that. No Bra is truly horrible.
The main character is a somewhat ugly guy living alone in his apartment, attending his first year of High School (equivalent to 10th grade in the American system). Then his father sends a room mate his way - he is expecting a guy, but gets the cute, adorable, beautiful Yuki. Yuki has a thing for "Maa-kun" (full name Masato) because Maa-kun was very kind to her in pre-school.
But Yuki is actually a boy.
For all appearances, Yuki is a girl. Not just any girl, but the *perfect* girl by Japanese standards. S/he is beautiful, wears dresses and skirts that while not quite "revealing" makes her look very cute, enjoys cooking and cleaning, is soft spoken (and CUTE), is thoughtful, is kind, is effeminate, is CUTE. Did I mention she's cute? For as far as I can see, Yuki is a MtF transgender. But she's still a "he", which causes problems for our protagonist.
Also, the protagonist is a complete pervert and can't get over staring at Yuki's panties when she's not aware of it. And sometimes when she is.
Okay, fine. I can live with that. Good premises for a romantic-comedy ecchi manga, in all honesty.
Then somewhere in there we get to delve into Yuki's background - which I love, by the way. Yuki describes her life before coming to live with Masato. She was always a "bit of a weird boy" as her mother called her. She had very long hair (anime style loooong), enjoyed wearing girls clothes, only ever liked boys. She was forced to wear the boy's uniform due to her genetic gender, and she hated it. Hatedhatedhated it in an entirely realistic way. To her it was horrible, felt terrible, being someone she simply wasn't. Beyond this, she was bullied and picked on for being who she was.
The only person she could remember ever being truly kind to her was Maa-kun. He was a huge friend to her in preschool ten years ago. He stuck up for her, had fun with her. They were best friends, but then Yuki had to move away. Maa-kun gave her a little Hello Kitty necklace, promising they would always be friends in their hearts.
Masato doesn't remember any of this. It was ten years ago, right? But the more of these specific memories he hears, the more Masato is absolutely certain that Yuki is mistaken He isn't Maa-kun. There's been a mistake.
And, y'know what else? I'm still okay with this. This is still good plot. Now, to explain the things about No Bra that piss me off.
There is another girl that Masato likes, the girl he liked before Yuki showed up. Kaori is the most amazing girl in the school, athletic and intelligent. Fine, whatever. He starts to go out with her. Again: fine, whatever.
He starts two-timing his Kaori and Yuki. He dates Kaori openly at school, and goes home to kiss and make out with Yuki. This is not OK. More so, this is after Yuki told our protagonist that she loves him, but she's fine just being his lover at home. Yuki is desperate. Masato is taking advantage of her.
Oh, right. And Masato isn't actually Yuki's childhood friend Maa-chan. So she thinks she's in love with her childhood friend, but it's really just some random guy taking advantage of her.
And meanwhile the protagonist is relishing in the fact that he's sooo lucky to be in this situation with two GREAT, wonderful, beautiful, kind girls all to himself.
Yeah, uh. Fuck no.
Masato decides he needs to find out once-and-for-all if he is or isn't Maa-chan. He finds out that YES, they actually went to the same pre-school! It's possible! There is no other "Masato" in this pre-school! But he's still not sure, so he spends an entire day walking around and looking up people who might remember a guy named Masato from pre-school, and whether or not he really did all those kind things.
What he finds out is shocking: Masato was Kaori's last name before her mom remarried. "Maa-kun" is actually his current GIRLFRIEND. She was really boyish in preschool, and she stood up for people, and she drew a giant picture of a dinosaur. And there's even a picture of her - and wow, there's preschool Yuki standing next to her!
And what does Masato decide, now that he has this new information?
He's not going to tell Yuki. He's going to pretend to be Maa-kun. To "save Yuki's feelings". Yeah. Uh. Right. It's pretty clear he just doesn't want to lose that hot chick he's making out with at home.
While we're not the subject of Yuki being a hot chick... Masato is constantly reminding himself that Yuki is a guy ("He's a guy! He's a guy! He's a guy! He's a GUY!"). And it appears he's fighting his disgust at homosexuality because... Oh, right. Yuki has a fuck-awesome ass. Not because she's a genuinely wonderful person (she is, by the way). But because he can't stop thinking about, and staring at, her panties.
Now lets add in the another female main character. Mizutani-sensei is Kaori, Yuki, and Masato's homeroom teacher. Sensei is up to her EYEBALLS in debt because she's a shop-a-holic, and a party-holic. Then she discovers that Masato and Yuki are living together! Oh no! The scandal! Sensei is suddenly very terrified this news will get out, and she'll lose her job because she's there homeroom teacher and didn't stop it! And then she won't have money! And then the loan sharks will come get her! And she'll be LIVING ON THE STREETS!
NOOOOOOOOOOO!
(Mizutani-sensei is a tad over-dramatic. I actually quite like her character.)
So, Sensei quickly turns the situation to her own devices, and black males Masato, saying she'll expose them and he'll get expelled! What does she want in return? She wants to live with them, to keep an eye on them and make sure they're not fucking at night! Why? Because she hasn't gotten any action in two years and she's BITTER! More than that, if she lives with them she won't have to pay any rent! SCORE.
As I said before: I actually quite like Mizutani-sensei. (: She's played as comedic relief, so while this sounds manipulative, and actually is, it's over-the-top and funny.
But. :( Then they have to go and ruin even Mizutani-sensei for me.
Masato grows a back bone eventually, tells Sensei she has to move out. Mind, he is only telling her this because if he does, he'll be able to have sex with his girlfriend at his apartment. Despite the fact that Yuki lives there, too? (I don't think this plan was well thought out) Fine, whatever. But them Sensei decides the best way to keep her place in his apartment is -
To seduce him and sex him up. Of course. Of fucking course. They have now reduced her character to prostituting herself for an apartment. Fuck you, writer. Fuck you.
So where does this put us?
The protagonist is three-timing the female main characters. He's dating Kaori, making out with Yuki, and planning to fuck with his homeroom teacher.
This entire thing is played out like he has absolutely no choice. The character has so little self-restraint that he is actually physically unable to resist their Sexy Charms (tm), even when he has repeatedly admitted he needs to break up with Kaori so he can date Yuki, or that he needs to stop taking advantage of Yuki because it's wrong, or that he shouldn't let Mizutani-sensei seduce him because it'll be bad for his relationship with Kaori...
He lets his penis drive him, completely. Which would be fine if his penis wasn't such a horrible person, whose soul goal is to fuck anything that moves. Oh, Wait! That's what penises do. Maybe he should try thinking with his brain for once?
Nah, too hard.
It is even to the extend that the main character will recognize that he is fantasizing about sex instead of paying attention to the fact that Kaori and Yuki are both wonderful people, and that this is a bad thing for him to do... and then he will continue to fantasize anyways.
No Bra is horrendous. The main character is, perhaps, the most aweful character in fiction I have yet to come across.
And I wrote Jaramiah.
You may be thinking, "Now, wait. Jaramiah was a creepy psychopathic bastard who cut people up for fun. While they were still alive. Aren't you exaggerating a little bit here?"
To that I respond: Masato uses and abuses three different women, but that's not it. It's the fact that he actively recognizes that what he is doing is wrong, very wrong, but continues to do it anyways. Because to Masato, sex is more important than the emotions of these women.
That's sick. And wrong. Compared to Jaramiah, who simply has no moral compass, I think Masato's recognition and then continuation of terrible behavior is even worse.
So, the big question...
Why the hell am I still reading it?
Because, I am still reading it. I'm 25 chapters in and still reading.
I want a happy ending for Yuki. Yuki is such a wonderful, kind, caring person that I want to see her happy.
Masato's best friend is a wonderful person, as well. Hideki is tall and fat, but he's a great guy. He has fallen for Yuki, but accepts that she is in love with Maa-kun, and just wants her to be happy. And so he does everything in his power to get Masato to realize what he has, and what he is waisting. For Yuki's sake.
Masato has shown, at least a very little bit, that Yuki brings out the best in him. When he's with Yuki, he wants to protect her. He wants her to always be happy, always smile, and will do whatever it takes. The problem lies in his roving penis....
I want to see a happy ending for Yuki and Hideki, not necessarily together, but each happy in their own individual right. I want to see Masato realize he's a fuckwad. I am sticking around to see what happens.
But No Bra is still the worst manga I've ever read.
I'm not even sure where to begin. It's a horrible manga. It is the epitome of terrible ecchi manga.
Well, I guess I should begin by clarifying for everyone what an ecchi manga is. エッチ, otherwise romanized as etchi or ecchi, is a Japanese word that literally translates as "erotic", "lewd", or "sexy". It is used in context the same way we would use "dirty" or "naughty". Ecchi manga, while not always blatantly pornographic, is all about the fan-service. Expect panty shots, bras, boobs without bras, sexy women, sexy poses, shattered innocence, lots of making out, and generally piss-poor character development. And y'know what? I'm okay with that. That's what ecchi manga is.
But No Bra is so, so much more than that. No Bra is truly horrible.
The main character is a somewhat ugly guy living alone in his apartment, attending his first year of High School (equivalent to 10th grade in the American system). Then his father sends a room mate his way - he is expecting a guy, but gets the cute, adorable, beautiful Yuki. Yuki has a thing for "Maa-kun" (full name Masato) because Maa-kun was very kind to her in pre-school.
But Yuki is actually a boy.
For all appearances, Yuki is a girl. Not just any girl, but the *perfect* girl by Japanese standards. S/he is beautiful, wears dresses and skirts that while not quite "revealing" makes her look very cute, enjoys cooking and cleaning, is soft spoken (and CUTE), is thoughtful, is kind, is effeminate, is CUTE. Did I mention she's cute? For as far as I can see, Yuki is a MtF transgender. But she's still a "he", which causes problems for our protagonist.
Also, the protagonist is a complete pervert and can't get over staring at Yuki's panties when she's not aware of it. And sometimes when she is.
Okay, fine. I can live with that. Good premises for a romantic-comedy ecchi manga, in all honesty.
Then somewhere in there we get to delve into Yuki's background - which I love, by the way. Yuki describes her life before coming to live with Masato. She was always a "bit of a weird boy" as her mother called her. She had very long hair (anime style loooong), enjoyed wearing girls clothes, only ever liked boys. She was forced to wear the boy's uniform due to her genetic gender, and she hated it. Hatedhatedhated it in an entirely realistic way. To her it was horrible, felt terrible, being someone she simply wasn't. Beyond this, she was bullied and picked on for being who she was.
The only person she could remember ever being truly kind to her was Maa-kun. He was a huge friend to her in preschool ten years ago. He stuck up for her, had fun with her. They were best friends, but then Yuki had to move away. Maa-kun gave her a little Hello Kitty necklace, promising they would always be friends in their hearts.
Masato doesn't remember any of this. It was ten years ago, right? But the more of these specific memories he hears, the more Masato is absolutely certain that Yuki is mistaken He isn't Maa-kun. There's been a mistake.
And, y'know what else? I'm still okay with this. This is still good plot. Now, to explain the things about No Bra that piss me off.
There is another girl that Masato likes, the girl he liked before Yuki showed up. Kaori is the most amazing girl in the school, athletic and intelligent. Fine, whatever. He starts to go out with her. Again: fine, whatever.
He starts two-timing his Kaori and Yuki. He dates Kaori openly at school, and goes home to kiss and make out with Yuki. This is not OK. More so, this is after Yuki told our protagonist that she loves him, but she's fine just being his lover at home. Yuki is desperate. Masato is taking advantage of her.
Oh, right. And Masato isn't actually Yuki's childhood friend Maa-chan. So she thinks she's in love with her childhood friend, but it's really just some random guy taking advantage of her.
And meanwhile the protagonist is relishing in the fact that he's sooo lucky to be in this situation with two GREAT, wonderful, beautiful, kind girls all to himself.
Yeah, uh. Fuck no.
Masato decides he needs to find out once-and-for-all if he is or isn't Maa-chan. He finds out that YES, they actually went to the same pre-school! It's possible! There is no other "Masato" in this pre-school! But he's still not sure, so he spends an entire day walking around and looking up people who might remember a guy named Masato from pre-school, and whether or not he really did all those kind things.
What he finds out is shocking: Masato was Kaori's last name before her mom remarried. "Maa-kun" is actually his current GIRLFRIEND. She was really boyish in preschool, and she stood up for people, and she drew a giant picture of a dinosaur. And there's even a picture of her - and wow, there's preschool Yuki standing next to her!
And what does Masato decide, now that he has this new information?
He's not going to tell Yuki. He's going to pretend to be Maa-kun. To "save Yuki's feelings". Yeah. Uh. Right. It's pretty clear he just doesn't want to lose that hot chick he's making out with at home.
While we're not the subject of Yuki being a hot chick... Masato is constantly reminding himself that Yuki is a guy ("He's a guy! He's a guy! He's a guy! He's a GUY!"). And it appears he's fighting his disgust at homosexuality because... Oh, right. Yuki has a fuck-awesome ass. Not because she's a genuinely wonderful person (she is, by the way). But because he can't stop thinking about, and staring at, her panties.
Now lets add in the another female main character. Mizutani-sensei is Kaori, Yuki, and Masato's homeroom teacher. Sensei is up to her EYEBALLS in debt because she's a shop-a-holic, and a party-holic. Then she discovers that Masato and Yuki are living together! Oh no! The scandal! Sensei is suddenly very terrified this news will get out, and she'll lose her job because she's there homeroom teacher and didn't stop it! And then she won't have money! And then the loan sharks will come get her! And she'll be LIVING ON THE STREETS!
NOOOOOOOOOOO!
(Mizutani-sensei is a tad over-dramatic. I actually quite like her character.)
So, Sensei quickly turns the situation to her own devices, and black males Masato, saying she'll expose them and he'll get expelled! What does she want in return? She wants to live with them, to keep an eye on them and make sure they're not fucking at night! Why? Because she hasn't gotten any action in two years and she's BITTER! More than that, if she lives with them she won't have to pay any rent! SCORE.
As I said before: I actually quite like Mizutani-sensei. (: She's played as comedic relief, so while this sounds manipulative, and actually is, it's over-the-top and funny.
But. :( Then they have to go and ruin even Mizutani-sensei for me.
Masato grows a back bone eventually, tells Sensei she has to move out. Mind, he is only telling her this because if he does, he'll be able to have sex with his girlfriend at his apartment. Despite the fact that Yuki lives there, too? (I don't think this plan was well thought out) Fine, whatever. But them Sensei decides the best way to keep her place in his apartment is -
To seduce him and sex him up. Of course. Of fucking course. They have now reduced her character to prostituting herself for an apartment. Fuck you, writer. Fuck you.
So where does this put us?
The protagonist is three-timing the female main characters. He's dating Kaori, making out with Yuki, and planning to fuck with his homeroom teacher.
This entire thing is played out like he has absolutely no choice. The character has so little self-restraint that he is actually physically unable to resist their Sexy Charms (tm), even when he has repeatedly admitted he needs to break up with Kaori so he can date Yuki, or that he needs to stop taking advantage of Yuki because it's wrong, or that he shouldn't let Mizutani-sensei seduce him because it'll be bad for his relationship with Kaori...
He lets his penis drive him, completely. Which would be fine if his penis wasn't such a horrible person, whose soul goal is to fuck anything that moves. Oh, Wait! That's what penises do. Maybe he should try thinking with his brain for once?
Nah, too hard.
It is even to the extend that the main character will recognize that he is fantasizing about sex instead of paying attention to the fact that Kaori and Yuki are both wonderful people, and that this is a bad thing for him to do... and then he will continue to fantasize anyways.
No Bra is horrendous. The main character is, perhaps, the most aweful character in fiction I have yet to come across.
And I wrote Jaramiah.
You may be thinking, "Now, wait. Jaramiah was a creepy psychopathic bastard who cut people up for fun. While they were still alive. Aren't you exaggerating a little bit here?"
To that I respond: Masato uses and abuses three different women, but that's not it. It's the fact that he actively recognizes that what he is doing is wrong, very wrong, but continues to do it anyways. Because to Masato, sex is more important than the emotions of these women.
That's sick. And wrong. Compared to Jaramiah, who simply has no moral compass, I think Masato's recognition and then continuation of terrible behavior is even worse.
So, the big question...
Why the hell am I still reading it?
Because, I am still reading it. I'm 25 chapters in and still reading.
I want a happy ending for Yuki. Yuki is such a wonderful, kind, caring person that I want to see her happy.
Masato's best friend is a wonderful person, as well. Hideki is tall and fat, but he's a great guy. He has fallen for Yuki, but accepts that she is in love with Maa-kun, and just wants her to be happy. And so he does everything in his power to get Masato to realize what he has, and what he is waisting. For Yuki's sake.
Masato has shown, at least a very little bit, that Yuki brings out the best in him. When he's with Yuki, he wants to protect her. He wants her to always be happy, always smile, and will do whatever it takes. The problem lies in his roving penis....
I want to see a happy ending for Yuki and Hideki, not necessarily together, but each happy in their own individual right. I want to see Masato realize he's a fuckwad. I am sticking around to see what happens.
But No Bra is still the worst manga I've ever read.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Why do I have to choose?
We live in a day and age of growing acceptance for sexuality and the defying of gender roles.
That is, it's okay to be transexual.
It hasn't hit mainstream acceptance, and there are still towns where you can get your ass killed for being an open and out transexual. But the seed of acceptance has been sown, and there are communities where it's okay to be who you are.
There's a choice.
You can identify as male.
You can identify as female.
And people will still love you.
But identifying as male or female is labeling yourself. And for people who want that label, that's fine. But I have a hard time seeing why I have to choose. I'm bisexual. I'm female-by-birth, and a butch dyke. For me the lines separating gender feel very, very thin. I honestly couldn't care less if you are male or female, I will approach you the same way (both in terms of friendship and attraction).
I like being a girl. I like being able to dress up and do girly things.
I like being a guy. I enjoy going out with my butch haircut an a bound chest and being treated like a male. Because there is a difference, whether you believe it or not.
And, on a sexual level that transcends what you really want to know, I find the concept of strap-ons enticing.
Male. Female.
I don't want that label. I'm not a f-to-m transexual, of that I'm sure. I like my lady-bits where they are. But I hate that I have to just be female. I hate that androgyny is less acceptable than transexuality.
Why do I have to be one or the other? Why can't I just be me? Why do I have to choose?
That is, it's okay to be transexual.
It hasn't hit mainstream acceptance, and there are still towns where you can get your ass killed for being an open and out transexual. But the seed of acceptance has been sown, and there are communities where it's okay to be who you are.
There's a choice.
You can identify as male.
You can identify as female.
And people will still love you.
But identifying as male or female is labeling yourself. And for people who want that label, that's fine. But I have a hard time seeing why I have to choose. I'm bisexual. I'm female-by-birth, and a butch dyke. For me the lines separating gender feel very, very thin. I honestly couldn't care less if you are male or female, I will approach you the same way (both in terms of friendship and attraction).
I like being a girl. I like being able to dress up and do girly things.
I like being a guy. I enjoy going out with my butch haircut an a bound chest and being treated like a male. Because there is a difference, whether you believe it or not.
And, on a sexual level that transcends what you really want to know, I find the concept of strap-ons enticing.
Male. Female.
I don't want that label. I'm not a f-to-m transexual, of that I'm sure. I like my lady-bits where they are. But I hate that I have to just be female. I hate that androgyny is less acceptable than transexuality.
Why do I have to be one or the other? Why can't I just be me? Why do I have to choose?
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